[Jibba]

I imagine this has been discussed a lot before, but my Storm broke earlier this week and I'm torn between the Storm 2 and the Droid. I use my phone a ton for work so the great email setup for Blackberry makes me lean toward the Storm 2. It feels comfortable to me but the Droid browser is what a browser should be. I have an ipod and use that for games and such, so that's not a huge deal one way or the other (although I haven't seen the extent of apps on the Droid). I use my camera phone for work and have a 9 month old so the camera is also important to me. From what I can tell, both have a great camera but the Droid is slightly better, albeit slower.

Has anyone owned both phones and have an opinion that can help me make my decision? Thanks in advance.

[hydroz_23]

I'm not usually the first to tell people to search but this is ridiculous. This topic has been beat to death in the s2 forums and droid forums. Nobody here can tell you. You need to put both of them in your hand and try them out. Do what you want, not what others want. A really quick 2 second search found these threads, and thats just a few of hundreds

droid vs storm 2

Storm 1 vs Storm 2 vs Droid

PROs and CONs of the STORM 2 vs DROID

Compare DROID v. Storm

Simple question on Droid vs Storm2 vs new HTC devices


Crackberry Search

Google Search

[naj4bb]

As far as I can tell between my brother's droid and my own Storm2 this is indeed a no brainer. Email, obviously Storm2 wins. Sex appeal, should go to the droid but for a small amount there are tons of great themes to install on your phone. I use an HTC Real Hero theme by BT Designs purchased for $5. So that's a wash. At first glance the browser on the Droid should kick the Storm2's **** however every user should have Opera Mini installed. It kicks the s%$t out of every browser on every phone. I only use the BlackBerry browser for installs at this point, so advantage Storm2. Also, say what you want about the SurePress technology but the touchscreen is much more responsive than everything outside of Apple. Yes, I'm biased but this shouldnt be a difficult decision.

[1812dave]

screen- S2 wins (brightness and feedback)

internet browsing - Droid wins

I figure what good is a phone if I can't see what's on the screen in sunlight, so I prefer the Storm for it's very bright screen.

You want Bluetooth voice dialing? then you have to skip the droid.

want BBM? no option but to go with a BB phone.

case closed.

[codythibeauuu]

Hydroz ended that one nicely.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[naj4bb]

internet browsing - Droid wins

Dave, I'm curious why you say Droid wins browsing? I've compared my Storm2 using the Opera Mini browser against my brother's Droid and it's no contest. The Storm2 loads pages (much) faster, uses cache memory more efficiently for better jumping back and forth between pages and implements tabbed browsing in a perfectly intuitive manner. All that AND it syncs automatically with my desktop versions bookmarks and speed dial.

[spyderman09]

Hydroz ended that one nicely.

Yep. I agree 100%...but you know this thread will still end up going on for 5 pages...

[Daruba]

I'm not usually the first to tell people to search but this is ridiculous. This topic has been beat to death in the s2 forums and droid forums....

So right you are.

Still...as long people like to answer, others like to ask the same question over and over and over and over and.....

[EnergyPlus]

Couldn't have said it better myself, Hydroz. I would not, however, have gone the extra mile you did to actually do the search and list the links. You're the man! These things drive me bazonkers.

I'm not usually the first to tell people to search but this is ridiculous. This topic has been beat to death in the s2 forums and droid forums. Nobody here can tell you. You need to put both of them in your hand and try them out. Do what you want, not what others want. A really quick 2 second search found these threads, and thats just a few of hundreds

droid vs storm 2

Storm 1 vs Storm 2 vs Droid

PROs and CONs of the STORM 2 vs DROID

Compare DROID v. Storm

Simple question on Droid vs Storm2 vs new HTC devices


Crackberry Search

Google Search

[1812dave]

Dave, I'm curious why you say Droid wins browsing? I've compared my Storm2 using the Opera Mini browser against my brother's Droid and it's no contest. The Storm2 loads pages (much) faster, uses cache memory more efficiently for better jumping back and forth between pages and implements tabbed browsing in a perfectly intuitive manner. All that AND it syncs automatically with my desktop versions bookmarks and speed dial.

well, I say that because when I tried a droid, it felt more like when I use my touch for browsing, for both speed and ease of navigation. it just "felt" more in tune with what I like about browsing via my touch. I compared the two, keeping in mind that on the Storm2, one is using the BB browser, rather than Bolt or Opera. I tried Opera and really didn't like it--faster, but I hated the interface. If you ask 10 people which browser they like, I think you'll find that no one browser gets the nod from everyone.

