Motorola’s Droid Is Smart Success for Verizon Users
November 4, 2009
by Walter S. Mossberg
Verizon Wireless customers tend to love the company’s fast 3G network. But many tech-oriented Verizon loyalists gripe about the carrier’s high-end smart phones, which haven’t matched the cachet and versatility of the Apple iPhone sold by AT&T (T). In fact, some Verizon customers have switched to AT&T simply to get an iPhone.
But this week, Verizon (VZ) is rolling out a device that finally gives it a more credible alternative. This new $200 phone is the Motorola Droid and it’s the first Verizon model to run Google’s (GOOG) Android smart-phone operating system. I’ve been testing the Droid, and while it has some significant drawbacks, I regard it as a success overall. It’s the best super-smart phone Verizon offers, the best Motorola (MOT) phone I’ve tested and the best hardware so far to run Android. I can recommend the Droid to Verizon loyalists who have lusted for a better smart phone, but don’t want to switch networks.
Like the iPhone, the Droid is really a powerful hand-held computer that happens to make phone calls, and is a platform for numerous third-party programs, or apps. Currently, Android offers over 12,000 apps. That is just a fraction of the 100,000 apps available for the iPhone, but it’s well above what the newer BlackBerry or Palm (PALM) phones offer.
The Droid is also the first phone that runs the 2.0 version of Android, which sands off some of the rough edges of Google’s platform and adds some features—notably, a free voice-prompted turn-by-turn navigation program. Android still isn’t as slick or fluid as the iPhone’s OS, in my view, but it has some functionality Apple (AAPL) omits, including the ability to run multiple third-party apps simultaneously.
The Droid is a handsome, squared-off device with a gorgeous, huge, high-resolution screen, bigger and sharper than the iPhone’s. There’s also a slide-out physical keyboard. It’s only a tad longer and thicker than the Apple product. But it’s 25% heavier, which makes it less comfortable to carry around in a pocket.
The Droid also has a higher-resolution camera than the iPhone’s: five megapixels versus three megapixels. And the camera has a flash, which the Apple lacks. In my tests, pictures came out OK, though not dazzling, and videos I shot were quite good.
Motorola’s Droid
The Droid’s large 3.7-inch screen looked great, but it lacks multitouch features, such as two-finger zooming, and it seemed less responsive than some other touch screens I’ve tested.
Battery life is listed at a whopping 6.4 hours, and, in my tests, the Droid easily lasted through the day on a single charge. Phone calls were crisp and clear, and I never suffered a dropped call. Verizon’s network was speedy and reliable for Web surfing, email and social networking. I copied some songs and videos onto the Droid by plugging it into a computer, and all played properly.
The Droid, whose $200 price comes only after a $100 mail-in rebate, requires a minimum $70 monthly service plan for two years, and text messaging costs extra. It comes with 16 gigabytes of memory, in the form of a removable card, and can handle up to a 32-gigabyte card.
Unfortunately for lovers of physical keyboards, I found the one on the Droid to be pretty awful. It has flat, cramped keys that induce too many typing errors, yet lacks auto-correction. I found myself using the virtual on-screen keyboard, which was pretty fast and accurate for me, and did include auto-correction.
Another downside: The Droid’s screen has only three panels for displaying apps, versus 11 on the iPhone, and some large apps, called widgets, hog much of the space on these panels.
Like the Palm Pre, the Droid tries to integrate social networking with contacts, though in a more limited way. It handles Google’s Gmail and Facebook, as well as Microsoft Exchange for corporate email and data. A nice feature lets you tap a contact’s picture and get instant options for ways to communicate.
The Droid can do some cool tricks with a couple of $30 optional docks, one for the car and one for the desk or nightstand. When placed in the car dock, the phone automatically displays a horizontal view with large buttons, including one for the built-in navigation system. In my tests, this navigation system worked pretty well, even showing photos of certain intersections. But it also gave me a couple of bad directions, such as sending me the wrong way at a fork in the road.
When placed in the desktop dock, the Droid displays the time and a different row of large icons from when it’s in the car dock, including music and an alarm clock.
I ran into one odd flaw with my test Droid, and with a second test unit tried by a colleague. Neither could send a photo via multimedia messaging to either my iPhone or her BlackBerry. Verizon was able to send pictures this way to my iPhone from other Droids, and it suspects some flaw in our test units.
The Droid is potentially a big win for Verizon, Motorola and Google, as well as for loyal Verizon customers.
Find Walt Mossberg’s columns and videos online, free, at walt.allthingsd.com. Email him at mossberg@wsj.com
Comments
Very good review. Too often, the Android/iphone comparison is simply quantity over quality. For example, many reviews note that the Android market has only a fraction of the number in Apple’s store, as if anyone needs more than 12000 apps on their phone. Why not compare the quality and functionality of the available apps? The only voice guided, turn by turn navigation app for the iphone requires a hefty monthly fee, but the Android market has several options, including CoPilot, which allows you to download all the maps and POIs for North America for a one time fee of $35. I’ve used this app extensively, and it is excellent. My Garmin is no longer needed. Furthermore, thanks to Android’s ability to multi-task you can talk on the phone and get directions at the same time, which is a capability that the iphone lacks. The Android market also has Google Voice, which allows you to make low cost international calls and send free text messages. Sorry iphone users, no Google Voice for you. You can blame AT&T, but it was Apple’s decision to mate with that carrier, so Apple is accountable for the resulting limitations. Just as Apple is accountable for the limitations imposed by failing to include multi-tasking. Furthermore, zooming with multi-touch should be called “two-handed zoom” since you need one hand to hold the phone and the other to pinch it. Only Apple’s marketing could convince people that this is better than the capability to zoom with one hand. Just like they’ve convinced people that requiring desktop software to synchronize and update the phone is better than having that capability via the phone’s network connection. Furthermore, iphone users have to pay for MobileMe, while Android users get all of their email, contact and calendar information synchronized for free. But anyway, the iphone is quite stylish.
