One day, you’ll have a little tablet or phone, and carry it everywhere. It’ll be your only computer. When you need to use a “real” PC, you’ll dock it bigger machine. Motorola’s Atrix is a little glimpse at that day.
The Best
Motorola Atrix
When you plug the Atrix into a laptop shell, it becomes a Chrome OS-like laptop with a full Firefox browser that can handle 720p YouTube video. In the real world, this may not be the best thing ever – it might be too expensive or too clunky. But this little taste of what’s next is too good to not be giddy about. That’s why the Motorola Atrix is our favourite new phone at CES.
It’s also got the very best of high-powered Android smartphones: 4.3-inch 960×540 screen, 4G powers, dual-core 1GHz processor, 1GB RAM, 2.4GHz/5GHz wireless N, massive 1930mAh battery. On the other hand, it’s not particularly beautiful. It has Moto’s meh Android skin. It only runs on AT&T.
Samsung Infuse 4G
The fact that a 4.3-inch screen, 1GHz processor and 4G is considered par for the superpowered Android course is slightly ridiculous. Samsung’s Infuse 4G is super duper ridiculous: 4.5-inch screen, 1.2GHz processor, runs on 4G, and it’s the thinnest phone AT&T’s got. Oh, did I mention it’s the most incredible-feeling phone Samsung’s made in the US in like, forever? This phone is spectacular. Too bad, like the Atrix, it’s only on AT&T.
Droid Bionic
It’s a little ho-hum compared to the Atrix – same dual-core 1GHz processor, 4.3-inch 960×540 screen, half the the RAM, no transformer powers – but the Droid Bionic has something it doesn’t. It’s got Verizon’s LTE network.
The Rest
HTC Thunderbolt
It’s like an Evo 4G, but the Thunderbolt uses LTE on Verizon for 4G instead of WiMax. We’re hoping HTC has something batshit-crazier up its sleeve.
LG Optimus Black
The thinnest smartphone in the world, according to the LG, the Optimus Black is 9.2mm thick. It’s got a 700-nit 4-inch display, which LG says is the “brightest, clearest and most readable” and saves a lot of power.