[OkieBerry]

I dumped my Curve 8310 (and AT&T) for a Droid. A couple of people at work have the new Tour and Curve, and I think the OS, looks, navigation is absolute crap. I can't believe they released an OS so ugly, yes people want functionality but something that looks good isn't a bad thing.

The only advantage I could see BB having is the Enterprise mail server, other than that I push out my POP3/IMAP just fine from my GMail, school, and Cox accounts without any problem. The EDGE network was horrible, so I'm sure at least the 3G BBs will make up for that. On my Droid I get about 1.5MB down and 800k up according to SpeedTest.net, the minimum speeds I get are 1.1MB down and 700K up.


Chat clients, BB Messenger..wow..with Meebo or eBuddy I can chat with every major chat client all in one consolidated window..who cares if the BB has it's own special chat network.

Web browser, iPhone or Droid hands down, Blackberry browser is horrible at the way it renders web pages.

Apps, Blackberry got on that bandwagon too late. Amazon and eBay I can use my phone as a barcode scanner to look up and price items...but maybe the BB can do that.

Personally I think the pros far outweigh the cons on the Droid, I think BB made a big mistake by keeping with the same ugly OS with 5.0.

Droid wins .

[wpwoodjr#AC]

I got the Droid on D-Day, Nov 6, at 6am.

I was moving from a BB Pearl 8130. My Pearl has been great and did everything I asked it to, including streaming music, stereo Bluetooth, email, and keeping a charge from Fri evening to Mon morning (with light usage).

But the Droid is a real step up. Web browsing is fantastic, the screen is gorgeous, GMail has HTML support, there are lots of great applications available, and I've even started to like the hardware keyboard.

Its been great having wi-fi. Recently I've been abroad without data and I can still go online with wi-fi. The EVDO Rev A is lightning fast, I'm getting 1600Kbs (vs 900Kbs on the Pearl and, in informal testing at the store, the Storm 2). A good place to test the speed is at: iPhone speedtest - let us know what speed you get on your Storm 2, Droid, or Eris!

So I'm really enjoying the speed, screen, web browsing, and applications on the Droid. The battery isn't even so bad. What's not to like? There are two main things.

Firstly, the Droid does not play nicely with the MS Sync bluetooth in my Ford Fusion Hybrid. It usually doesn't automatically reconnect to both the phone and the stereo for media playback and I have to connect manually. Then, it acts very laggy so that commands that I initiate on the phone take 20 seconds or so to take effect. For example, pausing the media stream or adjusting the volume. Sometimes, it acts strangely when answering incoming calls and also disconnects intermittently.

Secondly, the lack of hardware buttons makes it frustrating to use. There are no dedicated phone buttons - the phone is just an app like everything else! Sometimes it can take up to 6 actions to get to the "Call log" screen which is where I often dial from. For those who are counting:

1. Turn Droid on
2. Swipe
3. Exit to home screen (if in an application)
4. Swipe or press "home" to get to center home screen (if not there already)
5. Press phone application icon
6. Press Call Log tab

This isn't a huge problem for me, as I don't use the phone a whole lot. However I do miss the dedicated Mute key on the BB.

Also, I listen to pod casts, the media player, Slacker, and Pandora a lot in the car and while working out and its a real problem for me not to have a dedicated pause button. Instead I must:

1. Turn Droid on
2. Swipe
3. Press pause button in application

This is a PIA and gets the screen all messy when I'm working out!

BlackBerries turn on/off when you take it out/put it in the holster, and none of this "swipe to unlock" every frigging time you turn the phone on.

So I'm considering switching to the Storm 2. I'd love to get an Eris but the battery life stories have scared me away. Problem is, I've played with Storm2 in the Verizon store and its slow and clunky compared to Droid. But, it does what I want (except decent web browsing) and has the dedicated buttons so I may just switch over to it. I like the click keyboard too - its much more accurate than Droid's various keyboards.

Other thoughts:
The lack of key rollover on the Droid software keyboards is a real limit to typing speed. Key rollover is when you press a key while lifting off another key. On the Droid I seem to miss a lot of characters because it doesn't support this. My understanding is that the Storm 2 has key rollover.

