It took longer than both Google and Verizon expected, but the Motorola Droid Razr MAXX 4G Android smartphone has finally received the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) operating system update. What was already a good phone has become better thanks to the smooth operation of ICS, and coupled with the features, software and hardware the Droid Razr MAXX 4G stole from its sibling the skinny Droid Razr, the marriage is a good one. You probably already know that the Droid Razr MAXX is basically the Droid Razr on battery steroids, as an 85% larger cell has been added to the Razr MAXX, giving it 21.5 hours of talk time or 15 hours of video playback from a single charge, both numbers ranking as the best of any smartphone.
Buy the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx starting at $99.
And though that huge battery obviously makes a difference in the cell phone’s profile, the Droid Razr MAXX is still exceptionally thin, at only 0.35 inches (8.99 mm) in thickness. A 4.3 inch Super AMOLED advanced touchscreen display accepts multitouch, capacitive gestures, and has a screen resolution of 540 x 960 pixels. That display is rendered at 256 pixels per inch and more than 16 million separate colors, and a scratch resistant layer of Corning Gorilla Glass overlays the screen.
The Kevlar and aluminum coated chassis helps make the Droid Razr Maxx phone splash-proof, 16 GB of storage are built in and an additional removable 16 GB microSD card ships with the handset. 1.0 GB of RAM memory is on board, a PowerVR SGX540 GPU handles all graphics processing, and a dual core 1.2 GHz central processor runs the show. The microSD slot also provides microSDHC support, and accepts cards up to 32 GB.
An 8.0 megapixel camcorder on the back of the handset offers autofocus, image stabilizing and other customization features, and records video in 1,080P HD resolution and 30 frames per second. There is also a 1.3 megapixel chat cam up front, and a YouTube video player joins a built-in music player in the multimedia package on board the Droid Razr MAXX 4G.
ICS 4.0 has delivered a lot of nice extras, including a new lock screen that lets you move straight to phone, camera, text or messaging functions. ICS has also improved camera operability, negated any lag time that was previously present when the handset’s orientation changed from portrait to landscape and back, and adds Windows-like folders. The Droid Razr MAXX/ICS marriage also provides a “voice to text” feature that allows you to dictate e-mails and texts, and adds text to any field that the virtual keyboard can access. The handset is currently selling for $99 on contract at select retailers, and is exclusive to the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network. Buy the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx starting at $99.
July 8, 2012 at 1:32 pm
ICS has cancelled out my Razr Maxx’s battery advantage. I now have about the same number of hours talk/usage time that I had with my original Droid. And the icons in the notification bar are now too small and dim — they’re nearly invisible, and there’s no way to adjust size or brightness. A fancy UI is worthless if you have to sacrifice basic functions.
July 9, 2012 at 8:25 am
Lots of problems with upgrade. Phone keeps losing service
Network problems cuttng on and off. verizon tec couldn’t fix. they are sending me new phone told me not to download update.
July 9, 2012 at 2:25 pm
Don’t download until the bugs are fixed. No task manager and battery drains fast.
July 10, 2012 at 2:57 am
I’ve seen none of the problems described. One warning I saw on many web sites was to do the upgrade only after factory resetting the phone. So that’s what I did. Wiped the phone. Restarted. Then the only thing I did before starting the upgrade was enter my google ID but I did not restore data. Did the upgrade. Let the phone reboot then factory reset again. Then I went through a normal set up including restoring apps, contacts, setting up email, etc. As near as I can tell I’m getting exactly the same battery life as before and absolutely no app problems (also as before). The only difference I noticed is that there is a little less free memory. I think the memory manager is playing it a little closer on ICS than 2.3.
July 10, 2012 at 7:07 am
Same here, battery life has been cut in half, auto complete in email and text function quit working…I do like the updated touch keyboard.
July 10, 2012 at 5:48 pm
I have had no problems with the upgrade and battery life is the same for me. No way would I go back to Gingerbread.
July 11, 2012 at 12:01 am
I had an issue when I updated to ICS. I wasn’t receiving 4G after the update. My battery was draining faster than my Thunderbolt because it was stuck on 3G looking for a 4G signal. Tried to restore to default and nothing changed, tech support couldn’t figure out what the issue was either. They ended up sending me a new one. Works like a charm, battery life is just the same if not better. If you’re having issues, I would call and request a new phone. They should give you one with out any hassle.