Meet the Motorola Backflip: AT&T’s First Android Phone
The Motorola Backflip was unveiled during CES 2010 and remains an odd duck in many ways. For one, it’s the first Android phone for AT&T (though we highly doubt that it’ll crowd out any of the iPhone’s market share as far as AT&T phones go). Secondly, in spite of being an Android 1.5 phone, it’s more a Yahoo! phone than a Google phone. AT&T opted to integrate Yahoo’s search capabilities into the Backflip, which doesn’t handle local as well or voice searches at all.
Backflip Keyboard and Backtrack
But the most novel feature set for the Motorola Backflip is undeniably it’s design. On the screen, this phone is similar to the Motorola Devour and Motorola Cliq, Android phones with Motorola’s Motoblur user interface, specifically designed for a full on social media experience. But on the outside, it’s a whole different story. The Backflip, as its name suggests, is a flip phone with the QWERTY keyboard on the outside of the phone, rather than sandwiched in between. So, when the phone is closed, you’ve got a touchscreen on one side and a keyboard on the reverse. Motorola claims that this decision isn’t pure gimmick – rather, they say it gives them more room to make a more intuitive keyboard. To this end, they did a good job. The keyboard is better than most Motorola phones and is rugged and sturdy, just like you’d expect from a Moto.
Opened up, the Moto Backflip reveals the interesting Backtrack touchpad just behind the screen. Using your finger, you can scroll through lists, swipe through photos and switch between home screens. The fact that it’s located on the back of phone is only slightly inconvenient – with a bit of practice, the feature is actually kind of cool.
Music and Camera
As a music player, the Motorola Backflip delivers as much as any other Android phone. You can hook it up to your computer with a USB cable and drag and drop your MP3 files. Getting to the music player via Motoblur takes a few extra clicks, but once you get there, the player is fairly decent.
The camera is a nice 5-megapixel shooter, flash and quick tagging and geotagging. There are some light photo editing features as well as digital zoom.The camera also shoots video.
Web Browser
With the Motorola Backflip, you get a full HTML browser but no Flash support yet. There’s no pinch zoom like on the iPhone, but scrolling around webpages with your finger is fairly intuitive. The only departure from most Android phone browsers here is the integrated Yahoo search functionality, which, for the most part, is a matter of taste.
Conclusion
The Motorola Backflip lives on the same 3G network as the iPhone, but it’s not quite a challenger. As an Android smartphone, it’s also outgunned by the Motorola Droid on Verizon Wireless. However, as a B-list Android phone, it certainly passes muster with its quirky design and nice set of features. And if your married to an AT&T service contract and want to try an Android “Yahoo phone,” then there’s no other choice than the Motorola Backflip.
Check it out – the Motorola Backflip is free from AT&T for a limited time.
Related posts:
- The Motorola Backflip Android Phone Unveiled by AT&T
- Top 5 Motorola Smartphones
- Motorola Cliq XT with Motoblur SmartPhone Review
- Motorola Cliq with Motoblur Titanium, Smart Phone Review
- Verizon Now Has the Motorola DEVOUR
- Cell Phone Comparison: Motorola Droid vs. Motorola Devour
- Motorola Rival from Verizon Wireless, a Messaging Centric Phone
- Meet DoubleTwist: Android’s Smart New Music Manager
- Reviewing the Motorola ROKR E8 Black
- Motorola Krave
Tags: Android, AT&T, Smartphones
April 24th, 2010 at 3:30 pm
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