Thread: A members comparision - Droid vs Eris vs Storm2

Originally Posted by P3Designs

Okay I currently have all three and am putting them through their paces today. They all have the same account information on them, including sms. On the Androids I am using Handcent instead of the stock sms messenger. I will give you a full assessment tonight or tomorrow but here is my mid day comparision.
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Battery life: All phones were charged, turned off, overnight and taken off the charger at 5:30 am MST.

Right now with light usage (32 emails, 2 phone calls, 1 sms message, 46 twitter updates) The Android phones are set to pull email from 4 different accounts every 5 minutes.

6 hours uptime
Storm2 - 80% remaining
Droid - 80% remaining
Eris - 70% remaining


Battery update
10 hours uptime
Storm2 - 70% remaining
Droid - 80% remaing (this is odd must be wrong) ??
Eris - 40% remaiing (really wtf)

Battery update
14 hours uptime
Storm2 - 50% remaining
Droid - 40% remaining
Eris - Had to be put on charger (warning came on)

So far for me the Eris is pulling up last in the battery test. I am really concernced about this because today is a light usage day and what would happen on a heavy usage day. The Storm2 and Droid are both performing very well in the battery department.
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Size: I will admit that I like a phone with some body on it. Having said that.

Storm2 - feels great in hand, nice design plus good weight
Droid - feels good in hand, takes some getting used to the keyboard, and great weight.
Eris - feels too light, and the narrow design caused me to drop it once.

Pocket Test: I normally will carry my phone in my front pocket so this is important to me. (I carried each of these phones in my pocket for 2 hours)

Storm2: A bit bulky and on the heavy side, you know its there but it is not a problem.
Droid: Its a brick in the pocket, you will know where it is at all times because it is just heavy in the pocket.
Eris: You will not even know its there, this is the best feeling smartphone that I have ever carried around in my pocket, it may be the best phone of all time.

If I were buying a phone simply on the pocketability factor the Eris would win hands down, then the Storm2, and last the Droid.
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Operating Systems: I have used every single smartphone out in the past two years, not tested but owned for an extended period of time.

Storm2: Familiar, Slow, and Clunky. Those are the three words I would use to describe this OS. Yeah it looks like and acts like a blackberry, all blackberrys for that matter.

But I find the OS to be a bit slow and clunky in doing things. I did not feel this way when I moved over from WinMo 6.0/6.5 but now I feel that it needs an upgrade/change of direction.

The media/video players are bad to terrible, they lack functionality and design elements are missing. Its just bare bones.

Personalization, not easy to do it yourself for most this means finding or purchasing a theme to do this for you.

Browser is just pathetic, really it is unusable now that I have tried the other two phones.

The upside for the Storm is email, enough said. But also Blackberry Messenger. There is nothing else out there like BBM.

Applications are lacking and the app world is just a real pain in the ____ to use. Not to mention the constant need to reboot when installing or uninstalling apps is a big drawback for the Storm2.

_____________
Droid: The operating system is new and fresh to me. I think that the basic screen is easy to navigate but the many different options makes it a little difficult and as my wife said intimidating. I personally like this and am looking forward to the challenge of setting up my phone the way I like it.

The operating system is just plain fast, transitions are instantaneous, landscape to portait and back is instant as well. Of the three phones this is the fastest I have seen a phone move. I had the iphone and thought it was fast but this is faster than that phone as well.

The stock media player is usable but nothing to write home about. Luckily there are many free options in the marketplace to replace the stock players.

Email intergration is just so/so on this device. I am not sure why but I was able to set up only 2 out of my four accounts automatically, the other two imap accounts I had to manually set up because they would not take. ??? (WTH droid)

The most striking feature of this phone is its screen, it makes viewing the full webpages a joy. It is the best I have ever seen. I watched Matrix 2 on all three devices and it was simply amazing on this phone, nothing compares to it right now.

The marketplace is a joy to use and is loaded with useful free apps, and prices are low for paid apps, cheaper than the appworld. And some paid apps on the blackberry are free in the marketplace. (WTF RIM)

Now the Bad news: the on screen portriat keyboard is difficult to use due to its size, the slide out keyboard is usable but after 5 days of use, I prefer the onscreen landscape keyboard. The email functions are limited, mine keeps loading old emails that I have read, and batch deleting is tiring.

