Although I do not have one, I am a big fan of the iPhone. It is so elegant and easy to use; you quickly got over the weaknesses and embrace the multitude of positives. I don’t have an iPhone because it is only on AT&T and my company uses Verizon (which is a much better network than AT&T so I will not be switching carriers any time soon).
The good news for me is that Verizon just came out with the Motorola Droid, which is meant to compete directly with the iPhone and even try to be an “iPhone killer”. Frankly, I can’t imagine anyone throwing away their iPhone and running to Verizon to pick up a Droid, but you never know. The Droid is an incredible device and definitely worth getting if you are using Verizon and need a new smartphone. The Droid is not as elegant as the iPhone for ease of use, but in my opinion, it is getting closer, and is way better than Windows Mobile and even the Blackberry.
The Droid was just released and I’ve been using it full time for the past several days. I recommend you take a look if you want an iPhone like device (or any smartphone for that matter) if you are using Verizon. This thing is awesome. There is no perfect smartphone out there, but this one comes close by doing pretty much everything well and it has all of the features needed for daily business and home life.
Basic Specs
· Verizon network
· Run Google Android 2.0 operating system
· 3.7 touch screen
· GPS, Bluetooth, Wife
· Slider keyboard
· 2.4 x 4.6 x 0.5 in (Pretty much the same size as the iPhone only slightly thicker and longer)
· Weighs in at 6 ounces
· Over 6 hours of use time and 11 days of standby time
· Syncs with Exchange
· 5 megapixel camera with flash
· 500 megs of built in memory and comes with a 16 gig data card for storage
· $200 with new activation
What I like
· Syncs with Exchange
· The huge screen is amazingly crisp and bright
· The real keyboard is a must
· Build quality – the phone just feels incredibly solid and sturdy
· The iPhone like touch functions
· Navigation with turn by turn directions – free and included with a smart car feature that puts the device in to navigation mode for ease of use. You can even get a smart windshield mount that will put the device in navigation mode automatically.
· Battery life is great
· The App store
· Amazing DVD quality video recording and playback
· 3 desktop screens with widgets
· Incredibly fast. No waiting for the device to respond to commands
· Voice Search– speaking what you are looking for works much better than expected
· Very loud speaker and the handset volume for calls is also really loud when you need it
· Proximity sensor – turns off the screen when it is close to your face to save battery and keep it from pressing random buttons
· Light sensor – The screen will auto dim and bright depending on the amount of light in the room
· Very customizable
· And the phone actually works really well
What bugs me but I can live with it
· No physical buttons for the phone – I’m more of a data guy so not having buttons is not that big of a deal to me. Pressing a screen button works just fine.
· It is a bit heavy. I know it is only 6 ounces and feels really solid which is great, but a little lighter would be better.
· The keyboard takes some getting used to.
· No way to customize the look and feel of the Exchange email syncing – IE: turn it off at night, change the font size, change the color of the message, no signature option, etc.
Conclusion
It has been less than a week using the Droid as my full time phone so more time is needed to fully get comfortable with all of its features and functions. So far I think it is a great device. As you can see, my list of likes is WAY longer than my list of gripes. My comments and feedback are from someone who has used Windows Mobile and Blackberry devices for years. Compared to those, the Droid is a winner. Compared to an iPhone it holds its own.
More details
Motorola site – http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/US-EN/Consumer-Product-and-Services/Mobile-Phones/Motorola-DROID-US-EN
Verizon site – http://phones.verizonwireless.com/motorola/droid/
Good article comparing the iPhone and the Droid – http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/10/30/smartphone-showdown-iphone-3gs-vs-motorola-droid/
