Tuesday, November 10, 2009

iphone > Droid

I went to the mall the other day (shiver) to put my meaty paws on the new Droid smartphone from Verizon. Like any iphone owner, I would gladly pay a hefty fine and/or take hit to the nuts if I could switch from AT&T's craptastic network to Verizon's land of milk and honey.

And with the coming of Droid I thought that I might have found a reason to undergo the painful process of migration. After all, the phone is getting rave reviews. It uses the Android OS from Google which is far more open that Apple's. New apps appearing every day, free GPS navigation using google maps. What's not to love?

Well, the Droid IS good, but it's not awesome, at least in my opinion based on limited hands on experience.

It is well made. Solid. Nice looking. The screen is very sharp. But what they put on it is not nearly as polished as the iphone. It's cluttered. I know it can be configured however you want it but using it wasn't the simple process I'd hoped it would be.

The biggest drawback is the physical keyboard. It just isn't isn't made for my fingers. Period. They sit on a flat plain and one has to depress the center to activate them. The Sidekick had a much better keyboard for us big folk. The on-screen keyboard was okay, but not great. I am sure with practice I could be proficient with it. People have said the camera, while 5 MP, isn't all that great.

But for me, the biggest stumbling black was tapping on some kind of news bubble app and having it crash. Then I launched another app, and it crashed. Two crashes? Really? The Droid can run several programs at once, unlike the iphone. But it's rare that I'm listening to Pandora while IM'ing and uploading pics to my facebook account. And if I do try to do several things at once, the delay in starting an iphone app up is about a second. (Games do tend to take longer to launch). I was impressed, I just wasn't wow'ed.

It is on the network I crave. And with a little polish I am sure the usability will improve. But for now I am still happy with my iphone. It does what I need it to do without any fiddling or crashing. That's my 2 cents. Anyone got one out there who cares to share their experience?


grim said...

We're three years into a two year contract with Verizon, and long overdue for a replacement for our old flip phones. I had really hoped that this would be it.

Firstly, the keyboard is non-functional for my small hands, and for Jen's tiny hands, it's not just you. I wish they would have skipped it altogether and made the phone thinner and more durable, or made it thicker with real buttons.

Secondly, while an unlimited data plan is $30, if I tether it to a laptop that doubles to $60. Either way there are acknowledged caps on downloading. So why do they care whether I route the data I've paid for to a larger screen? The only possible answer is to acknowledge that the suck of browsing on a phone's tiny screen will keep usage down. (yes, I made two salesman admit this) This is a deal breaker for me, as the original $15 data fee with a 5 gig cap was just doubled to get a higher cap they are calling unlimited. (but in reality, it is capped as well) Increasing fees on a logarithmic scale is not the way to win my business with a less than ideal phone.

The turn by turn Google maps was enticing, as was the huge high res screen. But, as always, Verizon knows how to greedily wipe a turd all over anything it gets it's hands on.

There are rumors of a release of this phone sans shitty keyboard next year, and while that could prove to be even more of an iphone killer, Verizon's bean counters will surely choke it's chances. They really don't understand the part where you need to compromise profit temporarily in order to break into a market, and let's face it: They're not firmly "in" the smart phone market...

Toyota lost money introducing the Prius. Numerous game console makers have done the same to grab market share. Verizon is too big and comfortable, and unwilling to do more than toy with smart phones for now.

It's possible that this is because they are scheduled to switch away from CDMA in a few years, which will mean that at that time, iphones should be able to use their system with no redesign. By then the exclusive contract that is binding Apple may well be compromised.

The Droid certainly feels like a stop-gap measure.

Steve said...

Remember, there are ways to tether most smart phones without paying the extra fee. Droid is a very open system. As long as you aren't using it for torrents you'll likely be fine.

If I didn't like the iphone so much, I'd go with the Droid. Having a smart phone has saved my bacon a few times.

Monkey said...

First of, I really like the droid. I rarely use the keyboard, I prefer the OSD and it works very nicely for my sausage like fingers. As for Applications that are available, it is a growing network. I am android will get much better now that it is not just only on the t-mobile network. The Droid isn't perfect, but guess what Steve and Grim, you will find nirvana in phone land. Grim, your cheap ass should not even be looking at this phone.

grim said...

New Droid info:

can't talk and surf/nav simultaneously on 3G, but you can talk/surf on wifi/CDMA.

Google maps on the phone will not allow drag and drop mods to the route, but I have been told you can plan the route at home, adjust and save it, and access the modified route on the phone. This is critical for me.

You can't use the Droid as a phone/PDA/music player only. You must buy a data plan, even if you never use it.

Using a 3rd party app to tether, avoiding the $30/mo. tether fee is OK. Your 5 gig cap is still in effect, of course, and they'll be glad to charge you per K after that... (yes, I asked a rep right in the verizon store directly) No guarantees on 3rd party app reliability, of course.

The lock/unlock screen feature can include a signature move for security. Geek coolness factor of 10 for this feature.

The phone has basic wifi security setup like a laptop.

One of my church group members says that Google maps nav is sluggish, and prefers Gokivo on his Blackberry. He is a trucker, and uses his phone for nav every day.

Monkey said...

Grim, how can the map adjustment be that "critical" to you? You even said it yourself, no gps unit has that functionality.

I was not entirely surprised about not surfing while talking, unless you are on wifi. That would have been a nice feature.

From a business standpoint, Verizon like everyone else is out to make money. You can thank the iPhone/AT&T folks for the mandatory data plans. Verizon did not used to have that stipulation.

Screen lock is a nice feature, I really should enable mine. Maybe I will when I stop playing with it the way a 5yr old plays with his junk.

I have not experience the lag issues with nav system like your trucker friend. The application is still considered beta. For my use, it has been quite acceptable.

I have tried to export google maps with modified routes to Droid's Nav app. Not much success at this time. You can export to gps, but as of today, there is no link to Droid.

overall, experience has been good. But I don't expect to many people with Jesus Phones to jump to Droid.

Steve said...

Look man, my phone is great and all that. But it still ONLY heals the sicks and makes the blind to see. They promised raising the dead, like 4 months ago but there's still no sign of it on the app store.

grim said...

Apparently you can't drag and drop the route. However, you can select traffic view, and touch to chose an alternate route. Note the difference in wording, if not in result...

Focus on the traffic view sections: