Motorola Droid is the first phone from the DROID series and will be the first phone to be powered by the new Google Android 2.0 operating system and will be available, starting from Nov 6th for $199 (after a $100 rebate) with a two-year contract on Verizon.
Over the last few years, several devices, from the BlackBerry Storm to the Palm Pre, have hit the market hoping to be an iPhone killer, but none of them have so far succeeded. And now, Motorola Droid is hoping to pose a serious challenge to iPhone’s supremacy in the ever-growing smartphone market.
Amongst the wannabe iPhone killers, Motorola Droid is probably the fastest and has one of the best display screens available. So does the Motorola Droid has enough in it to place any pressure on the iPhone?
iPhone 3GS vs. Motorola Droid
1. Hardware
Droid runs on the TI OMAP 3430 processor, one of the top processors on the market, which is also used in the Palm Pre. In addition to its application-switching capabilities, the TI OMAP 3430 is also a very fast processor. Infact, Droid is pipped as “the fastest Android device till date”.
iPhone 3GS uses Samsung S5PC100 processor which also runs at 600MHz and includes a CPU, a graphics processing and a memory controller all on one chip. Even the iPhone’s processor is capable of application switching functionality, but Apple hasn’t utilized the feature as yet.
Round 1: It’s a draw, though Droid has a slight edge because of it’s application switching capabilities. But Apple can use that anytime.
2. Operating Systems
iPhone’s OS has always been rated high by the experts for its reliability and ease of use. On the other hand, the Android OS is still relatively unknown, being used and tested by different devices and manufacturers hasn’t helped its cause either. Moreover, Android 2.0 OS is being used for the first time in Motorola Droid.
Round 2: For the time being, iPhone operating system is still the best OS around. We need to wait and see if Android 2.0 will match up with iPhone OS.
3. Keyboard & Screens
Many of those who dislike iPhone, don’t like it for the fact that it lacks a physical QWERTY keyboard. Using this to their advantage, Motorola Droid provides its users a full horizontal slide-out keyboard that features broader keys than devices such as the BlackBerry Tour.
As for the screen, Droid displays video at 854×480 pixels, which is higher than the 640×480 pixel display that is used by the iPhone 3GS.
Round 3: It’s Motorola Droid all the way. Atleast by the initial reviews and tests, Droid’s keyboard and screen are a notch higher than iPhone 3GS. Let us wait and watch how it works out in real life.
4. Applications
Apple’s app store has been around for few years now and there are more than 95k apps currently and it has served more than 2 billion downloads approximately. Android as well, has an app store, but it is not even comparable to that of Apple’s “as yet”. May be, we will get to see more applications in the coming months, when more and more Android based phones come out.
Round 4: Without a doubt, iPhone wins here.
5. Camera
iPhone 3GS features a 3 mega pixel camera with video recording and editing capabilities. Though it’s good enough for a smart phone, it succumbs meekly in front of Motorola Droid’s 5 Mega Pixel camera. One thing to note here is, though Droid comes with video recording capability, but no editing feature as yet.
Round 5: Discounting the video editing feature, Motorola Droid features a much better camera than Apple’s iPhone 3GS.
6. Battery Life and Talk time
iPhone 3GS is powered by lithium-ion battery. On 2G network, it can provide a talk time of upto 8 hours, while on 3G network, it provides 5 hours of talk time.
On the other hand, Motorola Droid is also powered by a built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery, but Verizon claims that on its 2G network, it can provide talk time of upto 12 hours and on 3G network, talk time of upto 6.4 hours.
Round 6: Motorola Droid. Though both of them features lithium-ion batteries, Droid wins over iPhone on the basis of talk time. Note that this is just as per the claims made by Verizon and Motorola.
Final Take
It is very tough to beat Apple on the music and applications front. But looking at the specifications and initial reviews of Motorola Droid, it does have lots of things going for it that previous devices have not. We need to wait and watch if Droid matches up the hype and expectations. If the Droid doesn’t get the basics down, then its flashy extra features won’t mean much.
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October 30th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
As far as the OS goes I believe you have done practically no research, right now there are a fair amount of reviews available about android 2.0 and even the car dock on itself would nearly give android 2.0 the edge over the iphone os, secondly it also features multitasking (a OS feature), widgets and in general more customization. So to be quite honest, despite the iphone OS being extremely idiot proof, the android 2.0 OS beats the iphone OS from the technical point of view.
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Raju Reply:
October 30th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
good to see an Android fan (or rather a iPhone hater?). I completely respect your opinion. Just to clarify, iPhone OS does support multitasking, just that Apple hasn’t implemented it yet.
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November 3rd, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Personally, I am looking forward to test this phone out. I have the BB storm and cringe thinking about how it could have been better and failed to even tease iphone with a challenge. Music and apps alone do not make a smartphone it’s functionality, smoothness of OS / use and of course the actual coverage.
Iphone definitely rose the bar but with verizon pushing a market with not so subtle ads and google pushing android and their heavy push into music content, i’m sure we’ll see some massive changes. The only fear i have with this phone is the bulk and keyboard fucntions. I would also like to see more application storage. 256 will run around 9-12 apps smoothly, i’d love to use more of the disk space to run thins smoother.
Looking forward to your follow up.
~D
@david it’s hard to say anyone has done true research as most reviews are just propaganda. Until each of us use this phone as we would to compare our previous or existing use, that my friend is true research.
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November 4th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
iphone, whatever it has done has never been done before when it was launched.And other peoples started to think about beating it by making iphone killers.
But the real fact is this that apple is a real BAD ASS becoz it doent really want to compete with others in case of technology.And the price compared to the hardware that is inside iphone is horrible.
You cannot always fool people.People are not blind.Though Droid is in its beginning stage,it will surpass iphone with huge leap in future surely.And then iphone will only look good in the museums.
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November 13th, 2009 at 12:52 am
iPhone displays (including the 3GS) are 320×480, aren’t they? IMO the resolution on the Droid isn’t just “higher”, it’s on another level.
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November 20th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
i want a droid so bad but i dont get my upgrade for like a year or 2 and i hate the iphone
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November 21st, 2009 at 7:30 am
Though the Droid has many technological capabilities, Apple could easily update the iPhone to a better, faster, more efficient phone. The Droid has longer talk time (by one hour), but the iPhone has longer standby time. iPhone beats the Droid in music quality, being a iPod and phone in one. The iTunes store is accessible and App Store (many which are free) add to the many goodies an iPhone can hold. Overall, it depends on whether one wants a sturdy phone that has tons of features (which can be updated), or a phone already with excellent 3G service and quality.
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