Motorola Droid Returned

[Mule65]

I'm :sad: to say my Motorola Droid has gone back to Verizon and my trusty old LG Env2 has been reactivated. Here's why:

• Battery Drain - Fed up with task killers, switching GPS/WiFi and charging all the time.
• Clunky Phone - Too many actions required for calls. Frequent accidental dropped or lost calls. Garbled call sound quality.
• Design - Big, heavy and fragile feeling. Loose fitting back cover. Unrefined physical keyboard and sliding mechanism.

I may try the HTC Incredible but it seems to drain fast too. All IMHO with no flaming intended -- just my 2 cents.

 

[Sweet Daddy]

Ok. The DROID experience may not be for everyone. Enjoy your envy2.

 

[rkeller62]

If the battery life was a problem for you plan on never getting a smartphone. These are mini-computers and, if you are lucky and don't use your phone constantly, you MAY get a full day out of them.

As for your other issues if you do a little research you will find:
Shouldn't have to constantly toggle gps. Smart to shut down wi-fi and bluetooth when not in use, but not necessary. There are many apps to manage these things for you, some automatically.

Task killer can cause as many problems as they supposedly cure. One issue with task killers can be lagginess as the phone is constantly having to restart processes you killed.

Garbled calls could be a hardware issue, my call quality is awesome.

Clunkiness is a matter of subjectiveness. I find the Droid on par with other smartphones for doing things like initiating calls, etc...

Enjoy your envy.

 

[Travis798]

Sorry to hear your droid didn't work out for you. Personally I love mine

Smart phones are not made to go days between chargings. They can go a day with moderate use just fine. Personally I'm always at home or in one of my trucks most of the day so I can keep chargers handy.

I've read about people saying too many actions required for calls. I just don't get it. I hit phone and I'm ready to dial, or I hit contacts and I'm ready to find who I want to call. Have people not figured out how to add the phone and contacts to the desktop?

The phone is big because it has a big screen. You can't have a tiny phone with a 3.7" screen. The phone is amazingly slim to me considering it has a slide out keyboard. My phone feels well built and anything but flimsy, and I haven't had any problems typing on the keyboard. As Sweet Daddy said, the Droid may not be for everyone, I'm just happy that it is for me!

 

[smrivera80]

I'm sorry it wasn't for you, but the enV2 is a great phone, so I can understand you being happy with that.

But as far as your primary reasons for returning the Droid, you likely won't find those things improved with the Incredible. Battery life is actually a bit worse on the Incredible, according to HTC's own specs, and if you feel that the Moto Droid feels fragile, you won't find the Incredible to be sturdy in the slightest. The call quality and reception on my Droid is wonderful, but there are some well-documented and discussed problems with reception on the Incredible.

But not every phone is for every person, so good luck in using a phone that works for you!

 

[pc747]

As stated: smartphones are bad with battery life, its the nature of the beast. To help combat that the settings widget can be used to turn off wifi, bluetooth, gps, and toggle brightness. If you leave all those on then your droid is constantly searching for a gps signal, look for a bluetooth signal, sync your mail and info, search for wifi, along with what ever apps that are still running in the background while in your pocket.
Bulkiness....do you have a case. I thought my phone was bulky until I played, with a display with out a case, and realized that it was the case that made it bulky (especially if you have a body glove).
Clunky phone: When I first bought a smartphone (iphone 3gs) it took a moment to figure out how to make calls, awake it from sleep mode, and so on. Give it some time you will catch on.

 

[Darkseider]

Wow. Stock Droid w/ bad power consumption? I hope you NEVER go near an iPhone 3GS. The 3GS makes the Droid look like a flip phone when it comes to power consumption.

 

[Mule65]

It was advertised as "up to 270 hours" standby time so I assumed it could last a weekend with its features turned on.

 

[hookbill]

It was advertised as "up to 270 hours" standby time so I assumed it could last a weekend with its features turned on.

Yeah, I know it says that. So totally untrue. Saw an article a while back about how battery capability is exaggerated. Smart phones just suck the juice down.

 

[pyro6128]

It was advertised as "up to 270 hours" standby time so I assumed it could last a weekend with its features turned on.

well you assumed wrong. If you want to use features, they are going to cost you battery life. If they meant with everything turned on they would have said up to 270 hours of usage time. That 270 is if your phone is just sitting there not doing a single thing. If you put your phone in airplane mode it would last you a very long time, but who wants to do that

 

[melissad72]

sorry...

Sorry you aren't happy with your Moto Droid... I also love mine.

The problem you mentioned about making calls... did you ever try to just hit the Voice Search button (I keep mine on the main screen) and say "Call.. blah blah"... if you do, then the person you want to call would pop up to the top and you just click on them... it works with bluetooth connected too.

Sounds like you didn't give it much of a chance... sorry.

 

[aaf709]

In addition to the power saving suggestions, you can also get an extended battery.

Yeah, battery life is nothing like my old Voyager. It had 2-3 days on the stock battery and nearly 7 on the extended. But like they said; this is a mini computer.

 

[SeattleUser]

LG Env

Thanks for the tip. I'll check it out.

I was considering a Moto Droid or HTC Incredible, but I think I'd like a more reliable phone. I'd like to be able to do a little web browsing and texting and this phone seems more up my alley. Does it do GPS?

 

[pc747]

Thanks for the tip. I'll check it out.

I was considering a Moto Droid or HTC Incredible, but I think I'd like a more reliable phone. I'd like to be able to do a little web browsing and texting and this phone seems more up my alley. Does it do GPS?

The droid is reliable. I can list all the things I were able to do with my droid.

1) was lost looking for a transmission shop for my car. Used the gps to show me all the tranmission shops and guide me to them

2) Looking for a product and trying to find best price. Droid compared the prices and showed location of stores.

3) was able to watch live nfl games at work

4) was able to listen to nfl playoffs

5) ncaa college basketball/ nba

6) music to get me through the day

7) nfl mobile

8) i can go on but I would be thread jacking.

 

[Mule65]

Thanks for the tip. I'll check it out.

I was considering a Moto Droid or HTC Incredible, but I think I'd like a more reliable phone. I'd like to be able to do a little web browsing and texting and this phone seems more up my alley. Does it do GPS?

You're welcome -- you can browse and text but no GPS. Droid Navigate killed my battery in ~3 hours so no big loss. Maybe my battery was defective.