Smartphone shootout: Motorola Atrix vs Samsung Galaxy S2

Motorola Atrix wowed smartphone fans with its magnanimous specifications and now the mini-beast is due to arrive a week earlier than the specified date of March 6.

eWeek reported that the Android-powered phone which transforms into a laptop with a dock will arrive in stores on Feb.22. Earlier AT&T had said that the phone will be available for $199 with a two-year contract from March 6. AT&T also said that customers who have pre-ordered the phone will receive the phone as early as Feb. 21.

While Atrix stole the show at CES 2011 in Las Vegas, it's Samsung Galaxy S2 which is calling the shots in Mobile World Congress currently going on in Barcelona. A teaser video released last week had caught the imagination of Android fan boys with multiple features. However, verdict is awaited as to whether Galaxy S2 has the advantage to take on Atrix.

Motorola Atrix runs on Android 2.2 or Froyo but the Samsung Galaxy S2 brings the flavor of Gingerbread or Android 2.3, the latest version of Android for smartphones that was released on Nexus S by Google - which was designed by Samsung. The use of Android 2.3 in Galaxy S2 is packed with loads of features. Gingerbread ushered in features like Google Maps, near field communication (NFC) and SIP, the protocol that VoIP calls possible. However, Atrix is also upgradable to Android 2.3.

Both Motorola Atrix and Samsung Galaxy S2 are powered by dual-core processor. Atrix runs on an Nvidia Tegra 2 processor running at 1GHz per core. Details about the brand of processor used in Galaxy S2 has not been revealed but expectations are that it could be the new dual-core line of processor called Exynos which is also likely to power its Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Atrix sports a 4-inch display with 960x540 screen resolution while it is reported that Galaxy S2 will have a 4.3-inch display with 800x480 in resolution. While the larger screen gives sufficient room for projecting the effect of Gingerbread, the resolution seems rather less compared to Motorola's. Also 4.3-inch display makes Galaxy S2 rather unfriendly when it comes to placing it in smaller pockets. CNET reported that the phone is rather light in comparison to its size. Atrix weighs around 4.8 ounces while Galaxy S2 around 4.9 ounces. Galaxy S2 is about 9.9mm thick while Atrix is about 10.95mm thick.

On the memory front, both Atrix and Galaxy S2 sport 1GB in RAM with 16GB internal memory and both can support up to 32GB in memory.

Atrix offers an 5MP rear-facing camera and a 0.3 MP front facing camera while Galaxy S2 offers an 8MP rear and 2 MP front facing camera. It is also reported that S2 offers 1080p video capture ability while Atrix offers 720p video recording support.

Atrix offers some unique features like fingerprint security that allows a user to lock and unlock the phone with just one hand. But what really sets apart Atrix from Galaxy S2 is its docking feature.

All the intelligence is stored in the smartphone but made accessible from multiple points like a laptop and HDMI dock.

The laptop dock has an 11.6-inch display, full keyboard, speakers and a 36Wh three-cell battery that provides up to eight hours of battery life. PC World had reported that when the Atrix is docked into the laptop, its Linux OS comes into play and runs only three apps -- Firefox for browsing, a file manager and Android apps in a window. Thus, one can run content stored in Atrix on a laptop. The feature makes Atrix quite a contender as it ushers in an ecosystem of devices around the smartphone.

Atrix also offers an HD Multimedia dock to relay content on HDTV.

Atrix with the laptop dock costs $499.99. The promotional price combines Atrix 4G with the laptop dock after a two-year service contract and $100 mail-in-rebate after subscription to Data Pro smartphone data plan and tethering add-on. The laptop dock bought separately will cost $499.99.

Without the dock, Atrix has stiff competition from Samsung Galaxy S2 as it has the stuff to match Atrix in every sense.

Here is a tentative comparison between Samsung Galaxy 2 and Motorola Atrix: