Love the Droid, but some deal breakers...

[mav7]

First off, this is my first smartphone. As an IT professional, I wonder why I did not have one sooner. Just a quick example, I received a call while out at dinner last night from our software vendor performing an upgrade. They needed to do some maintenance on our server and only I could do it... so I went on the marketplace, purchased the remote desktop client app, and connected to the service and performed the maintenance needed so the upgrade could continue. Saved me and them a huge hassle...

Then there are some other problems that I've encountered... for one, sound quality is horrible. Speakerphone is useless (tons of high pitched noises, wind tunnel effect, etc). Battery life has been terrible, but I've learned to cope with that and to manage battery life better by turning off sync and keeping the phone in sleep mode.

Yes, I've tried the sound quality fix by using EVRC-B, that did not help at all. I've read the forums, and I know many people are experiencing similar issues.

My question is:

Should I:

A) Return the Droid for a replacement. I heard this has fixed some sound quality issues for people.

B) Return the Droid and wait for another Android phone.

C) Keep the Droid I have now and hope a software update will fix it in the future.

Reading the forum leads me to believe it's more of a hardware issue, but I am open to your input.

Another issue I encountered, and I would appreciate it if someone could comment, is I can't find a contact when trying to send a picture message.

Go to camera, view pictures, ... well I can't write out the steps because I am getting a process.com.android.camera exception. But if you try to share a picture via messaging, it will let you type in TO, subject, etc. But for some reason I cannot find people on my contact list this way. I checked and all groups are turned on.. and sending text messages lets me find contacts. Weird.

Anyone else have the GMAIL client hang when sending e-mails? It just says sending... and hangs there. My sync is turned off, I wonder if that may have something to do with it.

My girlfriend has a blackberry and I wonder why her battery life is so much better than mine when streaming internet radio. You definitely need to keep a charger handy at all times with the Droid.

Thanks in advance for any input...

 

[qoncept]

The one thing I can comment on here is battery life. In my experience, as disappointed as I am with the battery, it's pretty comparable to other smartphones. I had a Blackberry Curve before my Droid and it got maybe marginally better battery life, and that may have been mostly due to, as you said, streaming radio. Pandora seems to use a lot of CPU time. My phone gets hot and slow when I'm listen to it. If you're streaming with something else, I don't think you'll have this issue. If you want a smartphone, you'll just need to get used to charging it all the time.

I'm not really sure what to recommend to you, but I definitely wouldn't get a Blackberry unless you're planning to use BIS for work and make this primarily a business phone. Business integration on Blackberry blows everything else out of the water, but in pretty much every other aspect they aren't that great.

Edit: Forgot to mention, with all the errors you're having (I've had a couple similar ones, but they are rare and don't happen every time I try to, say, send a picture), it's possible you have a bum phone or maybe an app you're running is causing problems. Try getting rid of your apps and see if it clears anything up and, if not, try having the phone replaced.

 

[droidilac]

contacts

On the messaging and contacts issue....

Make sure the contacts number is under "MOBILE" Its been my experience that if its listed as a "number" under your contacts it wont bring up the contact when you try to send a message.

You think we have bad battery life? My friend's iphone is worst. He has to charge it about 2-3 times per day.... LoL

 

[Rettocs]

I've not had any problems with the speakerphone or the audio quality at all. This is just me, though. I would say, first off, try and replace it for another Droid. If that fixes it, great. If not, then return it and buy a phone of your liking. I would stick to an Android device, as the dealbreakers you mentioned are hardware related, not OS related. Hope this helps.

 

[jefbystereo]

I agree with the above poster about speaker phone. Mine is excellent and the speaker has always been considered one of the strong points of the droid. You dont have a case or anything that blocks the ambient microphone do you?

 

[natty_lite]

I just sent a MMS just now, I typed in a few letters, and it started handing me suggestions. I have no idea why yours is behaving that way. Same as your speaker, and Gmail.

I personally feel like the Droid is about as good as it gets on a smartphone as far as battery life is concerned. I don't do internet radio streaming, but I have talked for almost 2 hours while connected to bluetooth and my battery gauge up top didn't even budge. Don't expect to get the same juice as a BB. Its much less advanced operating system.

 

[mav7]

I agree with the above poster about speaker phone. Mine is excellent and the speaker has always been considered one of the strong points of the droid. You dont have a case or anything that blocks the ambient microphone do you?

