Only one word needed to describe the Moto Droid: Awesome!

I bought my Moto Droid from a well known price club about a month ago, and can honestly say it's the best electronic device I have ever owned! I have owned at least a dozen cell phones in as many years, including Blackberries and the like, and the Droid beats them all hands down! This phone does so much so well I don't even know where to begin.

It's a phone, a texting device, a PDA, a GPS NAV, an MP3 player, a video player and so much more. I have tethered it to my laptop with great results (even better results when phone is connected to a fast WiFi network vs Verizon's 3G network, but the speeds with 3G are still much faster than dial up). And the LCD display on this device is incredible. It puts the iPhone and many other phones to shame. I have ripped mp4 movies and copied them to the included 16GB micro-sd card to entertain my toddler at lunch time and the picture looks like a high def plasma TV, no exaggeration.

And before I forget, the glass on the Moto Droid is "Gorilla Glass" made by Corning and is extremely durable and wear resistant, so no need for a screen protector. Gorilla Glass can crack (or even shatter) if the phone is dropped and lands just right, but it's basically scratch proof (see Youtube video for droid glass scratch test). So why do they make screen protectors for the Droid, you ask? Because a sucker is born every minute. It's an easy sell to people who don't know any better and have been buying them to protect inferior phone screens for years now. Ever buy rustproofing for a new car? It's the biggest and longest running joke in the new car industry, but they still offer it don't they? Like I said...

Getting back to what the Droid can do, there are 10,000+ apps available in the "Market" (built in shortcut on apps page, so very easy to get to) and more are being developed every day. I currently have 47 apps (some are apps, some are games) of various kinds installed from the market that I like and use on a regular basis (I have installed more than 47 to date, but some apps I tried and didn't like or need and uninstalled not long after

installing, and you too will experience this "trial and error" process of finding new apps). Some of the pre-installed apps are very basic with very few customization options, and you may want to find apps in the Market to replace these. Others are great right out of the box. The voice recognition capabilities of this phone are great. I use the Droid as a NAV unit and search for destinations by voice with great results.

Bottom line is the Motorola Droid is one powerful device and you won't be sorry if you decide to buy this phone. Be prepared to play with it a lot in order to learn as much as you can to get the most out of it. The more you use it the more you will like it, I promise you. Motorola and Google did a great job getting this phone right the first time around. iPhone users can keep their iPhones. They don't know what they're missing!

Pays for itself IMMEDIATELY

I'm about to step on the toes of what I'm sure are the lurking forms of all the iPhone users out there when I say the following (but keep in mind that I say it with complete sincerity, and no animosity):

The iPhone is better than the DROID in the same way that a calculator is better than a desktop computer system.

You can hand an iPhone (calculator) to just about anyone, and they'll be able to figure its intuitive functionality in no time at all. This was proven to me when a friend's daughter took hold of my iPhone and proceeded to show me how she'd mastered it in only ten minutes. Likewise, however, if you give that same six year old a computer, she MAY be able to find the calculator application if she's lucky. Maybe.

That being said, the DROID is a fantastic device, created with powerusers in mind. It may lack a lot of the shiny smooth corners that the iPhone touts, as well as its inherent ease of use, but it more than makes up for these... "shortcomings" with raw power. Compared to the things that the DROID can do (which are only AMPLIFIED by the level of synergy with Google), the iPhone is... well, it leaves a lot to be desired.

Getting to the title of this review, the DROID absolutely does pay for itself almost immediately. Taking advantage of Verizon's New Every Two deal, I was able to get my DROID at the discounted cost, and enjoy all the features it had to offer.

Included in those, of course, was the navigation service (beta), absolutely free.

Already, I've paid for this device. No longer do I have to go and spend $100.00 to $200.00 on a GPS, and then $70.00 or so each year after that to maintain an updated set of maps. Now, I've got a GPS that gets updated whenever Google Maps does. And on that note, I'm stoked to mention that I mentioned my apartment was missing to the Google Maps staff, and within a month, the entire complex was mapped out. Compared with waiting for a YEAR for my complex to MAYBE be added in the next GPS revision, this was absolutely magical.

And that's only ONE SERVICE.

The DROID brings so many more to the table. As does the iPhone, I'll grant you that.

Ultimately, it comes down to taste. Apple boasts something to the effect of over 100,000 apps on the App Store. Compared to whatever number that the Android Marketplace has, I'm sure that Apple has the iPhone beat.

Numerically.

But what does the app count matter when the apps you have don't matter to me, the consumer? Who cares if you have 99 law apps, when I'm not a law student? Who cares if you have 101 dalmations, when I'm a Husky man at heart?

I'm sure you get the picture.

The DROID is an incredible device, very stable, and very elegant. Again, it DOES lack the curves of the iPhone, but it's most definitely not lacking its own inherent sense of beauty and elegance. There was definitely a lot of thought put into the design of the DROID, and the only part of the phone that really brings me a cause for pause is the "chin". I don't really get that, but I suppose that's neither here nor there.

Back to the stability issue: I owned an iPhone for four months. In those four months, my iPhone was constantly crashing, taking upwards of five minutes to start up, and I'd constantly have to reload my apps. With the DROID, I've loaded each app once, and they've remained intact the entire time I've had the phone.

Integration with other services. Major plus here.

In addition to pulling contacts from my Gmail account, the DROID goes and takes it a step further: it siphons contacts from my Facebook account. I was more than just a little amused when I had one of my friends text me outta the blue (first time ever).

Person: Hey, Terrance, it's me, Person.
Me: I know.
Person: How do you know, are you stalking me or something?
Me: No, but apparently my phone is.

...Maybe you just had to have been there, but it was incredible to actually have their face from their Facebook account displayed next to their name in the MMS, when I'd never texted or talked with them via phone prior to that.

They even let you replace the generic home app with another app of your choice to replace how your DROID experience is, well... experienced. Everything on the phone can be replaced with another app of your choice. The only limit is the developers' imaginations.

The only real problem that I've encountered with the DROID is with connectivity. I'll switch on Wi-Fi, and it'll show that it's connected, but I won't be able to browse the web or download apps or anything else involving any sort of connection. Disabling Wi-Fi and then re-enabling it will solve this every time, but it's a problem they should address with some haste, I think.

