BUILD & DESIGN
This Motorola model is the latest addition to the line of relatively large smartphones, roughly the same size as Verizon's HTC Droid Incredible and the HTC EVO 4G from Sprint. It feels very solid in the hand, and weighty but not too heavy.
Motorola Droid 2 from Verizon WirelessThe overall appearance of the device is both modern and blocky. The corners are curved for comfort and there are some nice dull silver accents, but I wouldn't call the Droid 2 a particularly stylish or edgy phone, at least as far as looks are concerned.
You'll need a large pocket to put it in, but this device isn't so thick that it will be too unsightly. However, you may have a hard time determining which end is up when you take the device out of your pocket -- there's not a good way to tell by feel alone, unless you happen to find the ridge underneath the display.
Display
The 3.7-inch Touchscreen display has a WVGA (480 x 854) resolution. It looks OK, but I'm not blown away by it at this point. Pictures and video are sharp, and there weren't any problems with ghosting, but colors aren't as rich as I would like, and white seems to have a slightly yellowish cast that is definitely unappealing.
The display is missing that undefinable "something" that I've seen on all of the other recent smartphones I've reviewed. I'll try to put my finger on that aspect and define it more clearly for the full review.
Keyboard
The physical QWERTY keyboard is located under the display; you access it by holding the bottom of the phone and sliding the display to the right. The sliding action is very tight -- it's possible to do it with one hand, but difficult. That may change as the phone "loosens up" with more use.
The keyboard is nicely laid out, with clearly marked keys, and large alt, shift, space, and enter keys -- something that I really appreciate. Unfortunately the keys are very flat and indistinct, so even though they're fairly large overall, it will take some time to get used to the keyboard.
Motorola Droid 2 from Verizon WirelessI find that after just a day I can type pretty quickly and with few errors, but I have to constantly look down at my hands in order to be sure I'm hitting the right keys. Hopefully I'll get better with more practice.
Other Buttons & Controls
The Power button on the top of the phone is very small and extremely unobtrusive. I've only had the phone for a day or so, but I'm already frustrated by how hard it is to hit that little button, because my finger can't seem to find it and I usually have to stop and turn the phone up so that I can see the button and then punch it.
The volume buttons are on the top right edge of the phone and the camera is on the bottom right side. Just like the power button, they are rather small and hard to hit without looking.
I'm not terribly thrilled by the virtual buttons along the bottom of the display. They're right above a ridge, where the phone gets slightly thinner, so my fingers tend to hit that edge instead of the button I'm aiming for.
I'm sure that some more time with this device will make it a little easier for me, but my first impression regarding the buttons is that they're not quite big enough and distinct enough, and the virtual buttons are somewhat poorly placed.
PERFORMANCE
The Motorola Droid 2 is the very first smartphone to launch running Android OS 2.2, a new version of Google's operating system. It's based on a 1 GHz processor, a faster one than the original Motorola Droid uses.
My initial impressions regarding performance are mixed, due mainly to whether or not the task I'm trying to accomplish requires heavy Internet access. Using apps like the calendar and contacts, games I've downloaded from the Android Market, and similar apps offer responsive performance. It isn't blow-your-socks-off fast, but it's good.
Motorola Droid 2 from Verizon WirelessLaunch the web browser or email though, and you're in for a wait. Web pages render very slowly, and the experience is rather painful when compared to the Droid 2's slightly older cousin, the Droid Incredible. I usually have good Verizon network coverage at my office, so I'm not yet sure what the problem might be.
Wireless/Call quality
I've tried the wireless hotspot functionality, and I'm having some problems with it at the moment. The Droid 2 shows that my laptop is connected, and my laptop shows that it's connected to the Droid 2, but for some reason I can't do anything that requires network access, like checking my email or using Google Talk. I'm not sure at this point whether this is a random network issue or a serious problem with the device.
Initial reports on sound quality are somewhat mixed. When I called a fellow phone reviewer, he gave the Droid 2 a solid "B" and said that I sounded distant, and that he could definitely tell that I was on a mobile phone. I didn't have any trouble hearing him, and everything came through loud and clear on my end.
When I called one of my friends, he asked if I was "outside on a busy street in a wind tunnel." I didn't have any trouble at all hearing him, but he had a hard time hearing me -- and I was inside my extremely quiet office.
As always, it's hard to judge whether there are actually call quality problems, or whether it's a network issue. I'll test the Droid 2 more thoroughly for the full review, but right now I'm not too impressed with overall sound quality.
Productivity
Like most Android OS phones these days, the Droid 2 comes with Calendar and Contacts applications, plus a calculator. The Quickoffice file viewer for Microsoft Office is also included. There is also the News RSS reader, as well as a News and Weather app that includes top headlines from several of the major outlets.
Motorola Droid 2 from Verizon WirelessThe included web browser works well, albeit quite slowly, as I mentioned earlier. The email experience on the Droid 2 is much like any other Android device, though it is noticeably slower than I expected. Both Google Maps and Verizon's navigation are also included, and I'll be testing both of them along with the other productivity apps on the Droid 2.
Entertainment
All of the usual suspects are here, from the Social Networking app and YouTube to the Music Player and a demo of Need for Speed Shift. The game played well, using Tilt controls, but the sound from the external speaker was disappointingly tinny and not very loud, even at full volume.
There are also some preloaded extras, such as the Amazon Kindle app, which was a nice surprise. Amazon MP3 was included, if you like to get your music downloads from Amazon.
Camera
I've taken only a few shots with the 5 megapixel camera, but I'm not very impressed at this point. Photos look somewhat grainy, and the quality on zoomed-in photos is even worse. The camera doesn't focus until you press the shutter button, so it takes a while to capture a photo -- I imagine it would be easy to miss a quick action shot.
I haven't really given the camera a fair test yet, and I hope that my initial impressions are wrong.
Battery Life
I haven't had the phone long enough to make a determination on battery life, so I'll reserve judgment in this area until after a more lengthy test period.
CONCLUSION
I was excited to receive the Motorola Droid 2, but unfortunately that excitement hasn't lasted. It is certainly not a bad phone, but it's not a "wow" phone, at least at first glance.
Review by Brighthand.
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