Motorola Bravo: Boom or Bust?

Announced at CTIA Enterprise and Applications last month, the Motorola Bravo is available on AT&T for $129.99.  It’s one of several mid-range Android phones that are either available now or coming soon – and if you view it with the understanding that it’s not a high-end smartphone, it’s definitely a device that’s worth some applause.

The Bravo ships with Android 2.1 software, Eclair. With so many new phones running Android 2.2, it’s surprising that Motorola didn’t make installing the newest Android software (2.2 Froyo) a priority.  In a nice little AT&T-themed touch, the Bravo highlights in orange versus the red that’s found on the Droid X and Droid 2.  The phone comes with the same fantastic on-screen QWERTY that’s included on Motorola’s Droid line as well.

A great aspect of this device is the fact that Motorola didn’t skimp on the capacitive touch screen. The Bravo centers around a 3.7-inch WVGA display. It offers 480 x 854 pixels, and supports up to 16.7 million colors.  It’s no match to the picture quality on the AMOLED-toting Captivate, but it gets the job done and given the low price point, it’s very impressive.

The Bravo packs an 800 MHz processor, which is solid, but not quite as zippy as the standard 1GHz chips found on several other Motorola smartphones. However, the modern 800 MHz processors are still excellent and reasonably fast (one example being the HTC G2).

Motoblur social-networking software has been improved from the Motorola Devour days, and is said to be more refined and efficient. Motoblur also includes a whole host of convenient widgets, which is a nice feature added to the customization genre. If you’re looking for a vanilla Android OS experience, however, the Bravo will probably have too much coating and extra layers of software.

The device has a visible curved and pebble-like look to it, which is characteristic of lower-end Motorola phones. The chrome accents on the back are nice, and the matte battery cover compliments it well.  Instead of four capacitive buttons, the Bravo comes with three: Menu, Home, and Back.

In general, the Motorola Bravo is an excellent device for AT&T customers that aren’t interested in paying top-dollar for the latest and greatest flagship smartphone. It offers some price-diversity in a lineup that is generally high-end, and the Bravo’s specs and features match its competition on almost every carrier.

Searching for the latest Android news? You’ve come to the right place. Check out Droid 2 Global ArrivesSharp Announces Galapagos and iPhone, Blackberry and Android war [comic strip].

Via: Phonedog