In the end, the DROID is, again, a solid device. A beautiful device. An elegant device that blurs the line between... well, just about everything. If you've got a contract with any non-Verizon carrier, wait it out, then jump ship. If you're with Verizon, you know what you have to do.

Not perfect yet, but it's getting there

Well, it's been six months with my Droid and here are my observations:
In general, the phone has been pretty solid. It works WONDERFULLY as a phone, which is the primary duty. Internet and 3G performance are fast and never seem to lack coverage. I've had no problems connecting to several different types of Bluetooth devices. I took excellent footage at a recent concert, so the cameras (video and still) are pretty good. The app developers are doing a lot better and I'm starting to see more quality apps emerge on par with the offerings from iTunes (although, the Android Market still has a ways to go). The difference is that more established developers are cross-developing for both platforms now. If I had to make a phone purchasing decision all over again today, I'd probably get the Droid X or HTC Incredible (obviously, this Moto Droid is now dated unless they offer it for nothing or next to nothing. The point is, I'd still choose an Android phone. More on that later...)

It can't all be peaches and cream, so here are some shortcomings I've encountered:

Software updates are slow to come. It's not even so much that they're slow to release so much as slow to release for all Android phones. Imagine if Microsoft released new versions of Windows based on your computer manufacturer. Different manufacturers get different dates. HP gets the latest Windows in January, Dell gets it in March, Acer in September... That's what it feels like to watch newer Androids or the Nexus (more on that later) get the updates first and the rest of us wait our turn. I waited forever for Flash 10.1 for Android, only to discover it only works with Android 2.2. And Moto Droid doesn't have it and won't for the foreseeable future. So much for the so-called "Flash advantage". This thing digests Flash about as well as an iPhone or iPad right now.

There are some glitches that have stuck around for an alarmingly long time. One of the biggest is the random disappearance of contacts from both my device and online contact list. A contact (or several) will just randomly disappear from both places. Other people have complained of this and I've had the problem since first purchasing the phone in February. I thought it was me until it started recently occurring again. This alone caused me to bump a star off. I needed to contact someone in a hurry, only to find them deleted from my phone and online contacts. This could be catastrophic if you're not around a backup contact list. Another long-lived glitch is the inability to properly clear your tracks in the market. Every search you ever make in the market is saved, FOREVER. So if you, or someone fiddling around with your phone, makes a search, the search term remains in the history, with no way to clear it other than a third-party app that I'm reluctant to try. I can't believe they haven't fixed this yet. Just imagine if EVERY web search you've ever made was saved, with no way to clear it. All someone had to do was hover over the search field and every search ever made by you appeared. That would kinda stink of lack of privacy, wouldn't it? Well, there you go.

Battery life seems to have gotten shorter as the apps increased, even regularly using a task killer.

Skype, Yahoo, and other apps break when wi-fi is enabled (skype - wi-fi = what's the point?...)

I'm also tired of Google being more focused on their own branded Nexus than other Android phones. It almost seems as if Google only cares about the Nexus and the other Android phones are an afterthought. I understand The Nexus is their phone and all, but if that's how they choose to treat other phones, then they should have kept their OS to themselves. They're trying to have their cake and eat it too.

So, with all this said, why would I still buy another Android? Because it's the only option on Verizon right now and I'm hopeful they Google will get their stuff together. Google really needs to quit trying to match iPhone sales with Android devices and focus on tweaking the OS and improving the update system. My disdain for AT&T prevents me from ever returning to them, but if Android doesn't get some of these annoying issues resolved in the near future, I'll definitely go my previous iPod Touch/Blackberry/regular phone route again. Yes, it stinks to have to carry so many devices to make sure stuff gets done correctly, but my patience is wearing thin. On second thought, make that a TWO star drop....

not very good? - Motorola DROID A855 Android Phone (Verizon Wireless)

Bought the Droid and used it for 3 weeks and I was not impressed. Just for the record, I have owned previously an iPhone 3g. Here is the breakdown Pro's:

- After upgrading to the current Android OS version, the GPS application is STELLAR! Outperformed my Garmin Nuvi, and the voice input for addresses and for destinations is really cool. GPS data was very accurate (as long as you maintain a data connection with Verizon. If receiving a voice call, GPS doesn't work too well.

- Substantial feel (due to weight) of the device far outweighs the lightness of other "plastic" phones.

- Google Voice. Did I mention Google Voice? Really cool, really handy and works really well (as long as you have a data connection.

- The screen is just flat out gorgeous. Nice sharp, clear text. Brilliant colors, and wonderful brightness and contrast. Does get washed out somewhat in the sunlight.

- Contact list integration with social sites. Facebook contact information will automatically update, assuming that you have entered the person's name exactly as they have on Facebook. While this is really neat, you cannot edit the Facebook information on your device.

Con's:

- Phone construction is whacky. Keyboard slider won't stay closed while in your pocket. Power on button just floats. Volume up/down button is always in the wrong place and inadvertantly gets bumped, changed, etc. I found that my phone would go from full volume to mute without me knowing it through the course of doing different things on the phone.

- Touch screen glass is a fingerprint, face print magnet. This is a key point where Apple has gotten it with their special coatings to eliminate or to reduce smudges. The Droids glass front also has too much friction which makes swiping on the screen difficult or inaccurate at times.

- Ear piece. On mine, I could hear the static that you would typically hear in old radio broadcasts. Very annoying.

- Half of the calls I made or received, the other party only heard a mumble, not me.

- Apps. The Marketplace is a total and utter joke. Can't find what you need when you need it. Too much junk loaded in there. A good majority of the apps won't work properly or will crash the phone. Even verizon "recommended" apps crashed the phone.

- Applications running in the background. Nothing like having to force quit applications 3-4 times though out the day. If you don't, be prepared to charge your battery a couple times through out the day

- Sync. No good options here, unless you use GMAIL. Even that is limited. I was able, however, to get my calendar to sync natively with my Macbook Pro. Cool! There are some half baked options out there for sync, such as missing sync. I am sure they will get better over time.

- Android. The operating system is not intuitive and has the feel of being just slapped together, much like the Pontiac Azteck car. Tap here, swipe there, pull the shade somewhere else. It is customizable... sort of. The operating system is also laggy in spots, and fluid in others. This is where I truly miss the Apple iPhone experience, where everything worked as it should, and wasn't laggy in the least. Other issues are with screen elements disappearing (swipe to answer) at times, calls not able to be answered or hung up.

