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Mobile
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Tuesday, 02 August 2011 17:35 |
The Droid 3 is a full featured Android phone that includes a full QWERTY keyboard. It’s built like a tank with quality glass, a metal bezel and good buttons. But you’ll notice the heft as it’s the heaviest phone in the Droid series. This is a phone that would be a good step up from a feature phone such as the LG EnV3 which was so popular a couple of years ago.
When we first started testing the Droid 3 we were annoyed by the density of the phone. However, having the full QWERTY keyboard along with a row of numbers at the top is ultra convenient and makes for a lot less typos, faster response times and overall more complete business communications on the go. The keyboard has a good feel to it and we found ourselves sliding it open more often than not. It’s interesting to note that even with the full keyboard the Droid 3 is just barely thicker than an iPhone.
The Droid 3 exhibited a little better performance compared to the Droid X and we were able to get a signal in some spots that the other Droids struggled with. It also seemed a bit more responsive and stable. Setting up corporate email and various accounts was improved and overall it’s a fairly consistent experience. The Gingerbread OS is more refined and user friendly.
When you don’t have your “real” camera with you the smartphone is the next best thing. For some people it’s the only thing. That’s why we’re so disappointed and surprised frankly that Motorola would neglect the user experience here. The specs are okay but it’s too slow. Startup time and snapping pics is so poky that it’s almost unusable. You’ll miss every Kodak moment. The camera experience is actually better on old feature phones like the aforementioned LG EnV3. When using the camera the Droid 3 doesn’t feel very smart at all.
So, it really boils down to the keyboard and how important that is. We know lots of consumers are using their phones exclusively for text and social media . Text a friend, snap a pic, post to Facebook…repeat. The Droid 3 may be very appealing to this group in spite of the poor camera performance.
Visit Motorola for more information and all the specs. |
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Mobile
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Tuesday, 14 June 2011 20:05 |
The Droid X2 is very similar to the original Droid X. It has an improved higher resolution display and dual-core processor but now lacks the dedicated camera button. Motorola ships the Droid X2 with version 2.2.2 of the Android OS. The default GUI has some subtle updates that make it a little cleaner and richer looking but it performs similar to the previous of the Droid X. Battery life is about the same but was never great to begin with. It’s requires a daily charge at least.
Aesthetically Motorola darkened the color of the soft touch paint on the back panel and the Droid X2 has an improved unified look. Mechanically, the battery cover seems to fit better and the micro USB port is more snug. We miss the dedicated camera button of the original Droid X.
In everyday use the Droid X2 feels a lot like the original Droid X. Yes, it's dual core but unless you're running multiple apps, games or jumping back and forth you won't notice much of a difference. The most noticeable change is the screen. It's qHD with 960x540 resolution. Colors are brighter and cleaner. Pictures look more vibrant. Gaming is more fun with the richer display combined with the Haptic feedback. Need For Speed Shift, bundled with the phone, looks and performs great as well as obligatory favorites such as Angry Birds. We like to see improvements in the speed to launch apps using optimized flash memory for games and for the camera and video apps so you don’t miss the action. Response time overall can be improved on a number of fronts.
Using the Droid X2 to browse the web is acceptable at 3G speeds. 4G would be nice but until battery technology and OS optimization can keep pace the hit on battery life is hard to live with. Just ask anybody with an HTC Thunderbolt.
We probably should mention it works just fine as a speaking device. Yes that’s what cell phones were originally designed to do. It’s funny how it’s become all about the apps but we probably communicate more with pics and text than anything else these days. So yes, call quality is good, Bluetooth synch is easy and the Droid X is a excellent quality phone.
We really enjoyed using Google Music on the Droid X. We also used apps to access our own media server. However, setting up Google’s offering was much simpler. It’s just one example of what’s happening in the cloud. Apple’s recent iCloud announcement is going to put even more focus on cloud based services and we expect Android developers to work toward a similar offering for Droid owners. Currently it’s still a bit cumbersome to use Verizon’s media software to synch pics and videos taken on the Droid to the PC.
If you’re in the market for a phone this summer the Droid X2 is a quality 3G choice and we’re eager to see how the Gingerbread OS will better utilize dual core technology and improve the overall experience. If you can wait until the fall, even better, as we’ve got big expectations for the Droid Bionic scheduled to be released before the holidays.
Visit Motorola for more information. |
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Mobile
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Wednesday, 23 March 2011 16:33 |
 It’s big, it’s heavy and it’s fast. It’s really fast. The HTC Thunderbolt is a beast of a phone. Like an oversized beach cruiser it comes with its own kickstand. It has a huge screen, front and back cameras, and is one of the first smartphones that’s able to take full advantage of Verizon’s 4GLTE network.
But before we go any further let's get the bad news out of the way. The battery life, well, it sucks. With average use we can't even make it through an average work day. Now we know where the name comes form. The thunderbolt requries serious power to keep it going.
Yes you can throttle back the features, use 3G...etc., but what's the point? If you buy the Cadillac of smart phones you want to enjoy all the bells and whistles. The Thunderbolt reminds us of our test drive with the first electric car, the EV1, we were constantly paranoid of running out of juice.
Now the good part. We fired it up side by side with the ATRIX on the AT&T network and consistently got 4X plus speed. Kind of felt like the jump from dial-up to high speed access on the home network. It’s the kind of speed difference you instantly notice. Pop open a browser and bam, there’s your content. Fire up the hotspot and you don’t feel like you’re on a cellular network. It’s very impressive. Over 3 days of testing in Orlando, Florida we averaged speeds of 7.4Mbps for downloads and 25.79 Mbps for uploads. Yes, uploads are much faster. It's curious to note we've had Verizon salespeople point out the outstanding upload speeds even though most users care more about the download speeds. Although with the obsession of sharing experiences in real time and uploading photos this is becoming more important.
Okay, maybe we’re getting a little too excited because as more 4GLTE phones get activated this will surely impact the experience. But if you’re an early adopter and speed is your number one priority you’re going to love the HTC Thunderbolt
We’ll hit you with an update in a month or so to let you know if this experience holds up over time and around the nation. But if you're in the market and portability is not an issue check one out to see if the ergonomics agree with you. The specs are a no brainer.
Visit Verizon for more information on the HTC Thunderbolt. |
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