More on the DROID: thoughts from the rest of Engadget
By Nilay Patel 
posted Oct 30th 2009 6:10PM
posted Oct 30th 2009 6:10PM
Nilay:
Keyboard aside, the DROID is very much the ultimate phone for phone geeks. It's not "friendly" in the way that the iPhone is immediately intuitive and welcoming, but that's not what it's trying to be -- at all. It's like a muscle car and a Mercedes: most people are going to take the Benz, but the people who know they want a '69 Boss 429 aren't going to settle for anything less. The Droid is big, heavy, and intimidating, and if you take the time to learn Android's quirks and how to use it, it'll do everything you could ever want -- but at the price of some refinement and style.
I don't think I'm alone in thinking this -- Verizon seems to know it too. Why else would the DROID Does ad focus so heavily on things that are only important to geeks, like open development and customization, and then end with what appears to be a Transformer attacking the Matrix? Hell, every single notification on an out-of-the-box Droid is accompanied by a robot voice intoning DROIIIIID, a sound that appeals only to the nerdiest of the nerds.
But you know what? I am a nerd. The DROID may not be for everyone, but it's very definitely the right phone for some. And in the end, that's really quite encouraging. I just wish Moto would have re-thought that keyboard.
Paul:
I think the DROID is the best phone on the market that isn't the iPhone. Unfortunately, I don't have a car, so Google Navigation doesn't help me, I don't use Exchange, so that's out, and I can't bring myself to pay Verizon contract prices. I'm also slightly more productive on the touchscreen keyboard than the physical keyboard, which isn't saying much for either of these input methods. What's left after all this negativity? Gmail, one of the best screens money can buy, and great coverage / voice-quality, all three of which are so absolutely clutch that it has me considering making it my primary phone. However, at the end of the day I think I'm going to hold out for something touchscreen only with a similar processor / screen resolution and perhaps T-Mobile for a network. If anything the DROID has convinced me that it's almost time to switch to Android, even if this specific phone isn't the exact fit for me.
Chris:
It's a rarity in the wireless industry when the design of a phone -- at a glance, anyhow -- actually rises to the challenge and matches the fanboy fantasy: the original RAZR, the original iPhone, perhaps the Sony Ericsson X1. The realities of designing a working handset just don't often allow for it to hold up against the stratospheric, unrealistic expectations of an overstimulated fan base that's always on the hunt for The Next Big Thing. And even on the rare occasion when it does happen, that initial launch-day euphoria is usually squashed by the time phones are in customer's hands, flaws are rooted out, and the once-untouchable device has suddenly been made human -- case in point, the X1, which launched in the US three full seasons after it was announced and never had a prayer of living up to the hype that had reached a rolling boil.
That's why I know the DROID is a special phone: it pushes my geeky fanboy buttons in ways they haven't been pushed in a long, long time. Unlike the CLIQ or any other Android phone before it, Motorola's second Android handset literally looks like it sprung to life out of a fake, pie-in-the-sky rendering posted on some Taiwanese forum, and handling it just puts a smile on your face. Can you say that about a Storm2? A Pure? An Imagio? Hell, in the year 2009, can you even say that about an iPhone 3GS, which looks nearly identical to the iPhone of 2007?
Of course, it's like dating a supermodel: just because the DROID is unbelievably attractive doesn't mean you want to marry it. Those that aren't used to Android (or have tried it before and didn't like it) might cringe at some of the platform's nuances, and it's still not as visually slick as webOS or iPhone OS is. I personally found the physical keyboard to be a pretty miserable experience -- worse than the G1 and the CLIQ -- an inevitable casualty of trying to fit this much technology into a space less than 14mm thick, but the good news is that the capacitive display is large enough to make the soft keyboard very usable for me. It's also the smoothest, fastest, most satisfying Android experience on any device to date, a combination of 2.0's enhancements and the speedy OMAP3 heart powering them.
