Compared to a Droid 1, any downsides?

[kdmorse]

Currently own a Droid 1. Looking at the Droid 4. Obviously, there are numerous obvious improvements.

But my question is, is there any downside? Is there *anything*, no matter how small, that I might find the Droid 4 inferior to the Droid 1. Random things, size, weight, speaker, sound quality, etc.... I know the battery life doesn't live up to the Razor MAXX. But for me, all it has to exceed is Droid 1, a much softer target. Interface, bloadware.

Ability to run OpenVPN? Quirks to be aware of?

I am very, VERY happy with my D1. I have a fully functional multi-interface linux router in my pocket. I'm VERY happy, I love this phone.

 

[DrDiff]

OK. Remember that the OD was free range vanilla android. Unlocked boot loader goodness! That you could swap out batteries.

Droid4 is blur, Motor's locked boot loader, and non replaceable battery HELL!

IMHO these "improvements" negate the better keyboard and screen.

I'd still be rocking my OD, if I hadn't dropped it and broke the screen!

Sent from my DROIDX using DroidForums

 

[Fr33dom]

Blur isn't a boot loader. Its a launcher and as such is replaceable.

Moto's boot loader is locked, and will be until Verizon stops asking for it to be.

The battery is not easily replaceable. My D1's original battery worked flawlessly up until I replaced the phone. The D4 however has a dual core processor and will do LTE. Both of those things consume much more battery power. There are new OS features that help you manage battery use though so you'll have to stay tuned to see how people are dealing with the size of battery that Moto chose for the phone--which, if memory serves, is larger than the battery the D1 came with.

IMHO, the keyboard is oen of the main values of this phone. Speed is the other. Nothing could be done to reduce the value of the keyboard over the D1. Its like night and day. If a hard keyboard is a necessity for you, get the D3 or D4. The speed difference is also like night and day. Though it may take replacing Blur with ADW for you to truly appreciate the difference.

If you are truly bugged by a non-replaceable battery and must have a hard keyboard, get a D3. If you just gotta have LTE, go for this phone and accept the battery.

 

[Hyde895]

I came from a Droid 1, only downsides so far... no camera button, locked bootloader, no spf files or means to return to stock/restore should something happen, Droid 4 does root, but thats about all for now with it still being new. oh and bloatware, I dont like the verizon software. The motocast is a cool addition coming from droid 1. the pictures I take sync straight to the pc at home. Hopefully when roms start coming out a few of the motorola things stick around or can be added in like gapps seperately.

 

[mcalhoun]

I absolutely love my D4 and I didn't think it was possible to replace my D1 and be happy. So far, battery life has not been a problem for me. I used one of my apps to freeze and hide the bloatware (not a problem) and the only place they show up is in the app manager. It's lightning fast and easy to use. The QWERTY on it is a little different but the feel is similar to my WP7 phone with AT&T. Overall, I think it was the best choice possible to replace my D1. As far as locked bootloaders and non removable batteries go, I don't mind. Root is easy enough and ROMs will follow.

 

[chefboyardee]

Blur isn't a boot loader. Its a launcher and as such is replaceable.

Moto's boot loader is locked, and will be until Verizon stops asking for it to be.

The battery is not easily replaceable. My D1's original battery worked flawlessly up until I replaced the phone. The D4 however has a dual core processor and will do LTE. Both of those things consume much more battery power. There are new OS features that help you manage battery use though so you'll have to stay tuned to see how people are dealing with the size of battery that Moto chose for the phone--which, if memory serves, is larger than the battery the D1 came with.

IMHO, the keyboard is oen of the main values of this phone. Speed is the other. Nothing could be done to reduce the value of the keyboard over the D1. Its like night and day. If a hard keyboard is a necessity for you, get the D3 or D4. The speed difference is also like night and day. Though it may take replacing Blur with ADW for you to truly appreciate the difference.

If you are truly bugged by a non-replaceable battery and must have a hard keyboard, get a D3. If you just gotta have LTE, go for this phone and accept the battery.

Beautiful post. I second everything here. My wife doesn't care about 4g and loves her D3 because of battery life and having a spare battery. I love this keyboard, and I NEED LTE and am willing to carry a small battery pack and/or use smart actions to manage my battery life. Do I wish the battery were removable and the bootloader were unlocked? Absolutely. Is it a dealbreaker for me, personally? No, because the speed of the OS is amazing and the keyboard is truly heavenly to type on.

Edit: As another poster mentioned, the lack of a camera button is a little bit annoying. Some might not mind but I do. I'll get used to it eventually but it's definitely an adjustment for me.

 

[B-Unit]

...

Moto's boot loader is locked, and will be until Verizon stops asking for it to be.

...

Pure FUD. Interesting how this supposed Verizon policy doesnt slow Samsung or HTC down in unlocking bootloaders.

 

[Fr33dom]

Pure FUD. Interesting how this supposed Verizon policy doesnt slow Samsung or HTC down in unlocking bootloaders.

Do you even understand what FUD is? Where is the Fear? Where is the Uncertainty? And lets not forget doubt, where is the Doubt?

Now that we've added clarity to that, how about those Samsung and HTC phones?

