Motorola ATRIX 2

Available now
14th October 2011

The Motorola ATRIX 2 is slight upgrade of the original ATRIX launched earlier this year, with a larger display, the latest version of the Android OS and an upgraded camera.

Now with a 4.3" 540 x 960 pixel panel (up from 4" on the original), the ATRIX 2 also has a 8 megapixel camera on the back with 1080p HD video capture plus a secondary camera for video calling. Inside is the same 1GHz dual-core processor coupled with 1GB of RAM as in the previous model, which makes it an impressively fast device.

One other upgrade over the old ATRIX is a new type of laptop-style docking station, the LAPDOCK 100, which will be compatible with several models of new Motorola phones.

The operating system is Android 2.3 where the original launched with the out-of-date Android 2.2, and of course it can do everything that every other Android phone can do, although more quickly than most.

All the usual Android smartphone features are here too, including GPS, WiFi, 3.5G support (up to 21Mbps), expandable memory (with a 2GB card in the box), Bluetooth and USB connectivity. There's also an HDMI port and a 3.5mm audio connector.

Inside is a large 1785 mAh battery quoted as giving up to 8.5 hours talktime and 15.9 days standby time. The ATRIX 2 measures 126 x 66 x 10.4mm and weighs 147 grams.

Perhaps this is more of an ATRIX+ rather than the significant upgrade you would expect from the name, and it seems to be lagging behind some of Samsung's latest announcements when it comes to raw processing power. Still, the ATRIX 2 looks like a very impressive device.

The bad news is that Motorola seems to be bypassing Europe, as they have done with the Motorola Milestone 3. The ATRIX 2 will be available on AT&T in the US this month, followed by a rollout to China, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. No wording was given on pricing, but we would expect to see this priced at roughly the same level as the Samsung Galaxy S II.