Motorola Atrix 4G Review Roundup: The Critics Weigh In

The Motorola Atrix 4G has been piquing a lot of interest as an Android smartphone that can transform – via a docking auxiliary – into a laptop. When docked, the device would have an 11.6-inch display, 8 hours of battery lifespan, and a weight of just 2.4 pounds. But can the Motorola Atrix 4G, priced at $500 from AT&T for both the phone and dock, in reality replace your PC?

Here's a roundup of reviews for the Atrix smartphone and laptop combo twist, including our personal hands-happening revaluation:

The Atrix as a Smartphone

My PCWorld co-worker Mark Sullivan notes in his review that "the Atrix itself is a strong addition to AT&A;T's healthy line up of Mechanical man phones." He likes the power of the Atrix's dual-core processor, as well as the smartphone's clean-cut display, rounded and svelte design, and faster-than-3G connector speeds.

Over at SlashGear, Vincent Nguyen also applauds the Atrix's performance, calling information technology "one of the quickest Android handsets we've misused to-engagement, lighted through web page rendering and pinch-zooming, loading apps with barely whatever delay, sending Google Maps whipping across the blind and helping squeeze forbidden some of the thwarting pauses that still result extraordinary Android users looking enviously at the iPhone 4."

Engadget

Engadget's Book of Joshua Topolsky likes the "sleek and rugged" conception of the Atrix, as well as its formidable battery life, browse carrying into action, gamey resolution screen, and camera upper-class, saying "nothing is little about the Atrix 4G." As for downers, he notes experiencing a handful of dropped calls (less than the act typically seen with the iPhone 4 on AT&T, however). The amount of bloatware happening the Atrix and Motorola/AT&T's lock down of the device to foreclose flashing it with a custom ROM are also big disappointments for him.

CNET

Whirling on to CNET, Bonnie Cha calls the Atrix "one of AT&T's best smartphones to date," highlighting the Atrix's high-finish features the likes of HD video recording capture and playback., Innovation-wise, Cha thinks the Atrix is solid but, especially compared to Motorola's Droid X and Cliq 2, "just lacks some of the better details wish a soft-touch finish up on back." She does government note a fully grown improvement with Motorola's custom Motoblur substance abuser interface, however, saying it's been enhanced to be a great deal Sir Thomas More expedient.

Although most of the reviews were extremely positive when talk about the Atrix as a smartphone connected its own, the main draw of the Atrix is its docking capability.

The Atrix as a Laptop computer

Although Harry Stack Sullivan says of the Atrix "Frankly, it's a phone I would buy," he's disappointed with the docking experience. The Webtop interface is "awkward and unwieldy" and the keyboard "not very solidly built." Furthermore, AT&A;T's HSPA+ cellular connection can't keep up with the massive screen's graphics demands, he writes.

Nguyen confirms the "noticeable sluggishness" of the Atrix when docked, expression "the actual user undergo is a mixed bag." Design-wise, though, the SlashGear reader thinks the hardware is solid and the display "bright and middling sunny."

Topolsky continues his Engadget review with favorable Marks for the laptop computer dock's handsome design and homogenous build, but also notes a "quite frustrating" user experience, including the single concern trackpad and stiff buttons. In amount of money, he doesn't run across the value in the dock: "We desirable to love this dock, just at the price Motorola is asking and for the small amount of utility-grade IT actually provides, it seems clear to us that your money would Be better exhausted on a tablet or decent netbook."

Business organisatio Insider

Steve Kovach of Business sector Insider puts information technology bluffly: "the laptop dock feels similar a waste. We can't mean of a single practical use for it." Kovach does give some credit to the Atrix with dock for its thin and light form factor and the dock's speakerphone capability, but his main reaction is that "The laptop dock feels like a $500 gizmo designed to prove that the Atrix telephone is powerful enough to hightail it a computer."

Laptop

Laptop's Brian Oliver Bennett had a more favorable get, comparison exploitation the docked Atrix to a netbook rather than a full-featured laptop computer: "While non as powerful as an Intel Core notebook, the Atrix 4G does provide the multitasking benefits of a netbook. […]We did notice lag now and then, though–thither's a trifle detain when opening Firefox, and words would take a second longer to show in Google Docs, e.g.–but it wasn't enough to hamper productivity." The keys connected the loading dock, he notes, are on the teensy incline, but he was able-bodied to type relatively fast on it, albeit with more than mistakes than on equal 11-inch notebooks.

Finally, Cha had the most positive experience of these reviewers of the Atrix as a laptop computer, noting that the unique laptop dock is one of the main reasons CNET gave the Atrix the Best of CES Award in the cell phones and smartphones category. She "perfectly loved" the added functionality of the laptop computer bobtail, career it "an intelligent and easily-executed way to expand the capabilities of the smartphone. The integration was seamless, and it was wonderful to be able to eccentric messages with a full keyboard and catch the choke-full browsing experience." She concurs with other reviewers, though, in expression the big cost of the dock "will certainly be a turn off for many."

See PCWorld's additional coverage of the Atrix 4G as your next PC and a faceoff 'tween the Atrix and Apple's iPhone 4.

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