Two minutes with Verizon’s Droid
I went in to a local Verizon Wireless store to check out the new Droid. You know, the one that’s the latest iPhone killer, etc etc. I must preface these few notes with the fact that the two display models didn’t work properly. The clerk said that their security device had shorted them out in some fashion. They had power, but you couldn’t use them as the UI was pretty much completely locked up. She let me use her personal/business one.
- It’s bulky. It might have been less bulky if it didn’t have a hard plastic case. The reason it’s bulky is it’s got a bigger screen than I’m used to and a hardware keyboard. Could I get used to it? Probably, but it seemed a bit much. Not too heavy though.
- I didn’t get a chance to type anything on the hardware or virtual keyboard, so I can’t really comment.
- The sliding mechanism felt natural and pretty effortless.
- The UI is very convoluted. I had no idea where I was at any given time. It’s not very intuitive. This is normal for every smartphone out there…except the iPhone. If you want to compete with the best, you better compete in every aspect and ease of use is a huge deal to me.
- The touch interface seemed responsive enough. It was not slow, but wasn’t burning rubber either. The clerk did have a hard time unlocking it from standby though – not a good sign.
- I hear a lot about how great the screen is, but I did not notice a difference over my iPhone. Granted, I did not compare them side by side (mine was in the car), but to me it’s like an HDTV, if I can’t tell how much better it is on standalone, then it’s not worth the extra money to see a slight difference when they’re side by side.
So, that’s it. I know it’s not much, but that’s all I really had time to do since my 13 month old kid was with me. If I end up switching back to Verizon, hopefully they’ll have an iPhone by then, or I’ll probably just stick with the Blackberry. I really want Android to succeed since I’m so ingrained with Google products, but it’s still not quite there yet.
Oh yea, the Droid Eris felt like a toy you would buy for a 4 year old. Very plasticky. Didn’t get a chance to get into it, but it felt cheap in my hand.
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