Motorola/Verizon Droid Revealed. Beats iPhone in Specs

[awesomeSlayer]

True...but when the exclusive deal ends, everyone will be grabbing the iPhone.

[weazle23]

this is coming to verizon right? so it might actually be the best for them right now. motorola just better hope the iphone doesnt come to verizon like the rumors say.

[1hihum]

this is coming to verizon right? so it might actually be the best for them right now. motorola just better hope the iphone doesnt come to verizon like the rumors say.

I genuinly hope that Verizon gets the iPhone as well as other carriers. We need AT&T to compete for customers again. As it stands right now, there is no phone that can compete with the iPhone, and since no other carrier has it, AT&T has no real incentive to push improvements to it's system. Instead of being glad that they have the exclusive right to the hottest phone on the market, they ***** about us using what wepay for. Instead of improving their system to meet the customer demand, they want to restrict the customer to meet their networks capability. Other networks having a phone that can effectively compete with the iPhone for customers, or better yet have the iPhone to offer will make things all the better for AT&T customers. And another company having a phone that can compete with the iPhone will only help push Apple as well.

[weazle23]

i wish t-mobile would upgrade there service in our area i would definately switch to them. right now im in a 850 only area and when a frind of mine tried to use t-mobile he was basically roaming the whole time. i know i would lose 3g but its not available here anyway.

[eaglesteve]

The physical keyboard is a turn-off for me. I like the better resolution, bigger screen size, higher pixel camera, and replaceable batteries though. I don't like it's inconsistent UI, although this is only based on a very short time playing with a demo unit in a phone shop.

[thetoothfairy]

Nothing better than I L-O-V-E my iPhone everything else = F-A-I-L

[battlecrushr]

True

[Happy Noodle Boy]

Until this phone is running OS X, it doesn't matter what it has on it. There is no operating system like OS X. Everything else out there is Windows based, or Windows minded.... and that.......

Android is Linux based which is as far away from Windows as you can get what the hell are you on, man

Also, I've gotten to play with one of these at work last couple of days. They are really, really, REALLY nice. Their build quality is superb and the slider feel strong. Like I wouldn't worry if I drop it strong. Yeah yeah physical keyboard might be a con to some people but given the form and design factor of the phone, I didn't mind it at all.

Android 2.0 is a really awesome OS. Compared to 1.6, it's a whole new ballgame. Similar to the jump the iPhone had when 2.0 (and 3.0) were released. This phone being part of the "Google Experience" has some nice perks. The FREE turn-by-turn navigation , android marketplace, and general openess of the OS in general leaves a lot to be desired from the iPhone. About 90% of the things we jailbreak for in the iPhone you can do right out of the box in an Android phone.

Also, Android is being made with the idea of a unified mobile OS that can (theoretically) run in ANY phone. That is something the iPhone can't claim. Let me be very clear, this isn't going to kill the iPhone. NOTHING can kill the iPhone. But anything else is fair game for both Android and iPhone and by next year, I wouldn't be surprised if Android spreads to a larger % of phones.

EDIT: To give you an example of what Android can do, with minimal changes it can be used as the OS in a computer. In fact, couple of netbooks coming out soon are going to be Android based. That's the real power behind android, adaptability.

[confucious]

Android 2.0 does look a good OS it is maturing rather rapidly.
Still let down by the hardware IMHO - hopefully that will change
Android on the iPhone?
There's an idea.. planetbeing - where are you?

[metaserph]

From a report I read yesterday on the Droid, I also posted on another thread:

"The Droid -- $299.99 before a $100 mail-in rebate for new and renewing customers who sign up for voice and data bundles of $69.98 or more, text messaging not included --also shares certain issues with other Android devices. You have to upload your existing calendars and contacts lists to Google's Web-based services, which then synchronize with the phone over the air. (Other companies are working on software to allow direct syncing of those records, as well as iTunes music libraries, but they're not all there yet.) And its multitasking abilities can outstrip its hardware, leading to hiccups in music playback as other things happen in the background.
...
The Droid's flash-equipped camera, however, doesn't yield the quality that its 5-megapixel resolution might suggest. Photos appeared grainy, videos looked blurry and it exhibited the same shutter lag as most other cameraphones.
...
Less impressive: Verizon's visual-voicemail software, which allows you to play or delete messages in any order but this costs an extra $2.99 a month.

