Motorola DROID first hands-on! (update: video, impressions, more pics)
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted October 28th 2009 1:51PM
posted October 28th 2009 1:51PM
Some quick observations on the phone:
- That big screen is killer. Bright, crisp, and tons of room for your icons and widgets.
- Speed is noticeably improved -- particularly when moving from app to app. We did notice that some of the home screen scrolling looked laggy.
- Android 2.0 is definitely cleaned up -- but it's most definitely still Android
- The browser seems significantly improved -- pages now load up in a fully zoomed-out mode, and the load times and scrolling are way snappier.
- The keyboard takes some getting used to, and it suffers from a similar hand-position issue as the G1, but it's fairly usable. We think it'll be second nature once we spend some time with it.
- Facebook is integrated into accounts, which means some of that BLUR functionality is here (though now it's part of Android 2.0 natively). The good news is that when you add a Facebook account you can choose to pull all Facebook info and contacts, or just info related to your existing contacts -- a real clutter buster.
Update 2: Video is up after the break! More coming too...
Update 3: And we've got a browser speed test to round things out.
Update 4: We've added another gallery of the car and home docks, which are pretty neat -- the phone detects the dock magnetically, and switches to the appropriate mode. We're told that there'll also be third-party docks, and that Google's the one behind the different interface modes, so this could be just the tip of the iceberg.
To all the Apple fanboys (and fangirls ;P) shouting out about how "fugly" this phone is and getting all defensive about their precious iphone, just relax. There are a few points you either don't realize, or chose to place your hands over your ears and scream like a 6 yo child when they are brought forth into any discussion.
First--And this is the most difficult for you all to hear...Android's actual real competitor is not the iphone! There I said it. The subject of the cult-like Apple following has been extremely well documented, and the Apple fans are a group unto themselves. There's nothing wrong with that. Apple makes some good looking and performing products. There will always be a large following for i-"whatever" no matter what else there is to compete with it on the market. From a business standpoint, everyone would love nothing else than to take all the iphone users for their own, but the reality of this is that it will never really come to fruition. Android as a whole (and remember this phone is not a make-it-or-break-it point for the platform) was built on the concept of choices. Yes Neo, "...as you so eloquently put it, the problem is choice." Choices and a multitude of many different devices lead to something the iphone will not have: a collection of phones. With this comes market share and the Googleites want to wipe out the market share of another 'popular' (excuse my bias) platform...Windows Mobile.
Second--I know the name of this phone is Droid, but, in all reality, "Droid" is Verizon's terminology for all their Android phones. Don't believe me? Well, then explain why HTC's first VZW phone is going to be called the "Droid Eris." Will this phone sell like hotcakes? More than likely. Is this the greatest thing to happen to mobile devices? No. Will the nation's largest carrier rest it's laurels and marketing dollars on a single device? Seriously. that's not even a question. Yes, I understand all the commercials and advertisements are aimed at the MOTODROID, but, in essence, they are setting themselves up for the complete family of devices they will have within the next few months, and years to come. Droid, the line of devices, is much more important to Big Red than Droid, the phone from Motorola. A suite of Android devices now gives more options for buyers and it's the same idea of a relay team competing for 400 meters against just one person. A little "something for everyone" approach sounds better to me than: "Here's the one thing we have. It's perfect...take it and love it, you have no other option. -S.J."
Thirdly--Whether or not Droid is about the phone itself or the whole line of devices...what's so wrong with targeting the king of the playground as your opponent? You want to get the attention of those who have never heard of Engadget or BGR or Gizmodo? Now you got it. You want to have a device that can MAYBE fight for supremacy as the 'coolest' and 'best' phone available? Your not going to have that happen by just tucking it in a back corner or a retail store and hoping for the best. Aggressive marketing has been around for awhile and while the 'idon't' ads might not necessarily tell the whole story for this phone, any sophomore business student will tell you that the basic function of marketing is getting butts in the door. Plain and simple. Now Joe Schmo accountant in Portland, Mike Whatshisname mechanic in Boston and Cindy Lou Who florist in Kansas City might say, "Gee, IS this new phone better than the iphone? Let me go check it out for myself."
Bottom line is that competition is key for us receiving better and better products. The Droid isn't going to replace the iphone, but it will be maybe the first phone in America to actually go toe-to-toe with it and have at least a fighting chance. Add to that the Sony Xperia X3/X10/Infinity/Whatever the hell they're going to call it and the Snapdragon sporting HTC Passion and Android might just take a bite out of the Apple after all.
Great Post
Fantastic post. I even shared your words in Google Reader.
If you don't have a blog - you should. And if you do, please share it!