Next: Thoughts on the Eris.


Thats it so far, more to come later.

All I can say is ,

INCREDIBLE FREAKEN JOB:hail::hail::hail::hail::hail::hail::hail:

Originally Posted by Rellims

Thanks all for the candid reviews. Some I have seen lately are laced with the users own personal bias. These draw one conclusion to me no device is perfect for everyone but each could be perfect for someone. Its all about personal preference. Its nice to have a choice.
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You said it perfectly. Each person has their own personal bias towards what they do or don't like. The only way to chose is to try each one out.

Wirelessly posted (9530 Storm)

Originally Posted by jlevy73

Originally Posted by Rellims

Thanks all for the candid reviews. Some I have seen lately are laced with the users own personal bias. These draw one conclusion to me no device is perfect for everyone but each could be perfect for someone. Its all about personal preference. Its nice to have a choice.
Posted via mobile device

You said it perfectly. Each person has their own personal bias towards what they do or don't like. The only way to chose is to try each one out.

True Josh, I wonder if I'm giving this Droid a fair chance. I tried Better Keyboard but while the buttons can "look" like SureType in portrait, they don't function quite like SureType.

@P3
Three days in a row now I've gotten the charge battery message and charged it over night. Still discharges super fast.

Looks like I'll be going back to an S2. Could be worse, I could be back on a WinMo phone. LOL

Today will be my final tryout with the battery. I like the speed but typing & battery life are important too. As well an the somewhat crappy e-mail capabilities compared to the Storm's.

-X

Originally Posted by xwera43

Wirelessly posted (9530 Storm)



True Josh, I wonder if I'm giving this Droid a fair chance. I tried Better Keyboard but while the buttons can "look" like SureType in portrait, they don't function quite like SureType.

@P3
Three days in a row now I've gotten the charge battery message and charged it over night. Still discharges super fast.

Looks like I'll be going back to an S2. Could be worse, I could be back on a WinMo phone. LOL

Today will be my final tryout with the battery. I like the speed but typing & battery life are important too. As well an the somewhat crappy e-mail capabilities compared to the Storm's.

-X

I agree that everyone should use the device that best suits their own needs. That is why after all this time and the above review I will be using the device that best meets my needs as well.

Originally Posted by P3Designs

I agree that everyone should use the device that best suits their own needs. That is why after all this time and the above review I will be using the device that best meets my needs as well.

What a tease lol. Look forward to reading your final thoughts. Thanks for the time you put into this comparision

Wirelessly posted (9530 Storm)

It's hard when all these phones have good points. It really is what works best for THAT person. Too bad we can't have an actual ME phone.

-X

I just read that in order to improve eris battery life, it needs to be discharged and recharged 3 times then it lasts at least s whole day for people. I haven't done it yet but will start my cycle and try how well it works.
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Olta, I read this before I got the Eris and did give that a try, the Eris did last me the entire work day but it was still not I would call a work horse.

Originally Posted by P3Designs

Olta, I read this before I got the Eris and did give that a try, the Eris did last me the entire work day but it was still not I would call a work horse.

I agree with you...I wish battery life was better...but in defense I will just say that with my storm2 (and storm1 as well), I had to re-charge it at 1pm-3pm every day as with my use, the battery drained fast. I am sure it's just what it is now...but eris battery is also smaller vs storm battery.

The battery life on the Eris is very poor. With moderate use I am lucky to get 6 hours out of it. With heavy use I can easily kill it in 4 hours. I have cycled the battery a number of times but that really hasn't helped the situation. This is probably still the biggest drawback of the Eris. The Eris is certainly no workhorse as Matt stated.

I started using the Droid 3 Days ago exclusively as my personal device.

At first the screen and resolution blew me away, and I liked the multiple desktop functionality. I got into GIMP and set myself up with a nice Forza 3 wallpaper and starting looking through the marketplace at the apps. There is an outrageous amount of stuff in there. Mind blowing.

after finding a few free apps, I went on to customizing my layout on my desktops. Added some widgets and some apps.

Then memory card transfer from my S1, so could get all my tones over along with pics and videos.

