Gadgetell Review: Motorola DROID from Verizon Wireless

Recently, I have had some time to check one of the latest Verizon smartphones, the Motorola DROID running Google Android 2.0. This is the first time I had used the Android platform and I was pleased with the hardware functionality of the DROID as well as the ease of use of Android.

What is it?

The Motorola DROID was announced on October 28, 2009 and became available through Verizon Wireless on November 6, 2009. It can connect to the web using Verizon’s 3G network or via WiFi. It comes with a native web browser, but I opted to using the Dolphin Web Browser from the Android Market because it allows for tabbed browsing and I could download YouTube videos from the browser. The crisp 3.7 inch touch screen displays all pictures, videos, games, and websites in high resolution. The touchscreen is pretty responsive and the 550MHz processor opens applications quickly. The DROID can run up to six applications at once, although I have never found the need to run that many at once. Personally, the most I would use at a time is Meebo IM, Pandora, Facebook, Web, and sometimes Email. Everything would open quickly and the notification bar allows convenient switching between apps. The 5MP camera is great for taking sharp pictures and uploading them easily to Facebook or any other photo sharing site. The video capture is DVD quality, and I must say, I was impressed with the video capture. Not to mention it is very easy to store all videos, pictures, music, and apps with the 16GB of onboard memory. As most smartphones, the DROID features a 3.5mm headphone jack so conventional headphones and earbuds will probably work.

The Good

All the menus are laid out in a manner that is easy to become accustomed to; therefore it was easy to set up WiFi connection, change backlight settings, and turn on/off Bluetooth and GPS satellite receiver. When the battery is running low, it was important for me to be able to change all the settings so it would reduce power consumption. Rather than taking three or four minutes, it only took about a minute to shut the unnecessary features off. Uninstalling apps was a pretty easy process, since there was a menu option to specifically uninstall apps. In addition, it was easy to “kill” any apps running in the background that I did not want to run anymore. The battery life for talk time is 6.5 hours, while standby is 270 hours. I found running intensive applications would lower the battery life pretty fast, but otherwise it has very good battery life, better than I initially expected.

It was easy to stay connected to email, IMs, and texts at all times. Whenever an email was received I would receive a notification that I specifically customized, and the same goes for IMs and texts. Personally, I didn’t like the native way of handling texts so I downloaded the Handcent SMS app which gives it the iPhone texting look. A neat aspect of the Android software is the fact that it syncs all Gmail contacts and Facebook contacts and uses their pictures in the contacts app. Even if I don’t necessarily have someone’s number, I probably already have it on my phone if that person has it on Facebook or Gmail. The call quality is above average, in my opinion, and the speakerphone is easy to hear.

One of the positives about the iPhone is the App store, which boasts an impressive amount of apps. While the Android Market may not contain nearly as many apps, many of the important ones are free and definitely make the Android experience better. Since it was a demo DROID, I did not purchase any Android apps that cost money, so I cannot comment on how well those apps worked. I never really found the phone to freeze or respond slowly, which is definitely a job well done by Motorola. Being able to personalize the DROID’s background definitely gives the smartphone a bit of personality and there are some apps specifically tailored for backgrounds, or you can use one of your own photos.

The Bad

Every phone, naturally, has some negative aspects that can be agreed upon by everyone, or some depending on personal preference. Personally, I find the iPhone’s screen to be smoother, while the DROID’s screen feels a little cheap. The phone only has one physical button, so it is not easy to call right away, or hang up on a call. I am a pretty big texting person and I found the physical keys on the DROID a lot worse than what I am accustomed to on the LG enV 3 phone. However, I am still able to text pretty quickly on the physical keys and the virtual ones, albeit it takes a while to get used to. Sometimes after I have the Pandora app open for a while, I cannot play any music off the hard drive, nor watch videos. I’m not sure why this happens, but a quick restart usually solves the issue. Also, for some reason the camera on the Droid takes a WHILE to open up, which is definitely annoying when you would like to take a picture right away.

The Crux

Overall I am very impressed with the hardware Motorola put together in the DROID and the Android 2.0 technology makes it a winner. It may not be the iPhone killer just yet, but it is one of the better phones on Verizon. Right now the DROID is $299 with a two year contract, but you can buy it online for $199, after a special online discount. I would give it an 8/10 rating, and if you are looking to upgrade your Verizon phone, or switching from a different carrier, the Motorola DROID is definitely a smartphone to consider. Keep in mind it will only get better whenever Motorola decides to roll out the Android 2.1 upgrade.