Which Verizon Android Phone?
A while back I decided that I really wanted a smart phone, and I’ve been saving my pennies. My biggest problem was that I’m a Verizon customer who doesn’t want to switch to AT&T. While I love the idea of an iPhone I hate the idea of leaving Verizon. I like the fact I’ve only been one place I couldn’t get a signal with Verizon, and it wasn’t at my parents house in Maine. This is a plus which overcomes my lust for an iPhone. I’ve been hearing lots of good things about the Motorola Droid and also had read up on the HTC Droid Eris and decided to go the Verizon store to check them both out in person. I wanted to be able to use them to see what I thought. My initial perceptions from the reviews I read was that the Motorola product was superior that combined with its slide out keyboard made me think this would be the better choice.
In person experiences proved somewhat different. First, reviews said that the screen quality on the Eris wasn’t as good as the Droid. To test this out I went to YouTube and watched a couple of videos, including one of my favorite series – Simon’s Cat. I was astounded that the YouTube videos looked pretty crummy on the Droid while the Eris made them look quite nice. Being an experimentalist at heart I thought it might be the fact that the Droid phone I was playing with was messed up due to use/abuse at the Verizon store. So I tried it on two other display models, same result. Going to the store I also thought that the slide-out keyboard would be a plus. However, upon testing it out at the store, I realized that it wasn’t all that a big plus IMHO. Really typing on the screen v. typing on the keyboard pretty similar. Three other points that have tipped things in the Eris’ favor: the Eris let’s you zoom in and out by touch like an iPhone. The Eris seemed more responsive than the Droid which was laggy. (This seems to be due the newer version of the Android OS). I also like the fact that the Eris has buttons for the basic phone functions. This is something that I’ve always wondered about with the iPhone. How the heck do people easily use it as a phone? Obviously it isn’t a problem for my friends with iPhones but I’m wondering if they found it at all disconcerting at first.
A couple other questions kicking around in my head?
- I’ve read that the Eris as an older version of the Android OS on it but is likely to get an upgrade in the first 1/4 of 2010. Will this only apply to new phone or it something that I can get if I buy an Eris now?
- Can put a video file on and Android phone to watch? Streaming video from Hulu and Netflix doesn’t seem to be a possibility yet.
- Battery life? – Many reviews say this is an issue, but I’ve got no way to test. If anyone has an Eris and would like to comment I’d appreciate.
So I’m back to mulling and perhaps waiting to see what new tech comes out in the next month.
Ooo, I’m jealous. I’m a T-Mobiler, so I’ve just got the G1. But I do love it most of the time. Biggest complaint: battery life, like you mention. (Second biggest complaint, camera. Not an issue with the Droids.) But I don’t know about the Droid or Eris battery life (lives?).
You definitely can put video on the phone if you have a way to transcode it. Easy enough with Handbrake. You are a Mac user, right?
Hi Karen,
I bought the Motorola Droid and my wife bought the Eris so we have one of each in house. I can say we’re both very happy with our choices. There are things I like better about the Moto Droid and there are things she likes better about the Eris (one example is weight… she’s much happier with a lighter phone while I like the solidness of the Moto Droid).
As the above commenter posted, you can put a video on there to test with. You can mount them like a drive on your machine and move video (or mp3 or whatever) over for testing. I’ve not been disappointed with video on the Moto. I don’t think my wife watches much video on her Eris. I will say I haven’t been overly impressed by the camera on the Moto, but my wife has commented that she’d like the flash that the Moto has. This is my first experience with a cell phone camera, though, so maybe the Moto’s camera is good by other standards.
As for the keyboard, I’d agree it’s not as important to have the physical keyboard. I find that the Moto Droid virtual keyboard is so nice that I use that most of the time (only occasionally falling back to the physical one). I do like the larger screen of the Moto though (fat fingers). I don’t use the “mouse” of the Moto and notice they have another phone (like the Moto Droid) coming out without it (at least in the preliminary pictures).
My wife has commented about the battery life on her Eris phone – her experience is that it is shorter than she’d like it to be. I’ve not really had any complaints about the Moto Droid (and love that it is a battery that can be replaced (if needed) without a trip into the repair shop). I might be wrong but I think the Eris’ battery is internal (Christy is not home at the moment so I can’t check that to be sure).
I also love the Google Nav program (it’s been worth the money alone), but imagine Eris will get that when it gets the latest version of the OS. I also imagine the tighter contact integration will happen with the next OS upgrade. I think that’s true of the voice search too (across everything), but again not positive about that.
I haven’t had any complaints about my Droid being sluggish (there is the occasional app in the market that has problems with the Droid, but these are being upgraded quickly I think). I am waiting for streaming from Hulu (or even better, though I doubt it will happen soon, streaming Netflix(!)) to be available, too. That will be fantastic.
Overall, I’d imagine you’d be happy with either phone. There are conveniences on the Eris that feel like they get in the way to me, but my wife has commented that she likes the ease of her phone much better than the Moto (I think either perspective probably is just taking a look from the position that we know).
If you have any questions, feel free to email (we can do a head to head comparison).
