Motorola Droid
Phone Scoop Review
Nov 2, 2009 by Eric M. Zeman
Here is Phone Scoop's full-length, in-depth report on the new Motorola Droid. It easily bests most other Android phones out there, but still has a few major drawbacks. read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
IPhone killer not
I switched to verizon just to get this phone and that was a very big mistake I know more about the phone than the rep that helped me the phone would freeze the camera was sluggish and to me my iPhone Internet browser was better the font is to small the widgets are very nice multi tasking is good but I will return this in the morning and switch back to Att to get an iPhone there is a lot of hype around this phone that I think it don't live up to I would rather have a iPhone
Not even an iPhone hurter
For my full, absurdly long review look here in the forums:
https://www.phonescoop.com/phones/p_forum.php?fm=m&ff=2320&fi=2214326
Pros:
Screen
Weight - Good for self defense
Call clarity
Signal strength
Google real time sync (contacts, calendar, email)
Web browser
Cons:
Camera
User interface
Awful keyboard
Ugliness
Android apps (okay so not the phones fault)
Touchscreen keyboard
Mine will be going back to the Verizon store.
Tested and Returned!
I didn't like how the phone reacted when surfing the web. They said it was going to be blazing fast, but in reality, it wasn't. Also, the application selection was more entailed for entertainment rather than productivity. This phone is really tailored to kids or people that don't need to take a smartphone seriously and just want it because it is cool to have. The Android OS is unique, but not nearly as fluid as other operating systems. The only thing that wins on this device is the screen size and resolution.
Pros:
The GUI looks good.
Plenty of entertainment.
Google Navigation is awesome.
Screen size and resolution is out of this world.
Cons:
Slow and choppy.
Reboots occasionally.
Heats up when on the phone more than 20 minutes.
Battery life is bad.
Horrible camera.
Returning Phone
So I purchased this phone wondering what the big hoopla was about and it ended up falling flat.
Pros: Phone seems sturdy
Nice feel
Cons: Signal is too weak
UI is way to cluttered
Font size is way to small
over just to confusing
Its not the phone of simplicity that I was hoping for....it goes back today.
Flawed gem
I'm on my second sample now, and the story is the same -- flaky firmware and software ruining what ought to be a great phone.
By far the biggest problem I'm having is with reception. 3G performance is excellent, a solid four bars all around, and speed only limited by the relative inadequacies of the browser that I'm sure will be quickly solved with further software updates. But the 1x voice performance is atrocious. The telltale sign is that as soon as you get on a call, the four 3G bars are suddenly replaced with one or zero 1x bars. Closer inspection reveals -95 to -105 dbm signals in areas where I'm used to getting -80 to -85, and EC/IO noise-to-signal ratios that register a perfect zero on 3G but an appalling 50 to 1 or worse on voice calls.
The amazing thing is that the phone still manages to deliver good incoming voice quality despite these signal inadequacies. Outgoing performance isn't so good . . . I periodically get complaints, and never get compliments. But still, if the phone was reading the signal properly the performance would be truly remarkable.
I have not had any complaints on the speakerphone echo that many others are reporting.
The phone's contacts syncing also seems quite flaky. Contacts I had deleted keep showing up; some contacts stay in Google but don't come down to the phone, yet still show up in the search from the phone.
Lastly, even the physical form factor has a serious flaw. The battery door cover is poorly designed, does less than almost any other that I've seen to protect the phone from minor spills, and comes off much too easily. It's a real aberration in a phone that otherwise exudes physical quality. On the plus side I wouldn't be so quick to judge the keyboard; the d-pad in particular provides useful control over the cursor in a way you simply can't achieve with a touch screen alone.
But overall, this is a product that was released months too early. In particular, the voice reception is unacceptable.
unhappy with the droid!!!
i recieved the motorola droid just a few days ago it was a warranty claim, cause my droid eris was giving me alot of problems
so they said they could swap it out for the motorola droid. After using the phone for a few days i decided to just keep my droid eris! the motorola droid had problems with it . i heard a whistling sound when i was talking on it, it dropped my calls and everyone i talked to said it wasn't clear it sounded like i was talking in a bucket..lol. i knew then that wasn't the phone for me. The eris don't drop my calls and it has good sound quality it just was freezing up but i guess all touch screens will do that. In my opinion i don't think a brand new phone should give you all these problems. verizon needs to come out with better phones and they need to stand behind there phones.
I have thought alot about switching to at&t the people there are alot nicer than at verizon. verizon needs to care more about there customers cause if there not happy they will loose business! Satisfied customers should be there main priority!!!
Don't believe the "hype"
At first glance it looks like an LG Dare on steroids! When you open the keyboard I thought I was using a video game from the 80's? (kind of like a toy phone)
Pro's
1.) Brilliant display!
2.)FREE google maps!!
3.)Fairly nice call quality
Con's
1.) It's an ugly phone!
2.) The camera is a disaster!
3.) The OS is way to complicated.
4.) The slide out key board looks & reacts like something from the 80's
5.) Whats with the chin on this thing??
6.)Way to clunky and clumsy feeling.
7.)Restarts constantly!!!
I used it for aprox 5 hours it rebooted at least 10 times?!?! returned it the same day I got it (Saturday)
Nice attempt
I returned mine because of poor call quality. But to be fair a software fix is suppose to be out Dec. 11th.
But even if it fixes the call quality I wouldn't get another Moto Droid.
The build was solid and heavy but from a looks stand point, it just isn't that polished. The back looks as if it was assembled from different parts of the country.
The physical keyboard is absolutely the worst, the keys have the texture of a chalk board, no separation. Poor battery life with heavy use.
But if you want something that will run Android FAST and has FAST Internet the Moto Droid does those two things well.
But I'd get an HTC without the extra size of a physical keyboard or wait for Motorola's next attempt.
Phone Freeze's
Very nice looking device, great screen. But it freezes alot. It isn't the iphone killer at least not yet. I carried it for a week and it froze 5 times.
I don't think motorola can make a quality product anymore. just my ipinion I'm headed back to at&t for a 32 gb 3gs
Pros
5 megapixel camera
slide out keyboard
16 gb card
Cons
Motorola
better of witbout
Motorola Droid is lacking in several areas...1 is slide out QWERTY keyboard, its small and unless you have needles for fingers basically useless. Would have been better off with the on screen keyboard by its self and thined out the phone. Would have saved weight and increased functionality. Yet again Motorola failed to deliver. Battery life is minimal..if you SMS MMS or use intense data functions your going to be plugged in all day. You will require advanced task killer to eliminate battery depletion. Free in the market but painful like a windows mobile based OS. All programs automatically launch so immediately your killing you battery. .no way to avoid that. In addition its more expensive than its rival. Market is limited unless your willing to pay. Email is junk. They claim push technology. .but blackberry is push. You have to go in and force it to check emails regardless of the settings. ..go with blackberry or HTC eris