At the end of the day, realities of the US wireless industry are as likely to decide whether you're getting a DROID as anything else. For Verizon -- historically known for one of the worst smartphone selections of any carrier in North America -- the DROID instantly vaults to the top of the heap, so if you're on Big Red or you want to be, the phone may very well be a no-brainer. If you're not on Verizon but you're an Android fanatic, the DROID's also almost impossible to resist -- yeah, it's just that good. Seriously. For the rest of the wireless world, though, the DROID is little more than "another really good smartphone," and regardless of carrier, those are easier to come by than they've ever been before.
Wow, if the keyboard is that bad I may have to consider the Eris.
Might as well get a Hero then.
Wow, the more reviews that come out, the more people continue to say bad things about this phone. It was all hyped up as a "phone of the year" yet lots of people naming the bad.. I was thinking about getting this phone but now i might wait for something else to come along...
i went to best buy today to get my $50 rebate on my sprint hero, and i went ahead and pre-ordered a droid. i'm about 60/40 in favor of the sprint phone, without having yet touched the droid.
The reviews of the phone aren't necessarily bad. They're just honest. It's a good, well-rounded phone. Not revolutionary, not an iPhone killer, not perfect. No phone is. The consensus seems to be that the Droid is the best Android device out there at the moment. Android just isn't quite there yet with where it needs to be to really compete with the iPhone. It's more of a software issue than hardware. The good thing about software is that it can be updated for free (from the consumer's point of view anyway).
Maybe the phone is not all that after all. Maybe I will just stick with my Nokia 5730 XM...
Update your Storm to the latest version--it'll finally be everything it was SUPPOSED to be when it was released!
@Mike
Yea, I totally agree, I currently have a Storm and now I'm afraid that this is going to turn out just like that did.
Who is going to buy this? It's like a Linux Netbook, great in the right hands, worthless to most people.
That is a really good question. It's usability for the general public that makes a phone great. That's what the iPhone has. The Pre is good too. If this is a geek phone, its appeal is going to be very narrow.
Yeah, that explains why no one bought the G1, myTouch, or Hero........... wait.
"Keyboard aside, the DROID is very much the ultimate phone for phone geeks."
Funny, you seem to have mis-spelt 'HD2' as 'DROID' in that sentence Nilay.
"I'm going to hold out for something touchscreen only with a similar processor / screen resolution"
Or maybe something with a superior processor Paul. Why settle for second-best when there are so many Snapdragon-based handsets on the horizon?
"...just because the DROID is unbelievably attractive..."
You are kidding, right?
Seriously, nothing this phone is being hyped up for is all that impressive.
'It has a great screen', not as good as the OLED offerings from Samsung I'd bet.
'It's running Android 2.0', as will a number of new handsets in the next few months, which will in all likelihood spank the Motorola up and down the park.
"The Droid focuses on open development and customisation" - you're kidding? That's not Motorola's doing nor is it unique to this handset, the same can be said about any Android handset, plus Symbian is open-source now as well. Same goes for Paul's comment about how great the G-Mail support is, not something unique to this phone.
I've been beating my head against a wall trying to work out what the attraction of this handset is and I'm giving up. Once again, the US mobile phone industry has proven incomprehensible.
I'm just glad I live in the UK where I can get a great range of smartphones from manufacturers I actually feel comfortable giving my money to.
To say that the Snapdragon processor is superior to the OMAP3430 leads me to believe you have no idea as to what you're talking about. If you did, you would know that there hasn't been any testing from the Snapdragon to let us know how it will perform next to the OMAP3430. Will it crunch numbers faster, but leave much to be desired in the gpu? Will it drain battery or preserve it? There are a lot of unanswered questions.
Another, OLED screens are not what Samsung has. OLED screens have been around. AMOLED screens are what Samsung has. AMOLED saves battery because the screen isn't backlit, the individual pixels are. It makes the bright colors brighter, and the dark colors darker. That isn't necessarily a good thing. Not to mention AMOLED gets washed out in the sunlight.
Your open development comment makes you sound even more uninformed and clueless. You're only bashing this phone because of the hype and marketing around it. For one, you mention Motorola. Google basically used Motorola's resources to create this phone. This phone is basically Google's phone. Why are you putting it up against other Android devices? Symbian open source now? Android has been open source. Now Verizon is embracing open source. I just... I don't understand what point your trying to make with this?
