HTC Inspire 4G or Motorola Atrix 4G

Which phone to purchase next week?

  • HTC Inspire 4G

    Votes: 20 30.8%
  • Motorola Atrix 4G

    Votes: 45 69.2%

  • Total voters
    65

FerraraZ

Gawd
Joined
Feb 4, 2010
Messages
578
Now I'm pretty sure this poll will be a land slide from everything I'm reading on the forums but thought I'd make the thread none the less. I'm selling my iphone 4 32gb on ebay, hoping to get a pretty penny and buying one of these phones next week off contract (no sense in extending the contract when I can ACTUALLY afford something!) I've read honestly good and bad about both phones but I'm just soo pumped for android and soo ready (had an original Droid rooted/customized, super happy with it). Below are like the main pro's and cons about each phone and I just cant decide what factors are more important

HTC Inspire 4G

PROS
-4G network
- HTC build quality/experience
- very mod friendly phone (unlocked bootloader?)
- Cheap

CONS
-Essentially rehashed
- No dual core
- Bad battery?
- No front camera

MOTO Atrix 4G

PROS
-4G network
-Fastest Android to date
- Front Facing Camera

CONS
-Locked bootloader (no custom ROMS)
- Moto Blur (never tried it, is it really bad?)
- webTop still not up to snuff
- Data Speeds? (per Engadget's review, may not be fair since 4G isnt deployed)


Anyway I'd love people to vote and give their feelings. At what point does build quality and user experience take over hardware. The locked bootloader is like the really only nagging thing in my mind about the Atrix just because the Android dev community is incredible with what they can do with phones that are friendly with them.
-Great battery life / front facing cam
 
There isn't enough known about the Inspire at this point for me to offer my choice - the Atrix is just one god-fucking-awful powerful and nice piece of hardware which leaves the Inspire in the dust, period. But, the locked down nature of the device is where the problems for us enthusiasts comes in since we like to do stuff with ours, try out custom ROMs, etc.

The Inspire may turn out to be very hackable, but I'm going to bet it won't match what the HD2 can do in that respect. I keep checking XDA-Developers to see what's new with the Inspire and whether or not people are going to be able to get some custom stuff on there; as soon as they do and it shows itself to be a very "hack-friendly" device, then I can offer a choice I'd make.

If I were not an enthusiast, never bothered with custom ROMs, was a typical average Joe (not me, I assure you) I'd grab the Atrix without skipping a beat. I do love HTC products, but that damned thing offers too much to dismiss...

OP:

You should mention that the Atrix is the first dual-core smartphone, which makes it a big deal, much bigger than even the Inspire's incredibly low $100 price point w/2 year contract. There's still a ton of people that don't know the Atrix is dual-core.
 
I Don't care if the fucking atrix had an overclocked Intel 980x 6 core, with motoblur it would be fucking garbage. If you want the android experience then get a phone & Get an AOSP rom for it. That will show you what android really is about.

Aside from that the Inspire hardware is just dead sexy & its a mature product, not a 1st gen with 1st gen bugs to arise.
 
I cant believe I'm saying this because I feel the atrix hardware wise has all the features but I think I'm going for the Inspire! The more I've read the more its been positive and the major faults for me is front facing camera and battery life which I'm reading is not that bad.

Can someone with an Inspire 4G comment on their battery life compared to how they are using it?
 
my wife badly wanted an android phone, we both have only had flip or slider dumb phones. She mentioned that she wanted the Inspire.. it was only $69 with 2 year contract. Bought it through amazonwireless

My upgrade is in another few months, so I'm interested to see how the Inspire stacks up or if anything better comes out between now and then.

I don't really care for the atrix at the moment.. I don't need the gimmicky "laptop" or the dual core cpu. I can't really stomach paying 200 bucks for a phone after rebate. But I'm a tightwad
 
Its so hard to say what is best because that locked bootloader is such a killer variable.
 
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Moto Atrix can be rooted and can be sideloaded.

http://androidforums.com/motorola-atrix-4g/281199-how-root-motorola-atrix-4g-enable-sideloading.html

http://androidforums.com/motorola-atrix-4g/280815-updated-atrix-4g-rooted.html

No surprise there that the xda/etc devs will be able to find a way.

Picking up my moto atrix tomorrow!

Well I guess I'm with you. I'll put my faith in Moto and dev's that they can offer the "true google experience". HTC Inspire seems like a hell of a phone to me but to pass up next gen android hardware is not something I'm going to pass up.
 
Moto Atrix can be rooted and can be sideloaded.

http://androidforums.com/motorola-atrix-4g/281199-how-root-motorola-atrix-4g-enable-sideloading.html

http://androidforums.com/motorola-atrix-4g/280815-updated-atrix-4g-rooted.html

No surprise there that the xda/etc devs will be able to find a way.

Picking up my moto atrix tomorrow!

rooting and sideloading still doesnt allow clean/unbloated ROMs to be installed.... the devs still haven't been able to figure out the motorola milestone... and that phone is almost 2 years old....

so don't hold your breath....
 
