SourceCode: High End Androids square off for the Holidays

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

If you are in the market for an Android super smartphone this year, boy are there some good choices. On one side there's Motorola's slick new RAZR and on the other hand there's the Samsung Galaxy Nexus which is the flagship Android device in almost every category including LTE speed in Canada. Both offer 1.2GHz dual core processors and 1GB of RAM and ship in November.

Now almost owned by Google, Motorola Mobility resurrected its most popular RAZR phone brand and passed the torch to what seems like a thin and powerful as well as sturdy (waterproof, laced with Kevlar) smartphone. Motorola's new 4.3” Super AMOLED Advanced display and blade like profile. The RAZR still runs Gingerbread and might have to wait to get Google's latest and greatest Ice Cream Sandwich OS. Strength of the RAZR is its slim profile as well as the bevy of accessories that Moto will have on hand. A second generation Lapdock can turn this phone into a neat netbook.

It is interesting to note that Motorola didn't get the Nexus device this year. Google seems to really be stressing the fact that despite owning Motorola, "it is just another handset maker." The RAZR looks like it could run Ice Cream Sandwich fabulously as its specs match the Galaxy Nexus.

Samsung was blessed twice since it is the second time they have been chosen to make the flagship Android device with the successor to the popular Google Nexus S, the Galaxy Nexus. Ice Cream Sandwich brings a number of new features and functionality to both tablets and smartphones and the Nexus Galaxy will be the first device to run it.

Being a Samsung device, the focal point will be the 4.65-inch Super AMOLED HD display (1280 x 720 pixel resolution), NFC (Near Field Communication) chip, a barometer, a single motion panoramic camera capable of 1080p HD recording and LTE connectivity. As a standalone smartphone with the latest technologies and the fastest speed, this looks like the one to beat.

The year is not yet done and we're sure that there will be more Android super smartphones jockeying for the holiday buying dollars. For Canadians, it will be interesting to see which models get picked up by which carriers, their respective price points and what sort of data speeds they will run. Stay tuned for updates on these two exciting handsets. So, which one would you choose?