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The Razr HD is a stylish and capable piece of hardware. It looks great in black or white, and feels nice thanks to its Kevlar backing and edge-to-edge Gorilla Glass. We have only the slightest reservations about it, simply because smartphones have become so very competitive at this price point.
We liked
First off, the design. The Razr HD is much better looking than its predecessor, the Razr. That edge-to-edge screen gives it a bold, simple face and capitalises on the sizeable real estate of the device. It's also pretty thin for a device with a 4.7-inch screen and a big battery.
The 1.5GHz dual-core proves that not every phone needs four cores to be a premium device. The Razr HD doesn't perform as well as the quad-core packing Galaxy S3, Optimus G or HTC One X+, but it's perfectly capable of running Android and a flurry of apps. It takes hefty multitasking to bring about minor stuttering.
The version of the OS it runs is close to vanilla, but the few tweaks Motorola has implemented are actually quite nice. The Quick Settings menu and Circles widgets were two of our favourites.
Being exclusive to Telstra's 4G LTE network doesn't hurt these new Razrs either. While Telstra's service is by no means cheap, it was blazing fast and reliable. While using the phone in Sydney, we rarely ended up with less than four bars or on 3G service.
The battery is great too. Motorola's claims of 7 hours of YouTube streaming, and 6 hours of 4G LTE came through, thanks to a big 2530 mAh battery and energy sipping dual-core processor.
Finally, we liked the Razr HD's big, sharp screen. The high contrast colours are eye catching, and the extra visual real estate is great for gaming and watching videos.
We disliked
The camera is nothing special. It takes pretty average to subpar pictures in anything but perfect outdoor light.
There's a decent amount of Telstra bloatware consumers can surely do without it, all of which cannot be uninstalled. It can be hidden though, which is half a step in the right direction.
Verdict
The Razr HD is a very good phone. The screen and overall design is very handsome. Its dual-core processor is capable, and it only sips battery power. It's a long lasting, reliable device that still has more than enough power to get the job done.
Being exclusive to Telstra is no handicap either, since the company's 4G LTE service is expanding and fast.
There's nothing wrong with the device, except for a mediocre camera. It's just that competition is so stiff. At this price you could have one of our other favourite phones, the iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy S3.
The choice essentially comes down to personal preference. While we prefer the aluminum and Kevlar construction of the Razr HD to the more plastic feeling construction of the Galaxy S3 and Optimus G, there is something to be said for quad-core power. And while many weren't crazy about what iOS 6 brought to the table (and took away. We're looking at you, Apple maps), it can't be denied that the iPhone 5 is one of the best phones out there.
Ultimately, it's a very fine phone, but struggles to stand out amongst the competition. Remember how we mentioned that Motorola pays George Lucas to use the name Droid? To put our verdict in Star Wars terms, the Razr HD is far more of a helpful R2-D2 than fussy C-3PO, but it's not quite capable of assassinating the competition like IG-88.
