Our Verdict
Another daytime , another Droid telephone set lands on Verizon . The hotly forebode Motorola Droid 2 ( $ 200 with a two - year contract from Verizon ; price as of 8/15/10 ) is by all odds an raise from the original Droid when it comes to design , but its camera is imperfect , and the MotoBlur software system sometimes detracts from the Android experience . Still , if you ’re lust an Android phone with a strong-arm keyboard , the Droid 2 will certainly live up to .
Refined, Updated Design
Design - wise , the Droid 2 is essentially a more polished , advanced version of its predecessor . Its slant are smoother , the attribute are slimmer , and it has a more attractive expression , overall . The Droid ’s smutty border have been upgrade to sculpted chrome , and the raised button along the pricker of the phone are flat and less obtrusive to the phone ’s visibility . The financial backing is made of a soft - touch stuff that feels really nice to the paw . As a whole , the Droid 2 feels a family above the original framework .
The Droid 2 ’s keyboard is a big improvement over the original ’s , which matt-up shallow and uncomfortable . Gone is the clunky four - way of life directional pad to the right of the keyboard that allowed way for spacious keys . If you liked the d - pad of paper on the original Droid , do n’t choke : There are still four arrow key for extra navigation options . The keys are parent , which is a easing , as the original Droid ’s keys were too vapid for my liking . Another improvement ? No more dummy keys ! The Droid had two completely useless key taking up precious keyboard genuine demesne .
Unfortunately , the keyboard still is n’t perfect : The top keys are very close to the ledge of the display , so your fingerbreadth are invariably bump against it . Additionally , the keys felt mushy and not as haptic as I prefer for physical keyboard .
The display seems to be the same as the original Droid ’s , assess 3.7 inches and bear a firmness of 854 by 480 pixels . I ’ve been spoiled by the 4.3 - inch displays of the HTC EVO 4 G and the Droid X , so 3.7 inches felt a bit small at first . But it is a perfectly fine sizing for entanglement browse and ascertain video ; and to be fairish , it is larger than the iPhone ’s 3.5 - column inch screen .
MotoBlur: Hit-or-Miss
I profess : I ’m a bit of an Android purist and lie with the Nexus One simply because it runs the vanilla Android OS . I do like certain aspect of the peel , like Samsung ’s TouchWiz MediaPlayer and HTC Sense ’s FriendStream . I also care how they make the somewhat bland Android political program more aesthetically pleasing and accessible . What I do n’t like is when these skins mar certain applications in the native Android as well as slow down a powerful phone ’s performance — which is what Motoblur unluckily does .
This version of Motoblur has Android 2.2 run beneath it . Android 2.2 contribute an overall stop number encouragement to the OS , improve Exchange reinforcement ( include Exchange calendar support — yay ! ) and television camera and gallery pinch .
The skin has been tone up down a batch in comparison to the version on the Backflip and the Cliq . Gone are the chaotic bubble taking over your homescreens to deliver Facebook condition updates from high-pitched - school Quaker you no longer speak to or updates from random RSS feast you pledge to . MotoBlur is n’t as attractive as HTC gumption , but I liked how sharp the ikon and text appeared and how easy and intuitive navigation was .
Motoblur has been reduced to two widget bubble on one homescreen , which you may synchronize with your societal networks . Another novel feature of speech in this version of Motoblur is a navigation ginmill that lets you quickly switch between your various homescreens without ingest to click through all of them to get to what you desire .
Motoblur does n’t do a few things correct , however . While you may upload picture to your Google Picasa account , you ca n’t view exposure from that account . It seems nitpicky , but what if you ’re visiting family across the country and need to show them photos of your vacation without whipping out your laptop computer ? Especially when youcansee your Picasa album on vanilla extract Android 2.2 ?
Additionally , you ’re stuck with the Motoblur photographic camera interface ; you do n’t get the refined user interface that amount with Android 2.2 . For example , to bring up your shooting options in Motoblur , you have to touch the right side of the screen . And when you tilt the sound / camera , the controls do n’t rotate . With Android 2.2 , these controls are always exposed on your screenland . It is a flyspeck detail , but why take up a custom hide on certain apps only to make them worse ?
Of course , you get all of the standard Google Android applications programme : Gmail , Maps , YouTube , and Talk for instant messaging . There ’s an plaguy amount of bloatware , like NFL Mobile , NFS Shift , and some Verizon - branded apps , but a few utilitarian apps are thrown in there , such as Skype Mobile .
Mediocre Camera
The Droid 2 is a total upgrade from the original Droid , with one exception : the television camera . The Droid ’s television camera was bad , and the Droid 2 ’s camera is n’t much better . The 5 - megapixel snapper took decorous shots outdoors with bright , natural looking colors , but details were n’t as penetrative as photos exact with the Droid X or the iPhone 4 .
I was even less impressed with my indoor shots . A few had a greenish cast to them , but this may have been due to the lighting . item were a bit soft too ; not as acute as pic taken with the XPeria X10 . I also detected some graininess , and a few objects had a sort of ghostly aura around them . The camera ’s autofocus is n’t very in effect , and despite the overnice variety of prospect effects , I did n’t find them to be very useful in improving my shots .
Another unknown deletion is the lack of support for 720p - quality video seizure , which is pretty much the default for mellow - end photographic camera these days . The Droid 2 captures at 480p , and there ’s no dedicated “ tale ” mode for capturing your own reflexion via video . Video quality was comely , although a turn pixelated when captivate fast - move objects . Despite the missing narration mode , the Droid X did enamour audio somewhat well . Another addition : one of the treats in Android 2.2 is the power to utilize your television camera ’s flash as a light for shooting video in dimly - lit environments .
Performance
Android 2.2 allow an overall carrying out boost , from the internet browser ( its use of goods and services of the V8 engine enables quicker loading of JavaScript - backbreaking pages ) to memory board management to the CPU . In myhands - on reviewof Android 2.2 on the Google Nexus One , I immediately find how much quicker browsing was . Oddly , the browser app on the Droid 2 did n’t feel as fast . Scrolling through medium - impenetrable pages like CNN.com or Thrasher.com felt a bit sticky . flick between homescreens or scrolling through foresightful menus was n’t as rapid as I expect , either . A little bit of lag appears when launch certain aboriginal apps , such as the text message app , for instance . I noticed that the more I used the phone , the faster it engender . It sounds strange , but other reviewers have have this with other Motorola Android phones , so I know I ’m not alone .
Despite the sometimes slow - to - scroll web browser , page load up reasonably quickly over Verizon ’s 3 gigabyte internet . Call quality was also very good in San Francisco . I experienced no send packing calls , nor did I hear any static or hushing . Callers ’ voice sounded clear and raw .
Verizon client have a difficult pick among the Droids : The HTC Droid Incredible , Motorola Droid X and the Droid 2 are all solid pick . If you ’re expect to get your money ’s deserving , however , go with the Droid X or Droid Incredible . If your heart is countersink on a physical keyboard , however , you ’ll be perfectly glad with the Droid 2 .
[ Ginny Mies is an associate editor for PCWorld . ]
