Motorola Droid Razr Vs. Galaxy S2: Who Wins the Race?

The Motorola Droid Razr and the Samsung Galaxy S II are fighting out with each other. The Razr, declared the thinnest smartphone by Motorola Mobility, was unveiled a few days back. In a very short period of time, the phone (boasting a marvelous design and smart specs) is neck-and-neck with the Galaxy S2, which hit the markets in April earlier this year. The Samsung device has been ruling the markets since its launch.

However, with it smart design and chic build, Motorola has set a new benchmark. The question is - is it better than the S2?

Read on, for a detailed comparison of the software and hardware of the two superheroes in the smartphone world.

Build

Both smartphones are incredibly good-looking and designed to be very user-friendly. Of the two, however, the S2 is undoubtedly the lighter; the Razr, on the other hand is, in fact, the thinnest phone on the planet.

The Samsung Galaxy S2 has dimensions of 125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5 mm and weighs 116g, while the Razr has dimensions of 130.7 x 68.9 x 7.1 mm, curvy edges and weighs 127g. The latter is marginally heavier because of its splash-resistance capacity.

The Galaxy S2 is available in three variants on three different carriers in the U.S. - AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. The phone, on these carriers, has been renamed the Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic 4G Touch. The physical build of the phone is different on the Sprint and T-Mobile networks - 129.5 x 68.6 x 9.6 mm and 129 grams on the former network and 131 x 70 x 9 mm on the latter. The AT&T version has retained original dimensions and weight.

Screen Resolution/Display

The Samsung Galaxy S2 has a 4.3 inch Super AMOLED plus screen with 800 x 480 resolution. The Razr has the same screen size but sports the 4.3 inch Super AMOLED Advanced display with qHD (960×540 pixels) resolution. The latter's screen is made with Kevlar fiber, to make the phone extra tough. It also has the Corning Gorilla scratchproof glass. In terms of performance, while the Super AMOLED displays do not work well in daylight, the Super AMOLED Plus displays offer excellent visibility, even during daytime.

Battery Backup

Both phones have a Li - Ion type battery. The capacity of Moto Droid Razr's battery is 1780 mAh, while the Samsung Galaxy S2 has a 1650 mAh capacity. The Motorola phone provides standby backup of 204 hours (on 2G networks), whereas the S2 gives 710 hours standby. Talk time on the former is up to 12 hours and 50 minutes, which is not as good as the S2's 18 hours and 33 minutes offer (for 2G networks).

Camera, Imaging and Video

Both devices have an 8 megapixel camera which comes with similar features such as Flash (LED), Auto-Focus, digital zoom, touch-focus, Geo-tagging, face detection and image stabilization. The difference, however, is the fact that the Razr's front-facing camera can record 720p HD videos.

Memory

Both devices come with a maximum internal memory configuration of 16GB and 1GB of RAM. Usable memory can be extended to 32GB, via an external microSD card slot.

Operating System

Both smartphones run on Android's 2.3 Gingerbread OS. The Galaxy S2 is powered by a dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, Mali-400MP GPU, Exynos chipset; the Droid Razr has a 1.2GHz dual-core Cortex-A9 CPU, PowerVR SGX540 GPU, TI OMAP 4430 chipset. The features of both phones should allow for power-packed, smooth and fast performances.

Multimedia and Other Features

Both devices have similar multimedia capabilities, like videos, music, FM radio, a YouTube player, Calendar, Google Talk and Picasa integration. However, the Samsung Galaxy S2 sports active noise cancellation with a dedicated microphone; a feature missing in the Razr.

Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and USB Connectivity

For Bluetooth connectivity, the Droid Razr sports an advanced 4.0 version, whereas the Galaxy S2 has the 3.0 version. However, the Droid Razr does not have direct a Wi-Fi feature, which gives the Samsung phone an edge. Furthermore, the latte also sports an on-the-go USB feature and Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, both of which are missing in the Razr. On the other hand, the Razr has HDMI capabilities, which the Galaxy S2 doesn't.

Potential users, looking for a mobile that should dominate the market in the near future, sports great features and a longer battery backup will opt for the Galaxy S2. However, if there is someone ready to experiment with a new smartphone that is manufactured by a globally renowned company, could do worse than trying out the Droid Razr.