Motorola BACKFLIP Android Phone
- 3G-enabled, Google Android OS-powered smartphone with MOTOBLUR social networking, 3.1-inch touchscreen
- Unique reverse flip design reveals full QWERTY keyboard; BACKTRACK touch pad for navigation without using touch display
- GPS-enabled; Wi-Fi networking; Bluetooth stereo music; 5-megapixel camera/camcorder; microSD memory expansion; personal and corporate e-mail
- Up to 6 hours of talk time, up to 324 hours (13.5 days) of standby time
- What’s in the Box: handset, rechargeable battery, charger, 2 GB microSD memory card, quick start guide, user manual
Amazon.com Product Description
Powered by the Android OS and featuring the socially minded MOTOBLUR overlay, the Motorola BACKFLIP for AT&T features an original reverse flip design, 3.1-inch touchscreen display, spacious physical keyboard, and unique BACKTRACK touch panel located behind the screen when the device is folded open–providing you hands-free navigation of the phone without having to touch the display. It also boasts super-fast Web browsing on AT&T’s 7.2 HSPA 3G technology a… More >>
Motorola BACKFLIP Android Phone
I’ve had the BackFlip since the day it was released and I’m having fun exploring all the functions. I’m so glad that I went to see the phone for myself rather than relying on reviews from the various geek sites. Several claimed that the phone is crippled and limited which made me quite apprehensive. However, for my needs, it fits the bill so far.
I had a short list of “have to have” features:
Good signal – Check – I’ve experienced better signal than my Samsung windows mobile phone
Touch screen – Check – pretty large, given the small phone size
Keypad – Check – Larger keys than my last phone, great for texting and browsing!
Decent camera – Check – 5.0MP baby! With flash! Again, better than last phone
Multi-window Web browser – Check – Up to 4, plenty for me. Changed home page to Google and I’m good to go!
Apps – Check – Market has large assortment and I’ve downloaded several already. Enjoying bar code reader and Amazon apps.
SD Expansion – Check – up to 32GB
I’m new to the Android, but I like the intuitive interface, plus Motoblur and the weather, calendar and message widgets, but I’m sure I’m just scratching the surface. I’m not one to indiscriminately download software all over the web, so open access outside the Market is not a deal breaker for me. The one complaint I’d have is that I’d like to get rid of some of the preloaded AT&T apps that I won’t use…or at least find a way to hide them, but I can work around that till I figure something out.
Bottom line, love the phone and I don’t miss the things that others have complained about. I’m a geek, but apparently not as geeky as some. It cost me less than the windows mobile phone I had, plus has better features, it’s lighter, faster AND IT’S NOT an iPhone, so it’s all good!
Rating: 4 / 5
I’d like to correct something another reviewer said. You can actually install applications from the web. I tested one of these phones out in the store and successfully downloaded, installed, and ran the Pandora application. The phone has a really nice interface. The touch screen seemed responsive and intuitive, and the navigation not difficult to figure out. Yes, like all other AT&T phones, this comes with some applications pre-loaded, but you can also expand the memory on this to 32GB, so it would be an exaggeration to claim that these few items affect the usability of the phone. I hope to receive the one I ordered this week and will leave a more in-depth review then, but don’t let a few gut reactions dissuade you from trying this phone for yourself.
Now that I’ve had it a few days, I have to say I’m very glad I got it. The only real issue I’ve had so far was in transferring my contacts. For some reason, when I tried to copy them all from my old SIM I only got one number per person and no other related data (birthdays, addresses, etc.). So I am still working on fixing that little issue, but the rest of the phone is great. I’ve installed a number of other applications with no problems, and for those of you concerned that you cannot install anything from outside of the Android market, do a little research and I’m sure you’ll find a way around that issue. Personally, I haven’t yet found a need for that.
As the the things I love, I’ll start with five customizable home screens. Having the ability to make this look however I want with the shortcuts, widgets, and background I choose is awesome, and puts this heads above the iPhone in my opinion. I personally always hated having to scroll through the multiple screens on the iPhone just to find the one thing I wanted. The ability to have everything about a contact show up in one place no matter how many different accounts that person has and different ways I communicate with them is amazing and another way I feel this beats the iPhone hands-down, and the “happenings” widget that displays it all real-time is designed to make it all very intuitive. The ability to make this into a nice alarm clock by opening it at a 90 degree angle is very cool and came in quite handy when traveling this past weekend… especially the fact that not only did it show the time, but the current weather/temperature conditions as well. The integration with all my various accounts (social, email, photos, etc.) is so useful and seemless that I already can barely imagine how I lived without it. The 5 megapixel camera and integrated flash are nice and can take some amazing pictures outside (and inside if you can hold your hands steady), and the ability to directly upload those photos to picassa, facebook, emails, etc. makes this feature even better. Having the camera integrated into the keyboard seems a little odd at first, but makes taking self-portraits so much easier, and having it record your location from the integrated GPS while taking the photos is very nice! The flash is crazy bright though, and the response time is a bit slower that I’d like so it probably won’t fully replace my digital camera, but as a phone, I never expected that it would. Battery life so far has been pretty good. I’ve been running numerous applications on it while testing it out this first week, but I would say the drain seems about right for that. I’m sure once the novelty wears off a bit and I stop messing with it every few minutes it will last much longer, but I would say the specs seem about right.