Posted by Brian Hansen at November 4th, 2009 at 9:24 pm@Walt. Yet another objective review. Kudos.
@Brian: I’m not sure where you are getting your information (I hope not a sales brief as a Verizon employee!), however there are several inaccuracies in your commentary:
1. Regarding GPS, there are several options on the iPhone, including AT&T, Navigon and TomTom, all running on a GSM network. Unlike Verizon phones such as the Droid which use a CDMA network, GPS on the iPhone can simultaneously access both voice and data. Practically speaking, if you are using your phone to make call while also using your GPS, the phone is not accessing map data, but relying on a cache. Good luck with that!
2. Your comment implies that the functionality of Google Voice is crippled, because you do not mention local calls. The iPhone features Skype, will also will allow the user to make low cost int’l calls and texts. Another great option is Ring Central, which provides a unified voice mail center even better than Google Voice. Plus, the iPhone can be used the minute you step off a plane in London, Paris or Rome because of the GSM network. Verizon phones can not be used this way without a special SIM card, if at all.
3. Regarding Apps, there are so many truly useful and well designed apps for the iPhone, no other phone provides as rich a user experience.
4. The iPhone does multi-task bundled apps such as Mail and internet browsing, but not third-party apps. Once again, Verizon phones such as the Droid cannot multi-task voice and data.
5. Multi-touch allows for terrific games, which the Droid does not feature, because of a limitation within the Android OS.
I could go on, but why bother when it is clear that once again Verizon has failed to produce a phone as good as the iPhone. All the same, as Walt shared, Android 2.0 is better than Android 1.0, 1.5. or 1.6. Keep those copiers up & running Google & Verizon!
Posted by Clement Galluccio at November 5th, 2009 at 4:28 am@Clement –
Just a correction on your comment, the Android 2.0 OS does in fact support multi-touch. That support is extended to app developers who can employ it in games and other applications at will. Now, the important distinction is that while the Android OS supports multi-touch, it hasn’t been implemented into the Android UI – so it isn’t currently available for Google Maps or the browser, among other things.
Posted by James Jordan at November 5th, 2009 at 10:14 am@Clement, correction to your correction:
Posted by Brian Hansen at November 5th, 2009 at 9:23 pmAndroid phones on T-Mobile’s network can access data and voice at the same time. As as you mentioned, the iphone lacks the capability to multi-task 3rd party apps, which includes navigation apps. Talking and getting voice guided navigation is not going to happen on your iphone. You are incorrectly implying that CoPilot uses cached data, but, as I said previously, all of CoPilot’s map and POI data is stored on your SD card. (The ability to use an SD card is another feature lacking in the iphone, but I have no doubt that iphone zealots can somehow cast that as an advantage.) The CoPilot navigation app does not require a data connection. Also, Android phones on T-Mobile’s network allow you to use your phone whenever you step off the plane in London, Hamburg, Paris, South Africa, Beijing, etc., etc. Sorry, but the iphone might be a rich user experience for you, but not for me and 67% of the other smartphone users out there. As far as copying the iphone, Android phones had copy/paste and MMS capability before the iphone did. Apple copied Android by adding these capabilities. Google voice can be used to make free calls to landlines in the US, which you can not do for free with Skype. But anyway, the iphone is still quite stylish.
Don’t forget the battery. I’ve been using an iPhone since 1.0 came out (had/have all three). The battery is the biggest problem for me (inability to replace a dead one with a live one when necessary). And in very preliminary testing, the Droid looks like it lasts longer anyway.
Give the Market some time, the apps will come with more devices and successes like the Droid. And as a developer, it is great to work with the Market vs. any other app store.
Posted by Joe Monty at November 7th, 2009 at 5:31 pmUnfortunately it seems this “super-smart phone” is pea-brained.
Walt surprisingly neglected to mention that the use of apps is restricted to only 256 MB of the Droid’s 512 MB of ram. It may come with a removable 16 gig stick, but you cannot install or store apps on it. This is an Android restriction- meaning the true market for Android apps is pretty constrained- a given owner only has room on his phone for a few. In this case, Droid’s “3 screens” for apps- as opposed to iPhone’s 11- is in itself wildly optimistic.
This is a huge restriction, and means that the Droid is a “misfit toy” in comparison with iPhone.
Brian, no one is talking about “Android on T-Mobile”. We are talking about Droid on Verizon, a CDMA network. There is no simultaneous voice and data use on CDMA. And no matter what Android phone you have on whatever network- you will never have any 11 pages of apps on your phone. You will be endlessly swapping them on and off your phone, assuming you can even buy more than fit on the phone and store them on a computer somewhere- can you do that?
The whole idea that “some apps will have multi-touch, some will not” is the Android problem in a nutshell. It’s open-source amateur hour, totally inconsistent from phone to phone. Companies like HTC will throw their own layer of interface on top of Android- companies like Verizon will hobble the phone any way they can in order to nickel and dime their customers- the scientific term for this is “Developer Hell.” No, you will not be making any millions developing for Android.
Posted by Dave Shepard at November 9th, 2009 at 8:51 pm