Telephone

I got a new phone and I had to share a review with you all because it's such a great phone and people need to know about it! This is not a comprehensive, point by point review, just an over-all.

Morotola Android for Verizon

I purchased this phone yesterday! My old phone was a Blackberry Storm (version 1) which I believe is, by far, the worst Blackberry device ever made. So, I will compare this new phone to my old Blackberry.


Look, Feel, Weight, Shape: This phone is pretty heavy and pretty durable. It's not light by any means and it's not small either. It's a little longer than my Blackberry Storm and narrower. They're about the same thickness. The casing for this phone is definitely a good quality. The phone is all black with a matte finish. It's smooth to the touch and the screen is HUGE. The screen takes up 90% of the phone face on the front side. It has a slider QWERTY keyboard that has relatively large buttons. The only issue with the slider that I have encountered is that there is a little selection pad on the right side and if you hold the phone with both hands, with thumbs in the middle, your right thumb has to reach farther to get at the buttons. I have just let my left thumb do most of the work to compensate. I'm not used to it just yet but I am sure in time I will get the feel for it.


Graphics: The graphics are amazingly clear and sharp. As I said before, the screen is huge so this is extra important!


Speed: Lightening fast! It really is so incredibly fast compared to my Blackberry. There is no lag when typing like the Storm. I haven't had  the phone freeze up on me or force close. The internet loads pages really fast. The processor in this phone is excellent and by far the best I've used so far.


Interface: I would say it's pretty easy to use and is, over-all, a very nice interface. The main screen allows you to drop and drag icons like on  your computer desktop. You can slide over to more icons if you run out of space. The phone, to me, is pretty straight forward. It takes some getting used to as it is pretty different but the touch screen is pretty sensitive and doesn't require the kind of handling my Blackberry did. The "home", "back", "more" and "search" buttons are on the phone itself and are touch activated. I would say the touch feature on this phone is much more like the Iphone and much less like the Blackberry Storm. Which is a very good thing.


Applications: The Apps are great. The Facebook App, when I got the phone, wasn't working properly but by 8:00 at night the same day it was working correctly again. The Facebook App intereface is so far superior to the Blackberry App it's insane. I can actually see the posts on my wall without having to choose "more". I also have a really amazing Twitter app on the phone called "Tweetcaster" and it's extremely comprehensive and easy to use. It is better than UberTwitter, sorry Blackberry. The nice guy at the Verizon store let me know that the phone has 70% free applications, so there are a lot you don't have to pay for. I downloaded a currency converter that is really easy to use and a Calorie Counter (I'm dieting) that lets you SCAN BARCODES and get the calorie and nutrition information off of food boxes. You can then add  this item to your daily log of calories. Amazing! That application is harder to use, the barcode thing doesn't always work correctly and it takes about 10-15 seconds for the camera to actually pick up the barcode but awesome, none the less.


Sounds: The phone is LOUD and your default sounds for texts and notifications are the robot voice saying "DROID" which I love and will not change. Can it get annoying? Maybe,  but you can always change it. There are Apps for downloading ringtones but I haven't messed with them yet. The vibrate function works very well, as opposed to some phones I've had where it didn't even work.


Unlock/Locking mechanism: It is easy. You push a button and slide to unlock like an Iphone. You can even set an "unlocking pattern" that is unique to you so that NO ONE except you can ever use the phone. I'm not that paranoid but it's very neat.


Typing: There is no lag at all while typing. It is much easier than the Blackberry in landscape mode on the touch-screen. However, in portrait view the typing is really hard, nearly impossible because you will surely fat finger it the whole time because the keyboard is so small. I have it set to predict my typing and that is much easier. I never type in portrait view anyway, though so it's not much of an issue for me. The keyboard is pretty easy, as I said before, just takes some time to get used to the button placement. The keyboard has illuminated keys (A HUGE PLUS) so while you're in the dark you can still see what you're typing ;)


Features: GPS, e-mail, SMS messages, Internet browser, voice search, application store, MP3/music player, touch screen, QWERTY keyboard, etc.


Battery life: All the Apps, plus the huge screen can really drain the battery life rather quickly. So I would get used to charging this phone frequently. However, if you charge over-night and are not on your phone constantly it can last you a while before completely dying. I think it's to be expected that phones that are so advanced and are refreshing applications constantly are going to drain battery power. I set down the screen brightness, made the screen to be illuminated for less time and also set the refresh for most of my apps pretty low. This has really helped not suck the battery dry so quickly.


GPS: This is the neatest, handiest feature of the phone by far. It has a really great GPS system and will show you real-time traffic on your route. You can also use voice search to search your address. I tested it out at the store and voice searched "Towson Town Center" and it came up with a route, I clicked on it and it set it up for me and even showed me in a map where the traffic was heavy or congested and where it was free moving. I got the GPS mount for my car  that will automatically put you in GPS mode when you click your phone into it. Now, I don't need an expensive GPS system! My phone does it all. 


Price: The one bad side! It was $299.99 with the extension of my 2 year contract. However, I do get a $100 rebate for it and I guess for a phone this nice $200.00 is not bad. My Blackberry was around the same price and is far, far inferior technology. I also love Verizon as a carrier so I'd never switch to AT&T just for a type of phone. Not to mention, you get the additional feature of having a GPS/Phone in one so the cost you save for not having to buy a Garmin or other GPS device makes this phone quite a deal.


Over-all: This phone is great. Over-all, there is a lot about it that I love, quite a bit that I like and very little if anything I'd change. It is a huge upgrade from the glitchy, slow Blackberry Storm. It's a fast, multi-tasking, GPS system, fun to play with phone. I would highly recommend this phone to anyone!


Here, have a bad picture of me and the phone so you can actually see it!