Motorola Atrix vs iPhone 4

In many people’s view, the iPhone 4 is the ‘one to beat’ on the mobile market, and there’s no denying the appeal and popularity of the device. But in terms of pound-for-pound muscle, how does Apple’s device match up to one of the newest Android devices to hit the shops, the Motorola Atrix?

Display
The Motorola Atrix has a 4-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen, fronted by Gorilla Glass, multi-touch input, accelerometer for auto-rotate, proximity sensor for auto turn-off and touch sensitive controls. The iPhone 4 currently has the best screen on the market, with its 3.5-inch IPS Retina Display offering the richest mobile viewing experience.

Internals
As most of us are aware by now, the iPhone 4 comes in two flavours, 16GB or 32GB, so we can choose how much storage we need (or can afford) and along with its 512MB RAM and 1GHz processor, you’ll be well equipped to perform any task. The Atrix however, has 1GB RAM, double that of the iPhone 4, as well as 16GB of onboard storage, which can be expanded with up to 32GB of micro SD storage, and a dual-core 1GHz processor, with dedicated ULP GeForce GPU. We know it’s not what you’ve got but what you do with it.

OS
When it comes to preference over operating system, it’s a case of whatever takes your fancy. iOS is aesthetically pleasing, user friendly and offers an intuitive experience. Of course you also get access to iTunes for purchasing of apps, media and games. The Motorola Atrix runs on Android 2.2 (Froyo), though it has been confirmed that it will be receiving an update to 2.3 (Gingerbread), and this means you’ll be able to customise your mobile to your heart's content! From themes to widgets via home-screens and apps, Android allows you to do what you will, plus there’s the added bonus of hundreds of thousands of free apps via the Android Market.


Camera
iPhoneography has become a huge trend in recent months, which is down to the iPhone 4’s thoroughly decent 5-megapixel camera with touch focus, auto focus, geo-tagging, and LED flash. It also records video in 720p HD and has a secondary camera, though video calling (with FaceTime) is available over Wi-Fi only. The Motorola Atrix also has a 5-megapixel camera with auto focus, geo-tagging, and LED flash, plus 720p video capture. However, we feel that it takes the edge as the secondary camera is functional via 3G, plus the upcoming software update will see the video recording capabilities extend to full 1080p.
Design
The iPhone range is famous for its sleek, minimal, crowd-pleasing design. With only one button on the whole device and shiny good-looks, we can see why the unibody iPhone 4 is so popular. The Motorola Atrix has followed a similar brief, with its large screen, touch-sensitive buttons and glossy back, though it does have some tricks up its sleeve, in the form of a biometric fingerprint reader discreetly nestled on the top.

We thought that the iPhone 4, in all of its glory, would be the winner, but it just goes to show that popularity and market share doesn’t always guarantee a superior device. The Atrix has put up a truly impressive fight.