Motorola DROID 2 Review

Introduction:

Long ago, in the not too far distant past, there was a handset released which was able to defy the odds and bring the Android platform into stardom – thus being graced with the prestigious title of Time Magazine's gadget of the year. The Motorola DROID was nearly a full head-on gamble for the one time dominant company in the mobile industry, but it appeared that they didn't require luck due to the fact that the DROID was such a big hit among consumers. Not only did it reinvigorate Motorola, but as a whole, it provided the sudden movement needed to showcase the power and depth that Android has to offer to a broad range of consumers. Fast forward to the present and we're now being treated to its eventual successor, the aptly named Motorola DROID 2, which is coming into the market at a time when a myriad of other Android powered smartphones have shown their prowess among the competition. Despite finding a handful of improvements in the hardware and software side over its predecessor, the Motorola DROID 2 is aiming to continue its stance of DROID DOES.

The package contains:

• Motorola DROID 2
• Wall Charger       
• microUSB cable
• Quick Reference Guide
• Product Safety & Warranty Brochure

Design:

Honestly, there isn't anything majorly different about the Motorola DROID 2's appearance versus the original – it still retains that streamlined industrial design that makes it one of the more compact QWERTY handsets on the market. Instead of relying on the same angular and hard lined looks of its predecessor, the DROID 2 is a bit more curved all around with tad bit larger dimension. The color scheme is different too with its chrome bezel found on the front with the rear relying on this soft touch coating with a dark blue shade to it. Overall, construction is solid as usual since it's once again built like a tank with its metallic like exterior and sizes up at the same weight (5.96 oz) – which easily exudes a high level of workmanship. Since it's a true successor, the decision to follow closely to the original's design makes perfect sense on paper, but unfortunately it doesn't resonate anything groundbreaking to make anyone jump with joy – similar to the experience we had seeing the DROID for the first time.



You can compare the Motorola DROID 2 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

After checking out the monster sized display on the Motorola DROID X, the 3.7” TFT capacitive touchscreen on the DROID 2 doesn't feel as compelling, but thankfully there is plenty of detail with its 480x854 pixels resolution and support for 16 million colors. Even the tiniest of text is sharp looking to the naked eye thanks to its pixel density, while on the other hand, it's still able to display a rainbow of lush colors. The glass like material will not only stand up to the elements and harsh abrasives in our pockets, but it's also very accurate in registering a touch. When using it outdoors in direct sunlight, the display is still visible when it's placed on the brightest setting, but an occasional shade will help out as well. Ultimately, there's nothing that exciting about the display, especially when it's the same exact one used on the DROID.


It was nice to see physical hardware buttons on the DROID X, but unfortunately the DROID 2 relies on the same touch sensitive ones employed on the original. Some prefer it since it will allow for a completely flush surface, but there is always the occasional accidental press when using any of the portrait on-screen keyboards. To the left side, you'll find the microUSB port with an LED light that will turn on when it's connected, while on the right edge, the volume rocker and smaller sized 2-level shutter key are in the same exact placement as before. Both the 3.5mm headset jack and smaller sized dedicated power button, which was rather difficult to press and feel out, are located on the top side. Flipping over to the back, we found the placement of the 5-megapixel auto-focus camera and dual-LED flash to be exact to the DROID with the grill for the speakerphone found also in the same location.  We're happy to see that the designers improved the rear back cover which requires more force to be removed this time around – so that there are no accidental ejections while in your pocket. Once it's removed, it'll present you access to the 1400 mAh battery and microSD card slot.



Still utilizing the same monotonous movement in getting the QWERTY exposed, we were hoping to see some kind of snapping mechanism, but we'd imagine that it was done to retain its streamlined look. Instead of finding a completely flush QWERTY, buttons are slightly bubbled toward the middle which provides for a subtle distinction between them. However, we're still presented with the same stiff feeling keys at first, but over a period of time using them, they eventually had a better response when pressed. Gone is the large 5-way directional pad which is now replaced with 4 directional buttons and a larger sized enter key. Overall, there isn't too much to say about it since there are few improvements – but we'd suspect that casual DROID owners will take a liking for it still.

Interface:

Powered by a 1GHz TI OMAP processor with 512MB of RAM, just like the DROID X, the handset is a workhorse in moving about the platform with very few instances of unresponsiveness. Now one of the biggest reasons to possibly side with the handset as opposed to another Android set is the fact that it's running Android 2.2 Froyo from the onset. The latest version of the open platform provides for a swift experience and brings aboard support for Flash 10.1 – so it's easily one of the main attractions for the smartphone. Rather than sticking with a stock Android experience, we're greeted to the same unique BLUR-like interface found on the DROID X – which some can find tasteful since it's not as obtrusive as full blown MOTOBLUR.

Included on the Motorola DROID 2 are a total of 7 home screens that you can move between quite fluidly just by sliding your finger across the screen. There are also red dot icons that appear on the bottom of the screen that can be used to jump quickly between any of the home screens. For example, you can go from the far-right screen to the far-left screen in just one tap. It is quite clear that the DROID 2 does not contain the full fledged MOTOBLUR interface, like the Motorola DEVOUR, but the DROID 2 does have some elements (or features) of MOTOBLUR that are infused into the Android OS. Because of this, the DROID 2 does have some extra Motorola widgets, better social networking integration, and its own messaging program.




