Bottom line it. Is the Motorola Droid better than the Iphone 3gs?

[dezymond]

I think the iPhone is better because ATT's network allows simultaneous voice and data, something not possible with Verizon. Plus, the iPhone interface is much easier to use.

Only their 3G network allows this. Overall, they have a terrible network. Verizon is best network.

I've only made a couple calls with my Droid. My contract for AT&T is still active til the end of this month so that's still my main phone. I'd have to say in terms of coverage and call clarity, Verizon is better. I get signals in the mountains where AT&T doesn't and the call clarity is much better. At first I didn't want to go to Verizon (I didn't have a choice), but everything about it, minus texting 160 character limit to other carriers, I'm happy. Verizon needs to fix that, a text more than 160 characters should be split up into two texts like AT&T does for me.

 

[Fullenwider]

I took my Droid into an Apple store day after I got it. The clarity of the screen and the brightness really stood out when side be side to an iPhone.
The fact that it can multitask seals the deal.
Not dealing with AT&T is just icing on the cake.
My wife & I are still just amazed at how well the Droid works.
Yes there are a few things I'd change like;
A button to instantly go to phone.
One touch wake up.
Droid Rocks iPhones Socks!

 

[Big D]

I think I agree with those who say that the iphone is simpler.

 

[RosarioM]

I have never owned an iPhone but just played with one at the store for about 30mins yesterday. This is after owning the Droid for 4 days. I specifically tested for the things that annoyed me about the Droid. To read my gripes about the Droid, check out the "Pros and Cons" thread.

I am a techie (own a tech business) and have been for 19 years. I have worked for Compaq, HP, and DEC. I'm Microsoft and Novell Certified. I build computer for fun and profit. That said, I prefer the iPhone...because I'm tired of hacking and patching to get simple features and functions. Will the Droid be better in a year? I doubt it. Apple has too big of a headstart.

But don't take my word for it. Go to the store and try it for yourself. The only problem with the iPhone it At&t's sorry network, an I'm not so sure that's a problem here in Atlanta. Everybody I know absolutely loves their iPhone and I don't think they would be saying that if they couldn't use it.

Oh, and that article that everyone thinks is skewed in favorite of the iPhone; from what I've seen it's dead on. However, for the time being, I'm sticking with my Treo.

Sorry

Outside getting music onto the device (no itunes or equivalent), what hacking have you had to do on your Droid to get it to work?? All I know is, I turned the thing on, entered my Google ID and all my contacts, email and calendar were instantly downloaded, synched and working (push email too!). When I moved to a different Droid, all my apps were downloaded over the network (no PC needed).

Getting push gmail on a iphone, now that's some hacking.

I'm sorry, but I don't want some company dictating what I can and can't do with a piece of hardware I buy from them and pay close to $100.00 per month for.

 

[RosarioM]

I think I agree with those who say that the iphone is simpler.

Simpler is not better. A Ford Focus is simpler than a Ferrari Italia, but NOT better.

 

[New2u]

He's not saying it's 100% better, nor are most people. The consensus from what i understand is that most of us are saying the iphone is a good phone and it's good at what it does and it is SIMPLER to use then the droid. Alot of what people like right now is the simplicity of a device.

 

[mjs31]

I have not read the other responses, but I have owned both. The Droid is both better and worse. Obviously, the Iphone has been out a while and had some fine tuning. I still think the Droid needs a little improvement with this to match the Iphone on the smoothness factor. I would say it is about 90% there. That, IMHO, is the only plus for the IPhone. I truley believe the Droid is an overall better phone than the Iphone. Not only does the Market continue to grow, but the open source puts it worlds above the built in limitations of the Iphone. Any phone that HAS to be hacked (jail broken) to make it customizable, fails. I see posts that the Iphone is coming to VZ next year like this will mean something to us Droidians. Fact is...they can bring it all they want, but I would rather not have to use Itunes to transfer music, use jailbreak to modify my phone (and then have to deal with updates with jailbreak), or have to use jailbreak to load an app not approved by the all mighty Apple.

