Device of the year: Motorola Droid
What a fitting picture :) Say ‘hello” to the Motorola Droid, my choice for device of the year!
I would have picked the Google Nexus One if it was available today, and I would have picked the Nokia N900 if it was more accessible, but the Motorola Droid made a bigger impact on the mobile industry…
Let’s put aside all the hype and focus on the device. The Droid’s ultra thin, angular and matte design is polarizing – I think it looks super hot, and no matter what you think, it grabs your attention and stands out from the rest of the pack.
It’s fast, the screen is gorgeous, the camera is decent (even for video), and the keyboard is fine (in my book). It’s well built and just feels like a premium phone. Reception and call quality rank with the best. The Droid truly is Motorola’s comeback device.
More significantly, the Droid was the first phone with plain Android 2.0 and Google Navigation. I’ve used most Android devices since the T-Mobile G1, and I considered Android “interesting” before version 2.0, but with the Droid I actually started liking Android.
Now, 2 months and several phones later I’m still excited about Android 2.0 and using the Droid every day. That’s unusual, but I’m not the only one. Most of the geeks I know have dropped their iPhones for the Droid – there’s a clear shift towards Android in the tech world.
Getting support from a major carrier (Verizon) is giving Motorola, Android, and Google tons of exposure, something Nokia is missing with the N900, even though Maemo is brilliant. The Droid is an aspirational device, yet one that is readily available and accessible.
Of course, the Droid is not perfect. The battery cover comes off too easily, the capacitive ‘back” key gets in the way, the camera auto-focus was buggy (now fixed), the US version is CDMA-only, and the GSM version (Milestone) only supports 2100/900 MHz 3G.
Ultimately, the Droid is a great phone, and will be looked back upon as the start of a significant new chapter for Android :)
tnkgrl Mobile: Tech that Matters 
Enjoyed your blog this year, best wishes for 2010! I recently tried the HTC Eris and enjoyed the Android 1.5 but eventually returned it due to the lack of a physical keyboard. May have to try the Droid, as a lot of negative comments had been made about its keyboard. Looking forward to some news from Palm next week at CES…if Pre or Pixi moves to Verizon….webOS on a great network = great match!
Is that an N900 I see reflected in the Droid screen???
Yes! That’s why I wrote “What a fitting picture :)”
Droid #1 in the foreground, and N900 #2 in the background…
Ha! That’s what I get for not reading thoroughly. This was my first time at your site, and the first thing I saw was a device I have pined for for months… the n900! Alas, I’m rocking the cliq for now.
I have lots of N900 coverage here… Just look for the N900 tag/category!
Great blog and, as stated above, happy 2010. However, I will have to respectfully correct you, in that the N900 is the #1 device.
Does the Droid have the ability to get its internet via BT DUN from another phone, like the Nokia N800/810?
I just purchased my Droid a few days ago and it’s amazing just like you described. I recently left my HTC Touch Pro 2 device, it work for a month or so then i started to have issues with it to the point where i had to perform a hard reset every month. Windows mobile, what can i say. Now using the droid, with the apps available, it’s great.