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.