 

[dezymond]

I have not read the other responses, but I have owned both. The Droid is both better and worse. Obviously, the Iphone has been out a while and had some fine tuning. I still think the Droid needs a little improvement with this to match the Iphone on the smoothness factor. I would say it is about 90% there. That, IMHO, is the only plus for the IPhone. I truley believe the Droid is an overall better phone than the Iphone. Not only does the Market continue to grow, but the open source puts it worlds above the built in limitations of the Iphone. Any phone that HAS to be hacked (jail broken) to make it customizable, fails. I see posts that the Iphone is coming to VZ next year like this will mean something to us Droidians. Fact is...they can bring it all they want, but I would rather not have to use Itunes to transfer music, use jailbreak to modify my phone (and then have to deal with updates with jailbreak), or have to use jailbreak to load an app not approved by the all mighty Apple.

100% agree.

the iPhone is highly overrated as a phone when it's not jail broken. The Droid has way more capabilities and potential. Look for Android to ruile the cellular OS market in 2011-2012.

 

[mjs31]

I have not read the other responses, but I have owned both. The Droid is both better and worse. Obviously, the Iphone has been out a while and had some fine tuning. I still think the Droid needs a little improvement with this to match the Iphone on the smoothness factor. I would say it is about 90% there. That, IMHO, is the only plus for the IPhone. I truley believe the Droid is an overall better phone than the Iphone. Not only does the Market continue to grow, but the open source puts it worlds above the built in limitations of the Iphone. Any phone that HAS to be hacked (jail broken) to make it customizable, fails. I see posts that the Iphone is coming to VZ next year like this will mean something to us Droidians. Fact is...they can bring it all they want, but I would rather not have to use Itunes to transfer music, use jailbreak to modify my phone (and then have to deal with updates with jailbreak), or have to use jailbreak to load an app not approved by the all mighty Apple.

100% agree.

the iPhone is highly overrated as a phone when it's not jail broken. The Droid has way more capabilities and potential. Look for Android to ruile the cellular OS market in 2011-2012.

Yep...I agree. The future is open OS and Google has done somethiing special with Android in a very limited time. Thing about Google...they never stop thinking/creating new things. I love this aspect of the OS unlike my old BB's. I want something to advance...not just remain the same "because it works". Eventually it won't work and then what...

Love my Droid and looking forward to some updates.

 

[mjs31]

I think I agree with those who say that the iphone is simpler.

It is, but for me, simple is boring. I want something new and challenging as I would suspect most new Droid owners want. I can sit back and let S. Jobs tell me what I need and what I don't need, or I can make that decision myself. Google will no doubt push the limits and with this there will be issues...me...I love it...bring on beta crap...I will install and feedback. The iphone crowd can live in their pods and have a wonderfully controlled existance...me...hell no. :icon_ banana:

 

[dezymond]

I have not read the other responses, but I have owned both. The Droid is both better and worse. Obviously, the Iphone has been out a while and had some fine tuning. I still think the Droid needs a little improvement with this to match the Iphone on the smoothness factor. I would say it is about 90% there. That, IMHO, is the only plus for the IPhone. I truley believe the Droid is an overall better phone than the Iphone. Not only does the Market continue to grow, but the open source puts it worlds above the built in limitations of the Iphone. Any phone that HAS to be hacked (jail broken) to make it customizable, fails. I see posts that the Iphone is coming to VZ next year like this will mean something to us Droidians. Fact is...they can bring it all they want, but I would rather not have to use Itunes to transfer music, use jailbreak to modify my phone (and then have to deal with updates with jailbreak), or have to use jailbreak to load an app not approved by the all mighty Apple.

100% agree.

the iPhone is highly overrated as a phone when it's not jail broken. The Droid has way more capabilities and potential. Look for Android to ruile the cellular OS market in 2011-2012.

