Droid 2 review@engadget

[SAWYER]

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

There's no question that the Droid 1 was entering its twilight years, especially in the aftermath of the Droid X's release; Motorola and Verizon knew they needed to bring the old model up to spec if they wanted to keep a quality physical QWERTY Android device on the shelves. The problem is that in doing so, they've killed off one of the Droid's most endearing features -- the fact that it ran stock Android -- and have failed to make any improvements compelling enough to warrant an upgrade. In other words, Droid owners, don't feel bad that your phone has been replaced here; in fact, we're pretty sure we'd rather have a Froyo-equipped Droid over a Droid 2, especially since the 2's new processor fails to translate into huge performance gains that you can feel in your day-to-day usage.

If you're just looking for the baddest-ass Android phone on Verizon that money can buy, we'd recommend a Droid X or Droid Incredible any day over this, especially since all three are the same price -- unless you're hell-bent on going with a physical keyboard, of course. Both of those other handsets offer superior cameras, a better UI (in the case of the Incredible), and a better display (in the case of the X).

Then again, when September 30 rolls around, it'll be pretty hard to argue with a phone that's got R2-D2 painted on the back, won't it?

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

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

There's no question that the Droid 1 was entering its twilight years, especially in the aftermath of the Droid X's release; Motorola and Verizon knew they needed to bring the old model up to spec if they wanted to keep a quality physical QWERTY Android device on the shelves. The problem is that in doing so, they've killed off one of the Droid's most endearing features -- the fact that it ran stock Android -- and have failed to make any improvements compelling enough to warrant an upgrade. In other words, Droid owners, don't feel bad that your phone has been replaced here; in fact, we're pretty sure we'd rather have a Froyo-equipped Droid over a Droid 2, especially since the 2's new processor fails to translate into huge performance gains that you can feel in your day-to-day usage.

If you're just looking for the baddest-ass Android phone on Verizon that money can buy, we'd recommend a Droid X or Droid Incredible any day over this, especially since all three are the same price -- unless you're hell-bent on going with a physical keyboard, of course. Both of those other handsets offer superior cameras, a better UI (in the case of the Incredible), and a better display (in the case of the X).

Then again, when September 30 rolls around, it'll be pretty hard to argue with a phone that's got R2-D2 painted on the back, won't it?

And we all know stock android is just terribad. 550mhz stock Android. Choppy home launcher, blah blah. What's good about the DROID was its openness. Everyone and their mom ran custom roms, overclocked, because if you even see the Froyo on DROID 1 videos, the home launcher is still choppy. Woohoo. Everyone knows what its like to run a tweaked Droid and people would never go back. In fact Android is just unsuable at 550mhz unless you do some HTC sense-like optimizations. I mean even the Nexus One isn't terribly perfect with its stock Android and all.

I don't really see this as a downside to Droid 2. But is DROID 2 locked down like the Droid X? If so then that kinda sucks. Yeah, this might not be a good enough upgrade especially with its pricing point (honestly, how many pricing points can you have when you deal with subsidized phones? it's like $199, $149, $129, $99, $49 or free. But it's not a bad phone. OMAP 3600 runs on a 45nm core also right? So it should run cooler than an overclocke Droid 1, unless you also undervolted like mad....

 

[Bateluer]

And we all know stock android is just terribad. 550mhz stock Android. Choppy home launcher, blah blah. What's good about the DROID was its openness. Everyone and their mom ran custom roms, overclocked, because if you even see the Froyo on DROID 1 videos, the home launcher is still choppy. Woohoo. Everyone knows what its like to run a tweaked Droid and people would never go back. In fact Android is just unsuable at 550mhz unless you do some HTC sense-like optimizations. I mean even the Nexus One isn't terribly perfect with its stock Android and all.

