Droid vs. iPhone 3g

CaterpillarAssassin · Post by **CaterpillarAssassin** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 8:47 pm

Hello all. Haven't started a thread in ages. But thought I might fill you in. I've haan iPhone for a couple years now, wife has one as well. Decided to get a Motorola Droid on verizon for work this weekend and thought I'd give a real quick run down for anyone contemplating the switch.

Droid Pro's
-The droid is MUCH faster. The droid does multi-tasking. Which is great, because I can have it listen for incoming VOIP calls and not have to have the app open to do it (iphone can only have one app open at a time).
-As pretty as the iPhone's display is, the droid has it beat hands down.
-The droid has an actual keypad, as well as the soft keypad. I don't care much about the real keypad, i'm very much used to the soft keypad.
-Speaker. The speakerphone is MUCH louder for the droid, than the iphone.
-Google GPS Navigation. Simply great. Much better than the best of turn by turn apps for the iphone.
-CHANGEABLE RING TONES AND SMS TONES!! You can actually download ring tones and such. You can also put new SMS tones on it. Still don't know why you cant on the iphone...
-Better accessories for the droid. When I bought it, it came with a bundle with a desktop stand, and a window mount. The droid knows when it is in each one, and gives a different default home screen for each. The desktop stand is made to turn it into an alarm clock, and the window mount for the car turns it into a GPS, and makes voice searches easier to activate. Very slick. I know you can buy radio's and things for the iPhone, but these were only $40 for the pair.

iPhone Pro's
-Display. The display is wider than the droid, but a little bit shorter. This isn't a big deal, except that it makes the soft keypad harder to use because the keys are smaller when in portrait mode.
-Buttons. The iphone has 2 buttons and a switch for vibrate mode, as well as volume buttons.. The droid has more buttons, but let useful. The only way you can wake it up from sleep is to push a small button on the top. Not a nice big home button like on the iphone.
-App Store. Much better selection of free apps, and paid apps.
-Itunes. Flame if you must, but I am a fan of itunes for organizing my media. I am gettings used to doubletwist (uses the itunes library and syncs the droid with it). But still not the same.
-Simple. The Iphone is very simple to use. Push the icon for the app, and your using it. The droid seems a little more daunting, although the more I use it I am getting used to it.
-Safari just works better than the droid browser. Javasript works better in safari.
-iPod music player is better and more integrated in the iPhone. Double press the home key when the phone is locked and you can change songs, etc.

All in all, I'm about 50/50. I like them both, but I think I will like the droid better as I learn to use it more. Anybody else make the switch?

normalicy · Post by **normalicy** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 9:17 pm

That was actually pretty helpful. Hoping to make the switch from my Blackberry some time soon.

Leaning toward the droid just because Apple likes to lock things down a bit to much for me.

Does the Droid do Opera? Love it on my Blackberry.

Post by **MidnightSin** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 9:26 pm

I flat out LOVE my Droid! I'll do a write up on the apps and such that I use on it, but off the top of my head.

wifi analyzer
ultrachron lite
My Tracks
DockRunner
aDyno
Printer share (yes you can print from your droid)
DocsToGo
ShopSavvy
Android VNC
eReader

oh and gRemote (Turns your droid into Mouse and keyboard) I use it to control my HTPC's

There is alot more I'll do a better app write up asap with links.

b-man1 · Post by **b-man1** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 9:58 pm

fyi that multitasking for the iphone is coming this summer via a software update (OS 4.0). i've had an iphone (3G but not 3GS) for quite a while. a few coworkers have the droid and like it, but they don't travel internationally (where AT&T blows the other carriers away). can't really lose with either device...enjoy the new toy!

wvjohn · Post by **wvjohn** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 5:31 am

I recently went blackberry>droid and I like the droid a lot better. my eyes aren't that great and my fingers aren't that small and the display and the tap to select are very good for me - everything is much easier for me. I also like the way the keyboard goes sideways when you are texting if you rotate the phone. really haven't played much with the apps so far.

EvilHorace · Post by **EvilHorace** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 6:32 am

oh and gRemote (Turns your droid into Mouse and keyboard)

There's an app for that via iTunes too, works with the iPhone and Touch.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 8:01 am

My problem with the Droid or ANY Android phone is that Android does not support voice dial over Bluetooth which is moronic. I have a 4 year old Moto Razr (which is a 7 year old design) I'm using that does voice dial over Bluetooth.

