The Bell Motorola ATRIX, coming March 17th: Revolutionary, but at what cost?

When Motorola announced the ATRIX at CES, I was very excited – even more so when they followed up that announcement with news that it was coming to Canada on Bell. Up to that point, as a long-time Milestone (Droid to our US readers) user, though, I had been a little disappointed in Motorola. They had seemed to have forgotten about Canada. Both the Droid X and Droid 2 were released in the US last year, but they never came up north.

By year’s end, it was almost like Motorola had forfeited the Canadian battle for the high-end Android phone market to HTC and Samsung. I decided then that my next phone probably wasn’t going to be a Motorola. Then CES happened, and ever since then I have been patiently counting down the days to the Canadian release date and price announcement. On Friday Bell finally spilled the beans. The ATRIX is coming on March 17th for $169.95 on a 3-year term. However after a brief hands-on with the ATRIX, and its accessories, I am not quite sure if I want it now as much as I did before.

For those not familiar with the ATRIX, it will be, by a large margin, the most powerful smartphone available in Canada when it is released. This ‘superphone’ has a dual-core 1Ghz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, 1GB of DDR2 Ram, 16GB of internal storage, a 4” 540×960 qHD display, HD video recording, a fingerprint reader, and runs Android 2.2! It’s going to be quite the powerhouse. However the real big deal about the ATRIX is that it’s not just a phone. Motorola has come up with some accessories that actually make the ATRIX a revolutionary device.

Along with the phone Motorola has created a lapdock accessory, which at first glance looks like an ultra-thin netbook. However, it’s just a screen, keyboard and battery — it only comes to life when you dock the ATRIX to it. This launches Motorola’s webtop application that allows you to access the phones applications, and a fully featured desktop Firefox web browser. When using the webtop the phone and browser are connected, so when you look up a phone number on the web you can right-click it and have the phone call it, or add it to your contacts. When you undock the ATRIX, it remembers the last webpage you were looking at so you can continue to look at it on the phone.

Wow! This sounds pretty good. You might actually even say it’s revolutionary. And it is, up until you find out how much the lapdock costs. I guess there is always a price to pay to be first. While the Canadian accessory prices have not been officially announced, they did leak over the weekend on Mobilesyrup.com, and the lapdock is in line with what Motorola and AT&T want for it in the US ($499.95) – prices that most commentators said were too high. Even the regular dock that allows you to use the ATRIX as a media player, or use the webtop application on a monitor or TV, costs $129.95.

It’s all a bit much if you ask me, especially since the no-contract price of the ATRIX in Canada on Bell ($599.95) is going to be $100 more than in the US. For less than the price of the lapdock alone you can get a pretty good dual-core netbook, that will be much more capable than the ATRIX and the lapdock (but yes, it will be missing the cool integration features). Hopefully future revisions by Motorola of this concept will be better, since the concept is still brilliant, and worth exploring further.

So if the accessories are too much, and the webtop is a bit limited in its functionality, then wouldn’t the ATRIX still be a very good choice if you just get the phone? Yes. Right now, if you want the best smartphone in Canada, mark the 17th off on your calendar. Despite all my misgivings about the price of the accessories, the ATRIX is still the most powerful smartphone on the market today. It is very thin and light, and the dual-core Tegra processor, in combination with the qHD display, will make it the ultimate Android gaming phone, and no slouch on the productivity side too.

For me the shine has worn off a bit, since at first I was dead set on owning the complete phone, lapdock and dock package. $1230 is a too much for me to swallow, especially since I am not on Bell and would have to buy it at full price to unlock it. However if you are planning on signing up with Bell, or are already with them, I was told that there will be some bundles available at launch that will hopefully lower the barrier to entry for the full package. Once we have more details on the bundles, we`ll post them on the site, but I have a feeling that the negotiations on how low they will be are still ongoing.

Of course all my opinions above are based on what I have read about the US model, and a very brief hands-on with the phone and docks. Once we get a review unit, I’ll be able to spend some quality time with the ATRIX and give you my final verdict. Stay tuned.

You can also enter to win the complete package by signing up on Bell’s site here

Check out a gallery of the phone (including comparison shots with my Telus Desire HD) and accessories below, and the official press release below that.

UPDATE: I guess Bell already made my decision for me. According to a leaked document MobileSyrup.com just posted Bell is saying that “All ATRIX sales must be bundled with an activation or upgrade” and that “No out-right purchase of the ATRIX is permitted”. Sorry Rogers and Telus ATRIX fans, you might have to wait a while to get one of these.

