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Motorola Droid (Verizon) Review
The Droid has landed with a Bang.
I arrived at the Verizon Store the morning of the release - an hour early, just in case there would be a line. There was no line, but the store was open early and full of Droid customers. It was 1.5 hours before I walked out with my new Droid.
Am I impressed? Yes! - But read on... or watch the video review.
Is it an iPhone killer? Personally I don't really care, but it certainly has advantages over the iPhone (namely physical keyboard, multi-tasking, turn-by-turn Google Maps, and three custbomizable screens! But the iPhone still has a more polished, user friendly feel and software response. I think this phone will definitely get Apple's attention, and hopefully bring new functionality to the iPhone, and all other smart phones, just as the Palm Pre has done.
The Droid is also lightning FAST!!! On Verizon's 3G network, it opens web pages, videos, etc., with ease. Even attaching and sending 5 MP photos was no challenge for this new beast!
My favorite accessory is the desktop dock, which turns the phone into a multi-media station and full screen alarm clock (with a snap-on case, the phone won't fit into the dock (no surprise there). So if you want to use the dock accessories, I do recommend a pouch rather than a snap-on case. The car dock is also great, especially for the new Google Maps app that gives voice, turn-by-turn directions at no additional charge (aka - free).
The screen is bright and amazingly crisp. The music player and speaker is clear and loud. It won't replace your home entertainment system, but you can hear it loud and clear! Better than any smart phone/PDA/MID I've used to date.
The battery life has been decent compared to other smart phones. I surfed the web, drove around and tested the Google Maps App, sent emails, SMS, MMS, took photos and even made a few calls. After several hours, the phone had only dropped about 1/4 of the charge.
The camera takes nice photos, but I've yet to find a camera phone that will ever take photos that I would want to print. The flash, zoom and video capability will make it useful for many purposes.
The keyboard is a nice size. The keys are large enough to tap out decent emails and texts. The device is easy to hold while typing, which was a worry of mine, but it's well balanced and feels natural. I do find myself wishing the keys were rubberized a little, as it's easy to slip off the keys and hit more than one. The virtual keyboard is also nice for quick entries and is easier than many to use... this works in landscape and portrait mode.
Overall, I have been happy with the phone. The learning curve is a bit more than with the iphone or Palm Pre, but I think partly that is because it has more features and different ways to customize the phone. It's simpler than the HTC Hero and Imagio phones, and tons faster and more responsive! I still find myself missing some parts of the iPhone and the Palm Pre, but I think in the long run, this phone will satisfy a LOT of Verizon customers, and will bring some disgruntled AT&T and Sprint Customers over to Big Red.
Nice Job Google and Motorola!
UPDATE:
The problem with writing a review when you're still "in love" with your brand new shiny device is that you have not had time to really get to know each other. How many times have we fallen for someone who snores like a pirate (and swears like one too). We don't find out these details until we have spent some alone-time together.
So here is my updated review after 12 days and three different Droids (yes, I had to return it twice, and it's still having issues).
Dislikes:
Signal - Very poor and sporadic. All three devices have been the same. My friends with "less expensive" Verizon phones have full bars, while I have 1 or 0 in the exact same places. The Blackberry Tour on VZW had awesome signal strength, but the Droid seems to have a really weak signal. The craziest thing is that it will show full bars when idle, but will then drop to one or zero bars as soon as I place/receive a call. I'm often accused of being possessed by "the Droid" by the broken up sound of my voice on the other end... that's only when they can hear me at all. Neither the store nor the 2nd tier of VZW phone support can figure it out. So replacing my phone three times, also means setting it up three times - Oye, I'm tired! VZW recommends I try a phone "other than" the Droid.
Crashing - Granted it's a brand new updated Android OS, but I feel like a beta tester here (maybe that's why I have this web site... duh). The SMS freezes and crashes constantly. The MMS app has an issue with imported contacts, so I have to go in and edit many of my contacts that contain ()'s around the area code. Is this MY fault? Other apps like the calendar, email and photo gallery have crashed multiple times, sending up a "Force Quit" dialog box message to the front of my screen. Come on guys... work out these bugs before you rush the device to market!!!