Battery life is pretty decent but I tend to use the Droid more than my Pearl because of the superior web browsing and bigger screen so it probably wouldn't last me the entire weekend like the Pearl does.

YouTube videos can be viewed in high def if you select this in the menu options. Its absolutely incredible.

The Droid has separate volume settings for notifications, media, etc but does not distinguish between Bluetooth volume, ear-piece, speaker, and headset volume the way BB does. I always leave the BB Bluetooth volume on max but on the Droid there is no concept of BT volume.

I'm thinking I will not like the Storm 2 as much as the Droid (S2 is slower, clunkier) but that it will do everything I use every day better. I hope that webkit browser and 3d graphics support will arrive in early 2010 and make it much more enjoyable as a web device. What I don't understand is why it's so much slower than the Droid on internet speed tests.

In summary, the Droid is like a small computer, I love using it at home or when I'm waiting at the Dr's office or something. For daily use in the car, phone calls, music, etc the BB is better. Its the little things that are driving me crazy on the Droid. I love the apps but I hate the usability on stuff I do all the time.

[Raven71]

I have been searching and google android phone forums. This way I can see what the different likes and dislikes are.
I see there are different models like rim has depending which provider you go with. They are talking about a new one called Passion but I have no real info about it.
Now looking at all the forums the one thing that I realize, you don't see I'm having a problem with white screens of death, or phone keeps re booting and many other things I see on Blackberry forums that are problems.
So far what I don't like is they say that I think it is the Hero or Evo not sure if I am spelling it right is the one with a real keyboard. Still the people that own them and use to own BB say NO comparison that BB has a way better key board.
I also have been reading about open source and wonder how safe security wise are these phones. I trust BB not to be hacked but not sure about these droid phones

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[TvTechGuru]

Secondly, the lack of hardware buttons makes it frustrating to use. There are no dedicated phone buttons - the phone is just an app like everything else! Sometimes it can take up to 6 actions to get to the "Call log" screen which is where I often dial from. For those who are counting:

1. Turn Droid on
2. Swipe
3. Exit to home screen (if in an application)
4. Swipe or press "home" to get to center home screen (if not there already)
5. Press phone application icon
6. Press Call Log tab

This isn't a huge problem for me, as I don't use the phone a whole lot.

I too at first thought it was odd/awkward to not have physical send/end/phone keys. And I was also disspointed to not see any clear way of having quick shortcuts to phonebook or speed dial.

Then I figured it out... and hopefully you will be relieved too!

Do this... from your home screen:
1) Long press on your home screen
2) Press Shortcuts
3) Press "Direct Dial" (this brings up your contacts)
4) Pick someone in your phonebook that you want to use for speed dial

It will now appear on your homescreen as an green phone icon with that persons name below! All you do is press it and it calls them!

What I did is put several "direct dial" shortcuts on my left home screen so all I have to do is wake up my screen, swipe to unlock, swipe to left homescreen and one press to dial!

That to me is just as quick as it was on Blackberry, maybe quicker!

As you use the Droid you will realize there are alot more hidden shortcuts within the OS! It really is nice.

[wpwoodjr#AC]

So, it still takes 4-5 steps vs 2 on BB if your BB has a speed-dial.

[wpwoodjr#AC]

I returned my Droid today and reverted to my Pearl 8130. Its a relief actually. The Pearl does better at Bluetooth, being a phone, and controlling music; plus its smaller.

I may get a Storm, or keep an eye out for an Android phone that's more carefully thought through.

[Kage87Z#CB]

My Droid is everything my Storm isn't. For the things I use it for, there's just no comparison... and I haven't had to pull my battery once.

Bluetooth has been flawless, browser lightening fast, twitter aps (come on, UberTwitter!) work great, Pandora sound quality seems much better... but then, for me, this is more a social/home unit than a business one. The included 16 gig chip and 30 day return policy is nice as well.

I've had my Storm for a year. So far, I don't miss it or anything about it, and the chargers/battery are direct replacements.

The Droid has it quirks (a dedicated phone button is absolutely missed) but so did my "pull-the-battery" every 3 days because QuickPull never worked right Storm.

The Droid is at least worth an extended try, and I recommend it.