Screw benchmarks, they mean nothing compared to real life performance.
I've used handsets with both processors and the Snapdragon-based model win hands down despite the fact that it was running WinMo which is far from a sprightly OS.
Not to mention every hands-on preview of up-coming Snaodragon-based phones like the HTC HD2 are exceedingly positive.
Ok, so we're getting pedantic about letters. Yes they are AMOLED screens, which is a type of OLED screen.
And the whole 'washed-out in sunlight' argument is pretty piss-poor given how bad so many LCD screens are in direct sunlight anyway - I'm pretty certain it's impossible to get any worse than 'completely unreadable'.
Uninformed and clueless? To question why one particular phone gets praised for being 'open' when the same applies to a multitude of other handsets. Ok...
And I never said that I was objecting to the OS, it's quite clearly an objection not only to the marketing but the fawning that some people are doing over it, despite the fact that the handset clearly has problems. Instead of trying to justify the poor hardware by focusing on a feature that is common to a number of other phones, maybe these people should be facing facts and admitting that as promising as the OS is, it deserves better than a second-rate Motorola phone to run on.
And yes, Symbian is very much on it's way to becoming open source.
If you missed it, here's the announcement from almost a year and a half ago: http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/24/nokia-buys-symbian/ - enjoy catching up with current events.
Also, why am I putting the Droid up against other Android handsets? Perhaps because that's what people tend to do when comparing handsets and the Droid's main competition is liable to come from, shock horror, other Android phones(!)
How about getting the phone in your hands before spraying your psycho-babble all over my screen? Your comments are utterly worthless.
I'm sorry, I didn't realise that pointing out that the hardware is nothing spectacular, the OS is not a unique feature to this handset and that the hype is just that, hype, was 'psycho-babble'.
But, while we're at it, why don't you lie back and tell me about your mother...
I think the comments about the OMAP3430 vs. Snapdragon are a bit silly - both chips are implementations of the same ARM design, specifically the ARM Cortex A8. Snapdragon may (?) have a different 2D GPU than the OMAP, but considering they are essentially running on the same CPU design, saying that SnapDragon isn't really relevant. For that matter, Samsung has their own Cortex A8 core, "Hummingbird", which will probably be very similar to both TI's offering and Qualcomm's.
And - as a sidenote - the first reports of a phone I've read of using the Snapdragon at 1GHz seem to indicate it may be a power-hungry beast, so if the Droid's use of a lower-clocked variant of the same design gets better battery-life, that's a trade-off a lot of people are willing to make.
Finally - are you serious when you ask why there is hype about this phone's hardware? Duh! It's got a display that's more than 2.5x sharper than the iPhone, better than DVD resolution actually, it's got a fast processor, good build-quality, it's possibly the thinnest smartphone with a full qwerty keyboard, and it runs one of the most promising mobile OS's around. And fyi - Symbian is a dead OS walking, dude. How many people do you know using Symbian-powered smartphones to browse the web, check their email, and update facebook? iPhones, WM (for now) and Android rule that space.
Regarding the CPU, Toshiba on the TG01 were able to get a rated battery performance not far off of the Droid's using a Snapdragon CPU and a 1000mAh battery, as opposed to the 1400mAh one in the Droid.
If SE go ahead and stick a 1500mAh one into Rachael and make sure they get all the software optimised, there's no reason that the battery performance shouldn't at least rival, if not exceed that of the Droid - especially since, as you seem to have forgotten, SE have a history of producing handsets with better-than-average battery life and that the Snapdragon CPUs have the ability to lower the clock speed to preserve battery life when the phone isn't being used.
As for the hardware, yes, I ask what's with the hype.
Who cares that the display is better than the iPhones, that still doesn't make it better than a lot of other phones on the market. Pointing out that it happens to be superior to one particular rival handset does not somehow make it the best one the market.
It's the thinnest phone with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard? Even if that's true, read the article, the keyboard's a disaster, they should've made it a little thicker and focused on actually making it usable as opposed to focusing one something less important like the thickness of the phone.
