If switching from anything other than an iPhone, I don’t doubt that I would love my Droid: it’s stylish, fast and full-featured.
But given a choice between a great brilliant device (iPhone) on a dodgy network (*ahem*) and a solid device (Droid) on pretty good network (Verizon), I’m a little torn.
Here’s why: Second thoughts about my Droid
Missing Functionality
- No multi-touch (pinch/pull to zoom)
Simply put: navigating maps and the internet is significantly faster with multi-touch than without. - Limited app selection
No Yelp? No Urbanspoon? I have to pay for Midomi? No Shazzam? I’m sure this will get better as the device catches on, but right now most of my favorite apps aren’t available for Droid. - No (built-in) Visual Voicemail
Verizon offers its 3rd party Visual VM for $2.99 / month, but not seemless and slick like Apple’s integrated solution. The audio quality is poor. I have to go into options turn on the speakerphone (more annoying that it sounds). I can’t add contacts from the VM screen. Etc. - No notifications on the “lock” screen
I shouldn’t have to unlock my phone to see who called or the contents of a text message. - No silent mode switch
Switching to silent mode on my Droid makes the phone truly “silent”. And it’s easy to do accidentally. - No Flash or QuickTime support
For all of Droid’s marketing about what the iPhone doesn’t do, it’s a little ironic that Droid doesn’t have Flash support. (Flash support being, perhaps, the single biggest feature the iPhone lacks (well, that and a decent network)). Adobe indicates that Flash support for the Droid will be available in the first quarter of 2010.
General Disappointments
- Interface
Not as intuitive as the iPhone … though probably just as functional. I have to figure out how to do things on the Droid. I knew how to use the iPhone before I ever picked it up. It’s just that intuitive. - Coverage
Coverage and call quality is definitely better than AT&T … but still not that great. - Microphone quality
Even when I have a good connection, my transmitted voice sounds muted and indistinct. It’s hard for the called party to understand what I’m saying. - The Keyboard
The physical keyboard is nice–but the reach across the navigation pad is awkward, and I’m not much faster with the physical keyboard than the iPhone on-screen keyboard. Of course, it makes a difference that I seldom text or send e-mail from my phone. I thought this was because of the keyboard–but I’m realizing that it’s simply an aesthetic preference. Written communication via a 4″ wide device just isn’t all that fun. - Color and Polish
The iPhone is colorful and polished. Droid feels drab–and has hard edges–physically, and figuratively.
Annoyances
- Random sounds
I still haven’t figured out what all the random sounds it makes mean. - Volume
I still haven’t found a comfortable earpiece volume. It’s either slightly too loud for comfort, or slightly to quiet to hear well.
Things I like about the Droid (versus the iPhone)
- Free, built-in turn-by-turn navigation.
Google’s free, turn by turn navigation works well. I find it more fun more than functional though–I still find it easier to navigate for myself, using Apple’s multi-touch maps interface.
Now, sure sure, I’m sure there are fixes, work-arounds, apps or replacements for all of the above complaints–but that’s the point: I have no desire (see: time) to have to “learn” my phone, to have to “tweak” and “customize” my phone. I just want it to work. And the iPhone does that. Out of the box.
Overall, I think the Droid is a competent and well-designed device–but using it makes me miss my iPhone.
