Droid X Review

Got the Droid X on the launch day July 15! Compared it with the Droid.

-Pros-

Huge screen: Although the same resolution as Droid, the big 4.3" really stops my eyes from hurting.

The vibration: Awesome. The whole phone feels like a drum. I never liked the vibration mode. But this is kind of cool.

The weight: Or the lack of. Just weighs about the same as iPhone 4, feels much lighter than Droid.

The string hole: Really need this safety net in case the phone slips from the hand.

Better hardware: More RAM, more ROM, more storage, more speed, etc.

-Cons-

The physical menu buttons: Big bummer! Feels cheap compared to Droid's touch sensitive ones.

MotoBlur apps: HORRIBLE! Half-baked software that slow down the UI and buggy like hell. Email notification not working for Exchange account; cannot toggle among Exchange account and IMAP accounts. Why can't we just have the Google native one like Droid or Nexus One has?! This is like forced to downgrade to XP from Windows 7 just for the 10+ years old crappy software to live another decade!

Overall the whole UI and speed is ruined by this stupid MotoBlur layer. Motorola is giving Android OS a bad name!

-Other-

No front facing camera.

Locked bootloader: Now that it is rooted, will we ever get a custom Gingerbread ROM? Again, blame Moto.

I give Droid X 70 out of 100. Rumor has it that Droid 2 is coming out on Aug 12 with Android 2.2 Froyo on board. I hope there is no Moto on that. But I bet there will be!

On a related note, Samsung Galaxy S seems to have unlocked bootloader. It might be a better phone for custom ROM. However, Verizon probably won't have the Fascinate(the only Galaxy S with LED flashlight) out before September. And at 4", the screen resolution (800x480) is still a bit lower than Droid X.

DELL Streak is also coming out by the end of July with AT&T. At 5" 800x480 it does not provide better resolution than Droid X and is awkward to use as a phone. If it has an 720p 1280x720 screen I'd probably jump on it.

Thus so far, if you want a high resolution large screen smartphone, you are like me, stuck with Droid X.

Android vs. iPhone

I have jumped ship from a 3GS to Motor Droid in November 2009. The main reason was that ATT has no 3G at my work place; while Verizon has! Ten times faster!

The major advantage of Android is the multitasking ability. Another plus id that I can download some podcast over the phone without having to sync with itunes. It did lack some apps that I used on iPhone, but overall it gets things done. The one major hurdle is having to update each apps individually. Also the minimal sync function with Mac (double twist) makes photo and video sync a little more complicated.

For email and calendar, Android really nailed it. It supports multiple exchange accounts and gmail accounts. Now I quit using me.com for calendar and totally transfer to Google. And it is free!

Just recently I started feeling the Droid is a bit lagging and was looking for some android phone with faster snapdragon processer and extra features. HTC EVO 4G surfaced out but the slightly lower screen resolution held me back.

What I ended up doing was rooting my Droid! And it's all for the speed. Overclocking!! Through help on droidforums.net I put on Bugless Beast v 1.1, along with P3droid overclock module. And I couldn't be happier! 1.25 GHz compared to stock 550 MHz! And the battery management software still keep it running cool and long. Many other benefits also come with rooting, such as system backup and wifi tethering.

Now every time I open photo gallery app. Everything just renders in a snap! And this souped upmotor Droid should keep me happy for a while until 4G coverage spreads wide.