And the OS, again, like the screen, it's not the only handset on the market that runs Android so it's not something this phone somehow deserves praise for. Also, the majority of smartphones used one th face on the planet run Symbian and a lot of people are perfectly happy with it, so to say it's dead in the water seems a little far-fetched.
Even if we look at the handset as a complete package and don't compare individual features, compared to other Android handsets, it doesn't have all that much to offer - compared to the SE X10/Rachael, all it has to show for itself is the keyboard which has be so maligned be people who have used it.
So really, the question is who would want to buy this handset when the one thing it can offer is so poor?
And, go ahead, rank me down again for pointing out the things that you don't want to accept are true.
It's really pathetic that a number of people who have dared to suggest that the Droid is not all that have been ranked low. It's almost as bad as iPhone owners.
Android is still ugly and the hardware still lacks, hmm, I think I'll be sticking with the Pre as my choice of phone
The hardware is lacking so you're going to buy a phone with equivalent/inferior hardware? That makes perfect sense.
Monday, Sony Ericsson announces the X10 (aka Rachael). No one will care about the Droid after
This would be legit if Sony could market that phone like Verizon has. How much coverage have you seen on the x3/x10/rachael/whatever? It'll be released, the general public won't notice, and no one will care. It's going to be a great phone, but the x10 is marketed at the "power-users" as well, and the one thing the Droid has over the x10 is marketing.
And this clinches it, you're clearly a troll.
Outside of the US and it's backwards-ass mobile market, the Rachael/X3/X10 has already received far more coverage than the Droid and will without a doubt out-sell it by a considerable margin.
When viewing the world as a whole, the 'general public' is far more likely to ignore the Droid than Rachael.
I completely second that thought!!
Love my Hero, Sense UI, Sprint's plans and services, and the extra $50 refund I'm off to Best Buy to snag back tomorrow. Hero stays.
What a shock, iphone fanboys crap on a competitor. 'I don't have a car so Google Navigation does nothing for me', I mean, seriously?
I only have iPhone shaped screen protectors & iPhone specific usb cables, so clearly this isn't the phone for me.
I work at a VZW store. We got 2 Moto Droids and 1 HTC Droid Eris. We have 12 employees at my store, and hands down the Droid Eris wowed everyone. No lag, the Sense UI is just gorgeous. The Droid is so bland and clunky. And heavy, did I mention heavy? The thing is a brink. Yeah it has a QWERTY keyboard, but honestly no one could use it effectively. I'm so disappointed in the Moto Droid. Verizon is putting all its eggs in this ONE basic, (in regards to mindshare and media time), but people who were hardcore for the Droid(I was), were disappointed. It's nice, the screen is beautiful. But the review that commented on the drag when swiping between the screens on either side of the home screen was true. It's like a half second stutter. But the Eris, no problem. Smooth, EXTREMELY customizable out of the box, same camera(megapixel wise), and in most people's opinion, it's sexier. Nicer looking. It's not 2.0, but I'm sure it will be soon enough. I think Verizon should have marketed this differently. I actually prefer the Storm 2 over the Moto Droid. Weird huh?
You are obviously full of shit. I actually work at a VZW, and HANDS DOWN the Moto Droid spanks the Eris in initial reviews from the employees. The Moto Droid feel solid and NO LAG at all. The Eris is a damn good phone but I already encountered lag where the Droid didn't.
Remember the hype of the X1? I have yet to see a single person with one
While I know style is completely subjective, at the end of the day I can't get over how boring this device looks! It's so uninspirational in that it's just a plain rectangle with chrome and gold accents. Say what you will about buying things solely for the way they look, but virtually all products designed nowadays are done so to make them eye-catching, to make people you don't even know come up to you and say, "Wow, what is that?" I can't even begin to tell you how many people (even those with iPhones) have asked me about my Imagio; the design is so creative and unmistakable, a very well designed device indeed.The Droid just doesn't do it for me. That said, I do think it falls very well in line with the whole robotic theme (Droid, after all) that they're pushing for this device. Very clean and simple, with a business-class/engineering kind of feel to it. But I just can't agree with Chris' raves about the hardware.
I dont usually drool on Fridays , wait yes i do.
