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Review: Motorola Droid 4 for Verizon Wireless

Form Basics Extras Wrap-Up Comments 18

Screen

The Droid 4 has a 4-inch qHD LCD display (540 x 960 pixels). The smaller size and resolution make for an attractive screen. Individual pixels were visible occasionally, but most of the time items on the screen look smooth and clean. As for visibility, it is easy to see and use outdoors under full sunlight. The display doesn't have the same color-shifting problem I saw in the RAZR MAXX, but the Droid 4 has a blue tint that is persistent across apps (in other words, color isn't 100% accurate.)

Signal

The Droid 4 is a solid performer on both Verizon's CDMA 3G and LTE 4G networks. While the signal indicator rarely reached more than four bars of either, the Droid 4 was able to make phone calls and surf the web under all network conditions. It made calls just as easily with one bar as it did with four, and never dropped any calls during my testing. In the NJ vault (my local super market), the Droid 4 lost Verizon's 3G network, but held on to the 4G network. Surfing the internet was good on both networks, though obviously a bit faster when using 4G.

Sound

Voice calls sounded great through the Droid 4. Not only were they free of distortion and unwanted noise, they were plenty loud. With the earpiece set to maximum volume, it will be easy to hear conversations in crowded coffee shops, moving cars (as long as you're not the driver!), and busy households. The speakerphone is equally good. Calls sounded decent, and were loud enough to suit most users. I had no problem hearing the ringers or alert tones at half volume from a different room in my house. Set all the way up, they're just annoying. The vibrate alert is very strong.

Battery

Battery life falls into the "average" category for this class of device. Using the device under mixed network conditions (3G, 4G, and Wi-Fi), the battery was fully dead in less than 24 hours (9AM to 9AM). This included periods of heavy use (streaming music, uploading pictures) and periods of casual use (phone calls and messaging). It managed to live during the entirety of my waking hours for a full day. This is one of those phones that will need to be plugged in each night.

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Related

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Motorola Droid 4

4" display 540 x 960 pixels
1,785 mAh battery
Memory Card Slot, Hardware Text Keyboard, Headphone Jack (3.5mm)

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