AT&T launched the Motorola Atrix 2 with very little fanfare, slotting it in with a set of low-end Android smartphones on October 11th. However, the Atrix 2 is the successor to the venerable Atrix 4G and as such at least bears the name of a top-of-the-line Android phone. That name is belied by middle-of-the-road specs and a price point ¡ª $99 on-contract ¡ª that implies that neither Motorola nor AT&T think of the phone as a hero device. Still, just because a phone isn't the recipient of a huge marketing blitz doesn't mean that it can't fit your needs and the Atrix 2 has quiet, business-like demeanor that could appeal to people who aren't concerned with whiz-bang features.
F605 Analog TV
Is the Atrix 2 just another forgettable Android smartphone or does it rise above its pedestrian appearance to become a sleeper hit? Read on to find out!
Hardware / design
Although I'm tempted to use the word "utilitarian" to describe the Atrix 2, a better term would be "business-like." Motorola has given the phone virtually no design flourishes, opting instead to hone the original Atrix's design into an elegant, if somewhat staid slab. The 4.3-inch screen sits beneath an all-glass front that sports a very small, cut bezel all the way around the device. The chrome ring that encircles the rim of the device is similarly thoughtful, as it's a dark shade of silver that does a fine job of hiding fingerprints and is a nice change from the bright chrome I've seen on too many phones over the years. The materials don't feel especially high-end, this being a $99 phone, but neither does the phone pretend to be something it's not.
Display
The Atrix 2's 4.3-inch screen maintains the same 960 x 540 qHD resolution as the Atrix 4G. But even though pixel density is arguably lower here as the screen is .3 inches bigger, I have no complaints. In fact, I find the LCD display here to be bright and crisp with sharp, readable text even at tiny font sizes. Without getting too deep into the Great PenTile Debate, I will just say that if you're skeptical of that method of arranging pixels you will have no problems here ¡ª the Atrix 2 doesn't use it. Hot A9100
I also find that the Atrix 2 has truer color fidelity than on the original Atrix. The screen has more of a yellow tinge, but the tradeoff is that photos seem much less washed out and more true-to-life. Viewing angles on the Atrix 2 aren't stellar but are adequate for a phone, as is visibility in bright sunlight. If you go for the Atrix 2, you'll be sacrificing a chance at the first run of 720p displays to hit the US, but in exchange you're getting a qHD display that is as quietly functional and effective as the rest of the hardware.
Camera
Although you'd like to think that Motorola has gotten more serious about the camera on the Atrix 2 because it put a dedicated camera button on the side, you'd be wrong. First off, it does not act as a two-stage button, instead it's simply one click for immediate focus and snap. Secondly, and more importantly, there's simply nothing that stands out with this 8-megapixel lens. The camera software is an improvement over the stock Android camera experience, but that's not saying much. As for the images themselves, I found that I can achieve nice shots in bright, natural light ¡ª again, small praise. Low light images are quite poor, while overall focus and shutter speed leave a lot to be desired.
X10C Android 2.2
Performance / battery
Motorola has opted for a TI OMAP 4430 dual-core processor clocked at 1GHz paired to 1GB of RAM and 8GB of onboard storage. Those specs aren't top of the line for late 2011 Android phones, but Motorola appears to have done a decent job optimizing for what's on board. I didn't experience much in the way of stutter or lag with the core navigation or apps, though the browser did occasionally take longer to render than I would have liked.
To go on the record for benchmark hounds, my Quadrant scores were consistently in the mid 2200 range while a SunSpider test in the browser returned 4102.7ms ¡ª not as good as the RAZR with its 1.2GHz clock speed, but still respectable for a $99 Android phone.
Motorola also seems to have done some work optimizing for battery life. Although the Atrix 2 has a 1725mAh compared to its predecessor's 1930mAh and also has a larger screen to power, I found I had better battery life overall. Part of that may be due to better efficiency on the TI OMAP processor, but the bottom line is that with my standard heavy usage I was still looking at northwards of 30 percent battery life by the end of the day.
Wrap-up
Unlike the original Atrix 4G, Motorola's Atrix 2 wasn't exactly launched with a bang. That might lead you to believe that the Atrix 2 is a forgettable smartphone and in some ways it definitely is: there are no real standout features here. The Atrix 2 isn't flashy, in fact it's exactly the opposite. Yet while the Atrix 2 might be unassuming, it's also very capable if you set aside the Webtop and the middling camera performance. The Atrix 2 might be designed as a business user's phone, but at $99 it could have a straightforward appeal to the budget-minded consumer. The phrase "it just works" doesn't typically apply to Android phones, but with the Atrix 2 it just might. This phone won't turn any heads, but it also won't fall down on the job.