Motorola RAZR i XT890

Introduction

The RAZR line that Android helped revive is to be looked at with nothing but pride but Motorola should realize it had more luck than others. Giants like Siemens and Alcatel that used to shape the industry have been almost completely wiped from the map, while Moto stayed afloat and was acquired by no other than Google - the company behind the most popular smartphone platform in the world.
Motorola is of course a founding member of the Open Handset Alliance, and that was well before Google's fat check, but competing with white box manufacturers over $50 dual and triple-SIM handsets wasn't such a distant possibility. Instead, Motorola is now flirting with edge-to-edge displays, steel frames and Kevlar to produce another stunning-looking phone like the RAZR i.

Motorola RAZR i official photos
We really loved the Krait-powered sibling of the Motorola RAZR i - the Motorola DROID RAZR M - and we look to the Intel-driven version to deliver more of the same. Here's the quick rundown of what it has to offer.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM and 3G support
• 21 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
• 4.3" 16M-color Super AMOLED Advanced capacitive touchscreen of qHD resolution (960 x 540 pixels); Gorilla Glass
• Kevlar coated, splash resistant body
• Great ergonomics and size, frameless display design
• Lightly customized Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich
• 2 GHz Atom CPU, PowerVR SGX540 GPU, Intel Medfield chipset
• 1 GB of RAM and 8GB of storage; microSD card slot
• 8 MP autofocus camera with LED flash; face detection and geotagging; 1080p video recording
• 0.3MP front-facing VGA camera
• Wi-Fi b/g/n and DLNA
• NFC connectivity with Android Beam
• GPS with A-GPS
• Accelerometer, proximity sensor and auto-brightness sensor; compass
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v 4.0
• Beefy 2000mAh battery with good performance
• Smart dialing, voice dialing
• Excellent video codecs support
• Office document editor
• Good browsing performance

Main disadvantages

• Screen has PenTile matrix
• Chipset less powerful than Qualcomm version in all but browsing
• Incompatible with apps compiled with the Android NDK
• Battery is not user-replaceable
• Shutter key has no half press
• Disappointing audio output
• Poor camera quality

The new 32nm Medfield platform has finally seen smartphones break the 2GHz barrier and Intel claim this should be more beneficial to the user experience than multi-core architecture. Now, we were very pleased with the dual-core Krait inside the RAZR M, and it will take more than PR talk to change our mind, but you can rest assured the RAZR i will be given a fair chance to persuade us.
Then again, even if the Motorola RAZR i fails to top the benchmarks, it would still have a nice set of useful tools for surviving in the highly competitive mid-range. The smartphone has the build and finish of a high-end device and that alone is certain to get many people interested.

Motorola RAZR i studio shots
There's also the ample battery and the edge-to-edge display which, Motorola says, puts even the iPhone 5 to shame, when it comes to making the most out of the available space.

General	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
	3G Network	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
	SIM	Micro-SIM
	Announced	2012, September
	Status	Available. Released 2012, October

Body	Dimensions	122.5 x 60.9 x 8.3 mm (4.82 x 2.40 x 0.33 in)
	Weight	126 g (4.44 oz)
		- Splash resistant

Display	Type	Super AMOLED Advanced capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	540 x 960 pixels, 4.3 inches (~256 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes
	Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass

Sound	Alert types	Vibration, MP3, WAV ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes

Memory	Card slot	microSD, up to 32 GB
	Internal	8 GB (5 GB user available), 1 GB RAM

Data	GPRS	Yes
	EDGE	Yes
	Speed	HSDPA, 21.1 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
	Bluetooth	Yes, v2.1 with A2DP, EDR
	NFC	Yes
	USB	Yes, microUSB v2.0

Camera	Primary	8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash, check quality
	Features	Touch focus, geo-tagging, face detection, image stabilization, HDR
	Video	Yes, 1080p@30fps, check quality
	Secondary	Yes, VGA

Features	OS	Android OS, v4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich), upgradable to v4.1.2 (Jelly Bean)
	Chipset	Intel Atom Z2460
	CPU	2 GHz Intel Atom
	GPU	PowerVR SGX540
	Sensors	Accelerometer, proximity, compass
	Messaging	SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM
	Browser	HTML5
	Radio	No
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS, S-GPS support
	Java	Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
	Colors	Black, White
		- Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - SNS integration - Google Search, Maps, Gmail - YouTube, Google Talk - MP3/AAC+/WAV/WMA player - MP4/H.263/H.264/WMV player - Organizer - Document viewer/editor - Photo viewer/editor - Voice memo/dial/commands - Predictive text input

		Non-removable Li-Ion 2000 mAh battery
		The full screen phone Say hello to the full-screen phone. RAZR* i™ is the impossibly compact smartphone with Intel Inside®. Get power, speed, and an edge-to-edge screen in a phone designed to fit in your hand.1 Now available in Brazil, France, Germany, Mexico, and U.K. Fast processor Featuring an Intel® Atom™ processor, the powerful Motorola RAZR i™ is a smartphone that keeps up with you. Brilliant camera Featuring an advanced 8-MP HD camera that lets you capture images quickly, up to 10 photos in a second, so you'll never miss the best shot, even in challenging environments. Immersive gaming You can also enjoy enhanced gaming with a fully integrated graphics engine for rich 3D, immersive reality, and great responsiveness.