- Phone cases... at least the Droid case I had, it would interfere with using the slide out keyboard, interfered with the car windshield mount, and prohibited you from selecting items that were near the edge of the screen.

- Micro USB is not a good solution for power on a device that may need to be charged while in the car. you have to really pay attention to be able to plug it in. The car windshield mount doesn't power the unit, so you have to plug in the micro USB to the phone before docking it in the mount. It would be nice to have a powered dock to just snap the phone into, like most GPS units.

Overall, I feel this phone should never have left the drawing board, as it is painfully obvious to me that it is not complete. It has promise, but still has a long way to go for me to want to try again.

To be fair to Motorola, most of the big issues are not with the handset, but with the Android platform. With that said, the Droid is NOT a sexy design in the least, but that should not be the basis for a "bad" functional review. It isn't streamlined, it looks clunky with the sharp corners and the not quite the same size top slider as the bottom slider.

Does whatever you want it to do

This is a spectacular phone... out of the box for new users it may initially underwhelm or intimidate, especially if you are not really "needing" the extra features it has. For simple people, but a non-smartphone, and for business users who don't want extra features, buy a blackberry.

I have had the phone for 3 weeks. It has spectacular battery life, especially if you tweak it right: Add the power widget, turn off wifi when not needed, and get an overclock manager to downgrade the cpu speed when not in use.

I highly recommend putting some time into this phone before judging it. Whereas I found the touch screen a bit difficult at first, I am now much faster and more precise with it. The keyboard is fine for long typing, but the blackberry curve I upgraded from was easier (the curve's only true advantage).

If you want to do something that you initially can't, just find the right apps and ways to modify.

I suggest rooting with the various instructions out there--it's worth the time, and will make your phone MUCH faster and more flexible. But that's not for the casual user. Bugless beast rom is a great place to start... I am already running the 2.1 rom weeks before it's actually released, with pinch-zoom maps/browser.

Navigation is great--we used it for a trip and ended up going to places we wouldn't have bothered to visit otherwise.

The browsing experience is good, but requires a bit of tweaking and learning to get slick. Speed is great. Pinch to zoom with 2.1 rom is great, or try dolphin if you don't want to root--though 2.1 will roll out officially soon for non-root users.

Very little about the phone is flat-out intuitive, but it's not hard either.

I am much happier to have this on verizon, and like it much better than my brother's iphone. iphone is fine, but if you want to do something that apple doesn't "prefer", you're pretty much SOL unless you jailbreak, whereas you can do a crazy amount with a droid even without rooting.

The phone quality is great, as is the screen, in agreement with what everybody else says.

blah, blah, just buy it unless you don't like phones, then buy something wimpier.

My Droid rocks my socks

Before I proceed to gush about how much I love my Droid, I'm going to give my one caveat to this phone.

It's really not a very good phone to actually use as a phone.

Now this is fine with me, as I don't actually like talking on the phone and therefore I don't make a whole lot of phone calls. Surprisingly, I've had no problems with the call quality itself (the most common complaint about this phone)--people's voices sound crystal-clear. But when I do use it as a phone, actually holding the phone up to my face has been a bit problematic. There's some sort of distance sensor that detects when it's close to your face and turns the screen off. I have long hair, and apparently this can play havoc with the sensor, because the screen is constantly turning on during calls and then my cheek hits buttons on the screen, causing calls to be muted or disconnected. These aren't issues while using a bluetooth headset. Even when using a bluetooth headset, however, I find that having to hit a separate button to turn on a virtual keypad (for things like "press 1 to speak to customer service") is kind of irritating.

Good thing I don't use the phone much.

OK, now the awesome things.

1.) Full Google Voice integration. I use GV for all calls and texting, and I love that when I make an outgoing call, it prompts me to choose GV or Verizon. And I can text through the GV app or through the native texting app (although I use neither--I use a third party app I downloaded from the Android Market.)

2.) The web browser on this thing is gorgeous. I've had friends with iPhones drool over it. I use a third-party browser (again from the AM) that supports tabbed browsing and pinch-and-zoom, and it's wonderful.

3.) Apps!! The Android Market has so many neat apps--I find myself using this phone for more and more every day. Personal and work (Microsoft Exchange) email and calendars, note-taking, to-do lists, travel plans, music and podcasts, keeping tabs on my bank and credit card balances, taking and post-processing pictures, emergency flashlight, e-book reader, tuning my guitar... the possibilities are almost endless. Seriously.

4.) Google's Android operating system is infinitely more tweakable than Apple's. Unlike the iPhone, the Droid supports multitasking and running programs in the background, and this opens up so many possibilities for what this phone is capable of. For example, google "Locale for Android" and check out that app--it's amazing!

5.) I know a lot of people like that it has the built-in keyboard... I actually don't, and it's because I would have had to use a qwerty keyboard that I held off so long on getting a smartphone (this one was my first one.) I can T9 like no one's business, but put me on a tiny qwerty, and I'm down to something ridiculous like 11 words per minute. Fortunately, it's possible to download other virtual keyboards aside from the stock one that the phone comes with. I used a T9 one for a while and wasn't all that impressed (I tried several, actually) but now I use a beta version of Swype (google it if you're not familiar with it) and it rocks. DEFINITELY an improvement over either the physical or virtual keyboard for me.

6.) One word: TETHERING. There's a tethering app called PDANet available for free on the Android Market. This means that when I'm traveling within the US, I can hook my phone to my laptop and get high-speed internet on my laptop through my phone. This has already saved me hundreds of dollars in airport and hotel wifi fees, and as an added benefit, my phone charges while it's tethering! It's win-win. :-)

7.) I'm a serious amateur photographer, and I love the camera on this thing. No, it's not perfect, and I'd much rather have my DSLR, but there's an old saying about the best camera being the one you have with you, and even by that adage, this is a better than average cell phone camera. But what really bumps my camera's awesomeness up is the ability to post-process pictures with one of the numerous programs available on the Android Market (I favor PicSay Pro and Vignette, personally.) I've taken a number of pictures where people have been shocked that they're actually cameraphone pics--being able to post-process pictures in the phone quite nicely compensates for common cell phone camera issues like incorrect white balance (when your pictures end up tinted blue or green or something odd like that.) Speaking of Android Market apps, there are a couple that you can download that you can use to create and send postcards straight from your phone using pictures you've taken. It's a bit more pricey than the average tourist postcard, and you don't get the nifty postmark from a different city like you would sending a postcard on vacation, but I can't think of a more personalized postcard than taking a picture of something and sending it to someone. So neat! Which leads me to my next point...

