Droid vs Nexus

[pushdrops]

Originally Posted by SoftwareForMe.com

I stand corrected on the screen sizes. Per Pushdrops request:
* The Droid screen is about 2 mm taller (in the long direction)
* The Nexus screen is about 2 mm wider (in the short direction)

Thanks for the info SoftwareForMe , I'm surprised that the Nexus' screen is only 2mm wider than the Droid - from still shots I have taken (from Nexus video reviews) it appears that the overall aspect ratio of the Nexus is a bit wider than the Droid (like a normal 4:3 tv compared to a 16:9 wide-screen for instance) - the Nexus' screen looks quite a bit wider from pictures / videos (when placed next to a Droid) - the overall aspect ratio (width - height) seems different on the Nexus from pics, but from your measurements I guess it's not (the Droid is super tall & skinny).

That's sort of the difference between the Droid and my wife's Eris, even though the Droid has a 3.7" diag display , the display width on the Droid is only a hair larger than that of the 3.2" diag Eris - so really the Droid's' screen is only taller than the Eris - not wider, to me this is important , I'd expect / rather the 3.7" of the Droid to be a bit wider than the smaller Eris not only taller) ...

I guess the width of the screen isn't a big deal to most as I never hear it mentioned.

Def though I'm also interested to see if the Nexus has better colors / contrast than the Droid (which looks washed out compared to the Eris) - HQ YouTube videos for instance look MUCH better on the Eris than my Droid (this is with auto brightness on / off , adjusted Lo - Hi) - the only way to compare will be to find a Nexus One to check out in person.

Funny how only review site has noted that the Droid's display is washed out - I wouldn't have said that until I played the same YouTube video on my wife's Eris - then I noticed how much better the colors are (deeper blacks) on the Eris, otherwise I'd have given the Droid's display hi marks (it is sharper , just that it's so washed out) ....

Thanks again

[NeonMonster]

Eh. After playing with the Nexus more, if I had the OPPORTUNITY, I'd actually probably chose the Droid over the Nexus.

Visually, the Nexus is MUCH more appealing than the Droid. The Nexus is also much faster than the Droid.

The main problem I have, is that there is no hardware keyboard. I got used to the Apple touch screen keyboard very quickly. But I'm still trying to work with the Nexus screen. I'm getting better, but often I will still have to back up and retype out words.

[inque]

Originally Posted by NeonMonster

Eh. After playing with the Nexus more, if I had the OPPORTUNITY, I'd actually probably chose the Droid over the Nexus.

Visually, the Nexus is MUCH more appealing than the Droid. The Nexus is also much faster than the Droid.

The main problem I have, is that there is no hardware keyboard. I got used to the Apple touch screen keyboard very quickly. But I'm still trying to work with the Nexus screen. I'm getting better, but often I will still have to back up and retype out words.

Are you typing landscape mode or portrait? Would you say typing is harder because of the lack of multi-touch? I am very anxious myself on having to use a touch keyboard, coming from a hardware keyboard phone (E71), although I can adapt pretty well to the ipod touch, but still anxious nevertheless

[NeonMonster]

Originally Posted by inque

Are you typing landscape mode or portrait? Would you say typing is harder because of the lack of multi-touch? I am very anxious myself on having to use a touch keyboard, coming from a hardware keyboard phone (E71), although I can adapt pretty well to the ipod touch, but still anxious nevertheless

I'm typing mainly portrait. It is the same for landscape mode also.

The word suggestion makes it possible to type VERY fast because it shows a list of words it thinks you are about to spell out.

But when it comes to multi-touch, it does lower the speed of typing. When typing REALLY quickly, you will be hitting multiple keys, and certain letters will be left out.

[mas90guru]

I'm hardly unbiased since I own both (doesn't that introduce some bias?) ..

In a nutshell I've had problems with the incoming audio quality on the Droid. That means callers who I have called (or who've called me) sound very muffled/robotic/clipped to me.

