Motorola Droid X - 8GB - Black (Verizon) Smartphone

Features and Design

Minus a front-facing camera and 4G connectivity, Droid X has more in common with the Sprint HTC EVO than with previous Droids. Both are Android 2.1 phones (both upgradable to Android 2.2 when available), equipped with a 4.3-inch touchscreen, 1GHz processor, 8-megapixel camera, high-definition video recorder, HDMI jack, Wi-Fi, 8GB of built-in memory plus a high-capacity microSD card slot for a potential 40 GB of storage and a built-in mobile hotspot.

Spec-wise, there are minor differences between the Droid X and the EVO, again, other than 4G and the front-facing camera. The Droid X’s LCD has slightly more pixels, 854 x 480 versus EVO’s 800 x 480. The EVO’s 4G mobile hot spot can handle up to eight simultaneous users, Droid X’s 3G up to five. The EVO is a hair taller at 4.8 inches vs. Droid X’s 4 inches and a bit thicker (both are 2.6 inches wide) – although both are technically around a half inch thick (Droid .4, EVO .5 inches) – the Droid X measures that thick only at the top part of the phone housing the camera and is otherwise just around three-eighths of an inch thin. The Droid X has a slightly more powerful 1540 mAh battery compared to the EVO’s 1500 mAh cell. And finally, the EVO is around a half ounce heavier (6 compared to 5.47 ounces). But this is splitting superphone hairs – both are impressive technical achievements, and none of these spec differences favor one over the other.

Even though Samsung has yet to release specs for the Galaxy S Fascinate, previews indicate it is similarly featured to both, except for a slightly smaller 4-inch screen. That extra .3 of an inch is hardly a deal breaker and is more than made up for by Fascinate’s brighter and thinner Super AMOLED display. This could be the deciding factor between the Fascinate and the Droid, as we shall see.

Physically, the Droid X is a now-familiar slab, its face nearly all screen with the usual four Android hard keys arrayed along the bottom – Menu, Home, Back and Search. Android 2.1 gives you seven home screens, each configurable with varying and sundry active social networking and multimedia apps.

Up on the top perimeter are the 3.5mm headphone jack and an oddly-centered power key (maybe we’re just used to the iPhone’s right-located power button). On the bottom left perimeter are the easily confusable microUSB and mini HDMI jacks (thankfully, Motorola clearly labeled each); on the right perimeter are the red camera shutter key and the toggle that handles both volume and camera zoom. The Droid X’s best physical feature: an easy slide-off rear battery cover. It’s worst? You have to remove the battery to swap the microSD card out, but Verizon has preloaded a 16GB card, so this likely won’t be a problem for most users.

As noted, on the rear is a bulging half-inch thick camera array, with a dual-LED flash.

I bought this phone at Verizon in September of 2010. I was moving cell phone companies and was previously with AT&T. With AT&T I had the iPhone; since Verizon did not have the iPhone at the time I felt the Droid would be the best alternative. The Droid has held up well the past year, I always use screen protectors but never case protectors, if your concerned with you case getting scratched I recommend getting a case protector for the Droid X. Mine has gotten several chips and scratches just from daily use, I am not hard on my phones at all. The advantage with this Droid is the size of the screen, it makes everything from watching football on NFL mobile to typing texts more enjoyable, I was concerned with the large screen at first but it has turned out to be a favorite feature!
The camera is 8.0MP but I have found the quality of the photos just to be average. I work in real estate and thought I could use this to take photos of houses. It works and gets the job done but people can tell your taking a photo with a cell phone.
The web browser I have found to be as good as the iPhones and so much better than Blackberrys browser. The pages always display correctly and reformat to the size of the screen when you zoom in.
I am currently running Android 2.3.3. Android OS does seem to have more bugs than iOS. For example when I get a text message the phone will say Droid as my alert; well sometimes it says Droid 3-4 times in a row for one text message. In many ways Android OS just does not feel like a well oiled machine like iOS. The media player for MP3’s sucks! On my Iphone I could sort everything by genre because I have all 1,000+ of my songs tagged correctly, on the iPhone I could organize each genre into playlists, so if I wanted to listen to 80’s music and only 80’s music I had all my songs in an 80’s playlist. I see no easy way to do this on the Droid at all. I am no expert but I am not an amateur either, if I can’t figure it out most of the public won’t either.
The removable battery and micro sd card are huge advantages over the iPhone. The Droid always offer flash player which I love, it would make going back to the iPhone hard for that reason alone.
Battery life was decent when I bought the phone but got much worse after 6 months of use, my phone often dies before the end of the day so anyone buying this should plan on a car charger or something.
All in all this is a good phone and if I had to purchase it all over again I would.