The Droid's lack of multi-touch gesture input -- a standard feature on the iPhone, Palm's Pre and some other Android phones --and its inability to open a few standard e-mail attachments constitute other disappointments. "

Seems some of the OOB services available on the iPhone and other "lesser" models need a little work on the Droid. And from Android Central, whom we expect to be Droid lovers, even they admit to a few shortcomings:

"Starting with the front face of the phone, the DROID is all screen. In fact, you can easily mistaken this as a 'one-slab' device a la iPhone 3GS if you didn't know better. The touch sensitive buttons line the bottom of the screen (Back, Menu, Home, Search) and though they're styled nicely, we can't help but think a pressure-sensitive option would be a better option. There's been occasions where we accidentally hit a button that we didn't intend to. It's not the biggest issue, but it's definitely worth noting.

The biggest sticking point for users, design-wise, might be the fact that the screen top half of the phone doesn't line up with the keyboard bottom half. Think of it as an anti-chin, actually. It's an interesting design choice that doesn't really affect usage in portrait mode but slightly affects using the phone in landscape (more on that later)...nfortunately, the DROID won't launch with multitouch (on Verizon at least) because, well, we don't really know exactly why. Multitouch makes touchscreen experiences so much more intuitive that it's almost inane to not include it. The iPhone has it. The Pre has it. The Hero has it (in the browser). The DROID should have it. What's the deal?...We'll be honest. You won't find many people who'll love the hardware keyboard on first impression. Even though the buttons click fine with a great springiness to it that results in a satisfying click and the layout and look seem decent enough, it still takes time to get used to. The problem with the keyboard is that it's not easy to tell when one button starts and where the other one ends, so typing fast is somewhat muted because you end up 'typinh fasdt'.

But we'll also be honest. We're definitely improving on the hardware keyboard. It's strange to think of a hardware keyboard having a learning curve, but the Droid's keyboard definitely has one. Keep hammering away and we're sure you'll be up and ready someday...Typing is made more awkward because of the extension the bottom half of the phone has. Remember typing on the G1, trying to position your hand over the chin? It's not as bad as that, but it's a similar feeling. You feel like you're overcompensating with your right hand and there's a slight awkwardness to the motion. So the odd design choice of the 'anti-chin' comes back to bite us where the 'chin' already has. Weird.

The 5-way d-pad is borderline useless. We think Motorola only put it in there to add more gold accents to the DROID because we never found a real need for it. Sure, it's nice to hit the down button every once in a while to get through text input screens but we feel the touchscreen trumps it nearly every time. We're not sure if eliminating the d-pad and spacing the keys would've helped the keyboard (it might've be too wide) but it's worth thinking about...The four touchscreen buttons on the front face of the phone are fun to use but not practical in the day-in, day-out routine. When holding the phone in landscape mode whether to use the landscape soft keyboard (which is amazing) or take a picture, we've accidentally hit a button we weren't supposed to hit. If those buttons were pressure-sensitive instead of touch-sensitive it wouldn't be an issue. Also, the backlight on touchscreen buttons backlight sometimes disappear when you're using the phone, which makes it really tough to see if you hit menu or back...The four touchscreen buttons on the front face of the phone are fun to use but not practical in the day-in, day-out routine. When holding the phone in landscape mode whether to use the landscape soft keyboard (which is amazing) or take a picture, we've accidentally hit a button we weren't supposed to hit. If those buttons were pressure-sensitive instead of touch-sensitive it wouldn't be an issue. Also, the backlight on touchscreen buttons backlight sometimes disappear when you're using the phone, which makes it really tough to see if you hit menu or back."

And on and on. Many good things, some less than desireable.

[Happy Noodle Boy]

Most if not all of those complaints are opinions and not really flaws on the phone.

[cpjr]

I would give it a go.

[metaserph]

Most if not all of those complaints are opinions and not really flaws on the phone.

And so they are, coming from folks who've actually used and tested it in real-world use. Just reporting what those who are advocates of Android and the Droid say themselves. Not bashing the Droid or the new OS at all. I'd give it a go as well. But I am not deluded into thinking there's a "perfect" device or that the iPhone is just crap either.

[cpjr]

There is by no means a perfect device out...anywhere.

But most of that is due to individual needs/opinions. There will NEVER be a perfect device, because what is important and functional to me wont be to the next person, so on and so fourth.

There ARE however market leaders....which would include the iphone hands down. And I think the power of the Android OS will push it into that league as well. Its certainly headed in the right direction.

Now if Apple is smart...they can take their lead and use the release of devices like this to continue forward and keep building on what they already have...but they have to keep the momentum up.

[metaserph]

Agree 100% with what you say CP. In the end, competition fosters improvement and the end user benefits either way. And I do think the Android platform is very, very promising. We'll see what the future holds.