B 429, doesnt get better, or bigger drool i should say.
-j-
Ermm.... It's a phone, personally I've always like Motorolas, I love Android (got G1) and I don't care if someone else loves or hates this phone. Personal preference ladies & gents, personal preference! It wouldn't do for us all to love the same things. The reviews are fair enough, it's given ME a steer as to whether I'd like it or not, but that's it....
I really liked the reviews from the different perspectives. They seem to be very honest and hopefully accurate. The Droud wasn't something that appealed to me initially, but I was still interested in t. I was actually rooting for it's success. Just like the Palm Pre, I think the Droid is close to being great, but there are a few hardware changesvneeded to be made. Scratch the slider and bring a UI like Sense and I think it would have been stellar. Just like the Pre, scratch the slider and establish a virtual keyboard and the phone flourishes.
So if your use to a digital keyboard and then all of a sudden start using a physical keyboard like the G1, of course your going to have a bad first impression. Thats why you get use to the phone and its hardware and software. I know that there is just so much on this droid that the iphone doesnt have, and yeah its your and my own opinion and that why im sticking with the droid because for me the iphone was just to easy and boring with just apps on every page with no customizing, dont get me wrong, some of those apps are awesome, But i just can't get enough of this android os. haha, so yeah i guess it is more towards geeks and android experienced and both phones have their pros and cons, but for me, I'll be standing right outside BestBuy to purchase my Motorola Droid.
Are any of the "X" series phones from SE subsidized by a carrier? I don't see an $800 phone outselling a subsidized overhyped Google phone with keyboard on the largest US network. But maybe I'm crazy.
It's real sad that Engadget allowed Nilay (Blackberry). Paul (Walking) & Chris (iPhone) bashes a device they assisted with the hype. Motorola, Google and Verizon deserve some tome to shine and by the look at the stock market and your article : The game has Changed" source: http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2009/10/28/the-game-has-changed/ written by Chris it seems you too were on to the Droid. I have always made my selection(s) on my next handset based on your "Non-Biased" articles for years and now this? I own the iPhone and a Palm Pre - and they are trash that was offered for my connection to worthless networks. I have maontained my service with Verizon since PrimeCo days so this is not a FanBoy response - this is a true user that has nothing to loose. Android is here and slowly climbing into our pockets - 1st the maps later everything we do electronically.
Not trying to play dumb here -- I seriously have no idea what you're trying to say.
Don't drink and comment.
http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-general-discussions/112-iphone-3gs-vs-motorola-droid.html
Chris: i am confused as well - i thought this was a public post and spoke my mind ~mistake i take it
D-Whizzle: I drink after commenting
kmc1828: thanks for the link
I can't decide between this and the Palm Pre on Sprint. Neither can do simultaneous data and voice ;(
A vzw rep let me see one today after I asked if they had one behind the counter. It is too cool. I have email hosted with google apps, so this is perfect. Virtual keyboard is easy to use, as is the physical keyboard (I don't have small hands). I didn't want to give it back. My blackberry curve has been the best phone I have ever owned (had treos, moto q), and I am making the jump. I really wanted to like the storm 2, but I will be buying the droid. Maybe rim will get it right next time. Like any phone, its all in what you need. The vzw reps said the storm 2 would be their next phone.
Droid, Android Open OS!! That alone makes it rule.
Wow. What a hot and heated topic. Love to see fellow geeks dull it out over phone crap. Any how I have a mytouch good phone, I miss a hard keyboard so bad.
I have to ask are these people kids? teenagers or what?
I see the driod as a nice Business phone, the keyboard will be nice for entering data quickly, into a notebook type app, a soft keyboard is good for SMSes etc but an utter chore once you need to write out a page of text.
Too many people are only comparing phones to the iPhone but the iPhone to me a a teeny bopper phone you know great for facebook playing a vid etc but when you need to access office type data, and deal with datbase type software it won't have the apps fall apart trying to deal with the data and be extremely slow.
The X10 seems to be another iPhone type phone great for the kids and those that only play games on a mobile but poor for those who never bother with games on a mobile.
I think the market segment for the Droid is a little higher up than what the iPhone market is.