Early thoughts on Motorola Droid on Verizon continued. Solid phone. Not quite iPhone killer (again nothing will until someone can match iTunes):
- I’ve been using it since Friday when I picked it up from Verizon store.
- The transfer from AT&T to Verizon was seamless; Verizon staff were excellent.
- I entered my Gmail ID, and less than a minute later, everything was in sync (all our contacts, business and personal, plus calendars, email); this is one of my favorite features.
- The turn-by-turn GPS navigator is truly amazing for a phone. Not sure it can replace full-blown GPS unit quite yet but I’m going to continue to test against our Magellan.
- Google Places app is great for finding gas stations, restaurants, stores -> then click directions to get Google Maps or Navigator turn-by-turn.
- Screen: gorgeous.
- Hardware design: solid, a little heavy. Also I find very minor wobble between slider since the Droid has a two piece build.
- Interface: Android 2.0 is fast on Droid, if not boring. But once apps are loaded, you can really customize it.
- Battery: so far a pleasant surprise. I think I could easily get through long day with email, browsing, etc.
- Gripe: I like the way BlackBerry has all notifications (email, Twitter, Facebook) on home page… so far I can’t figure out how to accomplish this on Droid.
- Physical keyboard: it’s better than I expected given all the negative reviews, but I can’t type as fast as the chicklet BlackBerry keys on my old 8700. At least not yet. The virtual keyboards are excellent.
- HTC Eris: Also available sans keyboard for $99; slightly smaller, running Android 1.5 for now, no navigation, has highly rated Sense UI… still considering switching down if I find Droid too bulky; I have 30 days.
I’ll have full review up soon.