If you don't have a blog, I think you should. Let us know, I wouldn't mind hearing more from you. ^.^
does the camera have a sliding lens cover? it appears that it does, but I can't find any info on this.
Where can someone pick up a Droid before the release?
http://www.droidforums.net
I noticed in the "speed test" the Droid had low service quality (1 bar) vs. the iPhone's full bars... slightly biased?
Looks nice but cant match the iPhone. I'm sure it's pretty but it's a motorola at the end of the day. iPhone's are in a different league, and the 3gs will be replaced next year with something better. If this phone has the ability to 'keep up' with the standard that Apple set with the iphone this year - we'll see how it stacks up next year when only 100K of these sell world-wide and Apple release their next version. (Oh, I don't know - the iPhone HD for example, or whatever Apple decides to call the iPhone 3GS's predecessor)
Dont hate my comment for it's honesty, but this whole 'droid' thing that's going on is only a fad and will fizzle out no matter how excited anti-apple fan's are. It's the palm pre all over again, blah blah, move on....
"this whole 'droid' thing that's going on is only a fad and will fizzle out no matter how excited anti-apple fan's are"
Really? Well I guess you're right. The world of consumer electronics is a fickle up and down place. Oh well. Fads, god, I hate fads. They all are so anti-climatic. Oh, like pagers, those suck. and the old Nokias with the interchangeable flaceplates, anyone remember those. Oh, don't forget that cheesy Super Bowl commercial in 1984 that was like 5 minutes long or something talking about some odd new product that was supposed to be better than the tried and true current champion of computing and referenced Orson Wells' classic novel "1984"...who was that company again? I guess it doesn't matter. Fads come and go and nothing new can enter the market place and actually make people think there's any hope of a new, open way of doing things. Thanks for the insight Craig.
I have seen this 1984 ad by apple, and wondered if they realized how ironic this was coming from one of the biggest control freak ever. Mister jobs failed before because of his dictatorial ways. And i hope he will again.
Why do i dislike and mistrust him ? Because he supported a very unfair french law called hadopi that does not give a fair chance for anyone sued for piracy to prove one's innocence. All guilty, fine them all. Besides being a control freak, he must be slightly paranoid.
The 3GS's predecessor is called the 3G..... you don't know that? are you really an Apple fanboy or just a troll? Wait.. is there a difference between the two?
Wait does it have a Sim card for travel or not?
de ryrn tyuiy
good
Quit you bitchin all of you...different people buy different phones. Stick to your phone, and quit the fanboy ranks.
I use an iPhone, so what? I'd happily use a Pre, a Android device, a WM device or almost any phone you threw at me.
If the phone works for you, buy it if you wish.
If it's not the phone for you, then please, quit with the negative/flaming comments.
Not fair on web browsing comparison. As you can see Droid is displaying a box extra on top right which is an ad and I think its flash. So, Driod wins :)
A little off-topic but what's that Facebook / Twitter integration thing JT is running at 1:00 in the second video?
ah nevermind I found it, qTweeter!
Wow....that thing is ugly. And I loved how in the speed test Josh Topolsky wanted soo bad for the Droid to spank the iphone and then when it got beat by like 20 seconds he was like uh uh yah so its significantly slower. LOL. But i'm sure there is a vaild reason right....flash??? lol please..I'll keep my iphone.
"Only a IPhone will be a iPhone killer!"
Don´t discuss with thes brainwash Apple guys
Did you know that all new iPhones cant bee jailbreaking anymore! That was the last reaseon to buy one..
http://www.unwiredview.com/2009/10/14/latest-iphone-3gs-shipped-by-apple-seem-to-be-immune-to-jailbreaking/
I NEED THIS PHONE! its the best phone ever to come out on Verizon and I've had Verizon for almost 7 years now. Too bad i have a family plan though, because Verizon doesn't let you add data plans individually, its just data for the whole family (which my family doesn't need) and I'm still not quite sure if I'd be willing to shell out the 200$ for the phone. However, everything i've read points to signs that this is a real turning point for Verizon and that they are stepping up their game to compete with the growing market for cool smartphones. and the thing about iphones and apple is that yes their good, yes their simple and slick but their expensive, the features aren't very extensive without the app store and they just aren't living up to the hype anymore, their good but not good enough to keep up with fast paced technology. Android is but it does have its flaws including that it just doesn't have a great rep like the iphone does. I think within the next few years something is going to come and change the way the phone market works, just the way the iphone did and then you'll see what I'm talking about. Tech is always changing, and not everything is going to turn out how you want it. This phone may not be good for everyone because everyone has different tastes. there is no perfect phone, just the right one for you.
actually, i have a plan with VZW that has data on just my phone and not on my wife's. Make sure you speak with a VZW rep that knows what they are doing.
