Verizon Motorola DROID Review
The smartphone market has seen some big changes in the past three years. New players have come on board and thanks to the latest advancements in technology the phones are coming out more powerful then ever. For sometime now AT&T has had the iPhone for quite some time now, T-Mobile the G1 and now the myTouch and CLIQ, Sprint has the Pre, Hero and soon to be Pixi which has left Verzion with nothing more then the HTC Windows Phones (which every other carrier has) and the Storm2 which has only been treading waters in terms of excitement so far.
But with the release of the DROID by Motorola, Verizon is positioning themselves to have a major lineup for next year. That is because the DROID is not just one phone (even though it is the title of this device) but a series of devices from Motorola that as you guessed run Android, yes confusing we know. So what’s so exciting about the device? Is it that great? Read on to find out.
DESIGN:
There is something that strikes me as sexy as the DROID, and this is just a matter of personal opinion as I am sure that many other iPhone and Pre owners might consider bland a more appropriate word. However, seeing that the name implies something of a technical nature and Motorola is known for creating some trendsetters (hello Razr, Q) I wouldn’t actually say its as polished as my Pre or the iPhone but it sure speaks style and the departure from the glossy metal etc is a breath of fresh air.
The device has a 3.7 inch WVGA screen that boasts 16 million hues and has 440 x 854 pixels. As you can expect its capacitate touch and supports multitouch. The device is just a hair bigger then the iPhone ranging from 4.56 inches tall to 2.36 inches wide and only 0.54 inches thick. The DROID is 5.96 ounces which makes it a little heavier then most smartphones but it’s not that great of a weight difference and the device feels solid in the hands.
Unlike many other Android devices, the DROID features a full landscape slide our QWERTY keyboard as well as four touch sensitive controls under the screen (home, back, search and menu). There is no dedicated dialing control; you will have to access the phone feature via the app that is on the phones desktop (take that anyway you want it).
While the keys are firm to the touch, they might not provide the best user experience to most users as they are cramped. You also get a control pad which is a nice addition especially for mobile gaming.
Other features include a 3.5mm jack, 5 megapixel camera (with LED flash) which takes beautiful pictures, video camera (quite disappointing), microUSB, and removable battery as well as microSD expansion slot.
PERFORMANCE:
As we mentioned before, the DROID runs Android 2.0. However it doesn’t run MotoBlur as Verizon and Motorola are targeting the DROID to a more business oriented community and not exactly people who are crazy about Facebook, Twitter, Flikr and MySpace. Yet you will find apps for all those services on the device and if they’re not there, you can download them via the Android Marketplace.
Instead of giving an entire review of Android, we’ll just highlight the changes in version 2.0. Some of these include expanded features of the personal management tools such as email, calendar and contacts. Microsoft Exchange is supported (native support that is) and of course IMAP and POP3 support is there as well as Gmail of course.
The webkit browser in Android 2.0 has been updated and now includes the same gestures we’re used to on the Pre and iPhone include tapping to zoom as well as pinch to zoom etc. Its also faster then the previous browser and that is in part to the faster processor (cortex A8) on the DROID. Flash Lite is supported and Flash 10 will be supported when it becomes available.
Universal search has been added and allows you to search not only the phone but also the internet. Google Maps has been updated and now includes free turn by turn navigation that everyone is praising Google and Verizon for. Well hello, Palm has had it for the past few months for free, unlike a certain fruity phone which you have to be willing to pay for such services. That said, it is still a solid app and is built into Google Maps so you can navigate satellite maps and not just digital maps. If you haven’t kept up with the financial news, this is in part to blame for the huge stock price drop of both TomTom and Garmin.
Multimedia is good and you can play MIDI files, AAC, WAV and of course MP3 files as well as a numerous amount of video files (sorry no Dvix support yet). And if you are ever out of tunes, you can download via the Amazon Store either on WiFi or over Verizon’s 3G network (average download time for a song is about a minute and half on 3G).
Speaking of WiFi, one of the first phones from Verizon to support this feature and it does a great job. Thanks to the optional multimedia dock you can have yoru tunes etc streamed to your sound system.
Call quality is great and so is 3G. call quality is excellent and there is very little static. Call time is rated at about 6.4 hours which beats the 5 hour limit of the iPhone and Pre.
CONCLUSION:
Is this the DROID you’re looking for? Probably yes as it is the best Android device to date. It might not have the refinement of the Pre or iPhone but it is still great and it feels like a solid contender in the smartphone market. There isn’t really much more you can ask from Motorola or Verizon from this device as it is a solid business device that I’m sure many consumers will fall in love with and kudus to Verizon for not locking up the device with their stupid rules. Check out the video after the break.
[...] The Droid will launche on November 6th with Verizon, but you can pre-order the smartphone from Best Buy. Here at Fiery Source we did a review on this remarkable phone, and you can read it here. [...]