We have been covering the Motorola Droid news for a while now, and with that it is nice to see the Droid actually available. The release was yesterday and I am sure there are many that ran out to pick one up. That said, I would also be willing to guess that there are plenty of people that are holding back a little until they check out some more reviews.
Based on that I took the opportunity to do a quick roundup of some Droid reviews. Of course, the more user reviews the better. So if you picked up a Droid, shout out in the comments and let us know what your thoughts are.
I will say that as you would expect, the reviews are a nice mix of the good and bad points. After all, no phone is perfect. They also contain more than enough comparisons to the iPhone. If nothing else they do bring up some good points. Anyway, without further adieu, here is a handful of Motorola Droid reviews.
PC Mag (Rated four out of five, or “Very Good”)
“The Motorola Droid is the future of Verizon Wireless, and the future looks bright.”
“The Droid’s screen has only three panels for displaying apps, versus 11 on the iPhone, and some large apps, called widgets, hog much of the space on these panels.”
“The Droid is potentially a big win for Verizon, Motorola and Google, as well as for loyal Verizon customers.”
“So is it true? Is the Droid an iPhone killer?
No, but it’s certainly a killer phone. It runs on Verizon’s superior cellphone network, so it won’t drop your calls in New York City and San Francisco (as AT&T often does on the iPhone).”
“You’ll be very happy either way — with your shiny new app phone.”
“These things are true about Droid: The camera’s not great; the keyboard isn’t mindblowing; Android 2.0 lacks the polish and multimedia prowess to completely match the iPhone. What’s also true is that a killer design, Google’s services, Android’s exploding app ecosytem, powerful multitasking, a stunning screen and Verizon’s network still make it the second best phone you can buy right now, after the iPhone.
At the same time, there’s reason to pause. Android is evolving more rapidly than any other smartphone platform, both in terms of the hardware and software. When HTC’s Hero came out, it crushed every other Android phone out there. Just a couple short months later, Droid is on top. In four months, we’ll probably see a new champion. That Droid sets such a high bar for everything after might be the best thing about it.”
“So, is the DROID a good smartphone? Yes, the DROID is an excellent smartphone with many (if not all) of the features that a modern user would expect, and if you’re a Verizon customer, there probably isn’t a more action packed device on the network. That’s not to say the device doesn’t have its faults;”
“All in all, the Verizon DROID by Motorola sets the bar for all new Android devices and is arguably the best Android device to date. The natural comparison is always going to be the iPhone 3GS, and while the DROID lacks the Apple handset’s finesse and polish, it’s only a few steps behind.”
November 7th, 2009 at 9:36 am
I just picked up my Droid last night and love it. I never had an iPhone to compared it to, but this thing is a fine piece of work. The landscape touch keyboard is quite slick and the screen is amazing. Right now, the only problem I have is some poorly designed apps but there are still enough good ones to keep me entertained while the market catches up. Overall, I am quite pleased.
November 7th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Definitely the best phone you can get with Verizon. Only a jailbroken iPhone 3gs could compare to it right now in terms of speed and apps. The screen is amazing. The keyboards leave a little to be desired but anyone can get used to a keyboard I think. This phone will help the Android platform take off and more developers will look to apps with Android as money producers making the move to the Droid a smart one.
November 7th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Coming from an iPhone 3Gs I was a little nervous about the switch. I will say I am very happy I did. The screen is amazing on this phone. The keyboard is not as bad as advertised and the phone is fast and fluid. A jailbroken iPhone is probably the best phone out there but I think the droid outperforms a non-jailbroken iphone. For me personally the verizon network makes the droid a must buy. My main complaint with the droid is that although functional, the multimedia is very plain and non innovative part of this phone. Overall if you’re looking for a great phone with great reception the droid is for you.
November 8th, 2009 at 2:18 am
I wish people will stop comparing new release phones to the iphone which had tons of problems when released also. If you are trying to get a device that does what iphone does then why not buy one. Other wise Buy a device that you can put to use. I came to one conclusion is that lots of people know that in order to get the most out of the iphone you will have to spend lots of money or jailbreak it. Mark my word that Google / Motorola will offer updates to make their device run smooth just like Apple did (1) year after release.
November 8th, 2009 at 4:31 am
I see all these great reviews on the Droid and I think no you got to be kidding me!! I played with both the Motorola Droid and the DROID ERIS by HTC is a MUCH BETTER PHONE. The Motorola is heavy like a led brick, and the HTC is much lighter. Also the screen on the HTC was much brighter than the Motorola. I was not impressed with the motorola droid at all… I liked the HTC MUCH MUCH better for the overall feel and use of the phone.
November 8th, 2009 at 9:34 am
As a new moto droid owner coming from at&t, I'm beyond impressed with this phone. The common review complaints of the keyboard and camera, are not really valid complaints in my opinion. Anybody who says the iphone is better is just being an apple fanboy.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:00 am
I love the phone and apps, but Here are my Complaints about Andriod Phone so far (Nov2009):
- Can not see images on HTML Emails.
- does not suggest and fill in the number for me as I am typing in a phone number
- often I have a Contact's phone number in Outlook listed with a comment next to it like "615-555-7777 lakehouse", Andriod converts the letters to numbers and tries to dial 615-555-7777423453. My Q, a windows based phone was smarter and knew better and only dialed the number.
- I often have additional info and numbers in the Notes section of a contact. hard to read and pull up the notes from a contact.
- Search does not find a company name when searching Contacts.
- often turns "sound off" accidentally in locked mode. (hate this, the worst)
- need Google desktop search function, often I am looking for a name or company and Google search looks on the WEB when I only want it to look within MY Contacts and My Emails and MY Calendar, etc.
January 13th, 2010 at 5:25 pm
ok my first droid which I bought on the release date of nov 6th quit working on 2 weeks ago.. it was force closing on every application.. verzions solution, since I was past my "30 day warranty" was to give me a refurbished phone which I have had only a few days and already it is acting up.. , when I place a call, the screen goes black and I cant retrieve the outgoing call screen unless I slide the key board out. , i havnt even sent the original phone back yet since the salesperson said to keep it a few days to make sure the replacement worked…. i did love my droid… but at this point am getting tired of messing with it and I want a new phone to start over with… after all a company should warranty its product for longer than 30 days…
January 14th, 2010 at 7:57 pm
Let me start by saying great page. Im not sure if it has been addressed, but when using Explorer I can never get the whole post to load without refreshing alot of times. Maybe just my laptop. Enjoy!