I have owned the iPhone 4, and so I can say, hands down, that the Motorola Driod X is a far better device overall. Here is my reasoning for why this device is superior to the iPhone: 1. You can buy extra batteries - You can also use extended capacity batteries; 2. Price - I have found these to be far cheaper to buy (used) than iPhones; 3. You can utilize microSD cards! (I have a 32GB card in mine); 4. Enjoy a larger screen than the iPhone; 5. Utilize three additional function buttons on the bottom of the phone - making it more versatile and easier to navigate commands. 6. Adobe FLASH content compatibility - this is a HUGE killer for me with iPhones (at least at the time of this review); 7. It is FAST - for internet browsing, gaming, etc. (The processor is very speedy considering it is only a single core.); 8. The screen is gorgeous too - bright and high contrast; 9. There is a very handy external dedicated camera button; 10. They give you an HDMI output. Very nice! I use it primarily on WiFi and so I cannot speak of the speed if I were using the cellular data network. NOTE(on ESNs): I bought it for $100 here on eBay, BUT...it had a BAD ESN, as was described in the listing. Be aware of that, as you cannot activate these on the existing network, or if they are blacklisted with the carrier (typically when they are reported lost or stolen, etc.), but everything else still works, as long as the phone itself is operating normally. It is great if you use it at home off your router, or in coffee shops, etc. I highly recommend this phone. Build quality is excellent as well - no plastic feel. Just be sure to buy a case, AND do not drop it!!

Since my original Moto Droid (A855) stopped working, I began to look for a replacement. I had the Droid since launch day, so it lasted me over 2 years; therefore, I sought out for a phone that would last me as long, if not, longer.

I've always had Motorola phones and none of them had disappointed me. I heard of numerous Samsung, HTC, and LG Android phones being returned/resold because of hardware problems or the inability/complication of being rooted. I then chose to stay with Motorola since I've never had problems with their phones.

I must say that I am a college student with little to no disposable income, so my price range was rather low. That ruled out the Droid 3, X2, Atrix, RAZR and Bionic (basically all of the popular new phones). I researched (googled) endlessly and narrowed it down between the Droid 2 and Droid X. The D2 felt right at home with the physical slide keyboard and size. Unfortunately, the DX doesn't have a physical keyboard, but it has a larger screen, better camera (8MP), and HDMI output. They are both priced about the same (used).

The choice was clear.

I received the phone (and various accessories) for less than $140. A steal even for a 1.5yr old phone. It has some weight to it, but it complements the phone. The camera is perfect for daily use and live sports, but don't expect masterpieces. This is not a DSLR. The HDMI resolution (720p) is great for showing relatives your vacation photos/videos on a HDTV, but again, this is not a Blu-ray player.
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Rooting.
Even if you are not technically inclined, rooting the device is as simple as downloading 1 file, opening it, and hitting Enter. Your Droid X will be rooted in less than 5 minutes. After this, you can remove all of the useless apps that are installed on the phone like Amazon MP3, Kindle, NFS, etc. You could even load a custom ROM (a different "operating system").
The latest (and last?) official update for the DX is Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) which is nice for the average user. But if you like to test drive the new Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) that the newer phones have, "Encounter ICS" will allow you to experience the newest Android system.

In the end, the Droid X has a large display (which is now a standard among newer Android devices), HDMI output (720p), 8MP camera capable of capturing 720p HD video, thin enough to question the nice comfortable weight, a full battery can survive 6 30-minute calls in 3 days without a charge, and it can run the latest Android system.

I bought this phone for my wife and she really loves it. Her tech aptitude is very low and she felt comfortable with this phone immediately.

The great features of this phone are:
1. It has a very intuitive user interface
2. There is an app for nearly every need you might have
3. It is super fast at processing tasks
4. Screen size is huge and clear
5. Takes Great pictures and videos
6. It's easy to type and send texts

The downsides of this phone are
1. If you don't have unlimited data watch-out! This phone
really consumes data. There are many, many data eating apps running in the background that are constantly using data even when you're not touching the phone or it's in your purse.
2. These apps re-start even after you go in and stop them.

I would buy another. The price to fun ratio is very high!!!