Motorola maximizes the Droid Razr

Droid Razr Maxx phone by Motorola Mobility Inc.
Available only for Verizon Wireless subscribers
$299.99 with two-year contract through Verizon Wireless; $199.99 at Amazon.com.

Who says you can't be too thin? Motorola Mobility's remarkable Droid Razr phone has packed on a few ounces, in a bid to solve its biggest problem--measly battery life.

I wrote about the original Droid Razr in November, and I liked it a lot. It was the best-performing Android phone I've tried, with lightning-like processing speed and snappy data downloads over Verizon's excellent 4G LTE network. It was also gorgeous, with its blade-thin Kevlar-reinforced body. But its very thinness was made possible by a tiny battery that was hard-pressed to keep the Razr running through a full day's use.

So Motorola has rolled out a new Droid Razr that's basically the same phone, made thicker by the addition of a much bigger battery.. As in the original Droid Razr, the battery is built into the phone and can't be removed. But there'll be less need for a midday swap with such a beefy power source. And even with the extra bulk, the Droid Razr is a sleek little number.

The Razr Maxx hits the shelves just two months after the original. I doubt Motorola's engineers can work that fast. I'm betting they were well aware of the Razr's little problem and designed its big brother far in advance. Smart move. There's nothing elegant about a phone with a dead battery.