Hardware wise, it's no contest. The atrix blows the inspire and anything else for that matter out of the water. That said, as some whose had an evo since launch day, the thing I love the most about this phone is the ability to customize it with roms/kernels of my choice. There is no substitute for that and I just have my doubts about what they'll be able to do with the atrix.
 
So disappointed with the Atrix in person, it's not even funny. The screen looks pixelated, not at all as clear as the iPhone 4. The plastic on the screen CAN'T be gorilla glass, it flexes like crazy when pressure is applied. I wont even go into the plastic (sorry, "vacuum metalized" lol) body. I cant justify sidegrading from an Evo to an Inspire, and the Atrix is out for me. Going to probably wait for HTC's dual core options later on in the year.
 
Another thing to add to cons: the atrix has an rgbw pentile matrix with 2 subpixels per pixel instead of 3.
 
So disappointed with the Atrix in person, it's not even funny. The screen looks pixelated, not at all as clear as the iPhone 4. The plastic on the screen CAN'T be gorilla glass, it flexes like crazy when pressure is applied. I wont even go into the plastic (sorry, "vacuum metalized" lol) body. I cant justify sidegrading from an Evo to an Inspire, and the Atrix is out for me. Going to probably wait for HTC's dual core options later on in the year.

I'm disappointed aswell. Just played around with the atrix today at the AT&T store, and the screen resolution doesnt compare to iphone4s. Its not clear and crisp, it looks kinda pixelated like the samsung galaxy phones. I sold my Droid X early, because i was so forward looking at this qhd screen. :(
 
I got my Atrix on Monday and it's very nice. I sold my iPhone 4 about two months ago to switch to the Android side and I haven't missed Apple's BS one bit.
 
Don't get me wrong the phone is fast as heck. But the feature was really looking for was the high res screen. Personally I think that the Droid X screen looks better, even though it has a lower resolution.
 
I really can't stand the fact that they are putting 4G in phone names now when they don't actually have a 4G network...
 
I don't see how you can count the webtop as a con in a comparison between the Inspire and the Atrix.

If it's a bad implementation, then don't use it. You can't have a negative on a feature that the competitor doesn't offer that in no way impedes the use of every other function or aesthetic on the phone.

IE. If you don't like it, then it's simply an irrelevant feature, NOT A CON.
 
I've owned 3 phones that used Gorilla Glass, and am familiar with a handful more. I've never seen screen flex like this since the old plastic resistive screens.
 
Yeah I got my Atrix and I havent missed my iphone at all. I know the iphone's screen is great but I mean cmon the difference isnt that big. Its more noticeable for text.

P.S. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Phone Portal, when I'm at work I just have a tab opened with that so I can use my phone without making it seem like I'm using my phone!

I think this phone is just amazing
 
I like the screen size of the Inspire, but the Atrix has a few more things that draw me in.
Front facing camera
Dual Core Processor (just because im techy and want it)
the finger print reader
DLNA support
the docks for it
 
I don't see how you can count the webtop as a con in a comparison between the Inspire and the Atrix.

If it's a bad implementation, then don't use it. You can't have a negative on a feature that the competitor doesn't offer that in no way impedes the use of every other function or aesthetic on the phone.

IE. If you don't like it, then it's simply an irrelevant feature, NOT A CON.

It can be a con if its a feature your paying a premium price for to even use. It doesnt deliver and it sucks, its a Con of the phone any way you look at it.

This coming from an Atrix owner and LOVER btw so I know what I'm talking about.
 
My wife's Inspire came in a few days ago... had some time to mess around with it and help get it synced up with her google and social networking accounts. Very nice phone.

I'll probably getting one myself when my upgrade is up in April, unless something better comes out between now and then.
 
I really can't stand the fact that they are putting 4G in phone names now when they don't actually have a 4G network...
its the same reason all the companies do it. 4g if already available in some of the bigger cities and is in the works all over the us by the end of the year. why would you not offer them to your customers who are about to sign a two year commitment?
 
Just picked up the "ATRIX4G" at COSTCO for $119.99 on 2/26/11, if anyone's interested
 
Just picked up the "ATRIX4G" at COSTCO for $119.99 on 2/26/11, if anyone's interested

Same here. I get just as long runtime as I did with my battery (down to 30% by 11pm). Loving it coming from old BlackBerry. Some of the MotoBlur integration stuff is annoying but so far it was well worth my $119. Also Costco was the easiest upgrade I have ever done.
 
Love my Atrix, I'll trade the slight resolution advantage of the iphone4 for a bigger screen and flawless Flash support. The Atrix also has better battery life than the iphone4. I'm very pleased so far, I already have wifi tethering, i've sideloaded all the apps I needed and I got rid of all the bloatware without even rooting the device. I have no complaints so far it's much better than the iphone4. I've never owned an iphone 4 but I've played around with my sisters i4 and that makes me an expert on the subject.
 