Camera - The camera focus has a bug that has been identified, and will hopefully be fixed soon. Until yesterday, it would not focus on anything, and most of the photos were blurry. Suddenly (based on the date?) the bug made the camera start working properly again. Do I wait to see what next month brings? Once focused however, it does take nice photos, and is able to get some decent macro shots. But the speed (or lack thereof) at which it processes the photos is unacceptable. Half the time I can't tell if I took a pic or not, until I wait for the thing to grind to a hault before producing a blurry photo!
WiFi - Maybe I'm just unlucky, but I have yet to be able to get the WiFi to give me a decent connection. It's slower than the 1X signal I have most of the time. Where the hell is my network when I need them? Second level phone tech support was not able to help me get the WiFi to work. They blamed the phone or my router. I think Verizon hates me!
Keyboard - It looks good, but it is NOT made for a man's fingers or thumbs (not being sexist... what I meant to say was large fingers/thumbs). The keys are so flat, that I find it almost impossible to type anything with any accuracy. After 12 days with the phone(s), I realized that I had stopped using the slide-out keyboard altogether. The virtual keyboard is nice, and it offers suggested words that I often misspell anyway. That I like, but knowing that I'm carrying around a slide out keyboard for nothing does not make me happy! I highly doubt this something that can be improved upon with a mere software update!
No Dedicated Phone Icon - I didn't think it would be a big deal, but there is no button or area that will activate the phone. You have to put the icon where you want it. Small potatoes maybe, but I prefer the layout of the Droid Eris where the phone icon is at the bottom of every screen. I guess the Droid is more of a true MID (Mobile Internet Device) that just so happens to have a phone app (with horrible signal).
Contacts - What??? I can't add birthdays??? Whatever! Other Android phones can...
Likes:
Now that I got all that complaining out of the way (the price for being an early adopter, I guess)...
Screen - I LOVE the clarity, brightness and size of the screen! It's like having my own Mini-Me wide screen TV! Crystal Clear and a hi-res thrill to look at. (but why is Android 2.0 missing multi-touch???)
Dock(s) - The night stand dock/charger is awesome. Not only does it charge the phone, but turns it into a multi-media alarm clock as well. You can even dim the brightness! (The rooster alarm sound is a bit "alarming" however). The Car dock is also awesome. It turns your phone into a safe and easy to use mobile device with easy, one touch access to voice search, navigation, map, contacts, and search. Very useful, and very affordable accessories, unlike the touchstone charger from Palm!
Camera - Even though I listed the camera under dislikes for slow process speed and a focus bug, I do love the sharpness and quality of the images. It is the first phone that has compared to the quality to the iPhone camera for sharpness. Still not great in low light, but it does have a flash that sorta works in a pinch.
Multi-tasking - Though I would not compare it to the Palm Pre's brilliant multi-task capability, it is a good 2nd. I can be playing Pandora music and get driving directions simultaneously. The best part is that the Google Nav fades down the music, makes the navigation announcement (in a very robotic voice), and then fades up the music again. Very smooth and seamless!
Notification Pane - Not unique to the Droid (Android OS), but very useful. All notifications come to one central pull down "window shade". It's very handy to not have notifications pop up on the middle of the screen like other phones do.
Final Outcome:
I won't be keeping this phone as my primary phone, even thought I do like many of its capable features. I think it's too heavy to carry around in shorts or a shirt pocket, and the keyboard is pretty much useless weight in my pocket. The reception is horrible (at least in my area). Perhaps it can be fixed with a software patch, but I'm not willing to wait around or take that risk. If I had been given the phone as a beta tester, it might be fun to be part of working out the bugs, but seeing how Verizon insists that I pay my monthly bill for less than satisfactory performance, I think I'll keep looking for the perfect MID. Check out the Droid Eris... little brother to the Droid, but feels nice in the hand, uses HTC Sense, lighter, half the price, and doesn't seem nearly as buggy.
Side note - Rumor has it that HTC is also coming out with the new "Dragon" Android phone, with a 1GHz processor!!! When will this race ever end?
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Last Updated (Tuesday, 24 November 2009 08:15)
Pondering of getting rid of it and getting a phone that I can talk on.