[1812dave]

So right you are.

Still...as long people like to answer, others like to ask the same question over and over and over and over and.....

consider this for a moment: hardware doesn't perform the same over time, due to OS releases and application updates. If I browsed the web a month ago for S2 vs Droid comments, I might find the answers a bit different than from folks would say about them today. Take 607, for example--not a HUGE improvement, but at least it brought some needed fixes to the S2. Same with Droid. Phones "evolve" CONSTANTLY, due to updates. I see no reason to try to discourage people from asking a question! IF you don't like the question, IGNORE THE THREAD.

[Steved6086]

My manager where i work has the Blackberry tour for work/email, and the droid for a personel phone. in my opinion if you enjoy having a bunch of free apps to play around with and the time to actually get the full benefit out of those apps, go droid. but nothing can surpass the emailing capability of the Blackberry. i use the Storm1 myself and would never consider getting an android meirly because of the applications and faster internet, but i work 9 hours a day and have no need for superfast internet on my cellphone. a higher megapixel camera is only good if you are taking pictures then sending them to the computer to enlarge and crop/print.

[Jibba]

Can people please stop cluttering the thread with complaints about doing searches? I did search and I've read multiple articles. Then I still did not have an answer to my question because it's a pretty big deal to me (I don't get a new phone very often) and these phones can change quite a bit from month to month (new OS upgrades, new hardware upgrades, etc.). I don't feel all that comfortable relying on opinions from last year. And I'm particularly interested in opinions from people who use their phone in a similar manner as myself. So I asked the question. I did not, however, force you to come into the thread, fail to contribute anything, and simply complain. That said, thanks to everyone who did chime in with opinions, including hyrdroz. The point about holding them in your own hand is something that can't be ignored, and I was actually at a Verizon store doing just that after posting this thread. There's just something about the Droid that doesn't feel comfortable. I feel like I could get used to it but I'm not 100% convinced.

Also, I read somewhere that the Droid does not sync with Outlook. Is that true?

[itwaswritten315]

Couldn't have said it better myself, Hydroz. I would not, however, have gone the extra mile you did to actually do the search and list the links. You're the man! These things drive me bazonkers.

You know, I hate the posts that applaud the person who told the OP to do a search.. You realize your doing just as much cluttering, and contributing nothing? Like someone said above.. if this truely drives you crazy, don't respond to the thread, ignore it.. (although how does threads on an internet message board drive anyone crazy.. really now).

Now to the OPs question. I had the original Storm. I loved it, really had no huge problems with it other then BIS outages. I switched from BES to BIS at the end of my usage with the phone, and the only complaint was the email delay (sometimes 1 minute, sometimes 30 mins). I really only switched to a new phone because I had an upgrade available, otherwise I'd probably still be using it.

With that said, my choices came down to the same ones you face now. The S2 improved on many of the complaints users had from the previous model, and seemed to be put together quite nicely. Although when I compared it to the droid, I just wasn't as impressed. The whole OS just seemed way more impressive at first glance. There was absolutely no lag what so ever. I could customize pretty much everything I wanted. The market place blows BB app world out of the water, both free and paid apps. Of course there isn't a BES option for android phones, but for the cheaper (29.99) data plan, I get most of the features, and my email is instant, no more delays.

I'll just list a small list of the pro's & cons of the droid since I havent had much use with the storm2.

