Motorola DROID RAZR: Locked bootloader and battery is not removable

18 October 2011 by Discuss (27)

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In cased you’ve somehow missed it, we are live at the NYC Motorola event where they’ve just announced the new DROID RAZR. You can see the official announcement here, and our hands-on pictures and videos by clicking here. Sadly we can now confirm that the Motorola DROID RAZR will indeed have a locked bootloader.

What makes things even worse, is they’ve opted for a non-removable back and battery. The phone does come with 16GB internal storage and now the micro-SD slot is neatly placed on the side next to the micro-SIM for 4G LTE. So not only will rooting and hacking be extremely tough, but those taking the journey can’t do battery pulls if something goes wrong like many have needed in the past. We have confirmed with multiple Motorola reps here live in NYC that the bootloader will remain locked. I was hoping they’d be changing these policies eventually — but it appears that wont be happening any time soon.

The Motorola DROID RAZR with Verizon 4G LTE is an awesome phone through and through, but I’m still sad to hear that it will be extremely locked down, and now that we learned the battery is too I’m even less excited. This might not be a big deal to many, but for the modding and hacking community this is a big issue and problem and while HTC has fixed it, Motorola shows no signs of change. What does everyone think? Is this a deal breaker or were you planning on getting the Samsung Galaxy Nexus anyways? We’ll have plenty of coverage of that device tonight so stay right here at Android Community for the same great coverage and hands-on.

Update: Motorola has also confirmed the bootloader to be locked over on Twitter, but sadly they blame Verizon. We did talk to a rep at the event in NYC and were told the device was “unlockable” at first but was later locked down at Verizon’s request. The international Motorola RAZR may see an unlocked version, but that was not fully confirmed nor denied.

Device Specifications and Information
Device Info
    Device Name : DROID RAZR
    Manufactuer : Motorola
    Carrier : Verizon
    Announced Date : October 18, 2011
    Release Date : November 03, 2011
    Also Known As :
Display
  • Screen Size : 4.3 Inch
  • Resolution :
  • Screen Type : Super AMOLED Advanced qHD
Dimension & Weight
  • Height : 5.15 Inch
  • Width : 2.71 Inch
  • Depth : 0.27 Inch
  • Weight : 127 Grams
Battery & Power
    Battery Type:
  • Lithium Ion
  • Battery Capacity : 1780 mAh
  • Talk Time : NA
  • Stand By Time : 8.9 hours
Software
    Android OS:
  • 2.3.x
    Audio Playback:
  • AAC
  • AAC+
  • MP3
  • WAV
  • WMA
    Video Playback:
  • MPEG-4 (MP4)
    Messaging:
  • SMS
  • MMS
Hardware
    CPU : OMAP 4430
    CPU Clock Speed : 1200 Mhz
    Core : 2
    Ram : 1000 MB
    Internal Storage : 16.384 GB
    Front Facing Camera :
    Camera Resolution : 8 MP
    External Storage:
  • MicroSD
  • MicroSDHC
    Camera Features:
  • Auto focus
  • Flash
  • 1080p Video Recording
    QWERTY :
Cellular Network
    Network Technology:
  • CDMA
    CDMA Band:
  • 800
  • 850
  • 900
  • 1700
  • 1900
  • 2100
Device Connectivity
    Wi-Fi:
  • 802.11b
  • 802.11g
  • 802.11n
    Bluetooth:
  • Bluetooth 3.0
    Location Features:
  • Compass
  • GPS
  • Cellular location
  • Wi-Fi location
    FM Radio :
    NFC :

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  • atoy74

    Locked bootloader screams Verizon all over it.  I dont blame Moto.  

    • Chris Eckeard

      I’m out. Bootloader can be overcome but with out the removable battery, I’m no longer interested in this phone.

      I don’t believe Verizon has anything to do with that decision as HTC allows their bootloaders to be unlocked even on Verizon.

      • http://openid.anonymity.com/9U9ynava Guy

        Motorola already said the RAZR and Milestone 4 will have an unlocked bootloader option at the discretion of the carriers. Verizon is refusing to carry unlocked ones.

  • Troy Sims

    Locked bootloader doesn’t concern me as much as the non-removable battery. I’ve done so many battery pulls with my X2 prior to 2.3.4. What the hell does a person do when their phone locks up? It WILL happen, especially when you’ve got the capability to side load apps.

    • http://www.androidcommunity.com Cory Gunther

      lol you’ll have to wait for battery to die and try again tomorrow!! haha

      idk, I blame Verizon and Moto both!

  • Giraia

    Motorola only makes shit … this will give stillborn! Android is the max because of its freedom,roms alternatives they go and do such a thing? against all previously announced

  • FYMoto

    What The F-word?

  • Anonymous

    The bootloader is not a dealbreaker (prolly impacts 1% of users). But the non-removable battery is quite a tradeoff. Is that worth 3mm?

