DROID RAZR MAXX HD tops my list of must-have smartphones [REVIEW]

I’m going to keep this review as simple as possible. If the longest-lasting smartphone battery on the market is your priority when purchasing a smartphone then stop reading this and go out right now and get the DROID RAZR MAXX HD. If you’re interested in all of the other great reasons to get the the newest smartphone in the DROID RAZR series then by all means, keep reading.

By the way, before I forget, the DROID RAZR MAXX HD I reviewed was given to me by Verizon Wireless which just means I got to demo one of my favorite smartphones using my favorite cellular provider. And I say that from personal experience, not because they let me demo the phone. In fact, my current phone is still the DROID RAZR MAXX (on Verizon Wireless) which is the predecessor to the DROID RAZR MAXX HD. Given the chance, I would upgrade to the new HD in a heartbeat.

What I like about the DROID RAZR MAXX HD

So what’s to like about the DROID RAZR MAXX HD? Well since I pride myself on not re-hashing all of the technical specifications of a device (you can get those here if you like), let me tell you what I like about it.

For starters, it has a Super AMOLED HD display with a 720 x 1280 resolution which is fancy talk for it looks really good. It also has 32 GB of internal memory with the option to add an additional 32 GB with an external MicroSD card. This means you’ll have plenty of room for all of your apps, music and videos.

But of course, as I already mentioned at the top of this blog post, the real reason you get the DROID RAZR MAXX HD is for its battery life. On a single charge, the DROID RAZR MAXX HD can go for 32 hours with average use. It can play up to 13 hours straight of HD quality video or it could give you 8 hours of voice-guided GPS.

To me, the thing that matters most is that I don’t have to worry about running out of juice in the middle of the day.

I also like that they moved the rear camera from the top corner of the phone to the top middle. This may seem like an insignificant change but it goes a long way in preventing your fingers from showing up in the corners of your photos. Trust me.

Great new features included with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean

The remainder of the things I like about the DROID RAZR MAXX HD are mostly due to the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system it runs and not necessarily the phone itself. Things like:

Facial recognition to unlock your phone. With this feature enabled, when you go to unlock your phone you just hold it up in front of your face. Soon as it recognizes your face (which takes only a couple seconds) it automatically unlocks. I used this feature dozens of times and it never failed.
Circles widget on home screen. This neat little widget allows you to see the time, weather and % battery remaining at a glance. You can also “flip” each circle to display alternate information (ex: “flipping” the clock toggles between a digital and analog clock).
Google Now. Google has upped its game with Google Now. If you give the app permission, it will “predict” what things you might want to know. For instance, if you have a flight # in your calendar for later in the afternoon, it will tell you if your flight is on time or delayed. If you are driving in a car on the way to your next appointment, it will tell you if you are approaching heavy traffic. And if you tell it your favorite sports teams, it will keep you up to date on recent scores. This all feels a lot like Apple’s Passbook… but better.

I could go on but I don’t think I need to. Like the headline for this blog post states, the DROID RAZR MAXX HD easily sits on top of my list of must-have smartphones, right next to the Samsung Galaxy S III. You really can’t go wrong with either one.