***** Initial Con ***** All of my videos taken on previous handsets, not berrys but regular handsets from the last four years, will not play sound. Video is there, but no audio at all.

This should be taken into consideration.

When I went to setup my ringtones I ran into an issue with notifications. My tones were not available to set for notification, and then i found that without an app, i can only set one notification tone for all notifications and i cannot adjust the volume with out adjusting the ringtone volume.

***** Second Con ***** The phone does not have a native profile setting like we are used to on the BBs. You must DL an app, but not all apps are good apps, and as such I am still looking for something that will work as I need it to. What the 5.0 OS has is the Closest that I have ever found on a phone.

This should be a consideration for those that have multiple meetings a day and need to quickly put your phone into a "profile" that fits your meeting.

I then setup two of my 6 emails addresses on the handset, a gmail and a hotmail.

**** Possible Con ****

MSN has not agreed to allow its non-pay hotmail accounts to work with the native email app. As such you may not be able to sync your msn, hotmail or other live accounts with the droid.

All went fairly smooth with a few keyboard hiccups. Email came right in, notification sounded, and sounded and sounded. THe phone pretty much got blown up by my inbox for 2 minutes. After that, moved on to getting serious with the text messaging.

The threaded sms is better (IMO) than the 5.0 OS on RIM, but I still dont like threaded sms.

At this point I had run the batt into the 15% warning and plugged it in for the night.

***** Possible Con ***** I was woken up three times to ghost emails on my Hotmail account. I even got out of bed on the third one to double check. no email. And this is where the lack of profile settings comes in. My phone turns off only for a battery pull every couple of days, as I have never owned a land line... ever. I had no way to set my notification or tone to a lower setting with out going into settings and making a manual incremental adjustment. (This is an absolute oversight, as no mobile professional I know runs on all on/all off. We need and in between) IMO b.s. on this one.

On the second day I found my self wanting for my S1. Just more familiar and there were no surprises with the phone since the current OS update.

Did the usual check all my crap thing first, then I went into the marketplace to find a profile app... found a few but nothing solid, so I left that alone.

***** Con ***** The only way to wake this phone up is by pressing the on/off button to wake it up.... but then you have to slide your finger to get any further. So why don't I have the option of pressing another non-Carpal Tunnel creating button, or for pete's sake the screen.

So at this point I'm gonna hit some pros and cons....

Con: No physical answer end keys... the call can stay active until you hit the unlock button or the phone wakes up, and clients don't need to hear you say "stupid phone."

Pro: Awesome call quality and clarity, possibly the best MOTO has done in awhile.

Con:It almost feels like the only reason the "Droid Does" is because they relied on the marketplace to cover they're 6 on some essential things that should be in a PDA in todays market.

Pro:The free content in the market abounds. This should be a lesson to RIM to Drop the minimum price point and allow 99 cent apps.

Con: I am so used to a virtual keyboard with my Storm that I haven used the Droid's physical keyboard very little, but when I do, I find my self sliding it shut and using the Virtual keyboard. The physical keyboard was obviously designed to be used only when necessary.

Pro: Camera! outrageously good SW and hardware. When you turn the camera on, you can actually hear the little moving parts setup in the phone, and its solid when combined with.....

Pro: ... the screen resolution and clarity are unmatched in the market today.

Con: It feels like I'm using a Samsung I730, it was new for its day and offered a lot, but at the end of the day a blackberry 8703e ran circles around it in real world functionality.

In closing, I like the Droid. I think it can definitely take out its competition on a good day. But on a bad day my BB is just the thing I need.

I am still using the Droid, but have pretty much made up my mind about going back to my S1.

Did I mention no BBM?

Thank you FuzzyBalzonya

I have the Eris...and I long for my storm2 a lot of times, although I love the Eris. I do love storm's screen size better...and sometimes feel like eris is missing something??? I love them both and am really torn right now...that's why I really want to see more details on passion show up

Yes, please don't mind the critics that don't like the "personal opinions". This is what we need to help us make our minds up.

Please DO feel free to get emotional about your likes and dislikes.

For you that don't want to hear this, it sounds to me like you don't really need this thread.

