Motorola Atrix review

We’ve already seen the tablet that can also be a laptop, the Asus Eee Pad Transformer, and now with the Motorola Atrix, we have a smartphone that can be a laptop or a desktop PC. Given how bullish so many people have been about mobile devices of late, it seems strange that some manufacturers aren’t quite ready to let go of the keyboard.

Motorola does have a rather smart concept here, though. The key idea is that you only need one device, namely the Atrix smartphone; no laptop, desktop, tablet and media player, just a phone. That way you only have one device you need keep updated with the latest software. All your bookmarks and files are in one place, too, or stored in the cloud.

ATRIX REVOLUTIONS

Of course on one level, the Atrix functions just like any other Android smartphone, at first glance we can’t see anyone buying this handset over sleeker examples (such as the Samsung Galaxy S2), if they weren’t also interested in the so-called LapDock or HD Multimedia Dock. But look a little deeper and it certainly has its advantages.

The handset’s 4in screen has a big resolution of 960×540 pixels. This is close to Apple’s much-talked-about retina display, with its 960×640 resolution, although the Atrix does have a larger screen – the iPhone 4’s measures only 3.5in. In use it’s still highly-detailed, bright and crisp, but can’t quite compare to the Galaxy S2’s AMOLED screen. Inside is a 1GHz dual-core processor, and Android feels slick and responsive. Like most other dual-core smartphones and tablets, it uses Nvidia’s Tegra 2 chipset.