Okay, so you’ve checked out
our review of the Motorola RAZR here, the
Motorola LapDock 500 Pro here and the
Motorola LapDock 100 here, and you’re a little concerned at our opinions about the LapDock Pro's trackpad – that’s perfectly understandable. So understandable, in fact, that Motorola have foreseen your concern and have released an all in one control solution which aims to make your life a lot easier. How does it fare when compared to a more traditional (and dare we say cheaper) alternative, such as a plain old USB mouse?
Connecting via
BlueTooth, the
Smart Controller aims to do exactly what it says on the tin – to allow you to control your RAZR and LapDock with relative ease. The device itself is slimline and impressively ergonomic, sporting a raised central point which allows the palm to fall nicely atop the most important features like the trackpad.
Right out of the box, the trackpad is almost impossibly difficult to control. The sensitivity is off the charts, and even the most fleet fingered of end users will have serious problems getting the thing to do what they want it to. Fortunately, a quick browse into the LapDock’s settings and you’ll be able to adjust the speed and acceleration to suit your needs (we recommend whacking them all the way down and gradually moving them up bit by bit until you’re comfortable).
The
Smart Controller comes with four face mounted buttons, one for each of the RAZR’s
touch sensitive control buttons, which will be familiar to anyone who has ever used an Android device before. The first one is your contextual menu button, arguably the most important one on the entire device, and certainly the one that will be getting the most use. Next up is the home button, which will return you to your home screen with a single touch, or bring up a list of recently opened applications with a long press. The last two are the back button and the search button, the latter of which will bring up a Google search page on press, making finding information that little bit easier.
On the left hand side of the Controller you’ll find a volume rocker, which is nicely placed for those of you who are planning on using your RAZR for
multimedia purposes alongside the
HD Station (which we also received, but couldn’t review due to not having a Micro HDMI cable anywhere in the office; we have seen it in action with the Controller though, and it works particularly well). The most interesting of all the features of the controller, however, is hidden away from every day sight at its rear. You see, the Smart Controller is not only a mouse replacement (which is fortunate, given that it’s a little iffy in that department, especially when it comes to finer movements), but it is also a handy way for you to utilise the phone features of your, well, phone.
By dialling a number using the LapDock or on the screen of your
HDTV using the HD Station, you’ll be able to pick up the Smart Controller, flip it around and use it as a wireless phone receiver. It’s surprisingly nifty and offers excellent call clarity, with in-call volume control at the side, which we mentioned earlier.
Like much of the RAZR suite, it’s hard to see the Smart Controller being for everyone, especially since the basics aren’t quite right in that the trackpad is found wanting at times, but we can certainly see major benefits for those of you who like to keep everything integrated at all times – and that’s really what the whole suite is about.
For a dedicated mouse alternative, we’d steer clear, but when you take into consideration the fact that it also functions as a multimedia controller, as well as a wireless phone, it’s certainly something that will appeal to the more productivity aware among you.