[bluz]

Android is becoming a better mobile platform with each passing day; but BB and Android are two different ball games altogether. As of now BB is better but if RIM doesn't buckle up they"ll be lagging behind all Mobile Platforms and that includes Maemo as well.

[mjesenovec]

i've always thought of phones as cars. There are dozens of different kinds of cars, all with their own features, prices, etc. one car company isn't "better" than any other company. it just depends on the features you want vs. the price you wish to pay. There is no perfect or flawless car, just like there is no perfect phone. I have been a bb user for 3 years, and it is by far the smoothest messaging and business oriented platform i've ever used. but, they are without their faults. hardware is never perfect, software updates are too scarce, and some will argue that RIM is keeping up with the tech of other companies. for now, it works for me, and i love my tour. on the other hand, my brother just got a droid...and it's pretty sweet. compared to the bb, it does everything and more...without being an iphone. it will be neat to see how droid os develops and see some of the kinks get worked out. from what i've seen so far, it's pretty solid and runs like greased lightning. at first, i told myself i would never switch to a droid, because i've been so dedicated to bb for years. i bought a used tour, and might use my upgrade in a few months to grab a droid. i'll have to see if i can switch from a bis plan to a droid plan, and back if i dont like it. we'll see though.

[sparkliehrocks]

Maybe I'm the exception, but I notice something "different" about the users with their bbs than any other device: we're always on it. I work at a pharmacy with 4 other bb users and 5 iphone users. The bb users all have their phones out in the open, waiting for a text, bbm, gtalk message, email, etc...while most of the iphone users don't even have their phones in their pockets, but rather, stored away in their purses, bags, etc. Now, when my bf switched from his bb to the droid, I notice a significant change in use. He played with his new toy religiously for the first two weeks, but after that, he doesn't use it nearly as much as he did on his bb. I played on the droid quite often. I like the device, but i found that its reaction time was still significantly slow and I honestly didn't want to chat on the device as much. (the keys didn't feel as welcoming to type on and i hate typing on a touch screen) Now, I think the key to the bb is composed two parts: it's keyboard and shape/size. I trust that the bb is stable and reliable, and i literally don't worry about it being damaged. However, on the iphone and droid, I feel more cautious and less willing to handle it. Compared to the bb, which I always fiddle with even when my laptop is sitting right on my lap, i'll often choose to type of the bb to chat instead.

I love my 8900 and I think bbs in general are so much more efficient. I don't have lag or a delayed reaction time when I press buttons, unlike the droid.

[bluz]

Maybe I'm the exception, but I notice something "different" about the users with their bbs than any other device: we're always on it. I work at a pharmacy with 4 other bb users and 5 iphone users. The bb users all have their phones out in the open, waiting for a text, bbm, gtalk message, email, etc...while most of the iphone users don't even have their phones in their pockets, but rather, stored away in their purses, bags, etc. Now, when my bf switched from his droid to the bb, I notice a significant change in use. He played with his new toy religiously for the first two weeks, but after that, he doesn't use it nearly as much as he did on his bb. I played on the droid quite often. I like the device, but i found that its reaction time was still significantly slow and I honestly didn't want to chat on the device as much. (the keys didn't feel as welcoming to type on and i hate typing on a touch screen) Now, I think the key to the bb is composed two parts: it's keyboard and shape/size. I trust that the bb is stable and reliable, and i literally don't worry about it being damaged. However, on the iphone and droid, I feel more cautious and less willing to handle it. Compared to the bb, which I always fiddle with even when my laptop is sitting right on my lap, i'll often choose to type of the bb to chat instead.

I love my 8900 and I think bbs in general are so much more efficient. I don't have lag or a delayed reaction time when I press buttons, unlike the droid.

i didn't knew that droid suffers from lag issues; there's one more reason not to change sides..

[noized77]

I agree. When I use my Droid it was a hassel to keep it out in the open all the time since it requires two hands to text/email while the BB I can use one hand. Doesn't matter the circumstances...driving,working,meetings. You can use one hand on the Droid, but imagine typing in potrait mode touch screen and landscape is nearly impossible.

