Motorola DROID & HTC DROID ERIS

IMG_0018The Motorola DROID is released! Does it live up to all the hype? Let us just simply say: NO. Continue reading to find out why we don’t think it’s a good device. We also checked out a HTC DROID ERIS, a device that we think is far superior to the DROID.

Please excuse the quality of the images. They were taken with a iPhone 3G.

Alright, so you’ve all probably seen those DROID Does/iDon’t commercials. These commercials primarily aimed towards the Apple iPhone. Even with all the restrictions that the iPhone have (unless jailbroken), it is just a far more user-friendly device. We will be comparing the DROID to the iPhone throughout this post.

IMG_0020The DROID has a slightly larger screen. The edges of the device aren’t very rounded. This isn’t very comfortable to hold for a very long time, at all. It is bar far the most unattractive device we’ve ever seen as well. Sliding phones seem to be fading away from the technology world. Everything is going virtual. Having a physical keyboard may be good to some, but to those of us who look toward the future, we left those things behind.

There are 4 touch-sensitive buttons on the bottom that goes back, brings up the menu, goes to the home screen, or goes to the search bar. The performance of the DROID isn’t very good. When sliding between home screens, it’s very laggy (frame rate wise). Scrolling various menus and web pages is also choppy. Web pages load fairly fast over 3G. It did load web pages faster than our iPhone 3G, but it is said that the iPhone 3GS is considerably faster at loading web pages than the DROID.

IMG_0021On the other side of the device, you’ll notice that the DROID has a 5 megapixel camera with a 2 LED flash module. We weren’t able to take any images or shoot any video because the DROID needs a memory card to record the media to. The actual camera application works a lot like the iPhone’s camera app.

IMG_0022This is the home screen. It’s not very attractive. Application open within a second, which is always good. As far as we know, you can’t add widgets to the home screen, which is a major letdown on a device that is supposed to be the iPhone killer.

IMG_0023The Motorola DROID is the first Android-based phone with Android 2.0. New with 2.0 is Google’s very own turn-by-turn navigation application. It works very quickly, and its interface is better than any navigation app available for the iPhone. The voice instructions are very clear and precise.

So, let’s explain why we believe this device is bad. Scrolling through web pages and menus aren’t very smooth at all. The overall interface is very plain and boring. Not only is the interface boring, but the device itself is boring. It’s rather thick (our iPhone 3G with a iSkin Fuze case is about the same thickness), and very unattractive. We just believe that this isn’t a very advanced device. It isn’t very enjoyable to use. Overall, the DROID doesn’t live up to all the DROID hype at all. Not to mention the DROID doesn’t even have multitouch support. The European version of this phone does, so maybe there will be some sort of hack to enable this in the American version of the DROID.

A few phones over is the HTC DROID ERIS, another Android-based phone. Whats different about this device is that it has HTC’s “Sense UI”, an all new modified home screen with various widgets. Switching between these home screens is extremely smooth. There is a huge assortment of widgets, including Twitter, Facebook, and email.

IMG_0019The device itself is FAR more attractive than the DROID. There isn’t a slider, which we think is great. There is a little trackball at the bottom of the phone that can be used to scroll between menus and select things (by pushing down on it). There’s also a call & end/power button. The ERIS is a tad bit thinner than the DROID, and also have a much more comfortable feel to it.

IMG_0024

The interface on this phone is quite a bit different compared to the DROID. The home screen is much more user friendly and informative, feature a nice big clock and weather information. You get widgets, where you can view things like email and SMS/MMS messages at a glance. Applications like the phone does have a different looking interface (buttons/colors, etc). Everything also seems considerably smoother than the DROID. The DROID is a little bit faster at loading applications. The ERIS is slightly cheaper, and has a 8GB MicroSD card thrown in the box.

IMG_0025

We also looked at a BlackBerry Storm 2, but nobody really cares about those.

Everyone has their own opinion. This post contains ours. The DROID is a huge letdown. The HTC DROID ERIS is a much better phone. It has a smaller screen, and doesn’t incorporate a physical keyboard, but it is a better device everywhere else. We would like to know what you think about these 2 devices. Leave a comment to this post and we’ll probably reply to it.

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  • Lyoko

    Someone needs to do their homework on the Droid.

