Droid X users gobbling up 5x the data of other Verizon smartphones
By Vlad Savov 
posted July 22nd 2010 7:52AM
posted July 22nd 2010 7:52AM
posted July 22nd 2010 7:52AM
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Wow, I've never seen one of these phones in person, but seeing that photograph really puts the size of this thing into perspective!
@r34p3r
True. And unlike th HD2, this 4.3" phone has a much, much bigger bezel, making it really large.
I think Samsung and Sony hit the sweet spot with 4" and 4.1"....
@r34p3r
I have one and it's really big. I'm about 6'3" so it's a non-issue for me but a lot of people will skip this phone due to it's size. I love it though; best phone available.
It's only taller than the HD2/EVO. It's not as wide and thick!
@chaos thats what she said
@chaos I'm glad to see you're embracing being Mr. Average :D
@r34p3r
I agree...I have the evo and that looks massive. I do think 4" is about the perfect blend for portability/viewing but I can't say I don't appreciate the extra .3". I could never go back to 3.5" though after this. I'm not a fan though of the 16x9 aspect ratio. This is wider than necessary for everything except video & frankly, I use that the least.
@r34p3r
I actually think this distorts it more than puts it into perspective. Whoever is holding that must have small hands, because my Droid X does not look that large at all. I actually would be willing to go up to a 4.6" or so (5'11" - average hands.) Anyways, love my Droid X and the screen size is really nice IMO.
@r34p3r
The phone does look huge but you have to try it out for yourself at a Verizon store. I did that and its not as big as it seems. I can get my thumb all around the screen with no issues and its freaking thin
@r34p3r
That's all the personal data google is stealing from you guys.
@chaos
That's all the personal data google is stealing from you guys.
@Dredayxi85 That's the extra data being loaded from you double posting.
@dswatson83
I'm with you, the bezel is too large. And moto can't seem to ditch the odd humps and chins in their designs.
@Dredayxi85
That's trolling from a moron...
@r34p3r
i saw the phone while in line at 6flags....the screen is frickin awesome!!! now i want one too!
@r34p3r You know what they say about having your picture taken with a 6 year old, right?
Your phone looks HUGE!
@HerbieDerb They did that mostly because the camera. But they wanted to have it slim. I rather have that hump than have the whole phone that fat. Lol.
@TareG
On the contrary, I find it easier to hold than the HTC Imagio I replaced. It is thinner than almost every other phone out there except where the camera is and unless you are gargantuan hands you're not going to hold it around that part of the phone. There are negatives to the phone, but the size is not one of them, unless you run around in skin tight pants.
@r34p3r
Im 6'2 and this phone is perfect for me. I picked up my old cliq after using the X for a day and it felt awkwardly small. Big hands rule.
@r34p3r
It is strange how the overall layout and design of the screen is so similar to iOS, yet somehow is very harsh looking... like its unfinished or something.
I respect what Android stands for and the hardware is fine in principle but there is something about the pure aesthetic of the layout that is just so... so... basic.
it must be the windows 98 looking icons... i know its a small thing. But that combined with the over the top size just makes it look all the more silly.
@r34p3r Does it come with a backpack to carry it?
@Evancarrigan what are you looking at that's in any way similar to iOS in layout. This phone has widgets on its home screen. IOS doesn't even have a home screen. Its just a grid of icons. Go sit down with that garbage. If it looks like windows 98 then iOS looks like windows 3.1 when all you had was grids of icons and no real desktop.
@r34p3r
no but seriously, who cares about the droid x?
its uglier than susan boyle, doesnt fit in pockets, and runs the ugliest OS on the planet. android looks hacked together, so i guess its a perfect fit for a piece of plastic shIt.
@r34p3r Actually, it doesn't, not when they use a Munchkin as a hand model. I mean, that hand makes the phone look about 8" tall. It's really not as big as the photos make it look; for someone with my gorilla-sized mitts, its just right.
@Evancarrigan
As Blaque14K points out, the interfaces have their differences, but to be blunt, Android's UI does look a bit unpolished, especially when you compare it to some of the competition.
Manufacturer's like HTC and SE have improved it somewhat with their own themes, but I think generally, Android still has some work to do.
@Evancarrigan
+1. Android devices get all the great hardware these days but I can't help but lament that Palm didn't wind up licensing webOS all over the place to every carrier. Talk about polished!
...now if we could just get past the aging hardware... I want my Pre2!!!
Back in the day we used to stick cucumbers in our front pockets to "accentuate" a certain organ. It would appear that the Droid X is the new cucumber of the millenia...aaah, how times change
@Evancarrigan
Except for the fact that it isn't... because the droid is filled with live backgrounds and widgets. That's just a picture of the app drawer, not the home screen.