Maybe I'm the exception, but I notice something "different" about the users with their bbs than any other device: we're always on it. I work at a pharmacy with 4 other bb users and 5 iphone users. The bb users all have their phones out in the open, waiting for a text, bbm, gtalk message, email, etc...while most of the iphone users don't even have their phones in their pockets, but rather, stored away in their purses, bags, etc. Now, when my bf switched from his droid to the bb, I notice a significant change in use. He played with his new toy religiously for the first two weeks, but after that, he doesn't use it nearly as much as he did on his bb. I played on the droid quite often. I like the device, but i found that its reaction time was still significantly slow and I honestly didn't want to chat on the device as much. (the keys didn't feel as welcoming to type on and i hate typing on a touch screen) Now, I think the key to the bb is composed two parts: it's keyboard and shape/size. I trust that the bb is stable and reliable, and i literally don't worry about it being damaged. However, on the iphone and droid, I feel more cautious and less willing to handle it. Compared to the bb, which I always fiddle with even when my laptop is sitting right on my lap, i'll often choose to type of the bb to chat instead.

I love my 8900 and I think bbs in general are so much more efficient. I don't have lag or a delayed reaction time when I press buttons, unlike the droid.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[wpwoodjr#AC]

One thing I liked about my Droid (there were many things) is that the screen didn't seem to attract fingerprints too much. From playing with the Storm 2 in the store, it seems to attract fingerprints like crazy! What do you Storm owners do about this?

[M_Vineyard]

One thing I liked about my Droid (there were many things) is that the screen didn't seem to attract fingerprints too much. From playing with the Storm 2 in the store, it seems to attract fingerprints like crazy! What do you Storm owners do about this?

Not much

[VZWMacPearl]

I was a Pearl user, but never really got comfortable with the Suretype keyboard. That and a few other things (low memory probs, poor browser, etc.) had me doing the "upgrade countdown" for the last couple of months. When my NE2 day came, I debated between the Tour and the Droid, and went with the Droid. My wife upgraded to the Tour at the same time, and we've had both phones side-by-side for a couple of weeks. I think I can give a pretty clear description of the differences.

The Tour is a BB, and hence it messages way better. There's a lot of misinformation about Yahoo mail being supported on the Droid. Basically, it's intermittent. To get your Y!mail reliably, you have to go through the phone's browser. Not cool.

Neither is the inability to handle calendar invitations. What is up with that Google? I get invites from people using Yahoo calendar, and they are unacceptable in Gmail. I mean that literally - the .ics attachment might as well be a pic of a ZhuZhu pet. Actually, that would be more useful.

The Facebook app on the Droid doesn't handle FB messages, and is less capable than the BB version. No wall posts, no replying to messages, no joy.

The physical keyboard on the Droid is not as bad as some people say, but it's asymmetrical on the body of the phone - there's a "toggle pad" on the right side that pushes the keys to the left. You need a big right hand to type on the keyboard, period. But the landscape touchscreen KB is amazing.

The camera shutter lag is ridiculous. You can't take a picture of your kids or pets unless they are sleeping, watching TV, or waiting for a treat. But the video camera is phenomenal, and the out of the box integration with YouTube is great.

The Droid's FREE voice-guided navigation is such a bonus if you drive a lot. The lack of support for Bluetooth voice commands isn't.

Battery life on the Droid is about 30-40% worse than the Tour, but I'm using the video camera and browser a lot, so maybe that's the reason.

The Droid isn't pocketable, unless you have huge pockets (and a snug belt... this thing is made of metal!). But then again, when I carried my BB in my pocket the trackball always gets gobbed up wtih lint. How do you clean the Tour's trackball, anyway?

In a nutshell, the Droid's capabilities are amazing, and it's omissions are frustrating. The Tour is great refinement of Old Reliable. If you are going to use the Droid's browser, navigation, and other apps a lot, go with it. If you want a great messaging device, period, then go with the BB.