    You can easily add Widgets on the Droid, just hold down on the home screen and a screen pops up to add more things…

    The ONLY two things I dislike about the phone so far is the Camera software (very slow and no review option) and the keyboard (which has a huge learning curve coming from a BlackBerry)

    I don’t think you can do an accurate or thorough review looking at it for 5 minutes in a Verizon store.

  • Lyoko

    Someone needs to do their homework on the Droid.

    You can easily add Widgets on the Droid, just hold down on the home screen and a screen pops up to add more things…

    The ONLY two things I dislike about the phone so far is the Camera software (very slow and no review option) and the keyboard (which has a huge learning curve coming from a BlackBerry)

    I don’t think you can do an accurate or thorough review looking at it for 5 minutes in a Verizon store.

  • Lyoko

    Someone needs to do their homework on the Droid.

    You can easily add Widgets on the Droid, just hold down on the home screen and a screen pops up to add more things…

    The ONLY two things I dislike about the phone so far is the Camera software (very slow and no review option) and the keyboard (which has a huge learning curve coming from a BlackBerry)

    I don’t think you can do an accurate or thorough review looking at it for 5 minutes in a Verizon store.

  • Lyoko

    Someone needs to do their homework on the Droid.

    You can easily add Widgets on the Droid, just hold down on the home screen and a screen pops up to add more things…

    The ONLY two things I dislike about the phone so far is the Camera software (very slow and no review option) and the keyboard (which has a huge learning curve coming from a BlackBerry)

    I don’t think you can do an accurate or thorough review looking at it for 5 minutes in a Verizon store.

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  • Klondike

    Meh. iPhone beats the shit outta it. Damn, I was hoping for something better than an iPhone too…

  • Klondike

    Meh. iPhone beats the shit outta it. Damn, I was hoping for something better than an iPhone too…

  • Klondike

    Meh. iPhone beats the shit outta it. Damn, I was hoping for something better than an iPhone too…

  • Klondike

    Meh. iPhone beats the shit outta it. Damn, I was hoping for something better than an iPhone too…

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  • http://sumikoo.com/ Alan

    IMO after testing Sprint’s Hero, Verizons Droid & Droid Eris, Palm Pre and an iPhone 3Gs (being a 3G user) I can say that Android is a pretty good mobile OS.

    There were some things that I didn’t like about the Droid, specially the camera; despite having 5MP I find it with yes a little more detail but so slow between snaps. Also, I found a comparison of pictures taken between the 3Gs and the Droid (sorry, no Eris here) http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyi/sets/72157622609402533/ and like more the 3Gs pictures overall. The good thing about the Droid’s camera is the flash.

    Another thing that I dislike about the Droid is the keyboard. Some argues that having a ‘real’ keyboard makes the Droid a better device, but I find that very subjective. With ‘real’ they mean an existant keyboard or just a physical keyboard? Anyway, I prefer anyday a virtual keyboard after testing for istance the BB Bold, Pre’s tiny buttons or the Droid’s keyboard.
    What I didn’t like about Droid’s is that the keys are a little bit hard to push (more than an average phone) and you don’t get that ‘feedback’ from the keys as they are plain.

    Sprint’s Hero Sense UI is better than the sole Android UI 2.0 in the Droid, but I really find it kinda laggy, but again, HTC has done a wonderful job with the Sense UI, I really like it although I found Eris’ UI far more responsive (maybe an update will fix this).

    The Pre is a very good phone except for the hardware which feels very plastic and fragile (some friends Pres just got broken screens as they slide them), but overall, the whole OS is great, specially with the multitasking. But again, those tiny keys aren’t for me, but I think you get used to them.

    The 3Gs is not too different from my 3G, just add the speed factor and some things that I doubt I’ll use constantly except for the video recording and extra RAM.

    I want to see how the Xperia X10 (w/Android) ends. Those early vids on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ytEOOTGtIo show it very good but kinda laggy which is understandable, is not finished yet.

  • http://sumikoo.com/ Alan

    IMO after testing Sprint’s Hero, Verizons Droid & Droid Eris, Palm Pre and an iPhone 3Gs (being a 3G user) I can say that Android is a pretty good mobile OS.

    There were some things that I didn’t like about the Droid, specially the camera; despite having 5MP I find it with yes a little more detail but so slow between snaps. Also, I found a comparison of pictures taken between the 3Gs and the Droid (sorry, no Eris here) http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyi/sets/72157622609402533/ and like more the 3Gs pictures overall. The good thing about the Droid’s camera is the flash.

