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Seven Months with A Droid: What Could Have Been Improved

What sucks, in bulleted form, to get to the point:

I still love it because it’s the only Verizon phone that does raw Android these days. And I don’t like the Droid X, Droid 2 or HTC Incredible, so I’m happy for now. I’m still jealous of the Nexus One because it’s sleek, but Google botched the launch of that phone. I would have done it differently (and better).

Droid X vs. HTC Incredible

Mike over at ScoopandSlam (hey look, free shout out) asked me for my comments on the Droid X vs. the HTC Droid Incredible. I pretty much wrote him a book in my comment on his post, so I figured I might as well archive it on my blog. If you’re brave (or geek enough to read my book, go ahead, otherwise you’ll probably be bored. To quote myself:

Straight up the Droid X has better hardware. Take a look at this chart. Also, the Engadget review on the Droid X is decent, but they spend too much time comparing it to the EVO 4G. I can only speculate based on reviews and and my research, but here are my further comments:

There’s something about HTC that pisses me off. Probably SenseUI with that huge fucking clock on the homescreen (you can probably turn that off though) and the moronicly shaped waste of space software phone/menu buttons on the bottom. At the same time, I’ve never seen Motoblur, but from commercials, it looks very similar to the regular Google UI/ my Droid (only with different icons). Android skins piss me the hell off. From screenshots, I like Motoblur better, but I would much prefer for these hardware companies to stop fucking with UI customizations and leaving it the way Google intended it to. All of these customizations are fragmenting the Android OS and confusing people, letting morons like Apple and RIM’s Blackberry gain more users because their interfaces are consistent.

Because of the two UI themes, neither phone pleases me. SenseUI kills me, so I automatically put the Incredible out of my mind. At the same time, the Droid X is so damn huge, it doesn’t impress me either. So if I needed a new Android phone right now, I’m at a loss. I love the idea of the Nexus One because it’s sleek, but that’s out of the question because Verizon dropped it in favor of the two you’re pondering. Google also fucked up the launch of the Nexus One – they should have released it to carriers to sell and not created their own web store, plus releasing it to T Mobile was just dumb as shit and caused them to lose mad sales. Anyway…

The Incredible and Droid X are both very good pieces of hardware, but the Droid X is better. I hate the fact that the Droid X has such a huge screen. However, I did read that it was lighter than the Droid and if you said it fit into your pocket nicely and wasn’t too bad, go for it. The Droid X also has 7 homescreens, which is nice because in all honesty, there are so many cool widgets 3 screens simply isn’t enough.

Something to note: the Droid Incredible has the same sized screen as the original Droid. And on my Droid, the virtual keyboard is a pain in the ass and cramped (I’ve actually been using the physical keyboard). You eventually get used to it though. But with a bigger screen, the keyboard is more spread out and probably easier.

Droid X also records in HD and plays HD video, plus it has an HDMI out.

So my only concern is that you’d look like you’re hoding an iPad to your head when making calls, but if that’s not too bad for you, it doesn’t matter.

I’d lean Droid X, pending you taking a look at MotoBlur. Although it’s completely up to you.

Either way, if you go with an Android phone you’ll be happy. And they both have crazy cameras lots of storage and fast processors. No matter what you get, once you get it enjoy it and ignore the other one/ new phones that come out. Otherwise you’ll go crazy comparing things. I was SO pissed when the Nexus one was announced because I didn’t have the best phone anymore.

Good luck.