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Engadget reviews the Motorola Droid

47 points by unalone 17y ago

matthall28 17y ago
Do want. Hopefully we get it up here in Canada :|
- codedivine 17y ago
  I won't hold my breadth.
johng 17y ago
I agree, I'm planning on picking one up as soon as the local Verizon store opens up. For those of also interested in the Droid, check out http://www.droidforums.net http://www.droidforums.net
rauljara 17y ago
It seems like a really fair review. People who want to believe their iPhones are better than everything else will find ammunition to support that claim. People who want an alternative to the iPhone will also find cause to rejoice. I like my iPhone, and I'm not really tempted to switch, but I'm glad to see some serious competition. Here's hoping for continued innovation from every quarter.
- maximilian 17y ago
  Given the amount of money to be made doing this stuff, it was inevitable that other good smart phones would arise. Props to google for realizing that its the OS that really makes a phone, not the hardware. Obviously, the Droid is a nice piece of hardware, but any other Andriod 2.0 phone will be very close to the same. I wish Nokia would get their shit together and really make a good OS.
  - nailer 17y ago
    Nokia has had a great OS for years, but the Maemo engineers haven't been allowed to put a radio in their devices until the N900. Now they can.
    - cbeust 17y ago
      Definitely: radio is the killer app that will save Nokia.
      - vicehead 17y ago
        I think he meant "radio" as in the GSM module.
    - fpgeek 17y ago
      Unfortunately, Nokia paid the price for dancing with the carriers for too long. I do wonder if Apple is headed down the similar road with the iPhone (i.e. dramatic success that is eventually overtaken because of the entanglements of their required partners - carriers and media companies).
      - ComputerGuru 17y ago
        There's a fine line to walk. Nokia went over it a long time ago, and now they're on the opposite side of the line. Keeping phone and provider separate is great for the consumer, but not in the long run since the phone companies don't get the market they need. i.e. it would be great if I could use the iPhone on any network I wanted, but without an exclusive deal with AT&T, Apple wouldn't have made the kind of cash it needs to be truly profitable and stay at the top of the market. Nokia pandered to cell companies for too long, but then went in the exact opposite direction and lost a huge chunk of the US market with them....
tumult 17y ago
Does anyone know if you can get a data-only plan? I'm planning on picking one up for dev. Normally I'd just buy an unlocked one and swap a SIM card in for when I needed to use the data/cell features, but obviously I can't do that in this case.
- w1ntermute 17y ago
  I would like to know if the data-only plan is an option as well. Normally I'd just buy an unlocked one and swap a SIM card in for when I needed to use the data/cell features, but obviously I can't do that in this case. Why not? It would just be a CSIM (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDMA_Subscriber_Identify_Module http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDMA_Subscriber_Identify_Module) card instead of a SIM card, right?
  - peregrine 17y ago
    Probably not, you'd need to sign a contract. You could pay full price(600+) for one...
    - w1ntermute 17y ago
      I thought that's what you meant when you said "unlocked".
jasonlbaptiste 17y ago
I personally don't think it's better than an iPhone, but I don't know if it needs to be. It's the first viable alternative out there. It's good for the market, which is in turn good for everyone else. I hope they don't rely on the whole "iDont" thing too much in the future, since Apple can make all those claims obsolete if they feel like it.
- human_v2 17y ago
  I was an early adopter, I pre-ordered a G1 and have had it for about a year now. I really love hardware keyboards, so +1 for the G1 and for the Moto Droid. However, the article talks about a bit of lag here and there, which is quite irritating, probably the thing I hate most about android phones. Though, I do feel like the G1 was a competitor to the iPhone off the bat because it could do everything the iphone did, just a little slower =/ The iPhone is very well done, without lag from what I can tell. I suppose that's easier to do though when you make the hardware and software in the same place. For now, I say the iPhone is still the best phone out there, but only because of the stuttering issues that Android phones seem to have. In a year or so, phone hardware will catch up with the Android platform and will run smooth as silk.
  - Andys 17y ago
    Its the price we pay to be able to listen to mp3s whilst GPS navigating in the car! Or leaving my SSH session open while replying to a tweet and checking a website. My point: until a super-fast android is released, would you rather have things slow but the ability to multitask, or fast but no multitasking at all?
    - hexley 17y ago
      The iPhone can multitask just fine, it's just disabled by default to preserve system responsiveness and battery life. I have 6 apps open at once here.
    - hyperbovine 17y ago
      The iPhone can play MP3s while doing anything else, there are GPS Nav apps for the iPhone, and nobody wants to ssh from a phone anyways.
brianobush 17y ago
Wondering if I should have waited since it has android 2.0 - I bought the cliq from motorola and it shipped with 1.5 (cupcake), without a published plan for updates. Very nice device, sturdy, but too much of the social sw had to be removed :)
scottjackson 17y ago
I'm excited about the Droid. It looks good and it seems like it runs pretty well. It's the first non-iPhone that I've looked at and kinda thought "I would not mind one of those." However, not to bring the mood down or anything, but do you guys remember the hype around the Pre at CES in January? Yeah. I really hope the Droid doesn't pull a Pre. Because I really want this phone to succeed.
- enjo 17y ago
  One key difference: The hype around the Pre was all about pre-production hardware. It was folks looking at what they had at CES and going "in a few months this is sooo going to be awesome." In typical Palm fashion, they very conservatively didn't really improve it from CES to launch. It clearly needed some improvement (does everyone at Palm have the worlds smallest hands?)
gbookman 17y ago
If the Droid didn't have a physical keyboard, I would strongly consider getting one. To me, the physical keyboard is just a burden that adds thickness and weight. Aside from that, the Droid looks fantastic and is the first iPhone alternative to make me think about switching.
scorpioxy 17y ago
I recently bought an HTC Hero(still waiting for it to arrive), and I didn't want to wait for the Droid because i generally don't like moving parts in a phone. I find that they tend to break or malfunction quickly. But i still have buyer's remorse because the Droid has the faster processor. Oh well, i guess you'll never buy anything if you keep on waiting for the newer and better.
jsz0 17y ago
This review doesn't touch on the lack of good desktop syncing software. I think people underestimate how big of a selling point this is for the iPhone just as it was for the original iPod. iTunes might not be the most fantastic app but for power users but it solves a lot of everyday problems for people who don't know any better. This phone, and basically all of the iPhone competitors, are lacking. They seem to be pitching this phone towards a more technically literate audience based on the advertising campaign so perhaps it won't matter much. I think the true "iPhone killer" is going to need to match or exceed iTunes and have a conduit to a market place for buying content to really catch on with a mainstream audience.
GavinB 17y ago
I'm planning to get one as soon as it comes out--I'll report back.