I very much would like to buy an Android phone, but this is a deal breaker for me.

PalmOS doesn't support voice dial AT ALL (even more moronic).

So I'm stuck with looking at Blackberry's (don't like), Windows Mobile (there are a couple I like), or iPhone.

I may just stick with the Razr. It works.

normalicy · Post by **normalicy** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 9:27 am

I've played with the Blackberry Storm a bit. Seemed nice to me, but I didn't use it enough to know how it compares.

Cheap · Post by **Cheap** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 7:20 pm

i've been using a bb curve for about a year now through work, but surfing is terribly slow and the screen is small. i really like having the keyboard, so the droid appeals to me over other phones. i'm a little disappointed it still costs $200. that seems ridiculous to me.

anyways, the new htc droid incredible is slated to come out soon. so you might want to wait if verizon is an option for ya.

TheSovereign · Post by **TheSovereign** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 7:31 pm

my n900 beats the crap out of all those phones

a brief description from left to right is firefox, chrome, microB, media player, qik live to web camera, the shell(root accessible), 3rd party movie player, remote desktop, pidgin internet messenger.
then i have my current ip from either the gprs or wlan interfaces, and a couple of server monitoring widgets. the mail server is down!

i can make a video of how it functions routinely if you like it has screen cam abilities.

how amazing is it really?

IT HAS FLASH 9.4 FULL

check out my personal phone video

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lYt7ZfgxcnE&hl ... ram><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lYt7ZfgxcnE&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

i can post 1000 more, but you are better off researching it for yourself, it runs debian linux with the Hildon desktop(eg gnome, kde) and its just badass in every way. it runs apps that run on desktops. nothing can compete for geek phone these days.

CaterpillarAssassin · Post by **CaterpillarAssassin** » Thu Apr 15, 2010 7:06 am

N900 looks awesome. What carrier is it on?

TheSovereign · Post by **TheSovereign** » Thu Apr 15, 2010 7:07 am

CaterpillarAssassin wrote:N900 looks awesome. What carrier is it on?

mine is on tmobile(for 3g) but it will also work with at&t(edge only because of non standard frequencies) all n900's in the USA are unlocked.
just to be sure u understand, unless you have a high level tech backround this phone is not for you. it runs linux, though its the easiest linux ive ever witnessed.
oh and i did not demo that it has aircrack-ng for cracking wireless wep keys, didnt want that on tube

eGoCeNTRoNiX · Post by **eGoCeNTRoNiX** » Thu Apr 15, 2010 9:13 am

I have been using the Droid and iPhone 3g side by side for a while now. I'm thoroughly impressed with the droid. I love the voice recognition on the droid and the speaker phone is hands down way better than iPhone's. Also, the 3g doesn't support voice dialing, so I can't really say that I miss that from the iPhone but I do miss it from my older WinMo phones. My car allows me to dial by contacts or just by saying the number, so I just say the number and off it goes. And since I now have no job, another story (not a bad one), I don't make near the phone calls I used to. So I just have to remember friends and family's numbers and I'm good to go. Although that's going to be a new task over the next few weeks.. haha.. Anybody got a good way to upload your contacts from your iPhone to Gmail? hehe

Back on topic. I have to be honest, the ONLY reason I ended up with a Droid is because my iPhone had crashed (2nd time in 4 months) and I couldn't get it to reset. So I went back to my HTC 8125 (This thing has to be one of the best PDA phones ever produced. Started up after 1.5 years of inactivity and being unplugged. I didn't even plug it in to charge had 50% battery!) and just happened to mention it to my parent's. About 30 minutes later they called me and told me, to my surprise, that a Droid was on it's way to me. Then later that night after several hours of dicking with the iPhone I finally got it to restore.

I really have to agree with the OP. It's really a 50/50 crap shoot. Go with whatever has the best coverage in your area. If you can't get 3G and plan to use the web over yer phone, don't get an iPhone, Edge is for the birds. Think Dial-up.

eGo

normalicy · Post by **normalicy** » Thu Apr 15, 2010 7:46 pm

Methinkin I'll wait it out another year or two & things may be a bit more clear. I hardly need a phone anyhow.

Post by **MidnightSin** » Fri Apr 16, 2010 8:53 pm

I just found the speech to text function on my droid. Which i've used to send text messages lately but also thought i would try posting on the forums with it so i am posting from now just by talking to it.