I have not experienced any issues with people telling me that the audio on MY end (my spoken voice) is bad on the Droid.

So far no problems with the Google Nexus One.

I wrote up a Droid vs Nexus One comparison yesterday

Of the two I'd probably buy the Droid over the Nexus One based strictly on my usage needs. I tend to like that Verizon is everywhere while T-Mobile still can have a lot of pockets of spotty coverage.

The Nexus One also has a flaw in my opinion with the four menu buttons on the bottom which often interfere with typing because you press the "back/exit" or "menu" by mistake while using the on-screen keyboard.

[pushdrops]

[QUOTE=mas90guru;3861]I'm hardly unbiased since I own both (doesn't that introduce some bias?) .. QUOTE]

I have a Droid, wy wife an Eris - we until the middle of Jan to return them.

I like the Droid but I like the Eris in many ways over the Droid:
- it's lighter <I went with the Droid because it has a h/w keyboard but i nevr use it because honestly i find it to be an awful keyboard plus with out the word suggestions which works great on the Droid's virtual keyboard its really slower for me to use the h/w keyboard>

-the Eris' display is MUCH more colorful than the Droid (which appears washed out in comparison - viewing many pictures / videos, I also went to demo other Droid's to make sure it just wasn't mine, it has a SHARP display yes, but the colors are washed out)

- simple but a big deal for me, the Eris has music controls avail w/o unlocking , this is important if it's to be used as an mp3 player (don't know if the Nexus One has music controls on the lock screen or not, I think an app should arrive for the Droid I hope that will have such controls or via an update)

Another thing is I expected the Droid's display to be much larger than the Eris (3.7" diag over 3.2" of the Eris) but they are nearly the same WIDTH , the Droid is much taller but not much wider (this is a reason I think I'd rather the Nexus One over the Droid, it seems to have the same aspect ratio as the Eris - meaning the 3.7" diag display of the Nexus will be much larger than the Droid's display, you can see in side by side photo's that the actual viewable area <width> of the Nexus One is larger than the Droid's).

If I were able to use the Droid's h/w keyboard well (if it would have the predictive / suggestion word deal that would be a plus) then I'd stick with the Droid & hope for a solution to the washed out color / poor contrast of the display but with the h/w keyboard as something that I never use, I think I'd much rather the Nexus One.

There's no way I would have went with the Droid (after demoing its h/w keyboard in the store) if the Nexus One were available last month at the Verizon store - the larger screen (width) , lighter Nexus One would have won out - especially if they were the same price.

Another thing I really like about my wife's Eris over my Droid - the trackball -lots of people seem to put down trackballs , but it's great to move around / select text when typing a message / posting on a forum - plus it's great to use the trackball to select "home screens" when your hands aren't clean (while eating pizza or fried chicken for example, ha) - the Droid has the D-Pad but you have to slide out the keyboard (which I rarely ever do) to access it.

So the trackball is a super plus for me (also the way it's used as an indicator is very cool) - one thing I couldn't take about the iPhone that I used for work , there was no way to easily select / move around within text - like trying to get in the middle of a word to edit , with the trackball on the Eris I can easily get to any text (D-pad on the Droid too , just more of a pain to pull out the keyboard to access the d-pad while the Eris' trackball is always ready to go) .

Really I can't see one advantage of the Droid over the Nexus One - unless again i actually used the Droid's hardware keyboard.

Another bonus of the Nexus One - the extra MIC , the way it's used to shooting video is great (since it's on the rear of the phone, it's positioned to match what you are taking video of - instead of of pointing in the opposite direction) , this is a big plus.

My problem is that while we have a week to return the Eris and Droid and terminate the Verizon contract - if we do so , I'm not ready to go to T-Mobile because we have a discount with Verizon and a two phone Family Plan (with the Top 10 friends and Friends that have Verizon <nobody i know has ever had T-Mobile> that gives us a lot of free people to call, so with T-Mobile we'd have no "free calls" except calling each other or night / weekend calls plus I don't see a 2-phone / family plan option for the Nexus One) .