    Another thing that I dislike about the Droid is the keyboard. Some argues that having a ‘real’ keyboard makes the Droid a better device, but I find that very subjective. With ‘real’ they mean an existant keyboard or just a physical keyboard? Anyway, I prefer anyday a virtual keyboard after testing for istance the BB Bold, Pre’s tiny buttons or the Droid’s keyboard.
    What I didn’t like about Droid’s is that the keys are a little bit hard to push (more than an average phone) and you don’t get that ‘feedback’ from the keys as they are plain.

    Sprint’s Hero Sense UI is better than the sole Android UI 2.0 in the Droid, but I really find it kinda laggy, but again, HTC has done a wonderful job with the Sense UI, I really like it although I found Eris’ UI far more responsive (maybe an update will fix this).

    The Pre is a very good phone except for the hardware which feels very plastic and fragile (some friends Pres just got broken screens as they slide them), but overall, the whole OS is great, specially with the multitasking. But again, those tiny keys aren’t for me, but I think you get used to them.

    The 3Gs is not too different from my 3G, just add the speed factor and some things that I doubt I’ll use constantly except for the video recording and extra RAM.

    I want to see how the Xperia X10 (w/Android) ends. Those early vids on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ytEOOTGtIo show it very good but kinda laggy which is understandable, is not finished yet.

  • http://sumikoo.com Alan

    IMO after testing Sprint’s Hero, Verizons Droid & Droid Eris, Palm Pre and an iPhone 3Gs (being a 3G user) I can say that Android is a pretty good mobile OS.

    There were some things that I didn’t like about the Droid, specially the camera; despite having 5MP I find it with yes a little more detail but so slow between snaps. Also, I found a comparison of pictures taken between the 3Gs and the Droid (sorry, no Eris here) http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyi/sets/72157622609402533/ and like more the 3Gs pictures overall. The good thing about the Droid’s camera is the flash.

    Another thing that I dislike about the Droid is the keyboard. Some argues that having a ‘real’ keyboard makes the Droid a better device, but I find that very subjective. With ‘real’ they mean an existant keyboard or just a physical keyboard? Anyway, I prefer anyday a virtual keyboard after testing for istance the BB Bold, Pre’s tiny buttons or the Droid’s keyboard.
    What I didn’t like about Droid’s is that the keys are a little bit hard to push (more than an average phone) and you don’t get that ‘feedback’ from the keys as they are plain.

    Sprint’s Hero Sense UI is better than the sole Android UI 2.0 in the Droid, but I really find it kinda laggy, but again, HTC has done a wonderful job with the Sense UI, I really like it although I found Eris’ UI far more responsive (maybe an update will fix this).

    The Pre is a very good phone except for the hardware which feels very plastic and fragile (some friends Pres just got broken screens as they slide them), but overall, the whole OS is great, specially with the multitasking. But again, those tiny keys aren’t for me, but I think you get used to them.

    The 3Gs is not too different from my 3G, just add the speed factor and some things that I doubt I’ll use constantly except for the video recording and extra RAM.

    I want to see how the Xperia X10 (w/Android) ends. Those early vids on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ytEOOTGtIo show it very good but kinda laggy which is understandable, is not finished yet.

  • GBTech

    Well, excuse me for not knowing EVERYTHING about the DROID. It apparently isn’t as user-friendly as the ERIS, because I can add widgets without any problems at all on it. I couldn’t find where to add widgets at all.

    And I’m pretty sure two and a half hours is more than enough time to determine whether a phone is any good.

    When people are searching for a new phone, they usually go to the store to try one out before they do any extra homework. First impressions are lasting impressions. I will never again touch a Motorola DROID in my life. The DROID ERIS on the other hand is a million times better.

  • GBTech

    Well, excuse me for not knowing EVERYTHING about the DROID. It apparently isn’t as user-friendly as the ERIS, because I can add widgets without any problems at all on it. I couldn’t find where to add widgets at all.

    And I’m pretty sure two and a half hours is more than enough time to determine whether a phone is any good.

    When people are searching for a new phone, they usually go to the store to try one out before they do any extra homework. First impressions are lasting impressions. I will never again touch a Motorola DROID in my life. The DROID ERIS on the other hand is a million times better.

  • GBTech

    Well, excuse me for not knowing EVERYTHING about the DROID. It apparently isn’t as user-friendly as the ERIS, because I can add widgets without any problems at all on it. I couldn’t find where to add widgets at all.

