I live in a poor area for cell phone reception and this phone shows 3G most all the time, and I can even get wireless network off my router. I just purchased the new Droid and for the first day I am very happy with the reception. Does anyone else have any comments towards this phone?
Thanks, first time post... I really enjoy all the knowledge I have read on this site. Dave and Jodi
I got a DROID right after they first came out. I can compare it to the Eris and many Windows based Smartphones as well as the Palm Pre from actual use.
The Droid is a very solid feeling phone. A rectangular sideways slider, it fits in average to large hands easily. If you have small hands, not so much although I'm sure some will do okay with it.
The exterior finish is a sort of rubberized coating over plastic and metal. It isn't easily scratched and doesn't show fingerprints unlike some phones. The Droid has a very professional look to it.
As a phone it works well. Nothing special. A competent phone with an easy to use touch dialer and nice call list. Adding contacts from calls made or received is simple. What really makes the Droid is all the other things it does well.
The display is brilliant but also consumes a lot of battery power. This is on par with most smartphones that have larger displays and the Droid has a large display, larger than the iPhone and the same as the new Windows Mobile phones like the Omnia and Imagio.
The display BTW is not easily scratched so buying screen protectors is more a waste of money than actually protecting the display. There is no stylus so your finger is the way to operate the Droid other than the small keyed keyboard. The display tracks your touch nearly instantly and accurately. With a drawing app, it is easily possible to draw straight lines and anything else you want. Tapping to open apps works like a charm and the tactile feedback lets you know if you touched what you thought you wanted to.
The system of the DROID (Android) doesn't have multi-touch like an iPhone where you pinch or push out to make things larger or smaller. To do that right now you'll need to rely on applications to provide that function. For example, using the standard web browser, you can't pinch the display to make a page larger or smaller. You tap or double tap it and are limited to incremental changes in size. If you want to use the pinch and push apart to zoom and shrink, you can download a free web browser called Dolphin and it works just like that. Very nice.
Speaking of web browsing, if you are in a 3G service location, it is very very fast. Pages appear very close to how they would on your PC and if you use the Dolphin browser, it is nearly identical.
The physical controls of the Droid are also easy to use but there are some aspects of using them that take some getting used to. For example, to use the camera you can tap the camera app icon or press and hold the camera button which is along side the lower right side of the Droid. The caveat here is that you can't just press it quickly and expect the camera to activate. You need to press and hold it until you get tactile feedback (which you can turn off btw) and the camera activates. While on this topic, the camera takes very good pictures, just make sure the lighting is good as low light shots are not the best thing the Droid camera does. Sending a picture is simple, call up the camera menu and choose what you want to do with the picture.
The Droid camera also takes video and does it ever. Jitter free video is easy and the quality of the video is nothing short of amazing. If home movies are your thing, the Droid delivers. The video files can get large real fast though, just so you know. It is worth it.
As a media player, watching movies is bearable because no matter what, the screen is still only 3.7" in size. If you've ever used one of those really small TVs and can deal with that, the Droid as a movie player will work.
Playing music is good too. While it isn't an iPod it is about as easy to use and anything could be. The music quality is equal to any other portable device and like any of them, the quality is largely dependent on the quality of the music source.
The Droid can also record voice and music, via the built-in microphone or by using the audio jack. The quality is tops.
Battery life is ok but nothing spectacular. If you use the browser, camera, GPS and email quite a bit, the battery will not last the day. Some may say they can do all of that and still have battery power at the end of the day (for me, say early evening when I'd usually charge the phone) but that isn't going to happen. To avoid being caught with a dead battery, charge it when you can anytime you can. The Droid begs to be used and use will drain the battery, as with any smartphone.
The built-in and available free software is fantastic. The iPhone has over 100,000 apps but I have yet to see someone using more than a few favorites. On the Droid, Google Maps is a reason all by itself to buy the Droid. The GPS makes the Droid a very suitable tool for highly accurate mapping so long as you have cell phone service. Remember, the Droid needs to have an Internet connection for the maps to work. While the built-in GOS will work anywhere, the maps come via the Internet. No internet, no maps.
