Motorola Canary (RAZR 2) hands-on!
By Peter Rojas 
posted Jun 14th 2006 4:39PM
posted Jun 14th 2006 4:39PM
That's right, suckas: we got our hands on a Canary (aka the RAZR 2), Motorola's still-unannounced follow-up to the RAZR. We only got to spend a few precious hours with the Canary, but we can confirm that this phone's glossy surface is indeed a magnet for fingerprints (and is a pain to photograph). Otherwise the design doesn't pull any punches -- it's essentially a narrower version of the now-ubiquitous RAZR. Click on for a bunch more pics. Thanks, Boy Genius, for the hook up.
Soft-touch finish on the back.
That standard Moto UI you love to hate.
Side-by-side with the Treo 700p.
Side-by-side with the Nintendo DS Lite.
wow... very nice on the eyes but does it still have a 2 megapix camera?? MP3 player still there too?
uhm.... i don't like it. at all. the RAZR is more atractive. i really don't like the new keypad design.
When is the iTunes version coming out with a miniSD slot?
Haha! I think its awesome that everyone keeps referencing gadgets and all manner of other things with relation to the size of the DS lite. I love it.
so good.
Go Peter!!!
so nasty moto better work on a new OS b4 they start giving birth to phones like rabitts screw
Awesome. The scoop not the phone. Phone not awesome.
i dont know if i like it
i do like the keypad design though
making it skinnier makes the phone look fatter overall
it also looks like the external screen is a little bigger
i guess i would buy one
Correction, that doesn't look like Moto's current UI at all, that's their new Linux based JUIX thing.
Wow, that thing is hideous, the bulge at the bottom is even bigger now and the whole phone looks bigger than a candy bar phone from 7 years ago, no thanks, I'll stick with my A900.
I'm not a big fan of the Razr, this one included. For whatever reason, I always like the Korean phones the better..
Is the body metal? That shiny blue is looking awfully cheapo
SHEiK124: Looks like the standard Moto UI to me. Matches my E815's UI perfectly.
That is indeed the new OS. Engadget needs to do their homework before making some backhanded remark like that.
I will probably buy this phone when it comes out, but I am extremely dissapointed its not 3g. I would still like some more specs though. If its not 3g it better not be over $500.
I can deal with finger marks. My blue sanyo has them already.
Why, oh why, are people so blindly driven by fashion over function? Moto's suck! Get a Sony Ericsson and you can have Moto technology 2 years before Moto even does.
Why no Side-by-side with the current RAZR?
I want to see how much smaller it is?
I just want to know if that firmware can be transferred to the razr...
It looks like the old razr instead of a new one. Don't like it at all.
This thing is so horrible. It looks SO long. The RAZR was long enough but now they are going to make one skinnier and longer. Maybe they can make a yellow banana version.
The UI is also horrible with Moto phones like the RAZR and SLVR. Samsung's A900's UI is awesome compared to Moto's. They have some work to do, it seems cheap.
that is most definitely the same UI on the current RAZR.
current RAZR UI: http://www.mobileburn.com/review.jsp?Page=8&Id=1107
(match that up to the pics)
screenshots of the new UI here: http://www.mobileburn.com/story.jsp?Page=1&Id=1876
I trust Peter Rojas to know what he is talking about.
To tell you the truth it really doesn't look good at all.
jojo: The Canary already has a miniSD slot -- right near the SIM card slot. BengalBoy posted photos on his website, which I would have linked, but he appears to be offline at the moment...
The stupid OS is always the deal-breaker for me. I'd like it otherwise.
Guys, its the new OS. Notice that the center button (that funky three parallel line thing that sits at the center of the main screen) is NOT there. This is the new OS.
Yeah, your right. The graphics actually looks much better. Finally!!
Ok, this isn't that revolutionary. It looks too long and narrow and the height/width ratio look funny for a clamshell phone. I like the look of the current Razr better but I'd take the keypad off the Razr 2. The uneven key separators on the current Razr keypad cause me to make mistakes when I'm text messaging.
I like narrow phones like this -- I can't stand the "fat bastard" phones like the Blackberry and Treo.
"Is that a phone in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"
New OS, old OS, the software looks like garbage either way.
JB: I just removed a button from my keyboard- do I have a new version of Windows now?
The missing button doesn't mean anything.
It is NOT the new OS. I can guarantee you that because my father works for Motorola and is currently in the middle of testing this phone. The three bar menu in the center of the screen has been removed, but that doesn't mean an OS change. Instead, the access the menu, you simply press the center of the directional pad.
eww, a900's are better
nice to see the same shi**y interface. this is the #1 thing that held me back from getting a RAZR.
