Motorola Droid 4 and Droid RAZR MAXX

The Droid 4 joins the Samsung Stratosphere as the second keyboarded LTE smartphone on Verizon.

I was able to type quickly, easily, and accurately on the Droid 4. Other Verizon phones should be put on notice: This is the keyboard to be beat.

Motorola claims the Droid 4 is enclosed in a water-repellant nanocoating, but it didn’t make a noticeable difference in the way the phone felt.

Both the Droid 4 and Droid RAZR MAXX will ship with Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread).

Though nowhere near as svelte as the Droid RAZR, the Droid 4 is surprisingly thin, given the keyboard and LTE support, two qualities that usually make for a thicker phone.

The Droid 4 (left) next to the Droid RAZR MAXX (right).

Another comparison between the Droid 4 (background) against the Droid RAZR MAXX (foreground).

The Droid RAZR MAXX is basically a Droid RAZR that’s put on a little weight. Luckily, that weight comes in the form of a larger battery.

The RAZR MAXX is 0.35 inches thick, or only 0.07 inches thicker than the regular Droid RAZR.

Other than the larger battery, the RAZR MAXX is essentially the same exact phone as Droid RAZR—it has the same software and hardware.

The larger battery in the Droid RAZR MAXX should be good for an astounding 21 hours of continuous talk time on a single charge.

Both the Droid 4 and Droid RAZR MAXX work with Motorola’s host of companion accessories that, among other things, allow you to use the phones as Linux-based laptops.

Motorola has promised to upgrade the Droid 4 and Droid RAZR MAXX to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) within the second quarter of the year.

The original Droid RAZR (left) compared to the new Droid RAZR MAXX (right).