Motorola has made good on the deal it penned with Intel in January, introducing the Motorola Razr i, its first smartphone to run an Intel processor.
The Android-based smartphone is a reconfiguration of the Razr M that Motorola, with Google, introduced Sept. 5 in New York City. Both phones feature barely there bezels so their displays stretch more truly edge-to-edge. The result is a form factor that surprises by supporting a color-saturated 4.7-inch display, while looking like it should do nothing of the sort. Motorola calls it “more screen with less phone.”
With a 2GHz Intel Atom processor, say Motorola and Intel, the result is an even faster user experience with a battery life that’s still roughly 40 percent longer than the competition’s. Like the Razr M, the Razr i can last for 20 hours with mixed use.
“Together with Intel, we’re redefining what people can expect from a mobile device,” Jim Wicks, Motorola Mobility’s senior vice president of Consumer Experience Design, said in a Sept. 18 statement. “Razr i delivers just that when you put an Intel-fast processor in a beautifully designed phone and add in extra long battery life.”
Like the Razr M, the Razr i runs Android Ice Cream Sandwich but will soon be upgradable to Jelly Bean; measures 60.9 by 122.5 by 8.3mm; and features a 4.3-inch qHD 540 by 960 Super AMOLED Advanced display, a 2000mAh battery, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of ROM and a microSD card slot for additional storage.
Both Motorola smartphones have NFC and splash-proof surfaces that include a DuPont Kevlar fabric on the back and Corning Gorilla Glass up front. Both also feature 8-megapixel rear-facing cameras and VGA cameras up front, though
Motorola makes a special point of saying that the Razr i’s is an “instant launch” camera, capable of snapping 10 photos in just 1 second.
Also different are the networks they support. The Razri i—which will head for select markets in Europe and Latin America in October—doesn’t support Long Term Evolution (LTE).
“Intel’s goal is to provide compelling technology options that translate into great user benefits and experiences,” Erik Reid, general manager of Intel’s Mobile and Communications Group, said in a statement. “Razr i is a great proofpoint in the collaboration and we’re thrilled to be working with Motorola to bring this edge-to-edge experience enhanced with Intel Inside to people around the world.”
At the Consumer Electronics Show in January, both Motorola and Lenovo said they would this year begin offering phones running processors based on Intel’s “Medfield” technology, as has ZTE and wireless carrier Orange. With Intel’s profits from PC sales falling, as the world shifts toward more mobile devices, the new Intel chips have been optimized for smartphones and tablets.
Since the time that Motorola and Intel signed their deal, Google has completed its $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola.
Introducing the Razr M alongside new Razr HD and Razr Maxx HD smartphones Sept. 5, new Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside told event attendees, “The new Motorola starts today.”