People bitch and bitch and bitch about the moto software like it's the cool thing to do. Other than the crappy phonebook (Which has been fixed in Canary), what the hell are people's specific gripes? Other than it sucks or blows or ?
Specific gripes:
Slow to respond: press a key, nothing happnes, press again, nothing happens, press again then it happens three times. You either just lost your long text message or blew past the picture you were looking for etc.. annoying as h e you know what.
Menus are awful: menu, down, down, down, down, down, down, select, down down down..... Samsung is the ruler in fast access to all functions. How can you beat menu, 5, 1 to get to you inbox?
Combine these two and you have a combo that is only functional to the technology challenged or those who are slow thinkers.
>> people bitch and bitch and bitch about the moto software like it's the cool thing to do. Other than the crappy phonebook (Which has been fixed in Canary), what the hell are people's specific gripes? Other than it sucks or blows or ?
Specific gripes:
In a nutshell, the Motorola interface is a design disaster. The fonts and icons look particularly bad and dated. Like Windows 95 dated.
I agree that the Samsung interface is usually top notch, though not always. Overall it's clean, easy to get around and the icons are designed well. It also offers a decent amount of customization.
"People bitch and bitch and bitch about the moto software like it's the cool thing to do. Other than the crappy phonebook (Which has been fixed in Canary), what the hell are people's specific gripes? Other than it sucks or blows or ?"
Things that royally suck on my Moto RAZR:
1) Unbelievably crappy phonebook. Why can't they group entries for one person like Nokia and Samsung do it? Why do I have to scroll down 4 entries to get past the 4 numbers that I have associated with one person? Really, super lame.
2) Stupid side buttons that stick out. I had the exact same problem with my Moto V60 and it doesn't look like they did anything different with the Canary. [To Motorola]: RECESS THE DAMN BUTTONS ON THE SIDE OF THE PHONE!!! The stupid phone is always beeping when I sitdown or bend over to pick something up, and it's always getting it's ringtone settings changed. I can't count the number of times I've missed a call because the damn phone set itself to silent ringer in my pocket. I'm just waiting on that life-or-death call that I miss so that I can have a nice lawsuit...
3) My RAZR has so much dust behind the faceplate that I can't read the display anymore in daylight. Do you think that maybe they could make it so that we could clean this once it a while (like the Nokia I use to have), or maybe seal it so that dust couldn't get in there (like my Samsung that I use to have)?
Ughh... it still has that AWFUL GUI!
Motorola needs to take a hint from Samsung (and dare I say LG?), and start fresh with a new interface... that thing is so oldskool!
The only reason I won't touch a moto phone is because of the crappy user interface. I must admit Moto has the potential. I will stick with treo for now.
Does anyone know what service provider will be offering this phone? When is the anticipated release date. Is this going to come out for Verizon? Size aside, what defining features does it have?
So, let me get this straight...
The gripes are:
Slow to respond - What phones have you used recently? Every phone over the past year with the motoOS has been snappy (w/ excpetion of rokr w/ itunes playin)
Menus are awful - Ever hear of shortcuts on the moto OS? Nearly every operation can be shortcutted to a Menu Key + Number press
I do acknowledge some of the menu organization isn't great, but it's no worse than other phones. Just something you have to get used to.
fonts and icons look bad - Recent phones are better, but this is pretty minor...
Overall, those are some pretty lame reasons not to buy a phone. I'd have to agree if you said third party software support (moto OS really only supports midlets) compared to symbian.
Any other specifics people? Let the moto hate flow, but not in vague generalities.
Will never buy Moto phones again... They can't do "missed calls" right
Bye-bye-moto
no picture comparing size/width against a current RAZR???
That is NOT the same UI as the current razr. Moto's old UI used the dedicated menu button, on the keypad it was located right ebtween the toew softkeys. That Canary/Razr 2 does NOT have this dediacated menu button
The reason the center multiple-line button isn't on the menu is because that button doesn't exist on the phone's keypad.
Logic's a wonderful thing.
@stephen, I wouldn't.
and I can guarantee you that the Canary, (if it wasn't with that phone), will be using the new UI.
Trust me, this is the same UI as on the RAZR, it does't look at all like the new UI Moto is introducing. That doesn't mean that the Canary won't get the new OS when it debuts later this year.
It's a newer UI than the current RAZR, but I believe it's the same as the E815. It supports skins, has a few improvements over the old, but its not the NEW new UI. Ok actually scrap that, the E815 has the = button.
He didn't say same OS, he said same UI. They are not the same thing... besides, the icons are exactly the same as the current UI - the new OS/UI has different looking icons.