Motorola’s Anroid 2.0 phone debuts today with its slide-out keyboard, 5-megapixel camera, and DVD-quality video recording. The NYTimes calls the Droid 2.0 incredibly fast with superb audio quality, but adds:
..the Droid’s design screams “Star Wars,” if not “Darth Vader.” It’s jet black, all sharp angles and industrial-looking edges. Verizon asked Motorola to soften the design for better female appeal, but it’s hopeless: Droid is all masculine, all the time. When you slide the screen up to reveal the thumb keyboard, there’s no spring-assisted snap; it drags like a plow through soil. It’s all part of the manly man design concept.
Wait I sec… I love Star Wars! Still, it’s a shiny new phone with lots of buzz and anticipation surrounding the release. The Wall Street Journal predicts it may be a big win for Verizon, Motorola and Google, while naming several drawbacks.
I have the original iPhone and am planning to purchase a new one soon. My contract’s been up for a long time and the screen finally cracked last week after an unfortunate collision with hardwood flooring. It’s past time to join a 3G network. However, next year I’m headed to Austin, TX and service sounds unreliable in the region.
So I’m curious to hear from our tech savvy readers about early impressions of the Droid 2.0. Further, what do think is the best smart phone on the market right now?
November 6th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Droid is better than iPhone, by far. Open development, ANDROID, multitasking, ANDROID, screen size, ANDROID, keyboard, ANDROID, and ANDROID make this the superior phone. Also, Apple is terrible.
November 6th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
The iPhone is the best smartphone, but it’s on the worst carrier. As much as I loved the iPhone when I had it, it would’ve been absolutely unstoppable if it was on Verizon instead of AT&T.
I just got the Droid this morning, and while the OS could use a facelift when they can finally have the Senses UI on this phone, it’s faster, intuitive, gives you an option between a physical and touch keyboard, and it’s an open source platform.
I bought the HTC Hero before getting the Droid, and the latter is head and shoulders above the former. Is the device better than the iPhone? Not really, but it’s not far off at all . . both have their pros and cons, you just have to mess with it, or mess with a friend’s.
November 6th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Each phone takes some getting used to at first. AT&T network however has been steadily going downhill this year. Last year I could not have swayed the powers that be to consider anything other than phones on the AT&T network. Now they are coming to me complaining of dropped calls, no coverage (we actually had data removed and broadband cards turned back in) or poor service in general. As many of our employees are needing more connectivity while traveling in state and out of state Verizon is proving to be far more reliable(especially in state). Add this to current and future capabilities and droid fits better in our environment in many cases but maybe not all.
Neither phone is the best selection in all scenarios. If your ATT service is crappy where you live/work – go droid. If iphone works for you then wait until the contract is up and re evaluate things then.
Some of the FUD about the droid not hooking up to exchange systems that have policy enforcement are complete bunk though. I went by the VZW store this morning and set up my email/calendar over exchange with no problem. Sent and received mail before wiping it.
November 6th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
No Audible.com yet : ( .
November 6th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
I’d go with the best carrier for your area first then choose their best available smartphone.
November 6th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
There is no policy enforcement from exchange on Droid. emails/cal work…. just no policy enforcement…. not a good thing.
November 6th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
The Droid is the first of a new generation of Android smartphones that can stand up to the iPhone 3GS in terms of user experience and features.
The Droid is okay, but I’m betting we’ll see some other Android 2.0 smartphones with the latest generation ARM processors that are better or at least have different tradeoffs. The Acer Liquid, HTC Dragon, Samsung Behold 2, and others look very enticing.
The Droid is definitely the best Android phone out there, but I have a hard time recommending Motorola products. You might be better off waiting a bit longer, say, ’til January, if you can, and then you’ll have more choices for a fast, awesome Android phone.
You might also consider the iPhone 3GS. It’s pretty slick too.
November 6th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Nobody needs any of this shit.
November 6th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
[...] the original post here: Droid 2.0 Vs iPhone | The Intersection | Discover Magazine Share and [...]
November 7th, 2009 at 5:21 am
The biggest drawback for me (an iPhone 3G owner) is the network. I don’t like Verizon Wireless in general (too many cases of them crippling built-in phone features in order to make their customers pay for overpriced services from VZW), and I don’t like the idea of being locked into one provider’s network.
You can’t use the CDMA2000 in most of Europe, and even where you can, you can’t install a local pre-paid card to save money like you can with a GSM/EDGE/UMTS phone. Of course, you can’t do that with the AT&T-locked iPhones in the US either without jailbreaking, but at least you can jailbreak, and if you want to shell out extra dollars/travel time, you can always buy an iPhone from one of the countries that sell them factory unlocked.
All that said, I think Android itself is very promising, and its open platform should at least give Apple a run for its money. Competition is good!
If/when T-Mobile got an Android phone as sleek as the iPhone (I love the iPhone’s form factor, and not even sure if the Hero will match it) and which supports UMTS bands in Europe, then I’ll seriously consider switching over. I like T-Mobile’s business practices better than AT&T (esp. with regard to unlocking SIMs), but they run on some non-standard frequency bands.
November 7th, 2009 at 5:58 am
First Android phone by Sony Ericsson (not for sale yet):
http://www.sonyericsson.com/whatsnext/
November 7th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
I went into the Verizon store to look at the Droid. No way would I spend my money on that monster of a phone. It’s way to heavy. I’ll stick with my laptop and my iPhone thank you.
November 7th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
I went into Bestbuy to play with the new Droid. I guess you could argue that I can’t make a good judgement without spending more time with it but honestly.. my HTC TouchPro 2 is much nicer and more capable. Granted, i don’t have the 5MP camera or flash but it’s much nicer, better keyboard and seems a little quicker. Also, the new Windows Market place is much better than the android app store. Just my thoughts.
November 9th, 2009 at 8:57 am
Hi Sheril,
There is one big reason why I would never buy an iPhone
MUSIC!
With the iPhone, you have to use quicktime, itunes, a proprietory cable. You cannot drag and drop folders of music to and from your phone.
I detest all of that (and I own two mac computers of my own). I like being able to plug in to a generic USB, on ANY computer anywhere, and just add or remove or copy music to and from the device as much as I want, no interference from a freak controlling Apple.
This makes iPhone (or an iPod for that matter) completely unacceptable to me.
Mark UK.
November 26th, 2009 at 2:58 am
I know that obviously the Droid wouldn’t beat out the Iphone
What I want is a comparison of
First Generation Iphone vs. Droid
If verizon sticks with droid, will it eventually catch up or beat out the Iphone on further generations?
December 11th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
The only people who should complain about the slide on the the droid are girls