Overall, it’s a strong product. The interface can be a bit laggy at times, but so can all the other phones out there when you’re running as many applications simultaneously as I have been. The buttons and placement of things is taking some getting used to, but I have no real complaints over the design of the phone. If it weren’t for the extra work I’ve had to put in to get my contacts copied from my old phone I’d have given a full 5 stars. Honestly though, if you’re like me and have been waiting for a good alternative to the iPhone on AT&T that had actual buttons, this is a good choice. The Android OS is very user friendly and there are already lots of applications out there for you to try out.
—————Update 3/17/10——————
I have had to contact support to send back the phone after an overheating incident yesterday has rendered the product completely non-functional. I am hoping this is an isolated incident, but it’s very early in the release of the unit to tell for sure.
Rating: 4 / 5
I was very hesitant to get this phone like others but i wanted so badly to have an android phone so i figured i would just do it knowing the next droid phone for att wont be coming out for 3 months. So far so good i actaully like the phone alot more than i thought i would the track pad on the back takes a bit to get use to but is actually very helpfull. My brother has the verizon droid and i can say the one thing it has is a bigger screen but 3.1 is not bad. Few things I would like to respond to about other reviews. You can download apps dont believe every thing you read from some that said they didnt even open the box. I got lots of apps already and they are tons of fun to mess with. Att did swap their browser for yahoo witch is stupid and petty but download opera browser and you can use google all day long and its a faster browser anyway. Call quality is actually quite good I was pleasently suprised over my samsung. 2 other things that sold me where 1 the glass is made of gorilla glass which is very strong and scratch resistant and 2 the keyboard is sealed to militay spec and is water resistant. All in all I would tell you stop by a att store give it a spin and find out for yourself if your unsure but I am enjoying mine.
Rating: 4 / 5
This post is beyond awesome. I am always wondering what to do and what not to do so I will follow some of these tips.
First, I would like to say this phone is a great alternative to the iphone. Second, the QWERTY keyboard is great. The keys are responsive and they are big enough for my fat fingers. HA!
Battery issues – The reviewers who are having a hard time with keeping a charge, download Power Manager. Its free and it will switch your settings when your battery starts to drain. Any phone will not last if you have the screen at its highest brightness, and GPS on all the time.
Moto Blur – Its a social program on top of the Android system and it can be intrusive when you dont want it. If you dont like it dont pair any accounts with it and ignore it.
Non-market Apps – for the people worried about not being able to install apps from other sites other then the android market. Install the SDK and just install them that way.
Tethering – PDAnet, great app to run your laptop or desktop internet from your phone. Works, and try to do that with the iphone, you cant.
Yahoo as the default search widget – OOOHHHH…. NOOOO…. get over it. Use the browser and set the home page to google. Done! Now quit complaining.
Flash – This phone has been slated to receive the new flash 10.1 for mobile phones. The iphone is not.
Android 2.1 – this phone is getting upgraded. So get over the 1.5.
Finally, this phone rocks and if someone trys to tell you different just remember. They either have a iphone or want a Android phone and cant afford it.
Rating: 5 / 5
I just got the Backflip yesterday and I already found some good and bad.
Pros:
1. Fast
2. I love the Keyboard.
3. All the social feature you could name of.
4. Nice Screen.
5. Desktop mode is neat.
Cons:
1. Can’t install Untrusted or custom software (what is the point for Open Source??!!)
2. I lost my Slingbox because they don’t support Android.
3. I lost my Sirius radio Online (Not support in Android)
4. Still running Android 1.5 (upgrade able to 2.1 just need to wait.)
5. Have to have the protection casing or you will be really sorry if you don’t. all the starches you can get and you have to protect the keyboard.
I ordered my phone online from ATT. When I received the phone, there is some pixel problem. I take it back to ATT core store to get another phone, which work perfectly now. Just in case, in SD storage management under setting, there is a master reset which I didn’t find it until later after I returned my problem phone. Anyway, if you see your screen doesn’t look right, it properly it is not right. I am really disappointed that it won’t allow untrust provider software to install, it is because of ATT not Google. Verizon Droids allows it. And I slammed with 50 bucks unlimited data and text plan. That was a little surprise because I didn’t read the fine print.
I used to have my O2 Atom Life for last 3 years. Love it and hate it.
Love it because it does everything I want it to do. Really everything. Millions of apps out there: certify & non-certify. Hate it because it is windows and it crashes and need reboot freq. 3 times I had to do a clear boot and lost all the data which is not fun at all.
Besides after 3 years of plug in and out, the USB and the headset plug starts loosing. And my unlimited data and text plan was only 30 bucks a month.
Nexus is releasing for ATT. If you have to use ATT, wait for it. And wait for the review to see if it will lock down everything like iPhone.
Rating: 3 / 5