It’s all things go today in the smartphone world, with Motorola unleashing another new phone in the RAZR series just an hour after LG revealed its new Optimus G superphone.
You might be thinking – as we were – that Motorola recently announced three new RAZR phones, and surely that’d be enough for the year. However, this phone is different – it’s special. Motorola is referring to it as their biggest launch since the original RAZR clamshell phone that became incredibly popular, but can it compete with the iPhone 5, Lumia 920, Galaxy S3 and Optimus G?
Motorola has paired up with Intel to make this phone, ditching the likes of Qualcomm and Samsung in favour of a completely different Intel Medfield processor. That processor is clocked at a whopping 2GHz, but balances power with power consumption nicely so that you don’t run out of battery by lunchtime. Intel says the processor is optimised for web browsing, especially anything that’s Java-based, and will retain a good battery performance even when gaming.
The style of the phone fits the RAZR family nicely, although it’s still going to be tough to distinguish it from the others from what we can tell. An almost edge-to-edge 4.3-inch AMOLED display sits in the front of the phone – something which Motorola was keen to compare to the iPhone, stating that you’ll get 15% more screen than the new iPhone 5.
iPhone comparisons didn’t stop at the screen, with Motorola proudly announcing that the 2,000 mAh battery will provide 40% more juice than the iPhone 4S. The company didn’t care to compare the phone to the newer iPhone 5 however, which is said to have a better battery life. The RAZR i’s battery is sealed into the phone, as with all other phones in the range, and is covered with Moto’s familiar Kevlar coating.
An 8-megapixel camera sits on the back of the phone, which combines with the powerful processor and physical camera button to give the phone a 1 second startup time for the camera app, as well as the ability to quickly take several snaps in a row.
The usual connectivity options are on board, including the increasingly-popular NFC wireless connectivity option that Apple chose to leave out of its iPhone 5.
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich will be the operating system that the phone starts off with, although Motorola has promised to update it to Jelly Bean 4.1 as soon as it can.
The Motorola RAZR i will be launching in the UK in October, as well as in France, Germany, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. In the UK the phone has already been partnered up with Orange and T-Mobile, Tesco Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Phones 4u. Prices have not yet been revealed.
UPDATE: Clove Technology have the UK version of the RAZR i available to pre-order for a very reasonable £342.
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