The following statement may come as a shock to you, so brace yourself: I do not own a smartphone. Some of you may be gasping right now, but it’s true.
About 98% of my friends have an iPhone, but I just couldn’t bring myself to purchase one. First of all, I’m on Verizon. I live very close to the country, and if you travel a few miles north of where I live, Verizon is the only thing that comes in. Second of all, I feel a need for a physical keyboard. I currently have an LG ENV2 and I am used to a keyboard. I own an iPod Touch so I know what it would be like to type on an iPhone. Not fun.
My curiosity was immediately piqued when I saw that first Motorola Droid commercial in mid-October. Was it really possible that a smartphone with a physical keyboard was being released on my network? A smartphone that could really rival the iPhone?
I started reading various reviews and was getting a lot of mixed messages. Some people raved about the Droid and others said it wasn’t user-friendly and a was a phone for SuperNerds and not the general population. I wanted to know the real deal. So, I got a hold of Verizon’s public relations department and they were nice enough to give me a Droid to try out for a week. Here’s what I think so far:
I love the Droid! Seriously – this phone is amazing! I am able to do so much with it -now I know what people mean when they say “I don’t know how I ever lived without my iPhone.” Except that the Droid can do more than an iPhone! I am also a Google girl; I use many of Google’s products and the fact that they are a partner on this phone makes me love it all the more! (For images of the phone, check out the CNET Review – it shows multiple images in various angles, some with the physical keyboard exposed, and some without.)
I spend a lot of time on social media, specifically Facebook and Twitter. The Droid has a built in app for Facebook and I downloaded the Twidroid app from the Marketplace. I was able to update my status and reply to messages while I was out holiday shopping this weekend. While I was making Christmas cookies with my nephews, I was able to snap a picture with the camera (more on that later) and upload it to both sites, without ever having to step away from the fun and go to the computer.
Speaking of the camera… the flash works great! My current phone does not have a flash camera, so I am used to pictures turning out a little yucky at night or in dark places. I was able to take pictures of a light snowfall we got one night – and yes, I immediately posted them to Twitter. (hint – for easy posting on Twitter, take the picture with the camera horizontal, with the on button on the left hand side; otherwise, you’ll need to rotate it before posting in order for the picture to display in the correct view).
The CarHome feature is also fantastic. I do not have GPS and I tend to get lost when driving in Detroit. With the Droid, you can easily get directions, simply by telling it where you want to go. And if you don’t know the address, don’t worry. You can just say what you are looking for, such as “Movie Theaters, Detroit” – it will give you a list of the movie theatres, you choose which one you want, and the phone will either display a map with directions or you can choose to have the phone speak the directions to you. I purposely tried to get lost, ignored some of the directions, etc and the Droid automatically corrected the route and gave me new directions to get me to my end destination.
Having the ability to browse the web at all times is still new to me – remember, I don’t currently have a smartphone. While I was holiday shopping with my sister at Toys R Us, we were trying to describe a toy that my nephew wanted to a sales person. It wasn’t working very well, so I typed in what we were looking for and was able to show the sales person a picture of the toy. We had it in our hands a few moments later.
In addition to all of the fun stuff, I was able to do actual work on the phone, as well. The phone comes with a Gmail app and I was able to easily receive and respond to emails. You can also have other email accounts on your phone – it doesn’t have to be Gmail. But I will say that the Gmail experience on the phone is just like using your regular computer!! I also enjoyed the fact that I could open attachments, as well as send them.
In addition, there are apps that allow you to easily create posts in WordPress (the blogging platform that I use). Remember – I am new to the smartphone game. I was uber impressed that I could blog from my phone, quickly and easily.
Of course, this is a phone, so let’s talk about the phone capabilities for a moment. You can dial the regular way, if you want, or you can simply say “Call ______ ” and the phone will dial that person for you. A great feature when you are out driving or have your hands full with another task. Three-way calling is also a breeze with this phone. That is exciting to me, as I use three-way calling when I record interviews for my podcast. Usually, it is a pain in the butt to three-way call on a cell phone.
I really could go on and on about why I love this phone. I’ve showed it to a lot of people, and the majority are impressed. Loyal iPhone users are not so easily convinced, but that’s okay. We all have our preferences.
There are some faults with the Droid… For one, I am used to typing on an LG keyboard, meaning the keys are raised. The Droid has flat keys. Having a physical keyboard is great, don’t get me wrong, but having one with raised keys would be better.
When it comes down to it, the tiny flaws are not enough to make me stop loving this phone. Now that I have experienced the wonder of a smartphone, it will be a sad day when I give the phone back to Verizon. However, I won’t be sad for long. I am totally buying one of these as my Christmas present to myself!
There’s a lot more to this phone – I am still in the learning process! Verizon has in-store workshops where you can learn how to use your smartphone. You can find more information about them here. Verizon also has an online learning center with tutorials, guides, and more.