Samsung's Verizon Galaxy Nexus is locked (and its not the only one):
Got a Verizon Galaxy Nexus? Don’t do a factory reset or unlock the bootloader just Yet! | AndroidSPIN

HTC's Verizon phones are locked. They offer a tool to unlock them--you might just be lucky enough to use it successfully:
Verizon Wireless – Allow Unlocking of HTC boot-loaders on your Network | groubal complaints

While HTC has made comments that it will unlock all its phones, remember, its Verizon that exercises control over what it accepts on its network.

It may be illegal, but they're still doing it: It is Illegal for Verizon to Lock Some Bootloaders (Updated) | xda-developers

 

[sglfx]

Just for the hell of it I opened the keyboard with the camera on as long as your gallery pic isn't highlighted if you press and hold the OK button the small one under the enter button it's like the D1. The volume controls the zoom in and out. Just watch your fingers now. (When the gallery image in top left was selected pressing the OK button went to the gallery)

 

[kpoker]

So how do you get to the camera? Theres no icon to click (touch)?

 

[sglfx]

Camera

The camera icon is in the APP tray, The button is on the display like the D1 was. D1 you swiped your phone open one way turned off sound the other. D4 the other way R > L opens the camera (which I thought was pretty cool) I previously had droid 1 as well. The pictures come out better larger with the 1080p all the HD stuff. Zoom doesn't look as fuzzy as the D1. a facing camera as well and some extra's; effects, panoramas, timer multi-picture taking several pics at once The video you can actually turn on the light now. Video also has a stabilizer haven't tried that yet. And again opening up the key board you can press and hold the OK button.

 

[TC_Mits]

Vzw considers the D4 to be like a rechargeable flashlight -- disposable when the battery wears out. There is no vzw / Moto option to replace the battery. Bootleg work-arounds will surely emerge, just be aware that they're not sanctioned:

Folks...I need to pull the trigger on either a Droid 4 or a Maxx pretty soon. However, the non-removable battery seems like a source of pain in the future.

Let's say I go for a Droid 4. Sixteen months into the contract the battery starts to crap out. If I put it on a Amex card, they'll pay UP TO the initial cost of the phone ($300). But Verizon tech support tells me today that the phone battery can't be replaced, you have to replace the entire phone ($600?+).

Has anyone yet tried to replace a battery in any of these non-replaceable battery phones? Any thoughts on how to get around the possibility of having to shell out big bucks just because of a bad battery in 18 months?

thanks!

Mike Nassour / Austin TX

From a HoFo thread.

Two years, give or take, from now this battery issue will impact the resale value of the D4 (ditto RAZR. & MAXX). Consider that, too, when making your purchase.


ALSO: The regular USB chargers you keep as spares probably won't work well with the D4. So if you aren't sure if the 1.8amp battery will last the whole day, factor in an extra charger or two -- at vzw accessory prices -- when you figure the cost of the phone.

Perspective instantiates reality.
( By DX w/DF app. )

 

[B-Unit]

...


ALSO: The regular USB chargers you keep as spares probably won't work well with the D4. So if you aren't sure if the 1.8amp battery will last the whole day, factor in an extra charger or two -- at vzw accessory prices -- when you figure the cost of the phone.

Perspective instantiates reality.
( By DX w/DF app. )

How do you figure? OG Droid and D4 came with identical chargers (Not just physically, I compared the specs)

 

[Sohcahtoa]

ALSO: The regular USB chargers you keep as spares probably won't work well with the D4. So if you aren't sure if the 1.8amp battery will last the whole day, factor in an extra charger or two -- at vzw accessory prices -- when you figure the cost of the phone.

Not sure where you get that idea from. I just compared the charger that came with my D1 with the one that came with my D4. The D4 charger says it outputs 5.1V @ 850 mA, while my D1 charger is 5.0V @ 500 mA. Sure, the D1 charger is a little less power, but so what? Its still enough juice to go from a dead to a full charge in under 3 hours.

My whole two cents on going from D1 to D4...

Its TOTALLY worth it. The keyboard will take some getting used to, since the whole thing is transposed 1 key to the right because of the positions of the Shift/Tab/Capslock keys, and a few of the various punctuation keys are in different locations. But the thing is BLAZING fast, and if Verizon's 4G LTE network is just jaw dropping. I like to run speed tests whenever I'm somewhere new, and the lowest I've ever gotten was 5 mbps on a 2 bar signal, usually averaging 11 mbps, with my fastest test being 27 mbps.

People like to complain that the battery is non-removable and that the battery life is ****, but I'm not to worried about it. Get yourself a good external battery and you're golden. Root it and run SetCPU to have it clock down the CPU when inactive. I find myself getting battery life that is certainly worse than my D1, but that's to be expected, and its not so bad to be a deal breaker. Going from a 550 Mhz single-core, 3G phone to a 1.2 Ghz dual core 4G? What do people expect?

This thing is a processing beast. I watch Netflix on it while riding the train to university. About an hour of Netflix will drain the battery from full to 40%, but again, that's why I have that external battery. It'll give it a full recharge 3 times before needing a recharge itself, and with the 1000 mA output, it does it in under 2 hours.

As for the locked bootloader, I'm not really that concerned. The thing got rooted within two days of it being released, despite people thinking it couldn't be done. Give it more time, and certainly people will find a way. Until then, I'm just fine running a stock ROM with root.

TL;DR: I upgraded from a D1 to a the day the D4 came out and never looked back.

 

[B-Unit]

Hmm, weird, mine are both 5.1V 850ma.