8.) This thing is awesome for travel. I already mentioned the tethering thing, so I'm not talking about that. I travel internationally as well as within the US, and while I can't use my cell phone/data plan overseas, I can still use the wifi whenever I find available wifi, a process aided by a free app called WifiScanner, which will display all available wifi networks and their signal strengths, and you can use it to pinpoint where the signal is the strongest. When I can find a wifi connection internationally, I'm able to do most of what I already do with my phone. I can't make calls with it (although I'm looking into the logistics of that) but I can text (through Google Voice), instant message, check email, use the phone's apps, upload pictures, and do anything else I can do with a data connection. Last month I was in Costa Rica, and where I was staying charged for an internet connection. I paid for a week's connection using my phone, since that was the most convenient to use most of the time, but when I wanted to use my laptop, I just tethered through my phone rather than paying for a separate connection for my laptop. Wonderful! I've also done this on airline flights that have for-fee wifi, since if I just want to check my email or send a text, it's easier (and uses less battery) to do so than having to get out and fire up my laptop.


All in all, I really really love this phone. I probably should dock a star from my review for the fact that using it to actually make calls is somewhat problematic, but since (like I said) I don't really use it for making calls, that's not a big deal for me.

Now if only this came with a dual CDMA-GSM option so that I could put in a SIM card and use it for voice and data overseas... Hey, a geeky gal like me can dream, right?

Droid Lives Up to All the Great News!

This phone lives up to all the great news!
I am not tech savvy and was a little nervous about getting such a "techy" phone.... but it is easy to use and highly advanced! First of all... DEFINITELY buy from Amazon. I was also nervous about buying from Amazon because everyone said it is better to buy directly from Verizon... but WRONG! I bought from Amazon and they offer better tech advice than Verizon does!
Here is what Verizon gets wrong:
* They said I cannot download ringtones to my DROID - not true... I downloaded (from the verizon web site) and the first few took a couple hours to come through and after that... they come through in seconds. Press and hold the text message when it comes through and then when asked - press save. Then go into your ring tones and it will be at the bottom. The only thing I could not seem to do was save it with a title - so I had to remember them by the number that they auto save as.
* They said that they could not help me set up my corporate email, They tried to say I had to go through my company IT dept who is closed on the weekends - but I had all of my corporate email info and just kept telling them to "elevate" my call and finally got to someone who handled it in seconds.
Also, be sure to [...] lots of cool info. But their "store prices" are twice as much as on Amazon... so don't shop there.. just read up there.
I gave my husband my GPS system to use because my DROID is better.
I gave my husband my IPOD because my DROID is better.
I gave my daughter my brand new Blackberry ($300 I paid for that phone) because my DROID is better.
I was concerned that email would be difficult because everyone said that blackberry is best.... not true.
For work I use my PDA non-stop. I am on the road constantly so I bought the following accessories:

* Kensington Car Mount - I live in California and went off another users recommendation
* Wired ear buds for when my bluetooth battery runs down
* Motorola H680 because it has 8 hours of talk time
* Backup battery
* Backup battery charger
* Car Charger
* Rubber case
* Backup desk charger (for my office#
Things I love about Verizon:
* Verizon has the best customer service on the planet and I forgot how wonderful that excellent customer service can be!
(Had AT&T and left to go to Sprint for the Simply Everything plan where I could save money. But HATED Sprints horrible customer service and dropped calls. It is worth a little more to avoid the constant dropped calls.)
* Verizon has the best cell coverage nationwide and it is definitely worth a few extra bucks a month
Things I love about Amazon:
* I opted to "take a chance" with buying my phone thru Amazon and I am soooo glad I did! The $49 price tage is much better than the $200 Verizon price! (as of yesterday the price is now $25 on Amazon)

* Amazon has the best tech advice for the Droid
Things I love about my DROID:
* Email is fast and easy and I love it!
* Links all my contacts with those who have facebook so that their facebook picture shows up for all their calls, texts, emails, etc! Very cool!
* Even typing with my nails is easy - I use the edge of my thumb pad and it is spot on!
* Bar code scanner - I travel a lot and love being able to find where to buy something!
* GPS thru google maps is easier to use than the GPS in my car!
* Easiest PDA I have ever used
For a technically challenged female... this phone is very simple and user friendly!
Well gotta sign off... but I will update periodically!

the initial "wow" factor wore off within 3 days

I was SO excited to give up my iPhone 3GS for the droid to have more customization options, a physical keyboard, "better" battery life, no to little dropped calls, louder speaker, etc.

I get the phone in the mail and it's pretty much fully dead, lovely. This already leaves a bad impression in my mind. There are hardly ANY syncing options for music and photos with a mac and the droid. PROBLEM 1: syncing options aren't great. The battery life is just NOT good, especially if you leave auto-brightness on. I turned off GPS, bluetooth, turned the brightness all the way down, and exited programs frequently and still barely made it through the day with medium usage. PROBLEM 2: the battery is lackluster for 1400MAH with a 6.4 hour estimated talk time. The facebook app, and apps in general, are AWFUL; completely and utterly awful and sloppy. Even after a year Android is still fragmented and unfinished and UGLY. PROBLEM 3: Android is still unfinished and just bad. did I mention how cheap the screen feels? It had this clicking problem even though it's SO close to the keyboard. with how heavy duty the phone as a whole feels it sucks that the screen slider feels cheap. PROBLEM 4: hardware is "meh" at best.

I wanted the Droid with it's 2.0.1 operating system to work better than the G1 I had so so long ago and help me replace my iPhone 3GS, but it did the exact opposite. This phone is SO BAD that I will never leave apple ever again. Even with the 2.1 update coming, Android still feels unfinished and the Droid suffers massive problems. Problems including (but not limited to): battery life not meeting the mark, cheap hardware, sucky apps, and complicated/slow syncing options.

