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It’s no secret that in the aftermath of the success of the RAZR, Motorola hasn’t been in the strongest position in the cell phone handset market. The common knowledge was that the weak software they produce for their hardware has been their downfall. With analysts predicting their altogether departure from the handset business, could the Motorola DROID from Verizon Wireless, running the Google Android Operating System be the handset to turn it all around, and take down the iPhone?

Device

At first impression, Motorola seems to have developed a winner. While the device may not look as elegant as the iPhone, it seems to be function over form. The phone features one of the largest capacitive touch screens, at 3.7” at a 480 x 854 resolution (compared to the iPhone with a 3.5” screen at 480 x 320.) The screen is stunning, and feels on par with the iPhone. The DROID also supports haptic feedback, which produces a vibration when certain things on the screen are touched. This tries to create some sort of physical feedback to alert you that you are hitting a button, but doesn’t work well to that effect. Also, the DROID only seems to support multitouch for the onscreen keyboard application at this time. (Although video showing multitouch support for the European version of this phone has been shown.)

Under the DROID screen are 4 touch sensitive buttons- Back, Menu, Home, and Search. These are used to control the main features of the phone. This seems to provide more control and versatility over phones such as the iPhone, which just feature one hardware button.

The DROID also features a slide out keyboard, which Motorola states is the thinnest phone with a QWERTY keyboard ever made. So far reviewers have been complaining about the difficulty in typing on such a small keyboard, but I have found little problem in typing on it, however I have smaller fingers than most. While the keyboard is definitely usable, it is not as good as devices like the BlackBerry Tour.

There is also both a vertical and horizontal onscreen keyboard on this device. Typing on it is as effective as on the iPhone and other touch screen phones. However, since this phone features haptic feedback, there is the potential for it to be easier to type on, depending on individual user’s preference.

A few odd things bother me about the hardware, such as the volume rocker switch on the right side of the phone, which can be difficult to press correctly, and the use of a Micro USB cable instead of a Mini USB cable, like Motorola’s other devices, which means you would have to buy entirely new chargers and such.

Other features of the DROID hardware include a 5 Megapixel, Autofocus camera with dual LED flash, a 3.5” headphone jack, and MicroSDHC card, but more on these later.

Camera

As mentioned earlier, the DROID features a 5 Megapixel camera, with autofocus. While this is a big step forward in camera phone technology, it still falls short.

The picture quality of the DROID certainly is better than 99% of camera phones on the market, and my iPhone 3G. One problem though, is the autofocus on the camera. The focus takes too long to find the right position, and it generally takes a couple of pictures for it to appropriately focus the object you are trying to take a picture of. A good compromise for this would have been something like on the iPhone 3GS, where the user can select the object they want in focus.

The Dual LED flash certainly gives this camera an edge over other competitors. In very low light situations, it produced acceptable pictures, where as a camera with a weak flash or none at all, would have produced a horrible image.

Since it is using the same optics, the video functions of this camera suffer from the same thing.
All in all, the camera is fine for what most people use the camera on their Smartphone for. If all you are doing is taking pictures of friends and family to post on things like Twitter and Facebook, this camera will probably satisfy all of your needs.

Android Software

The Motorola DROID is my first experience to the Android OS, and it does not fail to impress. The DROID is the first device to run Android version 2.0, which adds a plethora of new features to the Android OS, such as a new Google Maps Turn-by-Turn Navigation application.

One of the best features of Google Android in my eyes is the deep integration with all of Google’s services. With one login, you can sync your email and calendars, receive instant messages, download applications off of the Android Market, and more. For people who keep all of their information synced with Google services, like myself, this integration is a natural fit.

Android 2.0 also provides support for enterprise Microsoft Exchange server integration, however it seems that Verizon will be needlessly charging an extra $15 per month for Exchange support.

What really takes the cake with the Android OS is the extreme customization and power you have control over. Whether allowing home screen widgets, complete access to the hardware of the device for apps, or the deep system controls, Android is infinitely more customizable than the iPhone.

With the enhanced access to the hardware, and little regulation by Google on the Android Market, it allows for some uses that will never be seen on the iPhone. One example of this would be the Google Voice application. Among other things, it allows you to set all of your outgoing calls through the normal phone application to dial out using your Google Voice number. If you want to set it up to ask you whether you do or not when you place a call, that option is even available. It is the option for expandability like this that really sets Android out in the crowd of Smartphones.

One of the other many great features of Android is the addition of Widgets to the operating system. These widgets can be placed on the home screen, and allows you to control or check the status of supported applications at a glance. For example, there is a widget so you can easily turn on or off things such as WiFi, Bluetooth, place the phone in airplane mode, turn off background syncing for applications, and change the screen brightness on the fly.

