Yes, I’d probably qualify as a geek, but without a pencil protector and nerdy glasses, I’d rather be classified as a gearhead. Sounds much cooler! So, what’s this gearhead phone of choice? Where the majority of geeks use iPhones, I chose to go “Droid”. There are approximately 50,000 iPhone apps; Droid’s (Android Market) offers only 12,000, so what’s the deal?
The biggest reason for going Droid was the physical keyboard. I did not have any success with the touchscreen when texting. Sure, I got my messages across, but not without continuous typing mistakes and I could not type fast without struggling. The G1′s (physical) keyboard was flawless, but the battery life of the phone ended before I got home from work at the end of the day. The Android Market was new and had more than enough free apps to download. When the G2 came out, I gave the touchscreen another chance – same problem with the iPhone: could not type fast, and without typos; although the battery life on the G2 was excellent.
When Motorola came out with the Droid, claiming it ‘had it all’ in the commercials (including the physical keyboard), I ditched the G2 and switched carriers to have it. Here is a collection of my experiences with this phone:
DROID
- When I first held it, I was impressed. It has a nice solid, sturdy and heaviness to it. I liked it, but was told some people did not.
- The screen is big with a 3.7″ display, which of course, makes for a larger phone (not such a plus). When I had the phone clipped to my belt, a couple of co-workers asked if I had a mini laptop computer strapped to my belt.
- The Android Market is growing at a rapid rate, and there are plenty of apps to satisfy anyone who is app-crazy; however, it’s missing one app I’d really love to have and pay for that’s only made for iPhone and that’s Archer’s Mark . So, I guess the Android Market has a long way to go if you’re looking for a specific application.
- The Droid is THE MOST RESPONSIVE PHONE I’ve ever used. Ironically, the touchscreen is so responsive that I rarely use the physical keyboard. How can this be? The physical keyboard of the Droid is so flat that I make more typing mistakes with it than the virtual, very accurate touchscreen keyboard. Unfricken-believable! This has to be Droid’s best feature: the wonderfully responsive touchscreen! See? I can’t say enough about it.
- The voice search feature is nice, it will do a Google search for anything you ‘speak’ into the phone. Don’t get this confused with voice dialing. I spent a good few attempts before I figured out voice search and voice dialing are not one in the same.
- I’m a good one for dropping my phone. Once in the Des Plaines River while duck hunting – the phone was fried. Best get insurance for this phone, Verizon’s insurance is pricey at either $5.99 a month, or $7.99 a month, but there’s no need to hide how you damaged your phone. The plan covers everything, even water damage. The Asurian insurance plan had my replacement phone literally the next day, and I was able to keep the battery and SD card.
- I love the multimedia docking station. It props the phone on a nice angle, and I use it as my alarm clock. I even put away my alarm clock to use this instead. The phone now sits on my nightstand, showing me the current weather, a slide show of my pictures, or plays my music collection (which I have none), but if you had one, it would be your bedside MP3 player! It even has DVD quality playback!
- I like the 16GB pre-installed memory, with the option to add a 32GB card, however, for the life of me and other Android Market users, WHY can’t we store any apps on this memory card?
- The 5 megapixel built-in camera takes awesome pictures with fun color effects and many scene modes.
- Yes, I am confirming the operating system is the fastest I’ve ever experienced in an advanced phone.
- With Android and Google being integrated with my Google account, I am always automatically synced with my contacts, and calendar.
- As long as I can connect to wi-fi, I have a very fast internet connection. The 3G connection is pretty fast also.
- Speech recognition is decent, nothing to brag about.
- Learn more about Droid’s other features.
I’m very happy with the Droid, and feel that the people at Motorola sat down and thought of every single aspect of what an advanced cell phone should be, and they barely skipped a beat with this one. With only a few minor flaws, it’s a gearhead’s nearly perfect cell phone!
