Motorola Droid: First Impressions
By jakob187 30 Comments
After having a Samsung Juke for the last year, I was finally eligible for my upgrade last week. For reference, the Juke was an excellent that only had one shortcoming for me, and that was the fact that the spinning wheel on the front stopped working properly. Other than that, I didn't need any form of internet/apps/etc. for the last year.
As I went to the Verizon store, I was originally just going to pick up a Samsung Rogue or an enV3 Touch. However, I was quickly drawn to the Blackberry Storm. I liked the touch screen on it, but it meant upgrading to a data plan as well. I decided that it would be worth the integration of Gmail capabilities, as that is all we use here at work to keep in communication with each other. Nonetheless, they have stopped carrying the Storm 1 and have now moved to the Storm 2. That's a $130 price difference, for anyone who is out of the know. For $20 more, there was the Droid.
Now, I've never had a smart phone. I've always been one who believes that a cell phone is just that - a PHONE. I didn't need a space heater, a toaster, and a goddamn microwave in it. By that, I mean I didn't need all these crazy features like a 3G network, e-mail, GPS, internet, the works. Nonetheless, now that I have a Droid, I realize that I still don't NEED the features, but they are nice to have there in those small moments of boredom.
The phone does have a bit of REAL weight to it, as it's slightly heavier than both a Matrix Pro or even a Blackberry Tour. As far as heat from prolonged usage, the battery gets warm but it's more of that "mmm...warm blanket out of the dryer" warm than that "holy shit, this thing is going to set me on fire" warm. Unfortunately, the back panel that covers my battery and myself have been fighting it out for who is the boss lately, as it is INCREDIBLY easy to take off. Since the back of the phone has a thin rubber coating (which has great grip to it), this means that keeping the Droid in your jeans pocket can lead to a potential loss of your phone's back cover.
Call quality on the phone has been very high as well so far, and even the speakerphone option works well. I don't have a Bluetooth headset, however, so I have not been able to test the functionality of that. When it comes to typing in text, you have a very responsive on-screen keyboard as well as your slide QWERTY keyboard. This is the part where I start to have issues. Both work incredibly well, especially the QWERTY keyboard with also happens to be backlit for dark environments. Droid also has a 5 megapixel camera for both stills and video, and while there is no on-phone video editing (at the moment at least), both function incredibly well.
All in all, I'm thoroughly impressed with the Droid after sitting alongside my buddy and his iPhone for about an hour or two. Is it as jam-packed as the iPhone? Not at the moment, no. Android is definitely a superior OS in comparison to what Apple is offering with the iPhone, but the iPhone is the veteran on the block with a massive upper-hand in terms of app availability (one thing that will surely become something to shrug about in the course of next year).
If you are on Verizon or T-Mobile and have been wanting that iPhone equivalent to finally show up, I can say without a doubt that the Droid is definitely a contender. However, I am just as skeptical about the longevity of Motorola's phone as well...solely based on the brand name. I've heard great things about the HTC alternative, but the feature set for that is lessened from what is offered on the Droid.
Verdict: I feel comfortable with my purchase. You will, too.
P.S. - No purpose in coming in here and posting up your bullshit trolling, so save it for somewhere else. If you have legitimate complaints and/or just want to discuss the differences between iPhone and Droid...then by all means, do so in a polite manner...please.