Hands-on with Motorola's holiday wares: the U9 and RAZR 2 Luxury Edition
Though the CTIA's fall show tends to be light on fresh hardware, we were delighted to see that Moto came prepared with some examples of two of its larger announcements in recent memory: the posh RAZR 2 Luxury Edition and the U9 skipping stone clamshell. Both models were surprisingly visually stunning. The RAZR 2 Luxury Edition looked a little over the top from its press photos -- don't get us wrong, it still is over the top, but in a surprisingly attractive way. The gold accents actually look like gold (18 and 24 karat gold, to be specific), the exclusive patterned backside is actually functional by giving the handset a non-slip surface, and the reskined UI builds on the V8's already solid JUIX backbone. Meanwhile, the U9 (pictured) makes its first public appearance in a pair of colors, blending the original PEBL's design DNA with a few concepts borrowed from recent Sony Ericsson models. We think Moto picked the right ideas to crib, too -- the translucent covers and partially concealed external displays look pretty tight in this form factor. Click on for the visuals!
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