Motorola Razr

Remember your mobile phone circa 2006? Its battery probably lasted a week, you could limit who could call you by setting up lists of contacts and you probably tested video calling on it once or twice. Then came 2007, the iPhone and the smartphone revolution. Now batteries last half a day and video calling is a recent introduction. Progress.

In the pre-smartphone United States, Motorola was king of the market – Nokia elsewhere – with a little flip-phone called the Razr. And it has been reborn in 2011. And while it’s very modern smartphone, it does bring back some of the things we loved about “old” mobile phones.

The new Motorola Razr isn’t a flip-phone. Instead, Motorola has designed the thinnest smartphone on the market, running the latest version of the Android operating system. The very thin Razr is also very sturdy thanks to a Kevlar backing – the same stuff they make bulletproof vests out of.

So it may sound like a good idea to keep the Razr in your shirt-pocket where it could double as a bullet-proof shield for your heart, but this may be a little difficult because while the phone is really very thin, it’s still quite large in its other dimensions.

The 4.3” screen makes it a little awkward to operate with one hand, although many people prefer these larger form factors.

But everything else about the Razr is classy. The case is sleek and sturdy, the 8MP camera is exceptionally good with support for 1 080p high definition video and 8x digital zoom. The AMOLED display is crisp and bright, and the device is snappy thanks to its dual-core 1.2Ghz processor.

Motorola has also added some great functionality beyond the standard Android experience. My favourite addition is “Smart actions” that allow you to set up profiles on your device. You can, for example, set the phone so that it turns off your WiFi connection at certain times of the day or to specify who may call between particular hours. This can be used to automate functions on the phone, for privacy or to extend battery life.

If you’re in the market for a smartphone, right now the Razr is my pick of the current Android offerings. Motorola, now in the process of being acquired by Google, has put together a winning product and it will also support the next big Android upgrade – codenamed “Ice Cream Sandwich”, which will be released in 2012.

Verdict: Our current favourite Android phone.

Complexity: Motorola’s interface makes Android simple.

Price: R7 000

Also consider: Samsung Galaxy S2

Value rating: 8/10