  • http://twitter.com/Mr__Guzz Mr Guzz

    No Thx.  I pass ……”Nexus Prime” by T-mo/AT&T/World

  • Timothy Cregan

    Without the ability to remove the battery?  I’m pizzed!  I am on the run all day, and a extended battery is a must.(I dont care how long they say it will last, it never does…)  This was going to be my next phone, but my decision just got easier.  Way to go with this one, piss off the techies who want to open her up and have a bit of fun, then piss off all the rest with the battery.  Better make it in pink, cause I think only women are going for it.

  • Calvin

    An LTE phone with a locked down battery. How stupid is that? I’m leaving at&t for Verizon and paying an early termination fee specifically so I can use LTE . I don’t care what Moto says this battery is not going to be enough. This is a shame because the phone looks nice and appears to be very responsive.

  • http://digg.com/users/OmegaWolf Silver Fang

    Android users don’t like being locked down and limited. No locked batteries for this Android users. My next phone will be the Sammy Stratosphere unless VZW brings out a super-duper LTE, keyboard phone with a removable battery in the next eight months.

    • Anonymous

      Motorola had always been bad enough to act like they’re in iphone’s shadow and need to compete with it, instead of do better than it. They (motorola mobility CEO) probably think “oh, we’re doing what the iphone does” or some other garbage.

      That was literally their reasoning for putting the xoom at ipad prices and trying to price out phones at iphone prices, too.

  • Batsrbad

    non removable battery, non-removable cash from my wallet.   What where they thinking !

  • Dwill0328

    OMFG IM SICK OF EVERY PHONE HAVING AT LEAST ONE THING WRONG WITH IT

    the droid bionic had a MESSED up pentile display
    The iphone 4s has only 512mb ram
    The galaxy nexus does not have the exynos chipset
    The razr has a locked bootloader and non-removable battery
    The galaxy s2 is not on verizon

    ARE THEY PURPOSELY TRYING TO DRIVE US CRAZY??

    The perfect smartphone (please create)

    960×540 4.3inch Super AMOLED PLUS display NON-PENTILEdual core 1.2ghz exynos chipset powersgx543mp2 gpu1GB DDR28mp/3mp camera4GLTE2000MAH Removable batteryHDMI outPhysical side camera buttonMICRO-USB charge port
    GORILLA GLASS

    • Davedroid

      I second that! WTF is so hard to make a phone that has all these features? it would sell extremely well! 

  • Drmicrocw

    Perhaps I’m naive but what happens if the phone needs a cold boot? Is there a little plug that lets you drain the all the power? Also when the battery finally dies and we all know it will, do they give you a new phone or what? Doesn’t sound like a very consumer oriented plan. I guess MOTO must have hired the PR guys from BP.

    • RazorVault

      LOL @ PR guys from BP!  Inability to remove power is a deal breaker. Do folks ever need to remove power from an iPhone? I never hear about that.

      • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_CQLBPNINGIQ2LEP5P32JXZYHTI Scott

        You’ve gotta be kidding.   We’re talking motorola here.   There will be some kind of bug with the OS  after an update just as there was with gingerbread.  

        This phone will lock up and need a cold boot.    Unless there is some kind of reset button this phones going to piss off a lot of users when it locks up and can’t be used until the battery dies down.

      • Chris

        If you happen to be near a computer with the correct android SDK installed, and you happen to have a usb cable, you can ‘adb reboot’

        Note: this will only work if USB debugging was enabled previous to the lockup.

        Other than that, you’ll have to do what i’ve seen iphone users do (and laughed at them), Wait until you get home and re-flash your phone with the RUU, and start over. Although, waiting until the phone is flat would be easier.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_SPOZRR55D4ZBSFNE24GXBI2F4Y wtf_wtf_wtf

    The non removable battery is most likely a requirement to make the device as thin as it is.  The battery is probably a structural element in the phone.  I am worried about battery life as I have a 3000+ mah battery in my Droid Incredible which lasts >1 day with heavy use.   I think when my 2 year contract is up I will want a new phone anyway.   I’m going to try it for a week and as long as I can get most of a day with this phone, I’ll be happy and keep it.  I use WiFi most places I am anyway, the 4G is really just a novelty and is/will be a power hog.

  • Whiterun Guard

    I used to like Verizon, but then I took an arrow to the knee.

  • Whiterun Guard

    I used to like Verizon, but then I took an arrow to the knee.

  • Whiterun Guard

    I used to like Verizon, but then I took an arrow to the knee.

  • http://www.motoask.com motorola droid

    Thanks a lot Verizon

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_CQLBPNINGIQ2LEP5P32JXZYHTI Scott

    If there was one thing that Verizon and Motorola should have learned from the Droid X it’s that when it comes to Motorola phones with Android locks ups and battery pulls are the order of the day. 

    Why the hell can’t Motorola put some kind of hard reset button (thats recesed) on their andoid phones with the removeable batteries.   Otherwise we’ll have to wait for the battery to die down. From what I’ve read on the razr that could be a long wait.   

     Some mentioned a button pressing sequence to reset it.   That won’t work if it’s really locked up.

  • Wayne

    What’s wrong with manufacturers these days? Sony, Nokia, Motorola all make phones that have non-removable batteries. Why do they have to copy Apple? Well, look like good news for Samsung – I’m assuming the upcoming S3 will allow user to change battery.