Two thumbs down for me. I give the Droid 2 stars instead of 1 because the speaker IS quite loud and clear and speaker phone is good. Using the phone itself on calls though resulted in a buzzing sound in the background that bugged the hell out of me.

iPhone 3GS, I have never missed a piece of technology so much in my life, thank you for taking me back.

A Great Utility Phone, March 30, 2010

I got the Motorola Android about 2 weeks ago, and I'm very happy with it.

I came from a BB storm that was fairly dependable, but sluggish and basically good for emails and phone calls. I had hoped the iPhone was coming to Verizon but since it didn't, I checked out the Droid, and I think I got a fair amount of the things that I wanted from an iPhone, and some things that aren't currently available on an iPhone.

I'm not saying it is better than an iPhone, or even as polished. But it definitely works for me.

I now have a phone that runs lots of useful apps (most of which cost nothing), integrates well with Google services, and is something I'd be unhappy to leave at home.

I use Gmail for my primary email account (and forward other email to my Gmail account), and checking, navigating, searching, categorizing, etc. my email from my phone is convenient and easy.

Google Voice integrates very well with this phone, even if you just want to use it to transcribe your voice mail and send the text to your email. I rarely have to sit and listen to dozens of voice mails anymore, just read through them and play the audio only when necessary (yay!).

Maps for navigation is outstanding, at least as long as you have a connection. I've used it several times on trips and gotten great results. While streaming music through Pandora, the turn by turn navigation would pop in and give the next set of directions, then go immediately back to the music :)

Voice recognition is usually amazingly good. I downloaded an app that made voice input available anywhere, but I understand that the upcoming 2.1 OS update is supposed to take care of this anyway.

Using the browser (I actually use the third party Dolphin browser, with multi touch support), is something I do many times a day. It is fast and quite usable - on my old phone I avoided using the browser except in rare circumstances.

Video is beautiful and performance makes viewing vids in hi def a feasible choice - I usually do this unless I'm somewhere with a weak signal (and that happens pretty rarely in my area luckily).

Recorded video looks and sounds pretty darn good for a smart phone, in my opinion. The camera interface is pretty basic, but I'm hoping for an update soon to take better advantage of the hardware.

I sometimes use the physical keyboard, but I find the on-screen keyboard more convenient usually, in landscape mode that is. In portrait mode I just can't hit the little on-screen keys reliably enough.

Apps - this is the one thing I missed the most on my old phone, and there are enough available for the Droid to soothe my iPhone envy. The ones like Shazam, barcode scanners, keyrings, that sort of thing that my iPhone bearing friends constantly showed off - there are versions of many of those apps for the Droid. With a nice bookreader app, a few games, fast browser etc. , I'm much less impatient waiting for the Dentist and such these days.

I mostly listen to Pandora for music, so I can't specifically speak to the complaints about the music player - it really does seem pretty basic though. I haven't really looked for a third party app for that yet, which is the first thing I would do if I started playing a lot of purchased music.

Battery - yeah, if I use the phone heavily without charging I will find myself low on power before the day is done. Usually it isn't a problem because when I'm at my desk or in my car I just plug in. But at some point I might consider an extended life battery or maybe just a backup.

Another point in favor of this phone is that my wife, who is kind of impatient with technology and really insisted that she just wanted to stay with her basic phone, is pretty hooked on her Droid too (I got her one at the same time that I got mine).

Bottom line is, if in a year Verizon gets the iPhone I'll actually have a decision to make - that is pretty surprising for me considering how badly I'd been hoping for that to happen.

DROID DOES

Let me start off by saying this phone changed my life. This is my first smartphone (had a sanyo M1 for 2 1/2 years before switching to Verizon). I had been waiting for an iPhone killer for years or at least decent competition for years. Microsoft wouldn't step up their game with the windows OS and no apps could begin to measure up to Apple's. Google stepped up to the challenge with Android OS. Their apps, design, and interface with the quality manufacturer Motorola together is nothing short of epic.

Pros:

screen quality = amazing. best out there hands down, plain and simple. great for watching movies. use doubletwist to convert and sync your video media to your Droid.

FAST: uses the same processor as the iPhone and there are task killer apps that can make it run faster by shutting down certain apps running in the background. And if really want to get movin, you can "root" your phone and overclock the processor. I wouldn't recommend it though unless you know what you are doing.

FORMATS: try watching AVI on your iPhone..yeah it doesn't work

Runs multiple apps: I don't know how I functioned without this before

Physical keyboard: Although it may be stiff, AT LEAST IT HAS ONE. Many smartphones are moving away from the idea of having a real keyboard. However the Droid is the world's thinnest slide-out QWERTY keyboard phone out there

16 gig card: Expandable up to 32 gb and comes pre-installed with a 16 gig. Who else is going to give you such a huge card WITH the opportunity to go even higher?...Apple probably never will

5 MP camera: Can be slow when it comes to taking pictures but the quality is amazing. Almost makes you rethink the need for a real camera sometimes. Has flash (and can be used as a flashlight with certain apps) and records video at 720 X 480.

Removable battery: gives you the option to prolong your phone as we all know, all batteries lose charge eventually.

File Managers: you can hook this phone up to your computer and see all the files and folders...unlike manipulative Apple. You can drag and drop files/folders as you please

Cons:
Cant surf and be on the phone simultaneously (not really Droid's fault more so Verizon's but one of the few things I could think of that I dont like about my phone).

Keyboard: buttons are somewhat stiff and can be hard to mash at times

Slide out screen is somewhat stiff, even though its given me no trouble it just isn't as smooth as the Samsung Moment

Let me conclude this by saying I was once an apple fan. However I grew tired of their tactics. They get money from their customers by making them somewhat dependent on them. The non-removable battery and internal memory and unable to upgrade characteristics really got to me after a year of my first Apple product (30 gig iPod). It only works for like an hour off of a single charge now. It's damn near useless. They almost "make" you buy another one. That's how they make money. I was watching their products though. Its 2010 and you're still doing non-removable battery? gtfoh They also restrict access to you seeing your own files on your own device! I couldn't stand this and abandoned them for good. What if someone told you as you bought a car that you could only drive it on Tuesday and Wednesday? What if you were about to make a purchase on a TV and you were told you couldnt watch what you wanted to watch? The point I'm trying to make is how can anyone tell me how I can use my product if I paid for it??? I was offended over time.

