It seems like not long ago when AT&T first unveiled the Motorola Atrix, which was one of the first phones capable of using a lapdock to turn into a sort of netbook. That’s because it was not long ago, just earlier this year, in fact.

But things move fast in this industry, and with so many new phones coming out each month, the Motorola Atrix 2 – its sequel – is already on the market. After all, a nine-month old smartphone might as well be a dinosaur these days; got to keep up with the times.

The Atrix 2 features a slightly different design, improved camera and videocamera, a better processor, and better battery life, among other changes, plus a very nice price. I’ll take a look at how it compares to the rest of the smartphone market.

Looks

Nothing fancy in this department. You have the typical candybar look, and typical big screen (4.3 inches) that is on most new phones. The weigh is decent, just 5.18 ounces, so it won’t be too heavy a load. Overall dimensions are 4.96 inches x 2.59 inches x 0.4 inches. Most notable there is the 0.4 inch thickness; one of the thinnest numbers out there (though some phones do beat it)

Screen

The 4.3-inch screen features a bright 540x960 qHD resolution that does not disappoint. If you like to view media or play games on your phone, this bright screen will be very welcome. While overall the touchscreen was very responsive, one issue I ran into is that when using some apps, the touchscreen sometimes was not as responsive as I would have liked down in the corner areas of the screen.

4G

This is a 4G phone, meaning fast downloads on AT&T’s 4G network. Be aware though, this is still one of the phone’s on AT&T’s HSPA+ 4G network, which is not as fast as its LTE 4G network. Some other phones being released are LTE compatible, so if you want the absolute fastest network from AT&T, you might want to opt for a different model.

To read the full review of the Atrix 2, click here.