AT&T Backflip

Overview

TechSpot Metascore

Based on 21 expert reviews

Excellent:

1
Good:

4
Average:

8
Bad:

8

Pros:

Seems well made, Interesting design, Android on AT&T, Decent call quality, Good battery life, Nice big keyboard
Nice touchscreen, cool design, great social networking
Motoblur aggregates social networking updates, Good call quality, Wealth of available apps

Cons:

QWERTY keyboard and touch screen are exposed when phone is closed or not in use, Sometimes it is sluggish when sending a text message or email, Autocancels user out of programs when internet connection is slow, Poor quality of photos, Poor battery life co
Crashes/Errors often for some reason, Odd backflip style, Yahoo search?!, AT&T junk installed, Rather slow overall

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Last revision on December 20, 2010

Reviewers Liked

Seems well made, Interesting design, Android on AT&T, Decent call quality, Good battery life, Nice big keyboard
Nice touchscreen, cool design, great social networking
Motoblur aggregates social networking updates, Good call quality, Wealth of available apps
An Android phone with a keyboard and solid features for a nice price. Unique design
Creative design balances style and function. MicroSD port lets you pack it full of tunes. Supports Android Marketplace for app downloads. QWERTY keys are large, easy to use. Beefy hinge keeps the phone from swinging around wildly. 5MP camera (with flash!)
Good keyboard. MotoBlur integrates e-mail and social networking well. Solid battery life
Fresh design with a trackpad behind the display for navigating the phone; offers a 5-megapixel camera; full spectrum of wireless options
The Motorola Backflip features a fresh design with a trackpad behind the display for navigating the phone. The Android device also offers a 5-megapixel camera, extra AT&T services, and the full spectrum of wireless options

Reviewers Didn't Like

QWERTY keyboard and touch screen are exposed when phone is closed or not in use, Sometimes it is sluggish when sending a text message or email, Autocancels user out of programs when internet connection is slow, Poor quality of photos, Poor battery life co
Crashes/Errors often for some reason, Odd backflip style, Yahoo search?!, AT&T junk installed, Rather slow overall
Inaccurate keyboard, no proper dpad, nonMarket apps need not apply
Awkward design, Runs older version of Android, Flat keyboard, Lackluster AT&T services, No multitouch support
Battery life is never great with MOTOBLUR. Unique design either captivates or deters. AT&T bloatwarewill they never stop?!
Design renders it nearly unusable. Last year's specs. MotoBlur still running at Android 1.5. A boatload of bloatware
Sluggish at times and spontaneously rebooted once during our review period; device is only running Android 1.5; small screen; keyboard's durability in question since it's exposed on the back
The Backflip is sluggish at times and spontaneously rebooted once during our review period. The smartphone is only running Android 1.5. Screen size is a bit small, and we worry about the keyboard's durability since it's exposed on the back

Expert reviews and ratings

Motorola's new form factor is less than a revolution but still a rather clever design that makes for a versatile handset. It's just a pity that, for territories outside the US, it seems destined to run an antediluvian version of Android. ®...

By RegHardware on October 26, 2010

Motorola recently released three new mobile phones based on Google's Android operating system (OS). In terms of industrial design and functionality, the Motorola Backflip is hands down the most daring, most innovative and riskiest phone design seen...

By Evergeek on June 29, 2010

Motorola scores points for trying to differentiate the Motorola Backflip from the wealth of other Android smartphones on the market, but its design isn't as practical as the company intended it to be. Ross Catanzariti, PCWorld.idg.com.au...

By PC Advisor on June 15, 2010

AT&T introduced the Motorola Backflip in February 2010 as its version of Google’s Android device. The grandest feature ever to be known about this gadget is its unique QWERTY keyboard and a trackpad or what they call the Backtrack navigation pad...

By Phones.com on June 01, 2010

The innovative design fails to hide some fatal flaws in the implementation and performance of the Backflip. Even its predecessor, the Dext, seems like a better...

By CNET Australia on May 12, 2010

Video Review: The flip phone could be back with the Motorola Backflip. Kevin Pereira and Olivia Munn review its 3.1" touch screen, full keyboard, Android OS and reverse hinge mechanism which comes free with a...

By G4tv.com on May 11, 2010

The Motorola Backflip is a unique and interesting phone for sure, but there are much better examples of Android out there today. The phone is running Android 1.5, and supposedly it’s upgradable, but I haven’t seen it happen yet.The phone is...

By Testfreaks on April 19, 2010

So the folks out at Puremobile sent me a Motorola Backflip to try, and there were plenty of reasons to be impressed by this one, but it’s not all good news.The Motorola Backflip offers a five megapixel camera that handles still photos and video, a...

By MobileWhack on April 05, 2010

The for AT&T isn't your average Android smartphone. Equipped with MotoBlur, your Facebook updates, Twitter feeds, contacts, and messages are all synced to the home screen of your cell phone. The Motorola Backflip flips backward turning your cell...

By LetsTalk on March 18, 2010

For me, the Motorola BACKFLIP is like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The good doctor, which represents the top half of the device, offers a good touchscreen experience and a nice user interface that is heavily focused on social networking and messaging. I...

By MobileBurn on March 15, 2010

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