Motorola Droid review roundup

With an unusually high level of buzz in the blogosphere and whispers of “iPhone killer” and “the screen, the screen, oh my goodness the screen” in the air, we though it would be wise to round up some of the reviews of the US Motorola Droid handset.

We’ve established that it’s on its way to Europe and that it’ll be called the Milestone, but what do our American buddies think of the Google Navigatior-enabled (damn them) device? Step this way to find out.

The writers at technology site Engadget got in early with their Droid review. They call it an “odd and beautiful device,” praising Motorola to the rafters for bucking the trend that permeates the smartphone industry of smooth edges and flowing lines.

They see the tussle with the iPhone as a fairly even match, with the Droid superior on messaging, email, and customisation while Apple’s device remains the more intuitive and pleasurable to use.

While generally positive concerning the Droid hardware, they say the camera is pretty sub-standard. It takes an age to focus and yields bizarrely mixed results when it comes to the final picture.

General browsing on the device is impressive: “Throughout our tests, we were consistently impressed with the tightness and speed of navigation on the phone. The DROID makes Android feel modern the way the iPhone 3GS and Palm Pre are.”

Web browsing in particular benefits from the device’s speedy processor and the improvements of Android 2.0, while “another perk to having that big screen is seeing webpages how they're meant to be viewed.”

The conclusion: “Ultimately, the DROID won't usurp the iPhone from the public's collective mindshare or convince casual users that they must switch to Android, but it will make a lot of serious geeks seriously happy.”

Gizmodo nails its colours to the mast admirably early, the very first line to the review reading: “It's this simple: If you don't buy an iPhone, buy a Droid.”

Fortunately, they choose to elaborate on this. They reckon that much of the Droid’s appeal is down to the Android 2.0 operating system, which they give a separate review. While it’s a marked improvement on the first version, they say, it still lacks in enough areas (notably music and video) to place it behind the iPhone.

The Gizmodo boys are also less than complementary of the Droid’s camera, backing up Engadget’s assertion that it’s too slow to focus and the picture quality too unpredictable to rely on it as an every day snapper.

Like all the other sites they dig the Droid’s unorthodox looks, and absolutely drool over its 3.7 inch capacitive screen, calling the 854x480 display, “the kind of screen you ache for.”

The review concludes that while the Droid definitely plays second fiddle to the iPhone, the gauntlet has well and truly been thrown down for future Android devices: “that Droid sets such a high bar for everything after might be the best thing about it.”

The staff of Boy Genius have been a major supporter of the Droid since the first pictures and info were leaked (and they were responsible for much of it), so it’s unsurprising to see them praising the device in their review.

It’s a nicely balanced review, though - while the site joins the others in praising the display, it feels that it comes in second to the iPhone in that particular area.

Boy Genius is perhaps the site to listen to when it comes to the contentious keyboard (the keys are widely held to be too flat, for one thing), as it’s had the device for a good month or so.

The reviewer had this to say on the matter: “it’s not a BlackBerry and the actual spacing of the keys isn’t great, but it is really livable I think.”

Having said that, the odd positioning of the D-pad makes for a bit of a no-no.

The site that broke the device concludes that the Droid is “the most compelling alternative to the iPhone we’ve ever used.”

Phandroid is a fan of the Droid (do you see what I did there?), but it starts its review off with a stark warning: “the ensuing Motorola Droid review is filled with its fair share of negativity.”

Fortunately, there’s no partial nudity or mild peril to speak of.

Among the list of negatives is a noticeable gap between the two main sections, which lead to a slightly “bouncy” touchscreen experience. The site’s also not a fan of the camera or the QWERTY keyboard, which it says is sub-G1 standard.

Overall, though, the site agrees with the others that the Droid is an awesome piece of kit. While it accepts that the QWERTY keyboard isn’t the best, it believes that the slimness of the device and the excellence of its software keyboard makes it just another nice option to have.

Part of the review gives the battery life a thorough grilling, but try as it might the reviewer couldn’t get it to drop below the seven hour mark. As any G1 users will tell you, this is quite an impressive number for an Android device - especially one with a huge, bright-as-the-sun screen.

Phandroid sums the Droid up thusly: “It isn’t a perfect phone, but it gets the important things right and has zero areas of total failure.” The reviewer’s even going to buy one, which is a sure sign that any hard-up journo thinks a product is a bit special.

There’s a common consensus among these reviews - the Motorola Droid/Milestone is a viable alternative to the iPhone. Because it does things a little differently, both in terms of style and functionality, it’s the prime choice for anyone who doesn’t want to buy Apple and well worthy of consideration for those who have no preference.

In terms of negatives, all agree that the physical QWERTY keyboard is flawed (if usable), and that the camera is more than a bit poo, producing inconsistent results. There are also lingering niggles with the Android OS which will need to be resolved in subsequent updates.

However, it’s unanimous that the positives far outweigh the negatives. The screen is an unqualified success, being larger, brighter and sharper than the iPhone’s and almost as responsive.

All agree, too, that Google Navigator is shaping up to be an absolute killer of an application, and one that could disrupt both the smartphone and sat nav markets. While we won’t get the service from launch in Europe, it’s definitely one to keep an eye on.

Meanwhile, despite the flaws, Android 2.0 is a major improvement over the previous version and is clearly a developing OS that’s headed for great things in the future.

For now, though, the Droid takes its place near the top of the pile, with Apple’s iPhone firmly in its sights.