Yep...I agree. The future is open OS and Google has done somethiing special with Android in a very limited time. Thing about Google...they never stop thinking/creating new things. I love this aspect of the OS unlike my old BB's. I want something to advance...not just remain the same "because it works". Eventually it won't work and then what...

Love my Droid and looking forward to some updates.

The iPhone is a great smartphone that everybody can pick up. However, without jailbreaking it you're limited to what Apple gives you. Even after you jailbreak it, gotta have iTunes to drop all your media in and all that. It's just not open to possibilities like the rest of Apple's products. I honestly can say I hate Apple products, but bais aside, Android is a better OS.

But onto Android. Google has done amazing things with Android and they will continue to. I mean they've been on the market for what, under 2 years (i havn't really kept up with the phones, i was a winmo guy before this)? But Google has something really going with this. An OS that's almost as simple as iPhones but yet is 100x more flexible. Another thing is customization. You look at iPhones and they all look the same, look at phones with Android OS and they all look different to the user's liking. Customization is something I love, which is why I've always been a PC guy instead of Mac. It's really incredible what Google has managed to do in such little time.

I love my Droid and Android 2.0 has almost endless potential. I mean start us off with 3 seperate home screens to customize to our liking and there's even apps that can expand it to 7 home screens?! It's mindboggling really. There are going to be great updates to the Droid and Android. And as I see it, Android will surpass the iPhone OS in the next few years. Imagine the possibilities 2 years from now with new hardware....:icon_ banana::icon_ banana:

And an update on Dec. 11th to make the phone even better! can't wait!!!

 

[CaptainDango]

I've owned an 8GB iPhone 3G, and a 32GB iPhone 3GS.

I'm also a previous owner of other Verizon devices that were touted as "iPhone Killers" the Voyager and the Storm.

My company that I work for started a new policy where you had to leave your iPhone or any other Apple products for that matter at the front security desk before entering the building. Only natural since we work exclusively with Apple products in the hundreds of thousands. I have my work number, but I feel naked without my cell for 8 hours or more a day. I sold my iPhone and was using a Samsung Eternity for the last month or so, lemme tell you this phone sucks balls. I wanted to toss it out the window every day I had it. I needed another "smartphone".

I was going to Verizon fully intent on buying the Storm2 last Wednesday after work and leaving ATT behind. That was until I went online to do some research and read about the Droid. Needless to say, I waited and got a Droid.

After having almost a week to play with this bad boy, Here is my take on it compared to the iPhone 3GS on ATT.

The most striking thing about the Droid was the screen. Absolutely amazing resolution, I have 20/20 vision and can read a whole webpage without zooming in since the text is small but still super clear. Impossible with the iPhone unless you double tap to zoom in.

The layout on the Droid to me feels a little clunky, I find myself accidently tapping the search button, or menu, or volume button ect. while simply trying to open the keyboard with one hand. The gold accents are gross, I wish they would have gone with dark silver or something.

Software on the Droid doesn't feel as stable or polished like the iPhone, obviously since it's still new, hopefully future updates will make it feel more...intuitive and fluid.

I find myself REALLY missing the pinch zoom function on iPhone's Safari. I told myself it's not that big of a deal since the screen resolution on the Droid is so high it doesn't need much zooming and moving around. Wrong. You really miss the browsing experience without the pinch zoom feature, PLEASE MOTOROLA/VERIZON/GOOGLE, ADD THIS FEATURE for the love of god in a future update. The hardware and OS is fully capable and up to the task as we can see

Camera quality and Video quality was surprisingly great on the iPhone 3GS. Crystal clear pictures with autofocus. Here is a sample I took when I first got the iPhone 3GS.

I've played around extensively with the Droid's camera and frankly..it sucks compared to the iPhone's lower MP camera. Hopefully the update in Dec will address it.

Next is carrier, we did a test with my friend's iPhone 3GS vs. my Droid and everytime we tested my Droid was much faster when loading pages from 3G areas. Surprisingly since most of the reviews online shows the iPhone being faster, not from my experience. Verizon 3G data seems to be much faster and consistent overall than ATT.

