OK, but not great - Motorola DROID A855 Android Phone (Verizon Wireless)

I got my Droid back in December, when I ditched my iPhone out of frustration with AT&T and switched to Verizon. Since then, I've had lots of ups and downs with the phone. Let me start with the downs.

From a hardware perspective, there are a handful of flaws with the Droid. First is the battery cover on the back of the phone. Simply put, it's too loose, and easily slides off when you don't want it to. I've addressed this on my phone simply by putting a piece of tape over it. Still, it's something that's apparent almost from the moment you get the phone and Motorola should have noticed.

Second, perhaps it's simply my phone, but I've had numerous issues with the headphone jack. Bumping or shifting my headphones introduces a lot of static. At one point, it even rendered the phones ear piece useless without a restart of the phone, but the Andoid 2.1 update seems to have fixed that issue. Also, the phone behaves oddly when connected to a car stereo system. If I bump the line-out it automatically starts and stops the Android music player, something that's especially frustrating if you're listening to something else, such as Pandora.

My last quibble with the hardware is the keyboard. I thought it would be nice to have a physical keyboard after using the on-screen one on the iPhone for so long, but the Droid's keyboard is practically worthless. The keys are impossible to tell apart by feel, and if you have large hands, the top row is practically unreachable, due to their close proximity to the screen. Additionally, the slide out keyboard means extra moving parts, and after 6 months, my screen is starting to get wobbly.

On the software side I've been happier. That 2.1 update fixed a lot of the issues that I did have. And while Android's still not perfect, it's getting closer. I still think the app store is lacking, especially when it comes to games and leisure apps, but it makes up for it with solid apps that make much more use of the hardware than iPhone apps do (eg setting power profiles depending on different states of the phone).

The high res screen is nice for browsing, and it renders a lot of web pages at full resolution. However, I think it may be too much for the Droid's processor, because the phone can be a bit slow, even after the Android 2.1 update.

All in all, the Droid's a solid smart-phone, and you could certainly do a lot worse. But it's not without its share of problems. If you're in the market for a smart phone on Verizon these days, I'd would recommend looking at something more upscale (such as the HTC Incredible).