I don't really see this as a downside to Droid 2. But is DROID 2 locked down like the Droid X? If so then that kinda sucks. Yeah, this might not be a good enough upgrade especially with its pricing point (honestly, how many pricing points can you have when you deal with subsidized phones? it's like $199, $149, $129, $99, $49 or free. But it's not a bad phone. OMAP 3600 runs on a 45nm core also right? So it should run cooler than an overclocke Droid 1, unless you also undervolted like mad....

Stock Home was perfectly fluid for me, except when you tried to open it during an app install. Was perfectly smooth all other times. In fact, I unloaded Launcher2 and Helix in a number of Roms because those launchers were sluggish. It wasn't until ADW and Launcher Pro that I changed my launcher.

And Stock android is perfectly functional, and much better than Blur or Sense IMO. Of course, most people mainly like it because its easier to theme and skin than Blur or Sense.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Well Launcher2 wasn't that great. It was more of a FC machine if you look back at it. Helix was unpolished but really brought speed in.

You're right. I wasn't satisfied til LauncherPro, but just going back is a joke. The choppiness of the stock home is kinda disturbing at 550mhz.

But I'm glad that's not an issue anymore with the Droid 2.

Anyway, my point is that stock Android is not an issue or disadvantage for the D2 when:
1) It's not that great
2) People don't hesitate to flash a much better ROM onto their DROID.

Motorola could've bundled a spyware loaded ROM for all I care because I would flash it regardless.... like BAM.

 

[Bateluer]

2) People don't hesitate to flash a much better ROM onto their DROID.

Motorola could've bundled a spyware loaded ROM for all I care because I would flash it regardless.... like BAM.

Thats my point. Moto seems to make the best hardware of all the Android phones, powerful CPUs combined with gorgeous screens and well constructed hardware. But Moto's stance on their software irritates me, and I fully support booting them from the Open Handset Alliance.

There's still the rumor that that Droid Pro will have an open bootloader, but nothing confirmed. If it doesn't, I'm 100% positive that I'll be looking to HTC or Samsung for a replacement for my Droid 1 in a year.

 

[BZeto]

Posting from my droid 2 now. Its my first android phone but I love it. The browsing speeds are ridiculously fast compared to my iphone. Im liking the physical keyboard with raised keys too. Flash is sweet. Only thing I do miss from the iphone is the physical switch for silent mode.

 

[GeekDrew]

I bought a Droid2 on Thursday. It's my first Android phone, and I absolutely love it. The keyboard is fantastic, the clip-on shell that still fits in the docking stations, the firm sliding mechanism, how fast it responds to my input, etc. I can't find *anything* bad to say about the phone (yet).

I have plenty bad to say about Verizon, however. I'll probably have to return the Droid2 and go back to AT&T, because Verizon is worse than horrible when it comes to signal strength in my area. I have full-bars data signal almost all the time, but the second I try to make (or receive) a call, the signal is completely gone, and the phone signals loss of service. Then, a few seconds later, the signal returns and I'm back to fast 3G data. I wish it were the phone with this issue, so I could just get a different model... nope, it's Verizon.

 

[BZeto]

I had an incident last night where my 50%+ battery life droid 2 somehow drained itself completely overnight. Not sure if it was a fluke or what, but if it happens again this one will be going back to the store.

 

[GeekDrew]

I had an incident last night where my 50%+ battery life droid 2 somehow drained itself completely overnight. Not sure if it was a fluke or what, but if it happens again this one will be going back to the store.

Mine did that the first night, but has had pretty good battery life since.

 

[BZeto]

After posting that I found a thread on droidforums.net about the very same thing. Apparantly a lot of people are having crappy battery life. One recommendation was to ditch advanced task killer. Im going to see if that helps.

 

[GeekDrew]

After posting that I found a thread on droidforums.net about the very same thing. Apparantly a lot of people are having crappy battery life. One recommendation was to ditch advanced task killer. Im going to see if that helps.

For what it's worth, I'm not using advanced task killer, and I'm not having any issues with battery life (so far, at least).