Which App was opened by mistake...??
jesus christ. i can't stand people who would rather post a comment rather than spend two seconds looking through the comments and finding the answer. it's been asked and answered like 10 times already. go find it already!
Sounds like the voice of Motorola's Christy Wyatt.
Glad you took my advice seriously back in March of 2008! Bravo!
Yea, what's that app that he opened up by mistake? I really like it.
Wow. People are so ignorant sometimes.
Nothing will change. Apple will continue to butt-rape the Smartphone market. Why? Because Every other phone company in the world is still missing the point. Who the hell cares what Driod does? People care how Droid will make their lives easier.
What good is a 1GHz CPU if you can't outrun an iPhone in surfing speed, or get a day of operation out of a charge (which I doubt you can). Who cares if the iPhone OS isn't open source, there's still 100,000 apps for it that can make virtually anything possible.
While the tech in the phone is awesome. People are sold on the experience. And in this field, the iPhone is still king.
Sorry.
yea u kinda got a point. I like the experience of the iphone. There's like so many apps that you can use for anything that you like. However, the only reason why I dont like the iphone is its exclusively with at&t. At&t isn't that good around my area so that's why I'm with verizon. If there is a phone with verizon that has "almost" or potentially the same capabilities as an iphone, I would get it. In the past verizon is known to have crap phones, I just hope verizon doesn't butcher this one. it would just make me mad.
what's that window that pops up on the iphone as he is showing the scrolling motion on the iphone? it says something like twitter and facebook and it shows a picture of someone drinking coffee. I never seen that on an iphone. anyone knows?
My contract is ending soon on verizon so that means I can get a new phone. This phone would be an iphone crusher if it costs $100 or even $150. I'm thinking of getting this phone but I heard on some blog that verizon is thinking of having a "special" data and voice plan for this phone like the iphone. I hope they don't do that, because I'm already spending enough on verizon alone. Based on the vid, I give this phone uhhh a 9. When she was swiping the screen from window to window, I think there was some slight lag. I don't know maybe that's just me. So what do you guys recommend? The droid or the storm2?
Was wondering if anyone knows what the app is on the iphone that pops up at around 1:01.
thx
Ohhhh no. I just read teh review over at CNET, and it turns out you can only store apps on the internal memory, not the external memory card. Damn, that may have been a dealbreaker for me. Ouch, moto vzw and goog - come on.
The Apple fanboys are in no way worried about this phone. In fact, it makes us laugh. Isn't Motorola dead anyway?
wow, the apple fanboys are truly blinded by the flashlight app on their iphones. for the past year I have had every intention of buying an iphone but I am not too stupid to just ignore another phone just because an iphone exists. come on people, it s a phone the same size as an iphone except with a bigger screen, higher resolution screen, better camera, better video recording, physical keyboard, google maps navigation, will have flash early 2010 (which i truly believe the iphone NEVER will have...thanks steve jobs!), apps are not locked down by the great overlord, better battery life, and multitasking.
now, since I am not a droid fanboy either, and believe me, if this phone has the problems of my last motorola device and nothing better comes along before my contract is up with ATT, I will buy an Iphone. until I see some more user reviews and get to take this thing for a spin myself I am not sold on the droid but on paper it looks to be a better device than the iphone.
I'm a Mac guy, so nothing beats the integration experience of iPhone + Mac for me right now. I know AT&T's network is supposed to suck - honestly, as a travel RN I'm currently in an area where there is no 3G service for my iPhone. That said, I was with Verizon for a little more than a year in LA and I had dropped calls constantly. It could have just been my phone. I HATE V-Cast, which is what Verizon seems to want to insist that you use with their phones. Maybe Droid is different in this regard? My past experience with Verizon makes it hard for me to trust them with a Smartphone of any flavor. When I'd go to the Verizon store, it just seemed like all their phones were crippled. Finally, VZN's voicemail system drives me up a wall - 'If you are finished with your message....' - you know how to know when I'm finished? I'll hang up! Don't interrupt me after three sentences to ask me if I'm done with my voicemail! Grr....
This MIGHT be a better phone on a better network, but I'm pretty darned happy with my iPhone 3g at the moment. In order to lure me away from the iPhone, this thing would have to be a SUBSTANTIAL improvement over the iPhone and it'd have to provide a very slick interface both in Android and with my iMac. I do know that I'm biased, but I'm not a Mac fanboy - I'm actually pretty impressed by what I'm hearing about Windows 7, and although it's not for me, it may work for people already invested in Windows. That said, like this phone, Win7 is not for me.