I can't afford to get a new phone right now so I really do want to hear everyone's drool, snivels, grundge things, things that piss them off and things they love.

Personally, this really helps me.

Thanks everyone for your input, and thank you too for those that jumped on them for it, because when they responded, I got even more feedback.

Love you guys!

Good review. I think you didn't pick a side nd really nailed all of the good and the bad of the phone.
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The end result of my mini review is I am back to my storm2

I absolutely love the eris and would use it as my daily device...but it was missing just a few things that I am used to...plus really poor battery life. To name those things, email is one, and the other one is copy/paste feature. I am sure it will be perfected...but I went to copy something into sms, and there is no paste option Also, speed....the eris is beautiful, but it did hang a few times and placing/receiving/ending calls was always delayed for me. I know the software update will address these things, but I will wait and see what passion is about as it would also give me the bigger screen (that eris is missing )

Wirelessly posted (9530 Storm)

That previous post decided to send itself before I was done.

Here I go again (Mod can delete the post above please as it is not saving my edit either)

@Olta

Now I don't feel so bad as my Droid will be picked up tomorrow.

A few reasons:
1. Battery life (bad battery a possibility)
2. Lack of copy/paste from e-mail
3. One handed portrait keyboard use (would probably be OK if I had two hands or took more time)
4. No spell check
5. Hardware keyboard is pretty much useless
6. Selection of text when you can copy & paste is not precise at all
7. Google Nav is useless since I don't drive
8. Contact field matching is not the same as GMail contact fields. Fields in GMail are available that aren't on the Droid & vise versa
9. Web site URL fields in contacts do nothing. You cannot copy them nor are they hyperlinks
10. Birthday fields in GMail aren't available to be created on the Droid & those fields do not sync to your GMail calendar
11. Camera sucks. Poor focusing, no image resolution size settings, only megapixals (you don't/probably can't mms a 5MP pict)
12. Background processes that you do not need and kill relaunch (Corporate Calendar, Alarm, Settings to name but a few)
13. No system-wide AutoText

I'm sure there are more that I've forgotten and I would think a lot of these issues would be fixed a lot shorter than RIMs updates since some are said to be addressed 12/11.

I'll wait and hope HTC does better with the Passion. Otherwise, I'll upgrade to the Storm2 (which will probably drop in price).

~X

xwera43, I took care of the post

Also, yes I agree with you on your findings. It's a beautiful phone, beautiful OS, but needs polishing and things ironed out. I will definitely check out passion and may be it will be the one for me. Will see. At this point storm2 is perfect for my daily needs.

Wirelessly posted (9530 Storm)

Originally Posted by olta777

xwera43, I took care of the post

Also, yes I agree with you on your findings. It's a beautiful phone, beautiful OS, but needs polishing and things ironed out. I will definitely check out passion and may be it will be the one for me. Will see. At this point storm2 is perfect for my daily needs.

Thanks Olta.

After reading the Eris forum Bryan pointed out an app that may have been causing my 4-5hr battery life so I'm going to give the Droid more time.

Now Verizon is saying I've changed my plan too many times for the month and I have to wait for my billing cycle to end to go back from the BlackBerry plan to the PDA plan. I only changed it twice, once when I got it & yesterday when I told them I was sending it back. Their computer system is locking me out and NO ONE there can override it! I have to wait until the 21st to change to the PDA plan!

Bugger!

~X

Originally Posted by xwera43

Wirelessly posted (9530 Storm)



Thanks Olta.

After reading the Eris forum Bryan pointed out an app that may have been causing my 4-5hr battery life so I'm going to give the Droid more time.

Now Verizon is saying I've changed my plan too many times for the month and I have to wait for my billing cycle to end to go back from the BlackBerry plan to the PDA plan. I only changed it twice, once when I got it & yesterday when I told them I was sending it back. Their computer system is locking me out and NO ONE there can override it! I have to wait until the 21st to change to the PDA plan!

Bugger!

~X

Oh, I see...Yeah vzw can get lost pretty easily

I just opened a new line to try eris out and then swapped with my line so I could use it a lot and get the real feel. Now, I just swapped them back and will return eris on Monday.

To me the reviews in this thread are the most honest and unbiased. Thank you.
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