47 points by unalone 17y ago

matthall28 17y ago

Do want. Hopefully we get it up here in Canada :|

codedivine 17y ago
I won't hold my breadth.

johng 17y ago

I agree, I'm planning on picking one up as soon as the local Verizon store opens up. For those of also interested in the Droid, check out http://www.droidforums.net http://www.droidforums.net

rauljara 17y ago

It seems like a really fair review. People who want to believe their iPhones are better than everything else will find ammunition to support that claim. People who want an alternative to the iPhone will also find cause to rejoice. I like my iPhone, and I'm not really tempted to switch, but I'm glad to see some serious competition. Here's hoping for continued innovation from every quarter.

maximilian 17y ago
Given the amount of money to be made doing this stuff, it was inevitable that other good smart phones would arise. Props to google for realizing that its the OS that really makes a phone, not the hardware. Obviously, the Droid is a nice piece of hardware, but any other Andriod 2.0 phone will be very close to the same. I wish Nokia would get their shit together and really make a good OS.
- nailer 17y ago
  Nokia has had a great OS for years, but the Maemo engineers haven't been allowed to put a radio in their devices until the N900. Now they can.
  - cbeust 17y ago
    Definitely: radio is the killer app that will save Nokia.
    - vicehead 17y ago
      I think he meant "radio" as in the GSM module.
  - fpgeek 17y ago
    Unfortunately, Nokia paid the price for dancing with the carriers for too long. I do wonder if Apple is headed down the similar road with the iPhone (i.e. dramatic success that is eventually overtaken because of the entanglements of their required partners - carriers and media companies).
    - ComputerGuru 17y ago
      There's a fine line to walk. Nokia went over it a long time ago, and now they're on the opposite side of the line. Keeping phone and provider separate is great for the consumer, but not in the long run since the phone companies don't get the market they need. i.e. it would be great if I could use the iPhone on any network I wanted, but without an exclusive deal with AT&T, Apple wouldn't have made the kind of cash it needs to be truly profitable and stay at the top of the market. Nokia pandered to cell companies for too long, but then went in the exact opposite direction and lost a huge chunk of the US market with them....