Using the GPS though is as easy as talking. Say where you want to go and Google maps and the Droid's GPS will get you there. Voice searching is very accurate unless you are slurping or burping you way through food and drink.
One other very valuable way to use the Droid is for instant weather and I don't mean just a list of the weather and a forecast. using a free downloadable app you can see a radar map based on your GPS location. That means you can see where the storm is heading and make a good decision whether to continue for another hour or stay put for the night. Wonderful. You tap on the app and just watch the display. In seconds you have a radar map. You can also use your finger to scroll the map to another location or set a different location as the default. Nothing is better.
If you use the "weather.com" app, you can set a number of locations and all the weather forecasts will be updated all the time. This is great for planning weekend trips. Simply monitor the places you might want to go and then pick the one with the best weather!
Using email is also simple although it is designed to work seamlessly with Google's Gmail. The mail delivery is good and timely and it just works. Since last year when the Droid came out, I have never had a problem with email and the Droid. I also use it with corporate email ala Exchange and Outlook. Perfect, not one glitch.
Customizing the Droid is easy too. First, there are plenty of free apps and personalizing the display is simple and easy. On the hardware side, there are plenty of cases, holders and car mounts available. Get the docking Station. At night you slip the Droid into the dock and since it lays sideways, it looks like a digital alarm clock.
The Droid works well with bluetooth also. I use both a Plantronics PT510 and a Jabra Halo stereo headset and both work just like they should. Sound is clear and handsfree operation is plainless. There will always be some bluetooth accessories that work better or worse but these two models worked great for me.
The built-in speaker is very good and in speaker phone mode it is nice and loud and the sound quality is very clear. You can use it on the table and easily have a conference call without someone thinking you never left the restroom at the Union 76 truckstop.
The Droid has WiFi so in places where there is a HotSpot you can use WiFi instead of it's own highspeed connection. I rarely use the WiFi since the service is so fast. In areas without service though of is you have cable modem or DSL and a WiFi router available, you can use the Droid on WiFi for email, downloading large files or web browsing.
Storage is a 16 gigabyte SD card that resides under the battery. You can swap the memory cards out but it is tedious to remove the card to do this. Instead just use the USB cable that comes with the Droid to connect it to your PC. Then from your PC you can copy/move/delete files on the Droid.
The Droid's sideout keyboard is ok but nothing fantastic. The keys are small so if you have thick fingers be prepared to have some patience. I recommend using the on-screen keyboard. There is a work completion feature so you don't have to type the entire word, just pick from a list of of close or exact matches and you can really get a lot of text into an email.
When using the keyboard, the display rotates as it also does when shifting the Droid from portrait to landscape mode. The changes is very fast so it doesn't make you wait.
What would I like to see improved on the Droid? A higher capacity battery and a 4" display. Battery charge is always an issue with a smartphone and no, none of the smartphones on the market today last longer on battery if they are used the same way. It will be within minutes of staying power, not hours for sure.
A 4" display would make viewing camera videos better and it would also make for better viewing of pictures. The web browser would be easier to use for reading news and the GPS/Maps would be easier to see. On the other hand, it would make the phone larger so you can't have it all.
It seems the Droid is always compared to the iPhone and there is an iPhone vs Droid war out there between some folks. But children will be children so let them at it. I like the Droid but it isn't going to kill off the iPhone anymore than the iPhone is going to stop anyone else from making and selling smartphones.
If you'd like to read what I have to say about the Palm Pre, Palm Eris, Blackberry Storm, Imagio or Omnia, let me know and I'll write something up about them too. I have used all and have all at my disposal, not just for a day but an on-going basis.
One last thing. The Eris is easier to use. No kidding. It has a difference interface to it and is super simple to use. Easier than the Droid? You bet. Better than the Droid over all? No, just different.