So this is rough - I know I'd likely much rather the Nexus One over the Droid and I'm just within the period to return the Droid but since the Nexus One won't be on Verizon until April (Spring) if I keep the Droid the Nexus One will cost a fortune in a few months so that doesn't work - if I drop Verizon now , I won't be able to be a new customer in April to get the Nexus One when it comes out (plus what will we use for cells in the mean time , we'll also lose our numbers) ....

I really wished we wouldn't have dropped our old carrier last month to buy the Droid and Eris because I would have definitely stayed with our old (plain) phones / carrier & waited until the Nexus One was on Verizon ! the Nexus One should be the same price as the Droid so I would have went with it for sure - but not knowing it was gonna be on Verizon or even a def date / specs when I bought the Droid last month .....

My wife loves her Eris , actually even if the Nexus One was avail today on Verizon, she'd keep the Eris (she doesn't want to give it up) - so she's set no matter what - me though - I won't be happy with the Droid knowing the Nexus One is out there at the same price & I just missed it.

I have a feeling I'll be bringing our phones back next week - I just need to come up with a plan ..... Maybe I can work a deal with Verizon to tell them we are returning everything now unless they can offer a deal for me to upgrade to the Nexus One as soon as its out for little $$$$ , anyone have any advice on this ? Or info on how to get TWO Nexus One's with T-Mobile on a Family Plan (basically 1,400 minutes , unlimited data for two phones at $130 per mo or less) ? If we can do that I'll go with T-Mobile (we'd still be losing the ability to call Verizon customers for free and the Top 10 deal but I'd do that to have the Nexus One) .


On T-Mobile not having full coverage - don't their plans include ROAMING (free) ? So if you strayed from the Interstate while on a trip to where there wasn't T-Mobile full coverage, wouldn't you just pickup AT&T for voice and at least Edge data (not being charged) ? If that's the case , then just so you don't live in a area where there isn't T-Mobile coverage , it shouldn't matter if you have free roaming (other than you'd lose 3G if you roamed) ?

Thanks for answering any of my many questions , I'm sure I'm not the only one in this situation (bought a Droid not knowing the Nexus One would be out so soon , not exactly loving the Droid's h/w keyboard).

[ezeddiekun]

I have no used the Nexus One yet. But I am a owner of the Droid, which im returning. In my experience, the Droid has many quality issues; although, they may be minor. Things such as light bleeding from the LED buttons, to loose sliders, to unresponsive touch screens. I understand I can exchange this phone, but from my understanding this is a common issue for this phone. Many people go through 2-3 refurbs just to get one that works. If you can get one with this quality issues, the Droid is absolutely a great phone. I'm switching to N1 because the slider on the phone bugs me, it feels like it loosens everyday!

[Flandry]

I went to the manufacturer sites and put together a chart (which I posted in the Droid forums). I've put a dash between each phone's stat. The Nexus One is first, the Droid is second.

Comparison: HTC NEXUS ONE - MOTOROLA DROID

Size and weight
Height: 119mm - 115.8mm
Width: 59.8mm - 60mm
Depth: 11.5mm - 13.7mm
Weight: 130 grams - 169 grams

Touchscreen
Screen Size: 3.7-inch WVGA - 3.7-inch WVGA
Type: AMOLED - TFT LCD
Resolution: 800 x 480 pixels - 854 x 480 pixels (16:9 widescreen)

Camera
Resolution: 5 megapixels - 5 megapixels
Focus: Autofocus - Autofocus
Zoom: 2X digital - 4X digital
Flash: LED - Dual LED
Geotagging: Yes - Yes
Dedicated Camera Button: No - Yes
Video Resolution: 720x480 pixels - 720x480 pixels
Recording Speed: 20 fps or higher - up to 24 fps

