My New Verizon Droid: Plus, The iPhone, BlackBerry, Droid Report Card and Review - Shelly Palmer - MediaBizBloggers
I've had my Verizon Droid for a couple of weeks now and, no, it's not an iPhone killer or a BlackBerry killer, but it is a wonderful phone and a device that everyone looking for a new smartphone should consider. I like the Droid. I don't love it. That being said, if you only want to carry one device, the Droid is a good choice.
First, this is a real Motorola phone running on the Verizon network. It's a great phone and a great speakerphone. The screen resolution is exceptional, web-browsing is really fast, search is great (obviously) and the free turn-by-turn GPS directions are awesome.
There are plenty of apps available for the Droid -- more are being created everyday. Don't let the availability of 100,000 random iPhone apps sway your decision. The Droid runs Google's Android operating system, there are plenty of developers working on plenty of apps.
Like all smartphones with big screens, battery life is an issue. One big selling point for the Droid is that it can run five apps at a time. (The iPhone can only run one.) This sounds great, but five apps running will take a toll on battery life. One nice thing, unlike the iPhone, you can carry extra batteries for your Droid.
For me, the Droid's keyboard is a serious disappointment. The keys are too far apart for quick touch-typing and, because they are flat, there's not enough tactile feedback. I also really don't like the integration with POP3, IMAP and exchange email servers. Syncing these accounts hourly would require you to carry several extra batteries. However, if you have a Gmail account, setting up this phone is as easy as entering your username and password.
On a whole, I like the Droid. It's got a good camera, good video camera, good voice recorder, flawless integration with Google and Gmail and it's a Motorola phone on the best wireless network, which means it's a great phone. Would I buy one? I did. This Droid is replacing my BlackBerry Curve, which does a much better job with email, but simply can't compete in the other areas.
To help you understand the benefits of the three most-talked-about smartphones, I've made a little chart. The bottom line is simple. The Droid sits somewhere between the iPhone and a current-vintage BlackBerry (Curve, Tour, Bold, etc.) I say it's not a BlackBerry killer because I don't think businesses will gravitate to it immediately. RIM, the nice people who make the BlackBerry, have a pretty good lock on the business market. That being said, the Droid did kill my BlackBerry. I'm now carrying a 32GB iPhone 3GS and a Verizon Droid. I live in NYC and where I tend to spend most of my time, AT&T simply drops too many calls for me to use the iPhone as a phone. As for my, now retired, BlackBerry Curve. I love it as an email device, but there's more to life than email. For me, the Droid is a solid first effort and, so far, I'm in like!
| Droid, iPhone, BlackBerry Shootout | |||
| Feature | Droid (Verizon) | iPhone (AT&T) | BlackBerry (Verizon) |
| Phone | A+ | D | A |
| Web | A+ | A+ | C |
| Keyboard | D | C | A |
| Screen | A | A | B |
| Still Camera Quality | A | B | D |
| Video Camera Quality | A | B | D |
| Video & Still Camera Ecosystem | C - must figure out your own transfer and storage. | A - iTunes & iPhoto | C - Multimedia is not what BlackBerrys are about. |
| Audio, Music, Podcasts, etc. | B - good quality, easy to use, but no real ecosystem | A - iTunes | C - Multimedia is not what BlackBerrys are about. |
| Network | A - Verizon | C - AT&T | A - Verizon (Other networks you can grade for yourself) |
| Gmail | A - if you leave sync on, you will use up to 10% of your battery per hour. | A - with Google apps. | A - with Google apps. |
| POP3 | B - battery eater. | B - battery eater. | A |
| IMAP | B - battery eater. | B - battery eater. | A |
| Exchange | B - battery eater. | B - battery eater. | A |
| Apps | B - Generally, Android apps are less polished and less aesthetically pleasing than iPhone apps. | A - yep, there's an app for that. | D - The BlackBerry app experience is sub-optimal at best. |
| Battery Life | C (With extra batteries, A) | D (With an external battery, A) | A |
| Visual Voicemail | B (Only because there's a $2.99 charge from Verizon - it will be free when someone makes an app for it) | A | Not available |
| Total Ecosystem | C (B if you are completely integrated with Google) | A - iTunes and the App store! | C - BlackBerry desktop ... yuck! |
| Ergonomics | B - heavy, bad keyboard and you can accidentally hang up the phone by pressing it to your cheek while you're talking. | A - It's from Apple - nothing is cooler looking or feels better in your hand. | B - BlackBerrys are very well designed for thumb typing and current models (Curve, Tour, Bold) feel good in your hand and are serviceable phones. |
| Bottom Line | Great phone, great web, good apps - good purchase for a single carry device. | Bad phone, bad phone network, fantastic device. | Email, SMS & BBM with a serviceable web browser. Benefits greatly when Google apps are installed. |
| Who Should Buy | Everyone - the Droid is the first real phone that has exceptional web and multimedia capability. | People who don't talk or do tons of business email. | Business people who need flawless business email and serviceable web access. |
Shelly Palmer is the host of MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer, a daily show featuring news you can use about technology, media & entertainment. He is the author of Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV (2008, New York House Press) and the upcoming, Get Digital: Reinventing Yourself and Your Career for the 21st Century Economy. (2009, Lake House Press). Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, NY (the organization that bestows the coveted Emmy Awards). For information about Get Digital Classes, visit http://www.shellypalmer.com/seminars.Watch Digital Life with Shelly Palmer Tuesdays at 10p ET on WNBC's NY Nonstophttp://www.shellypalmer.com/digitallife.
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Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is Managing Director, Digital Media Group at Landmark Ventures/ShellyPalmer. He is a trusted strategic advisor to the C-Suite of leading digital media, content, broadcasting and technology firms and a key driver of market, technology and strate…