tumult 17y ago

Does anyone know if you can get a data-only plan? I'm planning on picking one up for dev. Normally I'd just buy an unlocked one and swap a SIM card in for when I needed to use the data/cell features, but obviously I can't do that in this case.

w1ntermute 17y ago
I would like to know if the data-only plan is an option as well. Normally I'd just buy an unlocked one and swap a SIM card in for when I needed to use the data/cell features, but obviously I can't do that in this case. Why not? It would just be a CSIM (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDMA_Subscriber_Identify_Module http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDMA_Subscriber_Identify_Module) card instead of a SIM card, right?
- peregrine 17y ago
  Probably not, you'd need to sign a contract. You could pay full price(600+) for one...
  - w1ntermute 17y ago
    I thought that's what you meant when you said "unlocked".

jasonlbaptiste 17y ago

I personally don't think it's better than an iPhone, but I don't know if it needs to be. It's the first viable alternative out there. It's good for the market, which is in turn good for everyone else. I hope they don't rely on the whole "iDont" thing too much in the future, since Apple can make all those claims obsolete if they feel like it.

human_v2 17y ago
I was an early adopter, I pre-ordered a G1 and have had it for about a year now. I really love hardware keyboards, so +1 for the G1 and for the Moto Droid. However, the article talks about a bit of lag here and there, which is quite irritating, probably the thing I hate most about android phones. Though, I do feel like the G1 was a competitor to the iPhone off the bat because it could do everything the iphone did, just a little slower =/ The iPhone is very well done, without lag from what I can tell. I suppose that's easier to do though when you make the hardware and software in the same place. For now, I say the iPhone is still the best phone out there, but only because of the stuttering issues that Android phones seem to have. In a year or so, phone hardware will catch up with the Android platform and will run smooth as silk.
- Andys 17y ago
  Its the price we pay to be able to listen to mp3s whilst GPS navigating in the car! Or leaving my SSH session open while replying to a tweet and checking a website. My point: until a super-fast android is released, would you rather have things slow but the ability to multitask, or fast but no multitasking at all?
  - hexley 17y ago
    The iPhone can multitask just fine, it's just disabled by default to preserve system responsiveness and battery life. I have 6 apps open at once here.
  - hyperbovine 17y ago
    The iPhone can play MP3s while doing anything else, there are GPS Nav apps for the iPhone, and nobody wants to ssh from a phone anyways.

brianobush 17y ago

Wondering if I should have waited since it has android 2.0 - I bought the cliq from motorola and it shipped with 1.5 (cupcake), without a published plan for updates. Very nice device, sturdy, but too much of the social sw had to be removed :)

scottjackson 17y ago

I'm excited about the Droid. It looks good and it seems like it runs pretty well. It's the first non-iPhone that I've looked at and kinda thought "I would not mind one of those." However, not to bring the mood down or anything, but do you guys remember the hype around the Pre at CES in January? Yeah. I really hope the Droid doesn't pull a Pre. Because I really want this phone to succeed.

enjo 17y ago
One key difference: The hype around the Pre was all about pre-production hardware. It was folks looking at what they had at CES and going "in a few months this is sooo going to be awesome." In typical Palm fashion, they very conservatively didn't really improve it from CES to launch. It clearly needed some improvement (does everyone at Palm have the worlds smallest hands?)

gbookman 17y ago

If the Droid didn't have a physical keyboard, I would strongly consider getting one. To me, the physical keyboard is just a burden that adds thickness and weight. Aside from that, the Droid looks fantastic and is the first iPhone alternative to make me think about switching.

scorpioxy 17y ago

I recently bought an HTC Hero(still waiting for it to arrive), and I didn't want to wait for the Droid because i generally don't like moving parts in a phone. I find that they tend to break or malfunction quickly. But i still have buyer's remorse because the Droid has the faster processor. Oh well, i guess you'll never buy anything if you keep on waiting for the newer and better.

jsz0 17y ago

This review doesn't touch on the lack of good desktop syncing software. I think people underestimate how big of a selling point this is for the iPhone just as it was for the original iPod. iTunes might not be the most fantastic app but for power users but it solves a lot of everyday problems for people who don't know any better. This phone, and basically all of the iPhone competitors, are lacking. They seem to be pitching this phone towards a more technically literate audience based on the advertising campaign so perhaps it won't matter much. I think the true "iPhone killer" is going to need to match or exceed iTunes and have a conduit to a market place for buying content to really catch on with a mainstream audience.

GavinB 17y ago

I'm planning to get one as soon as it comes out--I'll report back.