Pro -
Extremely customizable (ROMs, apps, OC)
Fast WWW Browsing
Comes with 16gb SD card
Ipod replacement (for me at least)
Wifi tethering (kind of goes with the customization above)
pull out keyboard (although, I never use it)

Cons -
I miss the push in screen of the storm, I liked it a lot.
No BBM (I almost did not get the phone just cause of this.. )
There are no true native IM apps other then gtalk. 3rd party IM apps like to DC quite a bit
There will be a learning curve, albeit small just to get familiar with the OS.

Hope that helps!

[leglace]

I like my Storm 2 better for:

form factor. It is a great size, and feels great in your hand.

typing. The typing on the storm is one of a kind.

dialer and phone functionality. The dialer pad rocks.

Text sizing. I have the text size sized up perfectly in my messaging. Can't resize text with the Droid.

I like the social apps better on the Storm. I use BBM, Google talk Snaptu and FB. FB app on the BB is slightly better imo. Droid does not use BBM.

Really love surepress. You either love it or hate it.

I use enterprise, so messaging is better. I liked it on BIS as well. Droid has a habit of deleting emails for pop mail. It forces you to install an app as a workaround.

[itwaswritten315]

Also, I read somewhere that the Droid does not sync with Outlook. Is that true?

Are you using exchange? If so, it works quite nicely. It'll import all contacts, calendars items, messages etc pretty quickly once set up. There is also a 3rd party exchange available on the phone, free version (disables itself every 3 days for 1 day) or paid version (i think its 19.99). I haven't tried or bought it, i just use the native email app and everything works great.

[greydarrah]

I like the S2 better, but my son's droid is a great phone. It comes down to person preference, and since it's your phone and none of us will use it, your the person that has to decide.

[Bettermost]

As soon as Sprint launches the Android powered 4G HTC Evo I'm ditching both Verizon and Blackberry. I have been using a Sprint 4G modem card now for the last 6 months and there is no comparison in speed and I always have great signal strength where ever I go. I have had enough of Verizon's lack of customer service and RIMs lack of quality. The Droid, the IPhone, Storm are no longer state of the art once this arrives next month.

Sprint - HTC EVOâ„¢ 4G

[Jibba]

Thank you to everyone who has chimed in. I decided to go with the Storm 2 for now. I know I like the interface since I had the Storm 1 for over a year and liked it, despite a number of minor problems along the way. I'm really going to miss out on that amazing browser in the Droid but I'm accustomed to only using certain websites (mostly mobile) from my phone and they don't have much lag. I customized my Storm 1 the way I liked it so I can't see how I'd really need more customization options. And while it would be cool to have access to all the apps, etc. on the Droid, I have an ipod which I use for games and fun little apps. In the end, I just didn't like the feel of the Droid in my hand. It was a bit too big and clunky and I don't really like the slider and probably wouldn't use it, which means it would just be dead weight.

I'm lucky enough that my work pays for my phone but I am strongly considering keeping the Storm 2 for a year and then moving on to something else and just paying for the upgrade myself (so I don't push it too much with my work). Anyway, I hope I don't regret not getting the Droid.

[itsdollar]

Thank you to everyone who has chimed in. I decided to go with the Storm 2 for now. I know I like the interface since I had the Storm 1 for over a year and liked it, despite a number of minor problems along the way. I'm really going to miss out on that amazing browser in the Droid but I'm accustomed to only using certain websites (mostly mobile) from my phone and they don't have much lag. I customized my Storm 1 the way I liked it so I can't see how I'd really need more customization options. And while it would be cool to have access to all the apps, etc. on the Droid, I have an ipod which I use for games and fun little apps. In the end, I just didn't like the feel of the Droid in my hand. It was a bit too big and clunky and I don't really like the slider and probably wouldn't use it, which means it would just be dead weight.

I'm lucky enough that my work pays for my phone but I am strongly considering keeping the Storm 2 for a year and then moving on to something else and just paying for the upgrade myself (so I don't push it too much with my work). Anyway, I hope I don't regret not getting the Droid.