The MOTO DROID is the first real iPhone killer or at least worthy competitor. Simple people may flock to the iPhone. However nerds, techies, and people who want their phone to do much more should really get the Droid. It's almost like there was life before the droid, and then there is life after it

Wait for the iPhone - Motorola DROID A855 Android Phone (Verizon Wireless)

If you're thinking of purchasing this phone because you're tired of waiting for Apple to develop an iPhone for Verizon -- wait a little longer.

The major problem is battery life. It's not that the battery life is limited considering what the phone can do, but that it's unpredictable. I've fully charged the phone at night only to find that the battery is nearly dead in the morning. I've also had the experience of having the battery drain from nearly 100% to 5% in four or five hours while doing nothing other than sitting on my desk.

It seems to be the Droid way or no way, because user options and settings are severely limited or non-existent. For example, the messaging and e-mail auto-correct feature is inconvenient at best, and idiotic at worst. The word "I'm" autocorrects to "O'Neill." "Tom" autocorrects to "Tomorrow." And a proper names becomes posessive -- "Bill" becomes "Bill's." Either you notice these and spend a lot of time pressing the delete key, or you don't and send some pretty confusing messages.

This would be okay if there were an option to turn off auto-correct but there doesn't appear to be one. There don't appear to be a whole bunch of options for anything. For instance, I wouldn't mind an option to have e-mails deleted when I delete them because you actually have to delete your e-mails twice -- the first time they go to the Trash folder. Again, just give me an option.

I inquired about options on the Motorola web site and was told I would receive a response in 24 hours. I'm still waiting nearly two weeks later.

The screen display is nice and internet access is speedy. Though the sound quality is good, arranging music files is cumbersome. You can't import playlists and it doesn't seem possible to create more than one playlist anyway. That would be a user option, and that's not the Droid way.

Other nuances I've experienced include continuously receiving notifications -- over and over -- that you have e-mail only to find that it's the last e-mail that you've already read.

The included apps are bare bones -- the planner has limited features and, regardless of which view you left it in, has a fondness for displaying the week view which is the least useful. Unlike the iPhone and iPod Touch that have a planner that will automatically take you to the current day and time, the Droid planner greets you on the same day and time where you left it -- even if that's on a date three months away. You press "Today" a lot. The calculator redefines the concept of basic and I've been unable to locate a business calculator app in the "market." Available apps in the "market" don't even come close to those available for the iPhone.

So yes, the Droid screen is big and looks good, internet access is quick, and sound quality is excellent, but if you care about functionality (including some predictability of battery life), and you can't wait for Apple to develop an iPhone for Verizon, then go with a Blackberry or buy a basic phone and carry around an iPod Touch.

Google maps makes this phone an iPhone killer

The OK button stopped working on my LG Envy2, so I needed a new phone and the Droid was on the top of my list. I bought it from a big box store that gave me credit for the Verizon new every 2 upgrade and discounted the window mount and car charger. They also transferred my contacts, but when I signed up for a new gmail account it wiped out the contacts on the Droid. I was able to upload my Outlook contacts to gmail and they synced to the phone, so all was not lost. Uploading music was as easy as drag and drop and the music player works fine and can do party shuffles of the songs in your directory. I have not been able to add playlists and the functionality of the music player falls short of the iPhone and iTunes. I don't use my phone for music that often, so this wasn't a big concern. The browser is great and access is fast with 3G. Double tapping on the screen enlarges it. When you need to enter user names or passwords, you simply tap on the entry box and the on-screen keyboard will pop up. The touch keyboard is easy to use and I find that I have not used the slide out keyboard in favor of using the touch screen. It was easy to bookmark favorites on the browser.

As others have reported, the navigation works great with voice recognition You can say something simple like "gas stations" and it will bring up a map showing the nearest gas stations. For a test, I put the Droid in the screen holder and hit the car navigation button and spoke "Ruskin Gun Club" and it brought up the club on a google map. When I selected navigation, the Droid gave me turn by turn directions to the club. Unlike my Magellan GPS, the Droid does not give an audible tone when you come to a turn, it simply repeats the directions with the street name, "turn right on Kings Blvd.". The screen was bright and easy to read in daytime. If you need to send an address to the phone, you can send it in a text message to your phone [...] and when you open the message it will appear as a hot link that you can click on to open Google Maps, then just select navigate to get your directions. Of course, if you remember the address, you can just speak that into the phone and it will appear on Google Maps.

Using the phone is easy, but requires a few steps. You have to power on the phone, then unlock it, then select the phone feature. Voice quality is good. Volume on the speakerphone was low, but audible. I have downloaded about a dozen free Android apps from the market. It is easy to search the market by keywords, like "ESPN" or MLB for sports scores, or "solitaire" for card games. One of the apps was a barcode reader that uses the phone's camera to capture barcodes and offer online links to that product.

For messaging, online browsing and navigation, this phone can't be beat.

Motorola DROID A855 Android Phone (Verizon Wireless) - great device, very satisfied

This is a great device: wonderful high-resolution screen, lots of built-in functionality, lots of third party applications, good voice quality. The GPS is fast and accurate.

The Droid is particularly nice to use with Google's services: you can sync your calendar, E-mail, contacts, photos, and other content with Google. There is also support for many other online services and E-mail providers.

There are some issues with it: the keys on the keyboard are flat, making them hard to type on despite actually being quite large for a cell phone; the device is fairly heavy; the camera isn't all that great; and battery life is fairly limited. But these are similar to other current generation smart phones.

I ditched my iPhone for this and the natural question is: how does it compare? Apple locks down the iPhone very tightly and they try to control what you can and cannot do (probably to help their other businesses). There are classes of applications that Apple simply will not approve, so you don't have an alternative but using Apple's software; if that doesn't work for you, tough. On the Droid, you can pretty much install what you like, and there are plenty alternatives to the built-in apps. The iPhone also really likes to be used in connection with a desktop machine for syncing, and if you don't use iTunes, you lose out on some functionality. The Droid, on the other hand, happily lives in the cloud; you don't need to connect it to a PC ever.

