Motorola Edison (Atrix 2) for AT&T preview

Motorola has been rumored newly to be operative on an ATT smartphone codenamed “Edison” that would expected reinstate a Atrix 4G in a lineup, and as fitness would have it, we had an eventuality to play with one today. When we cruise a timeline of events, this is a flattering engaging story: both a Atrix and Droid Bionic were announced as closely associated dual-core cousins during Motorola’s press eventuality during CES final January, yet a Droid Bionic just came out a few days ago after being taken behind to a sketch house for a vital redesign. The Atrix, meanwhile, came out on report behind in February, so it’s due for some of a upgrades a Bionic has received… and that’s where a Edison comes in. Follow a mangle for cinema and a full impressions.

Let’s only cut to a chase: this is a poetic phone — it looks and feels fantastic. I’d disagree that a Droid Bionic is both Motorola’s best Android bid to date and also one of a best smartphones on a marketplace today, period, and a Edison does a worthy pursuit of translating that underline set over to ATT. It also backs off a Bionic’s harsh, squared-off pattern language, opting for a curvier look; in fact, during a glance, it roughly looks some-more like an HTC or a Samsung. Regardless of a appearance, a construction seems to be classical Moto: stout and on a complicated side (in a pleasing way, not an worried one).

For controls and ports, you’ve got a 3.5mm headphone jack centered along a tip corner subsequent to a delegate mic (presumably for sound cancellation) along with a flush energy / close symbol that is sincerely easy to press. The right corner has a volume rocker along with a dedicated camera symbol — increasingly singular these days — yet we were unhappy to learn that it’s single-stage; there’s no approach to trigger a concentration by dire it median down. The left corner has Motorola’s standard Micro USB and HDMI ports toward a bottom.

I’d guess a Edison to be somewhere between 9.5 and 10.5mm thick. Unlike a Bionic, it has no camera strike on a behind — it’s even all a approach across, and as we mentioned before, it looks nicer. The battery cover is done of a textured tough matte plastic, a small bit like a Galaxy S II’s. It shares a Bionic’s 1735mAh battery, that is roughly 200mAh down from a large dungeon that ships with a strange Atrix; it’s not famous either there’ll be an extended dungeon accessible matching to a Bionic’s 2760mAh option.

The 8-megapixel camera with 1080p video constraint and singular LED peep is also a carry-over from a Bionic, it seems (the camera app is also identical). What’s different, though, is a screen. Both are 4.3-inch qHD LCDs, yet we immediately beheld that a Edison lacked a conspicuous induce patterns on plain shades of gray that we see on a Bionic — we can unequivocally provoke this out in a Settings screen, for instance. Sure enough, a macro shot of both displays seems to prove that they’ve changed divided from a much-maligned PenTile pixel arrangement. we also found that a Edison had a intensely reduce tone heat than a Bionic, yet a program on a section isn’t final and that could simply be tweaked before to launch.

The Edison’s program is really matching to other Motorolas we’ve seen launch in a final integrate months — it’s an intensely lightweight skin that doesn’t many remind us of a Blur of old. The handling complement is identified as Android 2.3.5. Crapware is comparatively light — we happened to notice a ATT Music Store in a app drawer, for one — and we’re told that many of a rubbish can be uninstalled by a user, that is nice.

What about performance? We saw Quadrant formula between around 2,100 and 2,400, that falls in line with what you’d design out of a 1GHz OMAP 4. Moto’s lightweight skin felt well-spoken and snappy, yet we’d wish to take it for a many longer exam expostulate before sketch any conclusions. We saw 1GB of RAM reported, that creates clarity deliberation that this is really a Webtop-enabled phone — a Micro USB and HDMI ports are positioned rightly for docking, and there are Webtop options in a Settings screen. For storage, you’ve got 8GB internally and microSD expansion. We weren’t means to get it to bond to ATT’s new LTE use here in Chicago, so it looks like HSPA+ is a best that it’ll do. Interestingly, like a strange Atrix, a standing bar shows “H+” instead of a “4G” that a Elevate 4G shows when it’s in HSPA+ coverage.

We don’t have any information on when a Edison competence be available, yet we’re told that a build Motorola’s now using is utterly fast and seems prepared to go — and in a brief time with it, we’d tend to agree. Given all a rumors of an imminent assault of 720p displays (and, of course, Ice Cream Sandwich) in a entrance weeks and months, we’d suggest ATT get this retailed fast if they wish to gain on it; by all appearances, it’s a plain device that deserves a small time in a high-end shelf space alongside a Galaxy S II.