It's a great phone (storm2). Yeah they will have so many other choices out by next year anyway and hopefully we'll get the webkit browser before then. Enjoy your Storm 2. I love it. Droid is probably a good phone also.

[cloudline9700]

I have both and this is what I think.

Internet Browsing: Droid wins, hands down. Opera Beta 5 is just as fast but can't load certain web pages and sucks at rendering.

Email: If you're a Gmail user, Droid wins hands down. If not, the S2 wins in the push email category.

OS Stability: Droid wins. No battery pulls, lag, reboots, etc. I've had my Storm since yesterday and already switched to 607 because I got a few reboots on the stock OS. So far so good though.

Apps: Droid, no contest. WAY more apps than BB App World or CB Store and most are free.

Functionality: This is close but I'm gonna give it to BB. When you wanna get things done quick, it's a little easier on the BB.

Typing: I can type on both easily. Tie.

Call Quality: Calls sound better on the Droid. Nuff said.

Messaging: Both are good. But the S2 has BBM.

Speed: Droid is seems a lot faster at everything. Opening apps, scrolling, etc.

I have both devices because I like both (and can't live without BBM). They both have their strong and weak points. If I had to keep one, it would be hard to choose. But overall, if you want BBM go Storm 2. If you want web browsing and apps, go Droid.

Good luck mate

[Legio X]

Hydroz,

Thank you for adding links, but I did not find any of the responses helpful for the OP's question. Doing a search and finding a useful answer are two separate endeavors. For everyone responding, try to give thoughtful answers and the searches will actually yield something of value.

To the Original Poster,

I own a Droid and Storm 9530, and have used a Storm 2 on and off and it really depends what you want to use the phone for.

Droid Pros:
Great screen resolution (though difficult to see in bright sunlight)
Browser is faster and presents content more closely to what you would find on a desktop.
Google applications are better on this device than any BlackBerry counterpart (particularly Gmail and Maps. I also use Voice and Talk)
More free apps
Camera resolution is higher, but slower between taking pictures
More fun to use and customize

Droid Cons:
Phone is large and heavy (not so bad without protective case, but once it's on you really notice the difference between the two)
If you are not heavy on Gmail or other Google services, I'd reconsider.
CDMA only, not a world phone.
Security (may not be an issue for you, but I only keep sensitive info on my Berry)
It's a great "weekend/weeknight" phone but not a 9-5er.
Facebook app is very limited, most tasks (direct messages) need to be done on mobile site.
Can't really sync or backup data on your computer easily (yes there are options, but the average person can't)
Difficult to sync with iTunes
Also little things like no dedicated phone hard key (doesn't seem like a big deal when you first get the phone, but becomes more annoying the longer you have the phone.)
One weird thing - Attachments to emails are more accessible on Storm than Droid. Sometimes, I'm unable to access a video attachment in Gmail on the Droid, but Storm is just fine.
No BBM

I have Opera on both Droid and Storm and it may be faster than Android browser, but not better. The visual browsing experience on a Droid/iPhone is fast enough and much more rich. RIM is working on a webkit browser and even the most die hard BlackBerry fan boy must admit the browsing experience is not up to modern smartphone standards. Besides browsing, Storm does almost everything else as well or better.

Better on the Storm Docs to go, email (no contest), messaging, Facebook (much better but not as good as iPhone), password keeper, BBM, non Gmail email, Memo, tasks, phone (day to day ease of use), Twitter
Same or similar enough: Pandora, Flixster, Skype, music, IM, Yelp, Weatherbug, Urbanspoon

Better on Droid: Google Maps (by a wide margin), Gmail, YouTube, NPR app, free apps in general, Browser (by a wide margin), Video Camera (regular camera has more megapixels but no real difference in every day use. Storm actualy takes better pictures at night, make that much better)

Just a few considerations. For fun I prefer the Droid, for managing my life, nothing beats a BlackBerry. If I only carried one phone it would either be a 9550 or 9700. If you use Gmail/Google services a lot and browse on your phone a lot, Droid is the phone for you.


