Motorola MOTOROI hands-on with video
By Sean Cooper 
posted February 15th 2010 2:39PM
posted February 15th 2010 2:39PM
The Motorola MOTOROI is definitely a stunner, but the looks are almost surpassed by just how amazing it feels, it glows with quality -- think Milestone, but somehow nicer. The display and UI on this Android 2.0 set are right on, with no lag to speak of -- in our really limited hanging-from-a-tether-being-jostled take on it -- while flipping about the OS. Sadly, like most other sets on display, the internet wasn't going anywhere for us to really take it for a spin. But, hey, the MOTOROI is apparently headed to the US in March, and we're without a doubt going to get a little more in-depth with this phone just as soon as we're able.
You can also get spb mobile shell 5 for android to add a better looking home screen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G07Mu29lxtY&feature=player_embedded
urgh...looks like shit. Outdated design. Actually quite iphonish.
im stuck in the awe of windows phone 7.. its like nothing out there really impresses.. Even though this phone looks really nice..
It does look a bit like the droid..
@dimithra How does w7 impress? Because of its xbox live comparability? Or because of its utter lack of key features such as multitasking, copy paste?
Oh I know its because of its smart use of screen space, who needs to use all those pixles lets waste some space with huge font type and lots of black spaces!
Any idea which network this is coming to in March? Please don't say T-Mobile only.
I'm really hoping that I'll be able to get this on AT&T's network (with 3G, unlike the Nexus One). Has anyone heard anything definitive about what carrier will get it?
@greatcaffeine It looks like out of the 5 android phones AT&T will be getting, the one Moto will be the Backflip, which isn't so much a smart phone as a social phone. I doubt they will pick up the Motoroi or the Droid simply because it competes with the iPhone.
LOI
This is much more impressive than the w7 tile fail.
Nice demo video/ sarcasm. Did you only have one take or what?
That is a very ugly phone. Now I know what they mean when they call a phone a brick...and even further, it's a brick that's growing a tumor.
It's a matter of taste, but I dig the chunky/blocky aesthetic -- I like that in devices -- kind of Max Headroom-ish. (I really like the design of the G1, to show you where I'm coming from.) I also like (maybe) how plastic covers the entire front; I feel like I'd be less nervous about dropping it than I would a device with a big slab of exposed glass (though it looks pretty "reflective"; will have to see it in person).
I think it's time for Engadget to create an easy to read comparison chart of hardware and software. Phone chart and Software chart listing the goods.
@Mr Bojangles
Totally.
@Mr Bojangles Theyve one that in the past for android phones only but it's really outdated now... They may have done it for BB's too.
Nice hdmi, moto going ahead ;)
So this has HDMI output AND 720p video?
Wow. We should be expecting that in more smartphones that hit the market this year, but sadly that isn't the case.
Also, how could they not have internet on these devices so you can test the browsing experience? Uber lame.
I wonder which carrier n the USA will get this phone.
Looks like a more delicious version of the droid to me.
Droid 2.0, except not a fan of motoblur...upgraded features are nice though. Spec's besides what we can see from pictures?
How do you get the freakin draws on the bottom
I would like some MOTOROI and Cheese
Which carrier(s) will this support?
After seeing the winpho7 ui android just started looking really ugly! Its like a cheap rendition of the iphone os, no originality of direction whatsoever. With this amazing move by ms, I cant wait how stevie would answer!!!!
@quobeats
I think it is a bit wrong to call Android a copy of the iPhone. The notification shade, app drawer, sliding wallpaper are pretty new ideas. The only similarity is both use colored icons (except Android doesn't limit where you can place them). And the icon grid is NOT an Apple idea. Look at old PDAs and dumbphones; the icon grid has been around for a LONG time. I guess you can call both the iPhone and Android more conventional in UI design. WM7 is a much bigger departure and we'll see if it is actually functional later.
um. all older Android versions look wack compared to 2.1. y'all actin like 7 mobile caused them to be outdated.
wanna get this MOTOROI but with TV service
@ Engadget do you guys know what carrier this MOTOROI Android MOTO PHONE be going to which carrier?
Wow. Everywhere you look is android and just keeps getting better. looks like Android is set to beat the crap out of Apple's iPhone. It's not like iPhone will be missed really. Gotta Love open source.
With the release of the Motoroi, all that has come to a much awaited end. I can watch movies, use the phone as a DIVX player via the HDMI out on my 150″
projector or my flat screen televisions. I was concerned that the processor might not be able to handle everything I throw at it, but so far so good… their has been no lag in the UI and it plays media very smoothly. The 8mp camera takes fantastic pictures but Korean are used to having very capable cameras in their phones, although the xenon flash is a distinctive feature and although I have not been able to use it enough to adequately measure how much of an advantage it is over the standard LED flash, the pictures I have taken using the flash have come out looking very well lit.
Although I am not throwing out the camera just yet while on vacation, after a few more pictures on the motoroi, it is very possible that I will be confident in carrying the phone as a camera. Downloading applications over my wifi are very quick ~350kb/s and websurfing is a pleasure (pinch zooming, smooth scrolling, horizontal viewing), while my experience with other phones has been at best tolerable. Two minor gripes… 1) larger Youtube clips tend to start off well but mid-clip buffering time is excessive (~15–25 seconds) 2) battery life is relatively short when all the bells and whistles (gps, wifi, bluetooth) are engaged, but this does not come as a surprise and is par for the course.
Video and pictures of the phone do not do it justice, it is much slimmer and a bit lighter than I expected. I give the Motoroi an enthusiastic endorsement and thank motorola for finally letting me watch movies and listen to music without having to lug around another PMP device! I am absolutely ditching the PMP and there is a very good chance that I will lose my camera also. 3 devices in one!
part 1/5 - I just bought the motoroi last night. My initial impressions place the phone as the best mobile phone I have owned in the 5 years I have lived in Korea. I know that people generally have the impression that phones in Korea are technologically superior to phones in the west but this is only a half truth. While free mobile television is considered very basic here, up until the motoroi, koreans have been far more limited in features that others would consider essential.