It was a brand new phone. Nothing on it suggested that it was a refurb. I specifically checked for this upon receipt. I also sent the first phone back within 3 days of having received it, which entitled me to a brand new phone, according to the Amazon rep that I spoke to. Oh, I also forgot to mention that my second Razr Maxx also developed artifacts on the screen when it was at absolute black. Not a real problem, but still irritating to know that it was there.
Additionally, even if it was a refurb phone, the refurb QC process is just as incompetent as the factory QC process at Motorola. Again, I will never buy another Motorola phone, and I lay 100% blame on the company for this fiasco.
The artifacts on the screen when it is all black are common on many other phones with the Amoled screen, not just the Razr/Maxx. Its not really a defect.
Some other things to consider when you go through so many "bad" phones:
1. SD card - if you are using the same SD card on every phone and it has bad sectors, is old, or is a slower card, it is most likely the source of your problems as it will slow down a fast phone. Also, android in general has some difficulty reading class 10 cards and will default to slower speeds.
2. Apps you are running - Many apps will slow a phone down quite a bit as they run in the background. Poorly written apps sometimes hog memory and will cause a lot of slowdowns.
3. Pictures and Videos - of you get a new phone and copy a bunch of pictures over to it, several things happen. First, the phone will try to index them which can take a bunch of time and drain your battery. Your phone may feel "hot" during this time. Sometimes happens with music as well. If you use motocast, dropbox, etc, it will spend a lot of time looking for new things the upload. I have also found that a setting in the picture gallery to download/view friends (from facebook) pictures uses a lot of resources.
4. Settling in - lots of times a new phone will need a bit of time to settle in. It can take a few days to settle but after that, performance generally picks up.
5. Apps - its a good idea to install/reinstall your apps a few at a time over several days. Install the ones you absolutely need the most first then wait and see how things run. After a few days, install the apps that you use less often, a few at a time over several days.
6. Cache - clean it regularly. Lots of ways to do it and you can find several threads here on the site about it.
7. Battery - as tempting as it is to use your new phone right away, leave it turned off and plug it in to let it charge fully. It will make the battery last much longer in the long run.
Hope that helps.
David