Hope this was helpful.

Good luck

[Mr. Orange 645]

Wow. This is the single most beaten dead horse I've ever seen.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[CostaBerry]

I left my Tour for the Droid for about 3 months. Although the Droid is definately a horse of a phone, I've never been so happy to be back to a Blackberry again. I got a Storm 2 on Monday and its awesome! Like everyone else has said, the only thing that the Droid really has going for it is its fast browser and rich screen. I could never get used to the funky design of the Droid either. It was so hard to find a case for it that I liked and yes it's very clunky as others have stated. Also, I was never able to really use the Droid for my job because of the email. Blackberry is definately the way to go for business use.

[Jibba]

Hydroz,

Thank you for adding links, but I did not find any of the responses helpful for the OP's question. Doing a search and finding a useful answer are two separate endeavors. For everyone responding, try to give thoughtful answers and the searches will actually yield something of value.

To the Original Poster,

I own a Droid and Storm 9530, and have used a Storm 2 on and off and it really depends what you want to use the phone for.

Droid Pros:
Great screen resolution (though difficult to see in bright sunlight)
Browser is faster and presents content more closely to what you would find on a desktop.
Google applications are better on this device than any BlackBerry counterpart (particularly Gmail and Maps. I also use Voice and Talk)
More free apps
Camera resolution is higher, but slower between taking pictures
More fun to use and customize

Droid Cons:
Phone is large and heavy (not so bad without protective case, but once it's on you really notice the difference between the two)
If you are not heavy on Gmail or other Google services, I'd reconsider.
CDMA only, not a world phone.
Security (may not be an issue for you, but I only keep sensitive info on my Berry)
It's a great "weekend/weeknight" phone but not a 9-5er.
Facebook app is very limited, most tasks (direct messages) need to be done on mobile site.
Can't really sync or backup data on your computer easily (yes there are options, but the average person can't)
Difficult to sync with iTunes
Also little things like no dedicated phone hard key (doesn't seem like a big deal when you first get the phone, but becomes more annoying the longer you have the phone.)
One weird thing - Attachments to emails are more accessible on Storm than Droid. Sometimes, I'm unable to access a video attachment in Gmail on the Droid, but Storm is just fine.
No BBM

I have Opera on both Droid and Storm and it may be faster than Android browser, but not better. The visual browsing experience on a Droid/iPhone is fast enough and much more rich. RIM is working on a webkit browser and even the most die hard BlackBerry fan boy must admit the browsing experience is not up to modern smartphone standards. Besides browsing, Storm does almost everything else as well or better.

Better on the Storm Docs to go, email (no contest), messaging, Facebook (much better but not as good as iPhone), password keeper, BBM, non Gmail email, Memo, tasks, phone (day to day ease of use), Twitter
Same or similar enough: Pandora, Flixster, Skype, music, IM, Yelp, Weatherbug, Urbanspoon

Better on Droid: Google Maps (by a wide margin), Gmail, YouTube, NPR app, free apps in general, Browser (by a wide margin), Video Camera (regular camera has more megapixels but no real difference in every day use. Storm actualy takes better pictures at night, make that much better)

Just a few considerations. For fun I prefer the Droid, for managing my life, nothing beats a BlackBerry. If I only carried one phone it would either be a 9550 or 9700. If you use Gmail/Google services a lot and browse on your phone a lot, Droid is the phone for you.


Hope this was helpful.

Good luck

This was a great post with more information than I had seen previously posted in old threads. I was seriously considering going to my office manager and telling her to switch my order from the Storm 2 to the Droid but think I'll pass. I need a device more for managing my life than for fun. I know a small part of me will regret not having all those fun apps but I guess I'll stick with my gut and BB.

Also, since you seem to have a lot of experience with different smart phones, do you have an opinion on the removal of actual buttons from the Storm 2? Not having these makes me worry just a little bit. Thanks!