Buying an Android phone in the near future, which one?

[CurseTheSky]

We have an early upgrade available, and I'm looking to ditch my Blackberry Tour and grab some flavor of Android. I loved the looks of the Nexus One when it came out, and, despite the screen problems, was sad to see it get discontinued.

Anyway, I played with the Droid 2, Droid X, and Droid Incredible today. All three felt relatively snappy, and I liked the screens (touch wise) on the Droid X and Droid Incredible. The Droid 2 really didn't impress me as it seemed to ignore some of my touches. My fiancee, who tried all three as well, agreed that it was the worst of the bunch.

I actually prefer the Droid Incredible's smaller screen and curviness. The Droid X wasn't unwieldy huge, but the sharper corners definitely seem like they'd be more of a bother in my pocket. On the other hand, the Droid Incredible's worse specs (slower CPU / GPU, no HDMI, worse battery life) is a bit disheartening. I could do without everything else, but I absolutely do not want something with horrible battery life.

What do you guys recommend? If there's an extended battery for the Droid Incredible that fits inside the normal battery's slot without causing any bulge, I might go that route. Otherwise, I'll probably have to go with the Droid X. Is there another Android phone on the horizon that I should hold out for instead?

Thanks.

 

[zerocool84]

So we're going to have to assume you're looking at Verizon phones???

 

[dguy6789]

You can buy a 1500mAh HTC battery(the Incredible comes with a 1300) that fits inside the stock Incredible back cover. Droid 2 has the best battery life of any Android phone, followed by the Droid X for second best. Stock Incredible is among the worst as far as battery life goes for Android phones.

I'd take a 2 over an Incredible any day of the week a million times over.

 

[Bateluer]

I'd go with the Incredible as its boot loader isn't encrypted and there will be a CM flavor coming for it very soon.

 

[CurseTheSky]

So we're going to have to assume you're looking at Verizon phones???

Sorry, yes. Verizon.

You can buy a 1500mAh HTC battery(the Incredible comes with a 1300) that fits inside the stock Incredible back cover. Droid 2 has the best battery life of any Android phone, followed by the Droid X for second best. Stock Incredible is among the worst as far as battery life goes for Android phones.

I'd take a 2 over an Incredible any day of the week a million times over.

I only got to play with the three of them for ~15 minutes, but the Droid 2 felt much more sluggish compared to the Droid X and Incredible. It also took multiple tries to get it to register an icon press, while the other two were flawless. We did power it down and back on, and it didn't help. We couldn't do a battery pull, though.

Engadget's conclusion on the Droid 2 recommends the Droid X, Droid Incredible, or even original Droid (if it came with Froyo) over the Droid 2: http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/13/droid-2-review/. So, based on their reviews and my own experiences, I think I'll steer clear.

I wonder how much life the 1500mAh battery would add. This page says that they went from having to charge their phone in the middle of the day to charging it every night - not extremely pleasing: http://htcpedia.com/news/htc-droid-incredible-extra-battery.html. There's also a 2150mAh battery, but it makes the phone VERY thick: http://shop.htcpedia.com/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=819&compability_product=757.

Ugh, decisions decisions.

 

[zerocool84]

Sorry, yes. Verizon.



I only got to play with the three of them for ~15 minutes, but the Droid 2 felt much more sluggish compared to the Droid X and Incredible. It also took multiple tries to get it to register an icon press, while the other two were flawless. We did power it down and back on, and it didn't help. We couldn't do a battery pull, though.

Perhaps I'll go back and give it another shot. I know the camera is worse than the Droid X, but is anything else inferior? (Processor, internal storage, display type, resolution, etc.)

The review for the Droid 2 isn't good.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/13/droid-2-review/

 

[s44]

If the X is a bit too big, you may like the Samsung Fascinate (this one has a LED flash), but a month and a half wait is forever in smartphone time.

 

[CurseTheSky]

The review for the Droid 2 isn't good.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/13/droid-2-review/

Yeah, I edited out my second line about going back and trying it after re-reading that review. They pretty much confirm everything I was thinking about it.

It's not a bad phone overall (again, based on my brief experiences), but the Droid Incredible and especially Droid X are so good that it fails to compare. I just wish the Droid Incredible had decent battery life.

 

[foghorn67]

A friend of mine is going to look at Android phones tomorrow. I would totally recommend the Incredible to her, but I'm sure she'll be pissed at the battery life. So I am going to angle her towards the X or the 2. She already got used to touchscreen keyboards using her LG EnV Touch or somethingrather, so if she doesn't mind the size of the X, she might buy that.

 

[dguy6789]

Don't be fooled by the fact that the Sense UI runs at a higher frame rate than the MotoBlur UI, that's nothing more than a manually set configuration of the UI, it's no indication of device performance what so ever. Install Launcher Pro and just about any phone will feel ultra smooth.

As for the touch screens, you must have been unlucky or the D2 unit you tried must have been damaged. The Droid 2 touch screen should be the same as the X.

App storage is another big one. The Incredible has some 700MB of storage for apps while the 2 and X have over 6GB just for apps.

To summarize:

Droid 2: Better build quality, better battery life, better call quality, better reception, better CPU, better GPU, has a hardware keyboard, some ten times the app storage of the Incredible

Incredible: Better camera

Honestly it boggles my mind that anyone could consider the Incredible over the 2. The Incredible is a top of the line last gen phone, the Droid X, 2, and Samsung Galaxy S lines are the first of the next gen phones.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Engadget complained about the Droid 2's reception and overall quirkiness. That's what makes me want to stay away.

It looks like the Droid X is the only way to go.

 

[LikeLinus]

My wife got a Droid X to replace her original Droid this week. It's an awesome phone. I have a droid and I'm dying to upgrade to a Droid X. I can't get a new one until next year though and I'll just wait until something even more amazing is out

The Droid X is really fast and the screen is excellent. I wish it had 2.2, but it's still great with 2.1. I'd get it out of those choices.

 

[CurseTheSky]

I'm thinking of buying the Droid X for full retail. Our contract is completely up in March, and I really don't want to get tied down again, since wireless carriers are really screwing with data / contracts lately. Not to mention the fact that the earliest Verizon can get me the phone is August 30th, while Amazon says it should ship Monday.

Thoughts?

 

[rudeguy]

I'm thinking of buying the Droid X for full retail. Our contract is completely up in March, and I really don't want to get tied down again, since wireless carriers are really screwing with data / contracts lately. Not to mention the fact that the earliest Verizon can get me the phone is August 30th, while Amazon says it should ship Monday.

Thoughts?

never go full retail man...

 

[boomhower]

I love my EVO so I am going to say the Droid X. I really like the Incredible but not the screen, need S-AMOLED. I don't care for hardware keyboards so the Droid 2 doesn't appeal to me. Heck for cheap just get a Droid and flash it to 2.2 custom rom and I bet the speed will be pretty damn close to a Droid 2 with a factory rom.