"Best" Droid device?

[jodowd]

Definitely a noob question here: I have a Droid phone by HTC, believe it is an Eris. At first I thought Droid was proprietary to all HTC phones, but I now know that Droid is a Verizon marketing name that identifies a software suite that runs on any of several different hardware platforms, including HTC, Motorola, and perhaps even Samsung?

A couple of days ago, several of us Realtors were comparing smart phones, and I saw that the Motorola Droid phones had larger screens and perhaps other features I either don't have or don't know I have.

For example, 4G and Wi-Fi. They can apparently connect their laptop computers to the 'net through their smartphone.

To get to my simple question, what is the "best" Droid phone available, with biggest screen, longest battery life, 4G and Wi-Fi compliant, etc.?

I'm not 100% jazzed about this HTC phone. For one thing, the screen loves to go black just when I need to input a number or end a call. It also likes to make pocket calls, which can be embarrassing at times.

Is there a clear answer to the question of "best" Droid out there?

Thanks,

Jim O'Dowd

 

[garrett]

this is kind of a loaded question because no one device will suit everyones needs.

me personally i still have the original droid because nothing has come out since that is worthwhile enough for me to upgrade to.

there are no 4G android phones yet on the verizon network.. Expect to see those sometime in the 1st quarter of 2011.

 

[harrellj]

If you absolutely must have 4G, there are only 2 phones currently that run the Android OS and support 4G. Both are on Sprint, the Epic 4G and the Evo 4G. Verizon does not yet have 4G (what they call LTE) and will not have it available as a part of the network until later this year while the first phones to use it are expected to be available around Feb or so.

For Wi-Fi, all Android phones support wireless connectivity, it just needs to be enabled in settings and set to connect to whichever wireless network. If you want to tether via wireless, the only way to do so on Verizon is to root the phone. Verizon has removed the tethering option that was part of Froyo (Android OS version 2.2) from the phones, since they charge a fee to allow tethering on their network.

As for the "best" Droid on Verizon, it depends on what you want. If you want a physical keyboard, then the Droid 2 is an awesome phone. Large screen? Droid X. If you want a good all-around phone, the Droid Incredible or the Samsung Fascinate.

 

[takeshi]

At first I thought Droid was proprietary to all HTC phones, but I now know that Droid is a Verizon marketing name that identifies a software suite that runs on any of several different hardware platforms, including HTC, Motorola, and perhaps even Samsung?

It has nothing to do with the software. It's just a line of Android phones from Verizon.

Is there a clear answer to the question of "best" Droid out there?

Nope. Best is always highly subjective, regardless of topic. The only available clear answer is "Whatever suits you best". You can compare screen specs online. There's really nothing else in your requirements that would really make one device stand out among the rest, especially since there are no 4G Droids yet.