    And I’m pretty sure two and a half hours is more than enough time to determine whether a phone is any good.

    When people are searching for a new phone, they usually go to the store to try one out before they do any extra homework. First impressions are lasting impressions. I will never again touch a Motorola DROID in my life. The DROID ERIS on the other hand is a million times better.

  • GBTech

    It looks alright, but I don’t think it’ll do very well. For having a Snapdragon CPU, it’s pretty laggy, but it’ll probably be fixed soon.

    I don’t think it’s a very good idea to make your own OS. It’s either the iPhone OS or Android. Sony could probably make a bad-ass version of Android if they wanted.

  • GBTech

    It looks alright, but I don’t think it’ll do very well. For having a Snapdragon CPU, it’s pretty laggy, but it’ll probably be fixed soon.

    I don’t think it’s a very good idea to make your own OS. It’s either the iPhone OS or Android. Sony could probably make a bad-ass version of Android if they wanted.

  • GBTech

    It looks alright, but I don’t think it’ll do very well. For having a Snapdragon CPU, it’s pretty laggy, but it’ll probably be fixed soon.

    I don’t think it’s a very good idea to make your own OS. It’s either the iPhone OS or Android. Sony could probably make a bad-ass version of Android if they wanted.

  • GBTech

    It looks alright, but I don’t think it’ll do very well. For having a Snapdragon CPU, it’s pretty laggy, but it’ll probably be fixed soon.

    I don’t think it’s a very good idea to make your own OS. It’s either the iPhone OS or Android. Sony could probably make a bad-ass version of Android if they wanted.

  • http://www.r4-kaart.nl/ r4i kaart

    One of the major problems I am facing is the battery. I have used LG env touch, IPhone, Samsung rogue, LG Chocolate in the past .. and I would say this was the worst in terms of battery. It drains out really quick. Besides the battery issue, there are no other issues with this phone [atleast so far].

  • http://www.r4-kaart.nl/ r4i kaart

    One of the major problems I am facing is the battery. I have used LG env touch, IPhone, Samsung rogue, LG Chocolate in the past .. and I would say this was the worst in terms of battery. It drains out really quick. Besides the battery issue, there are no other issues with this phone [atleast so far].

  • http://www.r4-kaart.nl r4i kaart

    One of the major problems I am facing is the battery. I have used LG env touch, IPhone, Samsung rogue, LG Chocolate in the past .. and I would say this was the worst in terms of battery. It drains out really quick. Besides the battery issue, there are no other issues with this phone [atleast so far].

  • kvn

    The droid has the virtual keyboard if you prefer that, overal the device is just as good or better than the iphone, has many of the same apps, it just boils down to preference, also it comes with a 16gb micro sd in the box, whoever did the write up should have done just a little homework, but I guess anyone can have an un educated opinion these days lmao

  • kvn

    The droid has the virtual keyboard if you prefer that, overal the device is just as good or better than the iphone, has many of the same apps, it just boils down to preference, also it comes with a 16gb micro sd in the box, whoever did the write up should have done just a little homework, but I guess anyone can have an un educated opinion these days lmao

  • kvn

    The droid has the virtual keyboard if you prefer that, overal the device is just as good or better than the iphone, has many of the same apps, it just boils down to preference, also it comes with a 16gb micro sd in the box, whoever did the write up should have done just a little homework, but I guess anyone can have an un educated opinion these days lmao

  • http://gumballtech.com/ brian

    If I would prefer the virtual keyboard over the physical one, then why would i want to get a DROID? I could go for the DROID ERIS which eliminates that and looks better and is smaller AND is cheaper.

    We did do homework. Pretty sure a 2 hour hands-on is enough to determine whether or not a device is good or not.

  • http://gumballtech.com/ brian

    If I would prefer the virtual keyboard over the physical one, then why would i want to get a DROID? I could go for the DROID ERIS which eliminates that and looks better and is smaller AND is cheaper.

    We did do homework. Pretty sure a 2 hour hands-on is enough to determine whether or not a device is good or not.

  • http://gumballtech.com brian

    If I would prefer the virtual keyboard over the physical one, then why would i want to get a DROID? I could go for the DROID ERIS which eliminates that and looks better and is smaller AND is cheaper.

    We did do homework. Pretty sure a 2 hour hands-on is enough to determine whether or not a device is good or not.

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