Motorola, well into its comeback mode, is beginning to spread its offerings across a wide range of features and pricing points. While most of the launches last year were budget or mid-range handsets, this year saw the release of the Motorola Atrix 2, seemingly packed with apps and functionalities that let you get real work done from the smartphone.
Design
The Atrix 2 has no design details that really sets it a class apart… no ultra slim form factor, no futuristic transparent buttons. The build however seems sturdy with the exception of the plastic back panel that needs to be pried open. The matte-finish volume rocker and camera buttons are lodged on the right profile. The plastic power button rests on the top
Display
The 4.3-inch display gives no reason for complaint; it is fairly bright and provides decent visibility under bright light. The virtual keyboard was slightly inaccurate and I found myself deleting as much as we were typing.
The design didn't exactly get me raving about the smartphone. Despite the dimension not being anything out of the ordinary, the phone looks a little bulkier than it should.
Camera
The 8-megger camera is also a bit of a disappointment. The clarity of the pictures taken are nowhere as good as the 8-meggers we tried out on say the Huawei Honor or the HTC One X. The camera has a bit of a problem focusing right if you don't have much time to spare before you hit the virtual shutter. With the video camera you have the option to shoot in 1080p Full HD.
Strangely enough there are two inbuilt camera apps and there' no way to tell which is Motorola's addition.
The extra sense
Initially I found the auto-rotation sensor a little too sensitive for my liking. Even minor tilts would have the handset change orientation to landscape from portrait even when that was not the objective.
The proximity sensor turned out to be as inaccurate, if not slightly worse. Most of my calls would get disconnected mid-way because the call-end touch button would inadvertently get activated.
Down to business
Motocast is a free service that lets you stream all your music videos and files straight from your computer. You can easily access your content anywhere without having to upload all of it to a public server.
There's also a Citrix Receiver app that gives you secure access to business applications, desktops and IT services.
The device is DLNA-certified which means you can use your phone to control playback of media on other DLNA-certified devices.
The bunch of options does indicate that Moto means business, quite literally, with this phone. A proprietary app called ‘Motoprint' lets you connect to a printer over a Wi-Fi network and print documents directly from the handset. Right now, the app works with printers only from Epson or HP. Apart from the usual email or document it also lets you print calendar entries, contact details and Excel sheets.
If you have a 3G connection, you can turn the Atrix 2 into a mobile hotspot. Only your GPRS is activated but the battery gets drained rapidly when other devices use yours as a medium to connect to the internet. Technically, you can do the same even with your 2G activated, but considering the speeds users normally get, there's little point in using that all the time.
Another Citrix-app that the handset comes with is GoToMeeting. The app helps you attend web conferences and offers free VoIP and integrated phone and web conferencing.
Performance
We didn't experience a lot of lags while using the smartphone. It runs on a 1GHz dual core processor and that seemed to take care of its performance quite well. Although it still isn't as powerful a processor that the likes of Samsung Galaxy S II or an HTC Sensation. The battery life on the Motorola Atrix 2 is what you'd expect of a standard smartphone. You can't go without plugging it in as the day ends.
On the Quadrant Standard test, the Atrix 2 scored lower than the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.
Our verdict
The Motorola Atrix 2 comes across as a no-nonsense smartphone with most attributes working in its favour. It's not so much as a fun, flaunt-it smartphone as it is a functional, utilitarian device. If that's your thing and the looks or the style quotient doesn't really count, the Atrix 2 might be a good value-for-money option for you.
Love : Smooth touch interface, bright display
Hate : No ICS upgrade yet, staid design
Rs 22,990
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