I’ve recently been assimilated into the cult of Android. So much so that I’m ditching my iPhone 4 and AT&T in favor of the Droid X, which I have on order from Verizon and due to arrive soon. I chose the Droid X after using it for 2 weeks and then comparing it to the HTC Incredible. I made my choice before I had any real one on one time with the Motorola Droid 2 though because the large Droid X screen won me over. Today a Droid 2 loaner device showed up on my doorstep, so I’m anxious to find out if I’ll end up regretting my quick decision to go with the DX. I’ve only had this phone out of the box for about an hour, so this is just going to be a quick first impressions post. I plan to do an actual review in a few days and we’ll hear Bryan’s thoughts on this device as well.
I currently have a herd of Android phones from Verizon at my house. There’s the Droid X (Left), Droid 2 (Center) and the HTC Incredible (Right). I also have the LG Ally, but it’s not pictured here as it’s not really in the same league as these higher end smartphones.
As you’ll notice, the Droid 2 has about the same footprint and 3.7 inch screen size as the HTC Incredible.
It’s quite a bit chunkier than the DX and Incredible though. Of course, it’s no wonder due to its built in sliding keyboard.
Even though the Droid 2 is thicker than the others, its size still hits a sweet spot in my opinion because it’s not too large and not too small. Like the Incredible, it fits comfortably in your hand and doesn’t look awkward when used as a phone like some people might say of the Droid X. The fact that it also includes a keyboard is a big bonus for some people.
I never had the opportunity to review the original Motorola Droid, but I have seen them and played briefly with one. I can say that the new Droid 2 appears to share the same overall size as the original, but has been spiffied up a bit. It has rounded edges now and a sleek gun metal grey top cover, with a deep Blue soft touch back case.
This is the first Android device that I’ve used with a physical keyboard since the original G1. It’s nicer than the original Droid keyboard because the keys have a slight dome to them and decent tactile feedback. The keyboard on the Droid 2 also feels roomier because it has separate arrow keys instead of the 5-way nav-pad from the original version, which used up too much space.
So far the Droid 2 hasn’t made me feel that I made the wrong decision in picking the Droid X, but it’s still way too early to tell. Speed wise, it feels snappy ,but maybe a touch less than the DX. The Droid X, HTC Incredible and Droid 2 all have a 1Ghz processor, but the Droid 2 has the latest and greatest version of the Android OS (2.2). The other 2 are sporting 2.1. Since I’m relatively new to the OS, I’m not yet noticing a huge difference in between the two versions.
I have a lot of testing to do, so off I go. I’ll have a ‘real’ review in a few days. If you have specific questions about this phone, leave them in the comments and I’ll try to cover them in the review.
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I have pretty much already made up my decision what I will be upgrading to….although my “new every 2” doesn’t expire until fall of 2011 so I’m pretty much set until then…unless my phone dies and I can’t get a new one. ( I heard that they are no longer making new droids…if my droid dies I will be given a refurbished one. If that’s the case then I may just move to a D2)
The reason I will be staying with this current format is because I already have a droid docking station and a droid car mount.
The new D2 will still mount in both of those and will respond in much the same way as the original Droid since it has the sensors to detect the magnets in the dock and car mount.
Plus…I LOVE the mechanical keyboard. 🙂
@Mark I’ve been without a mechanical keyboard for so long that I find I don’t take the time to slide it open to use it. I’d rather just use the touch screen.
Good looking phone! Can’t wait for the review 🙂
I’m dying to be enlisted into the cult of android by end/year. A shame that google is no longer selling their Nexus! Keep your reviews coming on anything about Android….it’s so current n’ it rocks.
I spend the last two months in a industrial setting and for us, app touch screens were bad. M Andriods ran the app the best. Google Nexis was nice but until we fix the app so no one could touch the screen it was worse than bad, huge cash losses. Blackberry, well I like my old dumb phone with big numbers to dial 511. The bb also sucked down power like crazy, had to charge it evey night. These phones were in full GPS, WiFi mode so that takes power but all said and done I like the form factor of a little flip phone. I was running up to four phones a day myself but out of the 250 or so we had around over half or more were in the “land fill” area already, a few stolen, left in cabs, in stolen cars. All said and done get a wireless modem for your (mobile) laptop (not your “real” laptop” and use Skype video phone. Anyone not do that, don’t call them.
Skype lets you edit silly typos. Try it, you will like it.