There are some apps from the iPhone that I miss. The iPhone also is lighter and slimmer. But on the whole, I'm a lot happier with the Droid than I was with the iPhone.

The Phone that keeps getting better..

This is by FAR the best phone I have ever owned. I am a loyal Verizon customer, since I know service from other carriers (cough::ATT::cough) is no where near as good.. atleast in my location in the Northeast. Which is why I refused to dig in for the notorious iPhone. Although I do not have an iPhone.. I do have a iPod Touch 2G 32GB, which is almost its equal (minus the texting, calling, etc.) And you may ask why I talk rubbish against competitors' services; it is because my family/close friends have ATT/Sprint/T-Mobile/Boost.. all of which they have complained about numerously with their dropped calls and lack of service in areas.
So, as for the phone itself, it is everything I could possibly want in a phone.
PROS:
-The display is BEAUTIFUL.. (more pixels than the iPhone)
-The Android OS is wonderful.. very easy to customize and to use.
-The Browser is fast and the best I have seen on a phone. (Yes, better than the iPhone's.. especially since the 2.1 update has multitouch to zoom, and still has the zoom in/out buttons on screen, which by the way, allows you to read text much better since it perfectly aligns the text on screen so you do not have to scroll left/right.)
-The 3G on this phone is almost as fast as WiFi.. and yes, I use both constantly.
-The GPS is the best GPS I've ever used, thanks to Google Maps. Better than Garmin and TomTom.. hands down.

-The App Store (Marketplace) is just as good, if not better than Apple's. I have an app that has every major TV show, every season, every episode. (app is called JetFlicks) I use it everyday at work.. Shhh! My boss hasn't caught on yet. (I'm watching Lost right now at work as I write this.) I also have atleast 50 other apps, most of them are free.
-The physical keyboard is a major plus.. at first I didn't like it or use it much.. now that I am use to it, I use it ALL the time. Very convenient.
-The camera is the best I've used on a phone.. the video recorder as well. Isn't a replacement for a real digital camera, but it definitely works for those times you don't have one in hand. 5MP is very good for a phone, in my opinion.
-Speakerphone and the regular listening to in-calls is superior to any other phone I've had.
Many other PROS.. but can't think of them right now.
CONS:

-Battery Life is a little low.. which is obvious since of the great display. I offset some of this using the Advanced Task Killer (free on the mktplace) and such.. but still burns pretty well. I bought another battery on Amazon for $10 to carry with me at times. Can't do that with the infamous iPhone..
-The phone is a bit heavy.. heaviest phone I have ever had, but this is most likely since it seems so sturdy. Its made of all metal and glass.
-Sometimes the phone lags when too many apps are running. It also needs to reboot sometimes by taking the battery in and out (this happens about once every 2wks.) Not a major problem in my opinion.
-The volume rocker can easily be touched, which is noted in many reviews I've seen.
To be honest, I can't think of any other Cons at the moment. I'm sure there might be a couple more, but nothing serious.

So what are you waiting for?! Go get the MOTO DROID!!!! DROID DOES (more than you think)!!!!!

Best phone I've ever owned - Motorola DROID A855 Android Phone (Verizon Wireless)

I, like many people, have been interested in an iPhone and almost left Verizon to get one when the DROID came out. I'm so glad I stayed and didn't leave...

The DROID is positively the best phone I've ever owned. It's everything I wanted out of the iPhone, but with a swappable battery and none of the apple-tax. This phone is as easy to use as the iPhone, but with all the bells and whistles that someone who's more technical could ever want.

Call quality is great, picture and video are amazing, and the app store has so far supplied me with every extension I've thought up for my phone. The full, physical keyboard was a must for me and while my big fingers do occasionally mis-type things it's not as bad as I thought it would be. The on-screen keyboard isn't terrible either. With the 2.1 update that was just released, the browser, gallery, and Google maps all now have multi-touch pinch-to-zoom support. The new gallery is great and it also links in my picasa web albums so I have direct access to all my pictures from picasa as well.

The best thing about it for me as well is that it links right into all of my google account, which means I can more easily manage my contacts, and I get to take gmail, gtalk, google voice, etc. everywhere I go.

Can't say enough great things about this phone. Just went in the last week and got my wife one as well and she's really been enjoying it. I would highly recommend ZAGG invisibleSHIELD for Motorola Droid (Screen) screen protector for it. It's a little tricky to install, but made the touchscreen experience much better and keeps smudges off the screen as well.

Physical keyboard, even if mediocre, still makes it the best Android phone !

I've been having this phone for a while now, and have to say that I love it despite its many flaws. Yes, its physical keyboard it's not as good as of Blackberries. And yes, its OS is not as smooth, as Iphone's. But, as a smartphone goes, Droid remains the best phone on the market ! Why ? Here's why:

- Descent specs for hardware
- Solidly build body
- 2.1 Android OS (the only open-source mobile OS on the market)
- "Google Experience" phone, means it's a showcase phone for Google with its billions in R&D (and Google, unlike Apple or Microsoft, not only talk but do the walk when it comes to "Do No Evil")
-And above all, the distinguishing factor: it's the only Android phone of the current crop, on the Verizon carrier, that have a physical keyboard.

I wouldn't even trade it for another Android phone like Droid Incredible or Nexus One, because a physical keyboard is a must, and no virtual keyboard will do it for me ! And I can't understand how people can type on a virtual keyboard, I have to it on my monitor at work, and hate every moment: I feel like walking on the plane ice with my fingers, without the tactile feedback of the keyboard, even when I do actually type ok, I never feel ok typing on any screen. So until I see a faster Android with a physical keyboard, Droid is a keeper.

P.S.

As a side-note, I wish Verizon provided service options for Droid outside U.S. (ideally a SIM slot for GSM use) I will be traveling in Europe soon, and it would be a pity to not be able to use some of the cool applications, especially the augmented reality one, while sight-sighting ! In addition Droid's assisted GPS is practically useless in the absence of the cell phone signal, so I can't use that feature either in Europe, even if I download GPS maps internally.

Motorola DROID A855 Android Phone (Verizon Wireless) - This is NO iphone

I am really surprised by all the good reviews, to be honest. My husband's office bought them for everyone, I got one too - they are now looking to change to the iphone once they are not tied to AT &T (fall?), everyone hates this phone. Two people went back to their Blackberries. Since most of the reviews focus on the good things, I'll be the one complaining - here's the bad:

The email:
~it will pull up a certain amt of emails from your other account (yahoo, gmail, whatever you tell it), but it lists them all as unread - and makes a noise each time which you can deactivate but you would actually want this when you have legitimate new emails. So it is continuously telling you you have new emails. It's to the point I never believe it when it is telling me i have new mail.

~it will bring up emails you have deleted over and over and over if you have deleted them on your droid but not from your actual email account (yahoo or whatever), and you have to delete them from both, one does not cover the other. They have an option that should fix this but it does not.

~it does not have a spam filter, and so every spam email that would be diverted there on your reg email shows up in your inbox on the droid.

~there is no search function in the email

~ it will only go so far back in the email and starts over repopulating the email queue every time you restart the phone. And again will list all the old emails as unread, so you have tons of "new" mail. There are a certain # of emails it will pull up and if you delete some email it can then fit in more of your old email (does this make sense?) in that list, again listing them as unread. My phone will ding all damn day if I don't stop it.

~ the past week or two it will go for hours and even days w/o getting new email so I have to power it down to get it to get the new emails to show up.

The phone part of the phone:

~ It uses the same provider we had yet seems much worse, drops calls all the time - which NEVER happened before.
~ The speaker is not very good, people have a hard time hearing me and on my end it cuts out all the time. Need this for when I am on hold, navigating automated answer lines, etc.
~ where your ear hits on the phone will sometimes hang it up
~ The screen time-out function to save on battery life is irritating when you are using the phone and need to push a button but the screen is blacked out, you have to get it started back up again and I have missed the window more than once for whatever I was supposed to be pushing a button for. (For example, if I am on hold in the voicemail queue and they say press 1 for whatever, and the screen has blacked out, by the time I get the screen back and get the numbers to show up on the phone, I have missed the question and have to start over.)
~ If you don't lock the screen it is extremely easy to dial someone when it's in your pocket, etc.

The rest of the phone:

~ battery life is not wonderful, I often see it getting towards the yellow "warning" sign late afternoon.
~ The keypad takes some getting used to, but that is something you'd have to deal with no matter what phone you get. The auto-fill is both good and bad, have sent emails with words I did not intend if I don't really pay attention.
~ have had some issues with it not "feeling" my fingers on it - will miss calls, etc when I am trying to answer - super irritating

~ Does have the ability to zoom in (but not out?!) by moving your fingers to "open up" the document, web page, etc - but it is touch and go on this, usually just gives a bar that has a +/- and you have to click on it, then go back to the area you were want to zoom in on, click again, find the area you wanted to zoom again - it only zooms a little bit each time and keeps moving the part of the page you wanted to see bigger. This option does not exist at all in email - so some emails are impossible to read on the droid. This I HATE.
~ It continuously turns the screen to the side when I did not move the phone - so goes from portrait to landscape, over and over. I have to bang on the top or the bottom of the phone to get it to recognize I want it in the portrait mode.

The good thing is the ability to use the browser easily, and when it works right, to put a bunch of info into everyone's contact list easily - will automatically add addresses, etc if it has them from somewhere else. By saying "when it works right", I am referring to the fact that my phone combined the contact info for my Mother-in-Law and a woman I am friends with but often avoid her calls - she is a talker and I rarely have the energy/time to take her calls, prefer to answer her by email. Well I am now tricked into taking her calls! Fixing that now.

Slider has gone off the rails - Motorola DROID A855 Android Phone (Verizon Wireless)

My husband and I bought Droids about six weeks ago. We loved them, thought they were very solidly built and generally were raving about them to everyone.

This past weekend I was out of town at a conference when I noticed my phone seemed to be sticking on something when I tried to slide it in or out. It wasn't consistent, more intermittent but sometimes it would slide easily on only one side. I noticed that the sticker on the back of the upper section (which I had left on because it wasn't clear that it could be cleanly removed, it seemed to extend under the screen and the Verizon rep who put my screen protector and case on when we bought the phone had left it on) had become somewhat torn and was sticking. I removed it but the damage had already been done and the tracks were no longer sliding smoothly. I decided to take it to the Verizon store when I got home. The day after I got home I used the physical to keyboard to type something, slide the phone closed, and it came right off the rails!! The phone still worked but was now in two pieces, tethered together only by the data connector.

I immediately took it to the Verizon store in our local mall, assuming that since it was it was only six weeks old and the damage had come from normal usage (ie sliding the phone open and closed as it was designed to do) it would naturally be covered under the manufacturer's warranty. Not so. Apparently because the phone was in two pieces it was "physical damage" and my only option was to file an insurance claim.

I felt this was ridiculous and decided to get a second opinion. I snapped the phone back together on one rail, went to another Verizon store and showed the tech how loose it was on the other rail. He said that it was a known issue and that Verizon would send me a new phone but that I had to call customer support to have it sent. I called them, they said that the first store had flagged my phone as having physical damage and that I would have to file an insurance claim (and pay the deductible) to get a new phone.

I went back to the first Verizon store where I dealt with a tech who was more sympathetic than the first one I dealt with but still said it was physical damage. I called Motorola and they said that if I sent it in without saying why they might take pity on me and waive the $75 repair fee or they might call and require a credit card to proceed.

I was so sick of all of them and unwilling to go without my phone for who knows how long in hopes that they would fix a know issue on a six week old phone that I have filed the insurance claim. If I had gone in when my slider was only sticking I believe I would have gotten a new phone without issue so please, if you phone's slider is sticking or is loose, learn from my mistake and go to Verizon immediately.

Please also be aware that Motorola does not stand behind their products and that if you have device with an issue they won't do anything about it until it reaches the point where we could all have a good class action suit. I will be leaving for AT&T as soon as my contract is up and I will no longer be buying anything from Motorola. I believe, based on the phoneWreck teardown of the Droid that it would take someone T6 screwdriver about 15-20 minutes (or less) to carefully disassemble my phone, pop the rails back on and close it up. I'm sure that's exactly what Asurion will do and our little exchange will have netted them my deductible for next to nothing, since they'll have another refurbished phone to send out to the next person this happens to. For the cost of a tech's time to do that Verizon and Motorola have both lost my business for life.