@r34p3r
the persons hand who is holding the phone is a women, and she has tiny hands. ive held it in the store on a few occasions it doesnt look nearly that big in person.
@rackdude Thank you. I guess I was downranked for simply telling the truth. Theres nothing all that similar about the two interfaces....especially now. And if icons on a desktop look like Windows 98 then a grid of icons with no desktop looks like Win 3.1. I guess that truth must have really hurt some folk.
You can really tell the folk that have never so much as touched an Android device.
@r34p3r
Beautiful song
@TareG EVO hit the sweet spot because the phone is perfectly shaped not ODDLY shape like the droid X.
@TareG they took all the thickness and put it in the top at that 1 side. you don't get to put a big stick grip at the top of the phone and and say that is it is thinner then the rest of the phones. i really do like the phone but i just don't understand why they made it so long that didn't make the screen size any larger it's useless space
@r34p3r I see what you mean. I have one but it doesnt look that big in my hand. That has to be a women holding it.
@SlaterGS It's the guy with tiny hands from that Burger King commercial.
@TareG Yeah I have played with the X and EVO and they are great phones but my Captivate is the perfect size the device itself is only slightly bigger than my Nexus One
This is great news! Or is it?
@oh ok
Well, it should be considered that the device is brand new - that huge increase in network use will settle down as people right now are doing things like trying out an Android phone for the first time, or using apps for the first time, or just using the hell out of the phone to learn what can be done with it. I certainly don't use my EVO now daily anywhere near as much as I did the first few days of getting to know it.
@whySoSerious
That's all the personal data google is stealing from you guys
@oh ok
i don't see why this is shocking at all. when you get a new app capable device, you want to see what's out there, you download a bunch of apps to try them all out, upping your data usage. once you get settled into the phone, the data usage will probably drop. if they were to do this study when the original droid first came out, they probably would have found very similar results.
That's what they said about the iPhone on AT&T, the Droid X is verizion's new data hog
@whySoSerious Exactly. Wait until the honeymoon phase is over. My first month with my Incredible I was using 3 or 4 gigs of data, now I'm lingering around 800mb for this month.
@oh ok This is why ATT and Verizon changing their pricing models was such a big deal... they can say that currently 98% of users use less than 2gigs but that is now - nobody is going to be using that little in a few years. The recent plan changes were hyped in the media as being good for subscribers - lol
@curby92
This is good. I want to see how Verizon's network responses to all the data hogs. But wouldn't it be like a skewed stat though. They don't have that many Droid X users like AT&T has w/iPhone users.
@oh ok
Every network is going to have this issue in the next few months. AT&T has the iPhone sucking data, Verizon has Droid X, Sprint has the EVO, and T-Moblie... Well, Sprint has the EVO.
These iOS and Android devices are more connected than a computer, in a lot cases. People are sucking down maps, media, streaming music and video, emailing Keynote and PowerPoint presentations, and doing tons of other data-intensive stuff.
I think Sprint is the last one to have true unlimited, and that will probably go away soon. I think it's anti-consumer, but in reality, no network can handle millions of constant data streams. Pandora just announced it's 60 millionth user, and most of that growth has happened since iOS and Android apps were released. That means tens of millions of people on all 4 US carriers are streaming audio, in some cases all day.
Current 3G capacity can't handle that.
Maybe 4G can, but nationwide 4G is a couple years off, and none of these phones (save the EVO) will do it anyway.
Well this is a perfect test for Verizon's "superior" Network. Fanbois will no doubt start the bitching.
@nastro
Well, what really helps them is that they had two years to build out their network until the Droids came. iPhone users download more apps, but in terms of data downloaded per user, its hard to imagine Android users would use less data than iPhone users, especially with basically the same browser.
@nastro
Put it into perspective:
X-hundred thousand Android devices on Verizon's network vs. X-million i-Devices on AT&T's network (iPad, iPhone [various generations]) + the few Android devices on AT&T
I mean, do you really hear many stories about people having network trouble other than the United States? We're Ground Zero for the i-Devices. Every time a new i-Device that has cellular capability comes out, it gets swarmed to the gums.
What I want to see is, average amount of Data used by each smartdevice on each network. I want to see how much is actually being used and how hard the network is actually being put to the test all around the world, not just in the US.
@ashwinkn I just switched from a 3GS to a Captivate, and checking my data usage, in 2 days I went through as much data as I used to in a month. Darn thing switches to 3G when the screen's locked, so all my background notifications were pulling data over 3G. Fortunately, I haven't given up my unlimited data plan for AT&T's newer plans, and I found a widget to turn 3G off.
@Teslanaut so I guess all the other windows mobile and bb smartphones don't count on att and verizons network ...... there were things before android and iphone
@Teslanaut
Umm where have you been the whole past year. The OG Droid has sold millions.