The core Android OS alone also takes a more hand on approach to the user experience. It gives the user more control over the phone, and notifies them more about what is going on with their phone. Allowing applications to run in the background is a major advantage over the iPhone OS in particular. Instead of having a notification system that very few applications use, Android allows developers to just run their programs in their background, which allows you to multitask without losing updates from other applications. Apple’s excuse for this is that battery life would suffer, however, with the DROID I have not found battery life to be an issue at all. When the low battery warning does finally pops up, it allows you to open a window showing what applications and hardware devices are using the most battery, so you can adjust your battery usage in a pinch.

Navigation

The Google Maps navigation program on Android 2.0 was actually the first application that I got to use on the DROID. The package arrived and I unboxed it right before I was about to walk out of the door. The address that I was going to was actually one that many maps programs (even Google Maps itself on the web) had failed to find in the past. Not only did the Android application find the location, but also provided turn-by-turn directions with voiceover, and a view of every intersection via Google Maps Street View.

While it may not replace a standalone GPS for everyone, due to the fact that is needs a fast data connection to pull down the information live, where as a GPS unit has maps stored locally. However, for the casual GPS user who doesn’t live in a rural area, it is great to have such a feature filled GPS application built directly into the phone, for free.

Motorola is also planning to sell a special car dock along side the DROID, which will provide a dashboard mount and will launch the special Car UI (also accessible without the dock), which allows easier access to functions like Navigation and Contacts.

Media Playback

One area where I feel the DROID really lacks is in media playback. The DROID ships with a 16GB MicroSDHC card, expandable to 32GB, which is plenty of space. One minor gripe would be that you have to remove the battery to change the MicroSDHC card. However, the real issue here is the Music Application.

The music application is very limited, and only offers basic features, such as sorting by Artist, Album, Song and Playlist. One nice feature is on the fly playlist creation, but beyond that, it pretty much just plays music. This will not replace your iPod, Zune HD, or other standalone media player in the current state. More sorting features could bring this closer to a standalone audio player.

However, one of the advantages to Android is that someone could develop a better Music application, and allow you to download it on the Android Market, whereas Apple would not allow the application into their store because of “duplication of core software functionality.” There are already some third party music playing applications on the Market, but at the time of writing this article, I have not gotten a chance to try any of them out.

Getting music onto the device only involves connecting the DROID to USB and dragging songs to the MicroSDHC card. This works well, however with a large library (like 16GB), it could get very unruly to handle. There are third party programs like Salling Media Sync on OS X that would allow you to sync it with iTunes though.

Although the software may be lacking, one shining star of media playback on the DROID is the onboard speaker. The modestly sized speaker on the back of the device provides more power and clarity than most if not all of the other media playing devices I have ever heard. Audio playback through the 3.5mm headphone jack on the top of the device is also very high quality and provides for a great experience.

Android Market

The Android Market is the central location for downloading third party applications on the DROID. It features applications for well-known websites, such as Facebook, and Twitter. The Market also features apps that apple itself has turned down on the iPhone application store in the past, such as Qik for online video streaming, and the aforementioned Google Voice application.

Even if Google were to deny an application from the Android Market, it could be self distributed by the developer, and installed over the web browser.

While the Android Market may be open to all applications, it does not have as many as the iPhone Application Store does. While Apple claims, 85,000 applications on its store, Google doesn’t state a number, but it is much lower. Although personally, whenever I came across a certain function I wanted to accomplish on the DROID, there was always an application for it on the Android Market, but your mileage may vary here.

Conclusion

Where the DROID really shines over the iPhone is in using the Verizon Wireless network. With the biggest 3G-coverage area in the United States, odds are that you will have coverage in your area. While the biggest complain about the iPhone is that it is not on Verizon, the DROID provides a real next generation Smartphone on Verizon.

After having used the Motorola DROID as my main phone, I have come to the conclusion that it is not an “iPhone killer.” That’s not to say that it isn’t a great phone, but I believe at this time that Android is not aiming for the same market as Apple is with the iPhone. Having owned both, it is a different experience using each one.

While Apple touts the iPhone user experience, Google is more about giving power back to the user with Android. Apple says that the iPhone just works, and for the most part it is true. Android is for the people who not only understand how it works, but can improve on it.

While Android isn’t “fully baked” at the moment for the average user, the mainstream potential exists, and it could be huge with just a little more work on the user experience as a whole.

The Motorola DROID itself does what the T-Mobile G1 could not, which is bring the Android operating system to good hardware, and show off it’s full potential.

For someone who wants more power from their phone, and the great coverage and 3G data provided by the Verizon Wireless network, this is the DROID you are looking for.

Pros

• Slide out keyboard.
• Haptic feedback touchscreen.
• 16GB of built-in storage.
• Highly customizable.
• 3G network support.

Cons

• Autofocus doesn't always work on the camera.
• Less apps than iPhone.
• Media player is lacking.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION
I have a material connection because I received a sample or review copy, or an item of nominal value that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was/am expected to return this item after my review.

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