[confucious]

Most if not all of those complaints are opinions and not really flaws on the phone.

Most flaws in most phones occur in the the thing that holds them...

There is by no means a perfect device out...anywhere.

Very true, but the iPhone is pretty close. It's not perfect but the combination of OS and Hardware are what makes it better than anything else. Android is getting good - I' thought it had potential but am surprised at how soon it's getting there 2.0 is quite good. But without the h/ware it's not there yet. At least not for me. Some people actually want a hardware keyboard!

I have used Symbian and WinMo and was reasonable well known among those comunities. I have used PCs for over 20 years and don't use Macs. When the iPhone came out I laughed - I mean, a phone without 3G? No thank you.

When the 3G came out I decided to have a look, just so I could explain why the iPhone was so bad. On paper WinMo was so much better, fully customisable, MMS, cut& Paste etc. I really did not think I'd like the iPhone and had plenty of reasons to dislike it. I like to think I have an open mind (but we all know that most people that think that, don't) but I had been a great exponent of how WinMo was so much better than the iPhone.

I was wrong, the 3G iPhone blew me away.

One day something will make the iPhone look silly.

Until I find it all the arguing over details are irrelevant.

At least for me. YMMV.
I will jump ship as soon as something better comes along

[fletch33]

ported my number to a DROID and haven't dropped a call since

i am keeping my 3GS for now as i can run it on my TMobile account but i have been using the iPhone since the first release day and in the last 6 months or so i have been waiting for something to allow me to get away from all the dropped calls and the DROID was it.

glad i switched and enjoyed using it this weekend.

my wife still has her iPhone and i will still be staying involved in the iPhone community but have no plans to return to the iPhone as my main phone until they replace the radio in them to one that will not drop calls or at least not drop 25% of all my calls. it could be my area which is Cincinnati but i could not afford to drop another clients call.

my other ATT phones do not drop calls in my area but the iPhone did and it happened with all 3 editions and only got worse not better.

i am not happy to leave the iPhone as i am a Mac guy but it was something i had to do.

like every phone there are things i like, things i will miss from another, and trade offs but i have been very pleased with the DROID and LOVE the OPEN OS

[metaserph]

What gets me about Verizon Droid is the pricing structure you will face:
"At first glance, and based on initial reviews, the Droid seems to be a very capable device. It may or may not be an 'iPhone-killer', but it certainly seems to be the best phone Verizon has to offer as of today. The Android 2.0-based device will cost users $199.99 with a 2-year contract, with an additional $30 per month for the mandatory data plan to go with it.

That $30 a month buys you an 'unlimited' data plan that has a monthly cap of 5Gb. Clearly, we are using different dictionaries to define 'unlimited'. Something got lost in translation somewhere.

Droid users will soon be able to use the device to tether though, something the iPhone is not capable of. Tethering allows the mobile device and its data connection to be used as an Internet connection for another system like a laptop. Verizon has confirmed that tethering will cost you though--an additional $30 per month for an additional unlimited data plan that is also limited to 5Gb. So, if you want tethering you will pay $60 above and beyond the monthly contract for service for an 'unlimited' 10Gb of data per month.

Verizon isn't stopping there with the sticker shock either. It also announced that as of November 15 the early termination fee will be doubled for high-end devices like smartphones (a.k.a. the Droid). Users who cancel out of the agreement before the two years are up will be hit with a $350 bill.

But wait, there's more! That $30 a month data plan grants you the ability to use an 'unlimited' 5Gb of data...as long as that data doesn't come from a Microsoft Exchange email server. If you want the privilege of connecting with an Exchange email account you have to pay $45 a month for the 5Gb of unlimited data.

Verizon points out the many things lacking in the iPhone in the iDon't ad campaign. But, AT&T users can get an iPhone starting at $99 with a 2-year contract and a $30 per month data plan. The iPhone doesn't have tethering and AT&T hasn't announced any intention to add it any time soon. But, the $30 a month unlimited data plan actually doesn't have a limit (go figure)."
Unless they change the use cost factor, not getting one soon.

[fletch33]

it would be hard to offer a price difference since the DROID does not have HDD options or processor options.

the DROID uses microSD up to 32GB and comes with a 16GB. i guess they could offer an 8GB microSD LOL but how much difference would that make really?

[CaptainChaos]

AT&T does have a 5GB limit on the phone. On their pc cards as well. Verizon's 3G service is a lot slower than AT&T's where I am. It is not much faster than Edge.