First Look: Motorola?s Droid Is Memorable, But Won?t Make You Forget the iPhone

Like it or not, Motorola’s new Google-powered Droid smartphone will be compared to the iPhone.

The good news is that this feature-rich handset, running version 2.0 of Google’s Android OS, compares very favorably to the Goliath of the smartphone world as a utility mobile-computing device ? and, oh yeah, a phone.

The bad news is that there may be too many good things going on to make using this device the quick, intuitive, out-of-the-box experience it should be. That’s a problem, given that the iPhone has set the usability bar so high.

An embarrassment of riches shouldn’t be a negative, and it really isn’t overall on the Droid, which goes on sale Nov. 6 to Verizon customers only. The tight integration of all things Google ? maps overlaid on GPS, voice input all over the place, search that does not ask you to decide whether you are looking for something locally or on the net ? are now more fully realized in this major upgrade to the mobile operating system that the search giant first released on a single handset, the T-Mobile G1.

This is very good thing for those who have become Google citizens and are already used to entrusting their contacts, documents and discovery needs to that cloud.

If you have a Gmail, Facebook or Microsoft Exchange account, it integrates seamlessly with the e-mail app. You can also configure the Droid to work with standard POP3 or IMAP internet mail accounts.

On the down side, there is no provision for syncing to an address book (or calendar) on your desktop. Nearly everything is in the Google cloud, which — given the recent Sidekick data-loss debacle — may not be the greatest selling point just now.

Like the iPhone and many other handsets this is a primarily a touchscreen device whose face is almost 100 percent screen ? and a bright, crisp screen it is. Rather than take sides in the virtual-vs.-hardware keyboard debate, the Droid provides both. The hardware keyboard slides out in a familiar landscape mechanism, and it includes a 5-way directional pad, the better to allow you to keep your hands on the keyboard once you have them there.

The virtual keyboard appears when appropriate, landscape or portrait. And while the software keys appear to be narrower than those on the iPhone, they seem at least as easy to use. Another familiar feature is the “reality check” of a small pop-up displaying the key being pressed. And there is a type-ahead function which displays possible words, potentially saving you keystrokes.

On-board music purchase is from Amazon (at least), but when the Droid is connected to a computer, it’s read as an SD card, and dragging any tracks onto it makes them playable within the music app. The Droid also sports a 5-MP camera with autofocus, on-demand flash and video.

The Droid goes beyond the iPhone in two key areas: Like the Palm Pre, applications can run in the background, and switching among them is a smooth process. And as a robust GPS device it accepts and gives turn-by-turn verbal instructions, making it the closest approximation yet to a total GPS solution that obviates the need for a dedicated vehicle device. One caveat: It’s necessary to be connected to the 3G data service for course correction and other dynamic route features to work (and to even plot a course), so this is not a replacement for a GPS device in locales where Verizon 3G coverage is nonexistent or spotty.

Available apps? Android only offers about a tenth of the nearly 100,000 Apple has available, but that should change as Android handsets become more common. The first app I downloaded was Google Voice which, strangely, is not preinstalled ? but then again, it isn’t available at all on the iPhone. On the Droid, you can set your Google Voice number to be the one that everyone sees when you call or text them, so you can switch to Verizon without worrying about giving everyone a new number or waiting for your old number to port over. That’s assuming you’re already using the phone-number-for-life that Google provides.

Navigation is not a touch-screen experience: Unlike the left-right/swipe metaphor there’s a hard “undo” button that takes you back step by step. In fact there are four hardware buttons to the iPhone’s one: Back, Menu (which does not activate from any given screen), Home and Search (which does).

The customizable screens can contain dozens of shortcuts ? to contacts, bookmarks, anything ? but there are only three of these screens: the “home” screen plus one to the left and one to the right, accessible by swiping. Think of these as a speed dial, with your entire collection of app icons in a sliding drawer. But these icons can be moved anywhere using touch/hold, and there is the gentlest of vibrating feedback to confirm your gesture. (This “haptic feedback” is the default and activates in too many contexts, including for every number you hit when manually entering a phone number. Fortunately, it can be turned off in the settings).

There’s one “feature” that is is sure to draw fire. On certain events (including when you connect to a power source), a computerized voice announces: “Droid.”

On version 2.1 please remove that, Google.

Check out Wired’s feature comparison chart below, and continue reading for more photos of the Droid.

Droid

iPhone 3G S

Network

Verizon/CDMA

AT&T/GSM

Display

3.7-inch touchscreen

3.5-inch touchscreen

Keyboard

Slide-out physical QWERTY, or virtual keyboard

Virtual keyboard

Weight

6 ounces

4.8 ounces

Connectivity

3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth

3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth

Operating system

Android 2.0 (Eclair)

iPhone 3.0

Multitasking

Yes. Answer e-mail and run up to 6 apps simultaneously.

No multitasking capability. Only one app can be viewed at a time.

Camera

5 megapixels, dual-LED flash

3 megapixels, no flash, autofocus by tapping

Video

Capture & playback at 720x480 pixels, capture at up to 24 fps

Capture & playback at 640x480 pixels, 30 fps

App store

10,000 apps available through Android Market

92,000 apps available

Music support

Access to Amazon MP3 store through over-the-air wireless downloads

Syncs with iTunes

Talk time on 3G*

6.4 hours*

5 hours*

* As claimed by manufacturer

CORRECTION: The Droid does work with POP3 and IMAP email accounts, so a Gmail, Facebook or Microsoft Exchange account is not required as we stated in an earlier version.