[cookieluvr]

I have had my Droid for a little over a week and I am returning it today and going back to my Curve. I have to say, I love the apps, the speed, the browser and the OS, but my phone needs to be first and foremost a phone and it lacks in that department. The lack of dedicated phone button and end button and the lack of Bluetooth dialing is a big killer for me. The always having to remember to hit the home button after each app or it opens back up in that app is annoying too. I have to say, if you are more interested in the apps and internet get the Droid, it's awesome, if you need phone and email stick with the BB. If Droid ever gets the phone and email problems figured out and changes the physical keyboard I will get one in a heartbeat.

[bluz]

i think the debate whether BB is better than droid or the other way round should be put to rest. There's not a single device which is best in all aspects.BB is best at what it is meant to do e-mails. Iphone offers a better multimedia experience and droid does a bit of everything and coming from the Google stable it would be neatly tied with all the Google apps.No point in comparing BB with the Droid, it depends on the personal preferences that's all.

[wpwoodjr#AC]

i think the debate whether BB is better than droid or the other way round should be put to rest. There's not a single device which is best in all aspects.BB is best at what it is meant to do e-mails. Iphone offers a better multimedia experience and droid does a bit of everything and coming from the Google stable it would be neatly tied with all the Google apps.No point in comparing BB with the Droid, it depends on the personal preferences that's all.

I think we're just trying to understand the boundaries of where the Droid is good and where the BB is good. You may have settled it in your mind but not all of us have. I find the discussion to be very interesting.

[bluz]

I think we're just trying to understand the boundaries of where the Droid is good and where the BB is good. You may have settled it in your mind but not all of us have. I find the discussion to be very interesting.

I agree that the discussions are stimulating; what I meant was that both the platforms have their own pros and cons;there's no single device that does all.
So ultimately the consumer has to decide whether he/she wants this or that as he/she can't have both.

[Spartans12]

My buddy just got the Droid he says its allright but is not a fan of the sensitivity of the touch screen. He also was concerned about the battery life. I am happy with my BB and don't plan on switching anytime soon.

[phonejunky]

well the droid is a good device, and the battery isnt bad at all, especially compared to what it can due. I myself was thinking it would run along side the iphone or palm pre performance when it came to the battery, but i was surely wrong, and happy i was.

[BBdakota]

I had a Droid phone for a few weeks and there were many desirable things about the google phone, but had to go back to BlackBerry.

Google phone pros: Apps, pretty (hardware and software), nice camera

Google phone cons: Battery was really bad. Tried a lot of stuff to extend it but It couldn't compare to BB. I think it was TOO conected. Always trying to connect to everything like, internet, GPS etc. Which burned up the battery. And the huge screen didn't help.
did not sync with my work email, had to use some weird SMPT hosting to get it.
Keyboard, I did get better at it but the touchscreen was not for me.
Could not get all my email accounts into one folder (minor thing, but it bugged me.)

[phonejunky]

I had a Droid phone for a few weeks and there were many desirable things about the google phone, but had to go back to BlackBerry.

Google phone pros: Apps, pretty (hardware and software), nice camera

Google phone cons: Battery was really bad. Tried a lot of stuff to extend it but It couldn't compare to BB. I think it was TOO conected. Always trying to connect to everything like, internet, GPS etc. Which burned up the battery. And the huge screen didn't help.
did not sync with my work email, had to use some weird SMPT hosting to get it.
Keyboard, I did get better at it but the touchscreen was not for me.
Could not get all my email accounts into one folder (minor thing, but it bugged me.)

This is a very good review, and I feel the same way in some instances, the droid is my side device, but I haven't picked it up in a few days, because of some points you have hit on.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[justaservant]

Very, very good review just posted on this website by Kevin Michaluk: look for crackberry.com/android-review-smartphone-round-robin

[bluz]

I had a Droid phone for a few weeks and there were many desirable things about the google phone, but had to go back to BlackBerry.

Google phone pros: Apps, pretty (hardware and software), nice camera

Google phone cons: Battery was really bad. Tried a lot of stuff to extend it but It couldn't compare to BB. I think it was TOO conected. Always trying to connect to everything like, internet, GPS etc. Which burned up the battery. And the huge screen didn't help.
did not sync with my work email, had to use some weird SMPT hosting to get it.
Keyboard, I did get better at it but the touchscreen was not for me.
Could not get all my email accounts into one folder (minor thing, but it bugged me.)

perfectly summed up.