Love my Atrix, I'll trade the slight resolution advantage of the iphone4 for a bigger screen and flawless Flash support. The Atrix also has better battery life than the iphone4. I'm very pleased so far, I already have wifi tethering, i've sideloaded all the apps I needed and I got rid of all the bloatware without even rooting the device. I have no complaints so far it's much better than the iphone4. I've never owned an iphone 4 but I've played around with my sisters i4 and that makes me an expert on the subject.

That in no way makes you an expert. Using the phone 24/7 may.
 
It can be a con if its a feature your paying a premium price for to even use. It doesnt deliver and it sucks, its a Con of the phone any way you look at it.

This coming from an Atrix owner and LOVER btw so I know what I'm talking about.

How are you paying extra for it? Its an add on and the ability to use it doesn't affect the purchasing cost of the device.
 
How are you paying extra for it? Its an add on and the ability to use it doesn't affect the purchasing cost of the device.

Who's the say that without webtop the device wouldnt have been 100 less just like the inspire?
 
I rooted my EVO originally just so I could use the free WiFi Tether (which doesn't require a software install on the clients, unlike tether apps on market) and Clockword (to make full phone/OS backups). I've discovered a world of tweaks that truly breed new life into the device tho, and actually add features... I understand it's hard to turn all of that down.

I don't care all that much for theme'ing and changing the look of my phone too much (beyond a custom launcher and some widgets), so I'm not even gonna go into that even though it's a world in and of itself... But there's a ton of very neat things you can accomplish thru custom ROMs and such. Some of the highlights for me include adding power toggle widgets (GPS, WiFi, etc) to the notification pane (VERY convenient) and being able to use my HDMI out to mirror my phone on an HDTV (not just display photos/videos).

Being able to switch from a Sense ROM to something vanilla and AOSP like Cyanogne is also a nice option to have, you can hop unto new Android versions before your manufacturer ever dreams of releasing an update... Although manufacturers like HTC/Moto are relatively timely w/updates, they also tend to leak them in advance (ghetto beta testing if you ask me) and if you're rooted you can get in on that early as well. HTC must've leaked like three different builds of the Froyo update before the official one came out OTA. Custom ROMs & kernels can also improve battery life and performance, it's pretty amazing what the devs at XDA do w/these devices.

All that being said, if I was on AT&T I'd be tempted to go for the Atrix all the same. It's just a superior device, that large 1800mAh battery in particular seems very appealing... And it's slimmer than the Inspire (or even the Captivate). Forget about the Webtop stuff, proprietary crap that will probably never catch on... The concept is genius, the execution leaves much to be desired and the accessories are overpriced. Regardless of that, the Atrix still looks like the best Android phone out right now.

I don't think Blur is that big of a deal, just run an alternate launcher like ADW or LaucnherPro... Sure, there's other aspects of Blur that still creep in on other areas of the phone (account settings, calendar/txt apps, etc.), but it's mostly custom apps and you can always download an alternative to those. The Atrix can be rooted even if the bootloader is locked so you can probably uninstall or freeze some of the Blur/AT&T bloat regardless of whether or not you can load a custom ROM.

I love my EVO, but at this point (if I was on AT&T) I'd either get the Atrix or I'd wait to see what else comes out. The Inspire is a bit dated, I can't believe Verizon still hasn't released the Thunderbolt (Inspire/EVO equivalent), at 'least they left the front camera in and added LTE. We still don't know what US carriers will carry the LG Optimus 2X, it'll probably be several (just like the Optimus S/T); ditto for the Galaxy S2 (though Samsung's track record w/software leaves much to be desired), and HTC is definitely playing it's dual-core cards close to the vest.
 
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I've read a fair bit about the Atrix btw but didn't get around to playing with it in-store 'till today... Frankly the screen seemed fine to me, pretty bright and clear. I guess I'm just not as sensitive to the PenTile arrangement as others... Or maybe the higher resolution offsets it to a certain degree. It definitely didn't feel cheap at all tho, and I didn't notice any screen flex, maybe the guy that witnessed that just fondled a janky demo unit that had been manhandled? Dunno... It seemed pretty solid to me.

I really liked the placement of the power button. It's a bit cumbersome on the EVO/Inspire, hardly a dealbreaker but not the most comfortable placement either, you get used to it tho. Moto's build quality is generally regardednas superior to HTC's (the original Droid was a brick), I'm surprised you seem to view it the other way around in the OP. I actually like the headphone jack on the bottom too, but I may be in the majority there.

I guess people like it up top so it's easier to hold while using headphones? Generally if I'm listening to music on it, the phone is in my pocket, and I like to slide it in top-first (so it's more natural to slip out and hold up in one motion). /shrug
 
On speed alone I would go for the Atrix 4G. I'd expect Android to be developed for super-fast, and if you want to keep your phone for a reasonable period of time and use everything out there smoothly and quickly, the speed makes a big difference.
 
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