Our friends over at slashgear has just done a really nice review of the BACKFLIP by AT&T. This phone has been known recently as the first Android without Google Search, it was replaced by Yahoo Search. Motorola has been cranking out Android devices since the release of their first, the Cliq. This is their fourth release for the US market and the fifth overall, this is quite an amazing feat considering that they entered on the scene late in the game.
The main distinguishing factor of this device is its form factor, unlike the usual clamshell qwerty the keyboard is always exposed. In fact the phone is designed to sit on the keyboard for better use as an alarm clock or for watching movies. This is a good a bad thing, the good is the keyboard seems to be well crafted and more sturdy than usual. The bad, it can get scratched up and the camera is placed right on the keyboard, which is odd. There is also a trackpad on the back of the phone that makes navigating easier because you will have a good view of the entire screen while making your selections. The phone uses the same 3.1 screen as the Cliq as well as the same outdated Android 1.5, Motorola states that 2.1 for all their devices is on the way.
Like all MotoBlur devices this is a socail networking powerhouse, although you may miss some of your messages due to the fact that it lists all of them as one continuous thread. There is a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash, triband 7.2Mbps WCDMA (850/1900/2100) and quadband GSM/EDGE, along with WiFi b/g and Bluetooth, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Storage is via microSD, with a 2GB card class 6 in the box and up to 32GB supported. Head over to slashgear for the full review and a photo gallery.
[via slashgear]
The backflip was upgraded to Android 2.1 update 1. I ordered and received a refurbished model for free with 2 year contract and it came preloaded with 2.1.
I’m not sure what ” although you may miss some of your messages due to the fact that it lists all of them as one continuous thread.” means because all text messages are in separate lists for each person. The messages are then in thread format (sort of like the iphone). I however don’t use the stock SMS app as it has a bug (as does all of android thus far) where randomly a text message you send can be sent to anyone ELSE in your address book than whom it was intended for. Using another app (tons of them are free in the market) fixes that problem.
This is a good phone, although it can be a bit slow when waking up from sleep. It can’t run apps like Angry Birds and Slice It as they are too heavy for the phone to handle. They are just very slow and unusable. Other than that it’s a great phone. Love the hardware keyboard.
AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111