Hopefully one of my non-Mac buddies will pick up a Droid so I can get some hands-on time with it. Not only that, but it should spur Apple on to something even better than my current 3g iPhone! Competition is better for everybody!
I do agree with you about some of the things you said, if you are running a mac at home and am looking for integration, the iphone is abviously gonna mesh better...I dont think this phone will really pull too many happy iphone users to the "dark side". but I think it might entise some people who don't already have an iphone and am looking for a phone like that.
as far as vcast, thankfully this is a google experience phone so no vcast :)
I worked at Motorola before getting laid off this year and we did indeed figure out ways to copy the iPhone. We actually took pictures of the iPhone apps, settings etc and then discussed how to do it similarly without getting busted for flat out copying them. Motorola would be nothing without Google because there is no one left at Motorola who is creative and Motorola scrapped all of it's phone OS's because they sucked. It's just a bunch of managers more worried about keeping their mansions and therefore stifling anyone who had good ideas and eventually could have taken over their positions by getting rid of them. Motorola is one of the worst companies to work for. They are also one of the most un-American companies. There are more foreigners working on these Motorola products sold in the US than there are Americans. They have outsourced a large number of jobs to China that used to be US jobs. The phones are not even made in the US. You are basically buying a Chinese product here. About 30% or more of the Motorola workforce in the US is from non US citizens while they laid off several thousand people that were US citizens. Foreign visitors with work Visa's are more desperate and will work every weekend and execute every command which management loves. Motorola has become the Walmart of cell phone makers. My loyalty to Motorola ended when I was laid off as obviously they ended their loyalty to me by laying me off. If you want to support Chinese and Indian workers and not Americans buy this phone. Apple however is an American company that had a brilliant idea with the iPhone that was executed like nothing else in history. I remember when the iPhone came out. Motorolans were shocked at how good it was and knew they couldn't compete with it. A Motorola employee completely disassembled it and posted pictures on an internal website of every part and the total cost of all parts to help come up with their new Motorola hardware. Apple deserves the credit for the revolutionary new style and usability of touch screens. I don't work for Apple either but I think it's important to get the truth out there.
Everyone's saying that apps cant be stored on the memory card, I'm inclined to disagree. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that apps could be put on an external memory card, I'm just not sure where... anyone else think they might have seen the same thing?
The browser test isnt fair!! The iphone 3gs has javascript turned off!! The advertising in the corner is not flash its javascript.
I tried it on my iphone 3g, 11 sec without javascript, 25 sec with javascript!!!
So the 3gs is probably 5 seconds slower then the droid maybe more!!
But i must say that the droid is like a fine blond, pretty,as long as it keeps its trap shut!:ugly keyboard..
There's another good review of the phone here:
http://cellphoneforums.net/cell-phone-reviews/t304605-motorola-droid-review.html#post1368733
Has any information leaked in regard to pricing for the Droid? This would be the phone I'd get if I decide to stay with Verizon Wireless...
http://www.blackberrybold2.com
nothing has to be "leaked" it was officially announced already, $199 after a $100 mail in rebate. available nov 6th.
I'm really proud of you droid and I'm gunna let you finish and everything
But Palm Pixi has the thinnest full QWERTY keyboard of all time!
Welll... they forgot to test the Flash test ;) maybe android took a while because need to render all page and get ready just in case you pressed the play into flash :)
Oh... sorry... i've forgot that iphone can't play flash videos ;)
What was that dropdown screen on Josh's iPhone? Is that hacked? Because, Personally I don't think that Josh would hack his.
Now I'm pissed! After waiting for months and months for a droid phone I finally couldn't wait any longer back in August and got a MyTouch with T Mobile. Now I wish I'd waited just a couple more months so I could have stayed with Verizon and got this phone instead. :(
I just got my Verizon Motorola Droid,now i found some tips and tricks from the user manual,also found the tutorial from a Verizon cell phone blog,check them.
How to transfer music files between Verizon Motorola Droid and PC
http://www.verizon-cellphone.org/10-stepstransfer-music-files-between-verizon-motorola-droid-and-pc.html/
Verizon Motorola Droid A855 Tricks:Change the home page/browser start
http://www.verizon-cellphone.org/verizon-motorola-droid-a855-trickschange-the-home-pagebrowser-start.html/
I love my Droid. Im coming from a windows Mobile phone and wow what a big step .. I have seen many people say this phone sucks because it doesnt have multi touch but thats not true . the phone is fully capable of multi touch .. I made a video to show how you can do it and also save some battery life hope it helps out
http://www.guysfromqueens.com/?p=765
Beautiful ...
__________________
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