Connectivity
Wireless: Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n) - Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g)
Bluetooth: A2DP Stereo 2.1 + EDR - A2DP Stereo 2.1 + EDR
Headset Jack: 3.5mm - 3.5mm
USB: MicroUSB 2.0 - MicroUSB 2.0

Power
Battery: Removable 1400 mAH - Removable 1400 mAH
Talk time: (3G) 7 hours - 6.41 hours
Standby time: (3G) 250 hours - 270 hours
Noise Reduction: Dual microphone - Dual microphone

Processing
CPU: Qualcomm SnapDragon 8250 - ARM Cortex A8
Speed: 1000 MHz - 550Mhz

Memory
ROM: 512MB - 512MB
RAM: 512MB - 256MB
External: 4GB Micro SD Card - 16GB Micro SD Card
(Expandable to 32 GB) - (Expandable to 32 GB)

Android Operating System
Version: 2.1 (Eclair) - 2.0.1 (Eclair) (2.1 Update announced)

Interface
Touchscreen: Capacitive - Capacitive
Keyboard: Virtual - Virtual, QWERTY Slider
Navigation: Trackball - D-Pad

Sensors
GPS: aGPS (assisted) - aGPS (assisted), sGPS (simultaneous)
Proximity: Yes - Yes
Ambient Light: Yes - Yes
Digital compass: Yes - Yes
Accelerometer: Yes - Yes

Flash Capability
Optimized Flash 10.1 Announced: Yes - Yes

[auditd0rk]

I have an iPhone 3G, Droid, and N1... here's my two cents:

iPhone –

Pros: Lots of apps; best music player and built-in iTunes integration; solid; great form factor; great screen, but not the best of the three; fast; free wifi at Starbucks. Quality build… it’s an Apple. Bluetooth phone AND audio works in my car. Can watch movies and TV shows from iTunes. GSM – works in Europe.

Cons: Apple’s tyrannical management of the app store – stifles innovation through rejecting apps that compete with their own pre-installed apps. AT&T – lousy customer service. Lousy phone call quality; dropped calls. Locked to AT&T, must jailbreak. Camera is fair. Battery not easily replaceable. Cannot expand memory.

Droid –

Pros: Runs Android – open platform; able to run apps built to compete with Google’s own apps; stable; easy to root; seemless integration with Gmail, contacts, and calendar. Auto backup of apps and settings. Integrated Google Voice; turn-by-turn navigation; physical keyboard. Bluetooth phone works in my car. User-replaceable battery. MicroSD card. Can move files easily between phone and computer. Verizon – fastest 3G around… I don’t care what the chubby Luke Wilson says. I don’t even connect to wireless in my home anymore – that’s how fast it is. Great screen – better than iPhone.

Cons: Physical keyboard – it’s there, but the keys are hard to distinguish. Camera blows. Heavy. Industrial look and feel was cool at the beginning, but I began to miss the smooth lines of the iPhone. Bluetooth audio does not work in my car, which sucks. Media player is fair. Need 3rd-party software for iTunes integration. Can’t watch iTunes shows/movies. CDMA – won’t work when I go overseas; won’t allow simultaneous voice and data. Verizon’s service is pricey.

Nexus One –

Pros: Holy balls it’s fast! AMOLED screen blows away Droid and iPhone. It’s a sexy beast – light and slim. All Android advantages that the Droid enjoys. Unlocked and GSM. Bluetooth phone works in with my car. T-mobile’s voice/data plans are cheap (even with the no-contract plan). Camera takes great pics.

Cons: T-mobile – great when you’re on 3G. Having just finished their network upgrade to HSDPA, not noticing speeds that blow my socks off. Touchscreen sensitivity seems a little off – worst of the three, perhaps a software upgrade will fix it. Bluetooth audio does not work with my car – WTF. Same lame media player.


Although I don’t miss the iPhone at all – I would have to say my preference order is Nexus One, iPhone, then the Droid. The Nexus One will be perfect once a version of Swype is released that works on the N1’s screen.