As we all know, Navigation on the Droid absolutely OWNS all. It's much better than the system in my BMW 335i, and even better than my fiance's Acura TSX which are known to have some of the best navigation systems in the car bizz. As far as bluetooth, for some reason the Droid doesn't seem to like my 335i, it takes about 2 minutes from the time I start my car to it actually connecting, and there is static every 30 seconds or so during a call. The little signal antenna on my navigation screen doesn't seem to get updated from the phone either, it stays static and shows how many bars the phone has when it intially paired and stays like that for the duration of your drive. I'm guessing a software glitch, hopefully fixed in an update again.

Lastly. Applications. The Droid is great because it's open source and anybody can develop for it without needing authorization, but man do the app's suck or what? The apps and games on the iPhone look like they spent big money and time on them, also there are a hundred thousand of them! We're talking PSP quality games and graphics. The apps on the Droid looks like they were developed by a 12 year old with a little programming know how. I really miss all the amazing apps on my iPhone thats for sure.

To sum it up, the Droid is no iPhone killer, close but no cigar. Hopefully once the OS gets polished up a bit, more better apps gets released it will get close. For now it feels like the Droid is still playing catch up. One of the biggest wish I have for the Droid is pinch zoom, with that feature it would have made me miss my iPhone A LOT less, and even maybe forget about it. I miss it so much that I even considered returing my Droid for an Eris....then realize how slow the processor is, and the low resolution screen knocked some sense back into me. Plus the Eris looked a little girly next to the Droid.

Multitasking is a big plus on the Droid, I forgot to mention that. It's great to have Pandora opened listening to music, having an IM chat from Meebo going on and browsing the web at the same time. This is something that I really like which the iPhone could not do.

Overall, I miss my iPhone but I am really liking this Droid also. It's something new to play around with and I'm still learning all the cool stuff you can do with it. Kinda like getting into a new relationship, everything is new and exciting right now. We'll give it a couple more weeks to see if this is the phone I'm keeping.

 

[jaxjaggywires]

I would really like to see a bit more quick access music functions when I'm listening to my mp3s. The iPhone has it over the Droid in that respect. Just better integration is what I'm interested in seeing.

 

[cLovis_ll]

the iphone is a great device. its so popular that many developers are making apps for it because it generates them money while endorsing their apps at the same time due to the volume of its users. however, after using it for some time, the excitement of it wears down due to the fact that the phone itself lives strictly by apple's fences..

if i want a device, specially if i bought it on unsubsidized price, i want it to work for me and do whatever i want with it for me and not what the company specifies it should do. i agree with all the security risks that this might cause, but it is mine!

at the end of the day, after all the excitement wears off, you basically have an "eye-candy" of a phone that is tied to a network incapable of bringing out its true power..

i'm not saying the droid is perfect. it still has isuues of its own as well but it is truly better than iphone plus its on the best network.

so hopefully after the december update, most of the droids issue will be addressed.

 

[soba1]

I Say Better

Overall I say better reason being it has way more functionality and freedom than the iphone.
For one I like the fact that this phone is naked. Meaning it doesn't have sense
UI or some type of graphic user interface. I happen to like a nice clean screen
so I can enjoy my wallpapers, my home screen is pretty bare.
I can create folders and load all the are relevant to each other. For instance
i have on folder labled Comm/Cal/Cal. In that folder I have the calculator,
calender, a shortcut to my internet bookmark for mobile banking.
Lets see the Iphone do that. So u say I only have 3 screens. No big whoop
I bought Open Home theme full. Where it gives u up to 7 screens.
Now I guess that give me a better chance of running more useless apps
on my droid than an iphone now wouldn't it. Oh an by the way I am only
semi techie. I find this phone quite easy to use..............
If u want unlimited possibilities droid hands down. Ease of use; iphone.
As for me i prefer endless possibilities. Not to mention bigger screen higher
resolution and a not so bad physical keyboard................