Our Motorola Droid Review
So after 3 days of Droid, here’s my good, bad and ugly in reverse order. First, background: I have been a blackberry user for ~4year (8700 and Curve). I also own an iPod Touch
*UGLY*:
Have YET to be able to sync my Microsoft exchange with the Droid’s email feature. Droid admittedly (they say so in their manual) does not do a good job at syncing to Microsoft exchange, they offer a few solutions which all involve getting your Exchange Admin involved and then tell you to download some 3rd party apps which get around MS’s security requirements and so on.
This could be a dealbreaker for many people. I can’t say for sure if this problem is universal or if it’s just my Exchange server’s fault, or even my fault for screwing up the sync. I have been working around this by using the **AWESOME** web browser to connect to my company’s online email server but this hack won’t do me for long.
*BAD*:
*Physical Keyboard*- not good. I don’t have a ton of experience with non-blackberry QWERTY keyboards but I can say that both Blackberry models that I have used are heads and shoulders above the Droids. I have never used a slideout before, but even so I feel like it just doesn’t cut it. The buttons are shaped weird and are a little close together. I really haven’t used it much, so maybe I will get a little better with time, but frankly it’s pretty bad and I can’t really see myself using it too much.
*Battery life*- I can’t say this is too awful yet. My phone did die on me today. I think this is more to do with the awesome features and my constant using of them than a poor battery, but having your phone die mid-day sucks.
*Lack of BBM*- As a former crackberry nut, this was a hard thing to give up.
*Bulk*- the phone is bulky, even without the substantial case that it came with. Far bulkier than either blackberry that I have owned. Although I think it is a good looking phone and very well designed so I don’t mind a little bulk, but I could see people, particularly girls having an issue with this.
*App **Store*- This is a bad, but not really. The App Store (market as google calls it) is far more limited than the iTunes one, however as far as I can tell you just lose a bunch of the noise. I have found apps that I really like for Twitter, Weather, Sport Scores, Pandora, Flight/Travel and a few others. The big loss seems to be games but that’s not really my thing. There are a few apps that it has that are KILLER that you can’t get elsewhere but I will discuss those in the good.
*GOOD: *
There is so much I like about this phone, I will try to be short.
*Screen *– BEAUTIFUL
*VZW’s 3G Network* – Super Super fast I can stream Pandora in my car and using the built in speakers substitute it for the radio without noticing a skip or a hesitation. Watch youtube videos without a second of hesitation and so on.
*Messaging *– Email and SMS and Chat are great, seamless and cool interfaces
*Virtual Keyboard* – Similar to Apple’s. I picked it up very easily and the predictive text blows the iPhone’s out the water.
*Google Voice* – the Google Voice app has finally given Google voice a purpose in my life
*Google Navigation* – Like a Garmin GPS and Google had a baby and then that baby went on to be President. Best. Navigation. App. Ever.
*UI* – smooth seemless and customizable. I’ve only had the phone for 3 days and it’s already intuitive.
*Hardwear / Processing* – The Phone is fast, processor responsive and everything is running very smoothly, admittedly after only 3 days.
All and all, I’d say the Google Droid is the iPhone on a better network, a
little less beautiful and with a lot more potential due to the google juice
that it has built in and will surely benefit from. After feeling like I had
to defend my blackberry to iPhone uses for the past 2-3 years. I now can
confidently say that I have a phone that can stack up to anything Jobs and
the boyz can dish out.