Highly Anticipated MOTOROLA ATRIX Coming to Bell March 17

The all-new, all-powerful superphone features the revolutionary Motorola webtop application

TORONTO, March 4 /CNW/ – Motorola Mobility Canada and Bell today announced the award-winning Motorola ATRIXTM will be available in Canada, exclusively from Bell Mobility on Canada’s Best Network starting March 17.

Motorola ATRIX delivers an industry-leading combination of features including a dual-core processor for incredible speed, the world’s first high-resolution qHD display for rich graphics, Adobe Flash Player for an optimal web browsing experience and Motorola’s webtop application for a PC-like experience from any screen.

Breakthrough accessories for which Motorola ATRIX is the engine include the super-thin MOTOROLA Lapdock and the Motorola HD Multimedia Dock that uses the phone’s HDMI video output capabilities and processing power to enable a revolutionary browsing, application and media experience.

“Canadians will have access to the all-powerful superphone and innovative accessories with the Motorola ATRIX,” said Jeff Miller, corporate vice president, Motorola Mobility. “Through our partnership with Bell, Canadians will get top-of-the-line mobile services and content on the Motorola ATRIX.”

“The Motorola ATRIX is a high-performance super-smartphone that takes full advantage of Bell’s world-leading 4G broadband mobile network,” said Adel Bazerghi, senior vice president of products at Bell Mobility. “Operating exclusively on Canada’s Best Network, the Motorola Atrix is powerful enough to meet the mobile computing and multimedia demands of both Bell business and consumer clients.”

Key features and specifications:

* A dual-core processor capable of opening web pages and rendering games with blazing speeds, and displaying HD video on big-screen TVs
* The world’s first qHD display – packing 540×960 resolution in a 4-inch (10.1 cm) screen delivering stunning clarity in pictures and videos
* 1GB of RAM for the horsepower you need to multitask
* Powered by Android 2.2
* Front- and rear-facing cameras for video chat and the ability to record and output in HD
* Biometric fingerprint reader for easily unlocking your phone while providing extra security
* Under 11 mm thin, with an extra large 1930 mAh battery for extended standby and talk time
* Keep up to date on social networks with automatic delivery of messages through MOTOBLUR, including the ability to locate, wipe and restore data if the device is lost or stolen
* Up to 48GB of storage (16GB internal and optional 32GB MicroSD card) – enough to store thousands of songs, photos and many full-length movies
* Download speeds of up to 14.4Mbps and Mobile Hotspot service for connecting up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices

Complete Accessory Ecosystem

The Motorola Lapdock has an incredibly thin design with an 11.6-inch (29.4 cm) screen, full keyboard, stereo speakers, 36Wh three-cell battery that delivers up to eight hours of battery life and weighs just 2.4 pounds. Users simply dock the Motorola ATRIX into the back of the Lapdock to experience true mobility at work, home and playing on-the-go in a form factor that’s lighter and smaller than most laptops on the market.

The Motorola HD Multimedia Dock has three USB ports and an HDMI port, enabling connections to a keyboard, monitor, mouse, speakers or HDMI monitor for working on traditional PC tasks, and connects to an HDMI-enabled television and home theatre audio system for enjoying video, music, games and more.

Mobile Services

Bell Mobile TV delivers anytime, anywhere access to compelling live and on-demand video programming on the Motorola ATRIX’s remarkable 4-inch qHD display. Alongside a wide variety of content from CTV, Treehouse, Weather Network and much more, Bell Mobile TV also offers exciting sports action such as live NHL regular season games, Stanley Cup Playoffs and Stanley Cup Final games on TSN, RDS and CBC.

Motorola ATRIX will also come pre-loaded with an impressive suite of mobile services including the Bell Remote PVR, GPS Navigator, Kobo eReader as well as easy access to Bell’s Self Serve feature.

Availability

Motorola ATRIX will be available exclusively to Bell Mobility clients on Canada’s Best Network with the fastest 4G speeds and largest 4G coverage starting March 17 for $169.95 on a three year term with a minimum $50 voice/data plan or for $599.95 with no term. For more information, go to Motorola.ca, or to pre-register please visit Bell.ca/ATRIX

To celebrate the upcoming launch, Canadians are invited to go to Bell.ca/ATRIX and register to win one of five Motorola ATRIX prize packs valued at approximately $1,200, including the Motorola ATRIX smartphone, Lapdock™ and HD Multimedia Dock.