I do have a case, Verizon sold it to me when I bought the phone. I would not expect them to sell something that is going to cause problems w/ the speakerphone but I will try removing the case before I take it back. Good point.


As far as a blackberry goes, I hate the phone, and I hate the software. The storm2 is the only thing I would consider, but I think the Droid blows it away, which is why I want to keep the Droid.

Good input everyone. I will remove the case and if I get the same problem, I will be exchanging the droid for a replacement.

 

[mav7]

On the messaging and contacts issue....

Make sure the contacts number is under "MOBILE" Its been my experience that if its listed as a "number" under your contacts it wont bring up the contact when you try to send a message.

Thank you, thank you thank you. That was exactly it!

 

[MrCapcom]

yea those problems you have could just be a bad droid i don't have any of those problems send it back! get a new one

 

[KZIWarrior]

I've got to go with the others above. The speaker phone is EXCELLENT (Motorola is usually known for having the best speaker phone(s) for cells). Call quality is great and battery life is as good or better than any other 'Smartphone' you're going to find.

As to the sound quality take the phone back and swap it out. Also as mentioned above many cases (including the stock VZW case) cover the secondary mic located on the back of the phone (small indention near the 3.5mm jack).

As to battery life it will improve after the first week and a few completely discharges (just like on your laptops the power-management software has to be calibrated) but in general smartphones require a different mindset for charging. Lite and moderate users should get through a day (just 1) w/o too much trouble but heavy users WILL need to charge the phone... that just the way it is with most smartphones, especially any with a display as large and nice as the Droid.

 

[wil318466]

Thats weird.. the speakerphone is one of the best parts. Call quality is perfect.

Try making a call without your case on, using speakerphone. It could be your case. There are two holes in the back of the phone, one is TINY, near the top on the back, the other is near the mouth portion, which can be found easily. Some people say they have issues with cases that cover the hole in the back.

-Wil

 

[mav7]

Thats weird.. the speakerphone is one of the best parts. Call quality is perfect.

Try making a call without your case on, using speakerphone. It could be your case. There are two holes in the back of the phone, one is TINY, near the top on the back, the other is near the mouth portion, which can be found easily. Some people say they have issues with cases that cover the hole in the back.

-Wil

Guys,

The case was the problem. I took it off, and speaker phone worked great. I called Verizon and made them aware of this - I will be going back in to look for another case. Any recommendations on a case that you don't have any issues with?

You are correct in that the tiny microphone near the camera is covered up... but when I put my finger over that mic I sounded very similar. When I put the back case on, the sound got much worse. My theory is that the case does not have a big enough opening for the speaker, which is located on the back of the phone. The parts of the case that cover the speaker, cause the sound to reverberate through the back of the case and travel up to the mic on top of the phone. That causes the poor quality issues with the speakerphone.

So I can either get a different case that doesnt cover up the speaker and 2nd mic, or make the speaker hole bigger and drill a hole for the 2nd mic, or go without a case altogether (not an option for me).

Thanks to the forums for helping me figure this out.

 

[Rettocs]

Guys,

The case was the problem. I took it off, and speaker phone worked great. I called Verizon and made them aware of this - I will be going back in to look for another case. Any recommendations on a case that you don't have any issues with?

You are correct in that the tiny microphone near the camera is covered up... but when I put my finger over that mic I sounded very similar. When I put the back case on, the sound got much worse. My theory is that the case does not have a big enough opening for the speaker, which is located on the back of the phone. The parts of the case that cover the speaker, cause the sound to reverberate through the back of the case and travel up to the mic on top of the phone. That causes the poor quality issues with the speakerphone.

So I can either get a different case that doesnt cover up the speaker and 2nd mic, or make the speaker hole bigger and drill a hole for the 2nd mic, or go without a case altogether (not an option for me).

Thanks to the forums for helping me figure this out.

Glad to hear it! I can't help you find a case, I'm running my naked Droid

 

[gnmitchell]

mav7 you might want to try getting a screen protector and the belt clip instead of a case. I have both and am really glad that I do.

 

[mav7]

mav7 you might want to try getting a screen protector and the belt clip instead of a case. I have both and am really glad that I do.

I also have a screen protector on it - you mean the clear plastic adhesive that goes directly over the screen? I'll look into a belt clip next time I go to the VZ store.