I was in a similar position recently, though not tied to Verizon. I also preferred the Eris on first look.
HTC and Google are announcing a new, much hyped, phone on Tuesday. It looks to be a big step up from the Eris. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Verizon offer some variant of it before long, so it might be worth waiting a bit if that seems attractive.
LOL, I tried to convince my husband to do the same thing and just swap for the first couple weeks to figure out which one we each wanted. As long as we return the one we didn’t want by 30 days it would be a great way to figure out which I want.
My wife and I just purchased Motorola Droids a week ago. They’re great phones. We did a lot of research before choosing between Droid and Eris, but it ultimately came down to how it felt to use each phone.
My overall impression was that it was easier to do what I wanted to do on the Droid. I was looking for a tiny portable computer that doubles as a phone, so it didn’t bother me that you have to click the “Phone” shortcut on your desktop before you see all the phone functions. Phone features seemed to get in the way of navigating the rest of the features on the Eris.
As for the keyboard, I have a hard time typing on the touchscreen (fat fingers). It’s much easier for me on the slide-out keyboard of the Droid, and you don’t lose half your screen to the on-screen keyboard.
If you buy now, you can upgrade as soon as HTC releases an update. HTC puts its own skin on top of Android, and there seems to be a 4-6 month delay between Android updates and HTC Android updates. The Droid has very few customizations from Verizon, so updates come faster.
I can’t answer for the Eris, but on the Droid I use about 30-50% of the battery each day. The most I’ve used in one day is 70%. You’ll probably want to charge daily. Whenever you connect to your computer over USB, you’re charging your phone, so that can help.
I heard a rumor (that was somewhat confirmed by a Verizon employee) that Verizon would be offering an “Apple product” sometime within the first quarter of 2010. I tried out a Droid in a store last week and decided that the keyboard just would not be workable for me, so I’m planning to hold on to my old phone and wait and see!
I have an Eris and I love it. I headed to the store for the Motorola version – but too bulky in my hand. The only complaints I have are the battery life and the phone feature making calls on it’s own. Anytime you use the wi-fi it saps the battery pretty quick. I keep a charger at work and plug it in throughout the day if I can. I have to remind myself after I use the phone to return the screen to homepage or it will just redial the last used number. Simple fix – return it to your homepage. I-Phone has apps to print from the phone itself – does the Android? And if so – any tips?
@ Scot.
Dude the G1 can run any of the newer Android programs. Google xdadevelopers to learn more. My rooted HTC Dream (aka Tmobile G1) is overclocked, loaded with the newest HTC Magic (MyTouch3G/Eris) updates and blows a stock Verizon Droid or G1/Mytouch clean out of the water. Think of Droid as an operating system, not just a phone. It uses an open source lynix kernal and can be updated to the newest and brightest and is why its so popular. All Verizon did was capitalize on the “Droid” name which is really just a nickname for Android OS. Knowledge = Power.
I am very disappointed that Verizon’s Android phones lack world capability. I have been with Verizon for 14 years and I am about to switch to the Iphone with AT&T. Why on earth would they leave this out? Does anyone know if this feature is coming soon to Android phones?
The video quality on the Motorola Droid is great! When watching a YouTube video press the menu key, select more, and then choose “watch in high quality”. I wish you could set it so every video you open would be in high quality automatically, but you do have to select it each time.
This user also wants to stay with Verizon, and because I was out of the country and suspended for some months, my indentured servitude now extends to May. By then rumors of a Verizon iphone will be clearer and the android software universe will be larger, so I’ll have more to decide with. Until then I’ll put up with my aging but solid Treo 755p, which is a good phone and dandy PIM, but useless for web functions.
the battery isn’t too much of an issue- unless you want to do anything other than use it as a phone, and not for long calls……then, oops, better carry your wall charger EVERYWHERE (i do) plus make sure to plug it into your car charger as a matter of course. it’ll usually need it.
so, to recap:
o.k. (fair) battery life unless you google something, check a few emails, take a few pics, or read a book…….then, you have a big problem.
start looking for wall outlets wherever you go, like i did at the airport, in the deserted us airways boarding area the other night. with my phone on almost no battery…….it took me a very long time, but after walking up and down the area forever it seemed, i did find one. had to sit on the floor to be near enough. phone took over an hour to charge. nice.
I have an eris and love it couldnt ask for more in a phone. I who have had an iPhone think my eris is better! Battery life is not the best but I can not tell much more than my Iphone the first few days it sucked but I was using it constantly learning how to use it.
I know this post is a little old, but is is a top result on a google, so I wanted to add respond to the observation about the video quality. I have the Motorola Droid, and previously had the HTC G1. At first, I also noticed the video quality in YouTube was extremely poor with the Droid. However, I found that you can click Menu->More->Watch in High Quality
Now it looks way better than the lower resolution phones (G1, Eris) and it remembers the setting from then on.
Hank,
Thanks for the information. I wondered why the YouTube videos looked so bad on the Droid in the store.
Well, dont get the eris because i have it and tha battery sucks !! I punt mine on the charger for two hours and then i leave and by an hour it is already dead! ,it sucks . iregret buying it