Organizer & Messaging:

All of your contacts, including those from your Google and Facebook accounts, are displayed together alphabetically in one concise list in the phonebook app. You also have the choice of just showing contacts from certain groups (Facebook, Google, phone, etc.) as well as creating new groups. Within the app there are two other panes you can swipe between, one showing your contact’s history (including text messages, emails, phone calls, and Facebook inbox), and the other showing status updates. When you select one of your contacts, you are then presented with more detailed info on them, such as their phone numbers, email address, and all their current Facebook updates. Naturally, you can enter new contacts via the Motorola DROID 2 directly with all of their information. For added convenience, people that you call frequently can be added to your Favorites list, and you can even assign their phone number to one of 8 speed dial locations.



The included calendar on the Motorola DROID 2 is stock Android and syncs directly to your Google account. It does support syncing to multiple Google accounts, but not to Facebook, like we saw with the HTC Droid Incredible, which was added to it as part of the Sense UI. There aren’t any task or note apps installed on the DROID 2, but the Android Market has several to choose from. There is, however, a sticky note widget that can be used only on the home screen. The included clock app is also very basic and only provides you an alarm clock and countdown timer.



The 3.7” real estate we're presented with on the Motorola DROID 2 still pales in comparison to the gargantuan size found on the DROID X – so inputting text via the on-screen keyboard is more  challenging here. You'll have your choice of using either the stock Android one or the Swype keyboard – with the latter of the two working fairly well with less typos, surprisingly. If you rely on using the stock Android keyboard, you'll be faced with some stringent confines which made for an occasional mispress – but thankfully the landscape option minimizes some of the stress. As the best alternative, the physical QWERTY will take some time to adjust, but once you've gotten a feel for it, there are very few instances we found ourselves making mistakes.

Camera:

The camera interface is no different from what's found on the DROID X, but instead of finding an 8-megapixel sensor, it resorts to sticking with a 5-megapixel one – which is actually the same as the DROID. No biggie there, right? Well, we didn't find the image quality taken on the camera to be any different from what we saw on the original Motorola DROID. It's not to say that it's a bad thing, especially when it performed exquisitely for a device that's almost a year old, but we were hoping to see some kind of improvement. When taking photos in scenery where lighting is prevalent, there is a fair amount of detail with accurate looking colors – although, they can look a tiny bit darker than what we would like. Additionally, the handset handles well in taking macro shots as it's able to capture images in close proximity without too much fuzziness. In situations where lighting is scarce, there is some evidence of noise and graininess in our shots. However, the dual-LED flash on the handset did a decent job of illuminating our shots, but colors were more washed out looking than anything else. Despite that, the Motorola DROID 2 provided some good quality overall that should suffice for most people.







You know you're really spoiled when you expect most top-end handsets to offer 720p video recording, so when we have to revert back to using the DVD like (720x480) quality found on the DROID 2, it's a difficult adjustment to make. On a brighter note, Motorola did make an improvement since videos are captured at the rate of 29fps – as opposed to the 24fps on the DROID. Detail remained the same on the DROID 2, but you can clearly see that videos are smoother and less jerky, however, it still doesn't quite exude the levels found with the DROID X.

Motorola DROID 2 sample video at 720x480 pixels resolution.

Multimedia:

One area where Motorola should have done some tinkering was with the Music Player. Though we can’t complain too much, as the stock Android player does provide basically everything you need, by listing your music by artists, albums, songs, and playlists. If you happen to press on the album cover, it will change to a neat looking visualization to provide a hint of visual eye candy as a song is being played. In addition, there are also handful of equalizer settings which will fine tune the quality of the audio from the speaker. As a whole, tunes emitted by the rear speakerphone were audible without sounding too strained. When we set the equalizer to extreme bass, it managed to produce strong tones that easily resonated through the air – making for one pleasant experience.



With such a powerful processor on board, we definitely like the Gallery app which follows in fashion to what's seen on the Motorola DROID X. All of your videos and photos are arranged in specific folders at first, but you'll then be greeted to some 3D effects when scrolling between specific content – it's a very nice presentation to say the least.



Watching videos on the DROID 2 was a piece of cake since it did not stutter one bit during an entire playback – plus the beautiful and detailed display adds to its overall great experience. We loaded up a movie trailed encoded in MPEG-4 1280x720 resolution and it was still able to perfectly play it without any slowdown or lag. Even though we can some times be spoiled by watching videos on larger displays, like on the DROID X or HTC EVO 4G, there is no arguing that the experience on the Motorola DROID 2 is more than satisfactory for anyone's taste.



Connectivity:

The Motorola DROID 2 A955 is a dual-band CDMA (800/1900 MHz) handset with high speed data connectivity available through 3G EVDO Rev A or Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n. Bluetooth 2.1+EDR is also supported with profiles for headset, hands-free, stereo, audio/visual remote control, dial up networking, human interface device, object push for vcard, messaging access, and phone book access.

So we finally come to probably one of the most important and sought after parts about the Motorola DROID 2 – it's web browsing experience with support for Flash Player 10.1. The handset didn't take too long to load up our web site completely over a 3G connection – which actually clocked in at a little bit over 30 seconds. As with other handsets, double tapping will enable you to zoom into specific areas while multi-touch gestures like pinching can further specify the zoom level. Scrolling is swift with very little instance of it requiring to render images and text when moving about a page – which just solidifies the overall quality experience. Now what makes it so unique, thanks to Android 2.2, is that Flash content will load up – so it perfectly replicates the desktop experience. We were able to load up a simple Flash game on the phone and found the experience to be rather accurate – so there's no denying that this is one key advantage the DROID 2 has to offer over some of the opposing competition; for now that is.

Performance:

There weren't that many faults to be found on the original Motorola DROID in the calling quality department, and we're happy to say that the same applies to the Motorola DROID 2. With some strong tones from the earpiece, we really didn't have too much trouble listening to our callers – except for some instances when static could be heard, but wasn't widespread. However, things were slightly more difficult for our callers since they stated that our  voice sounded rather weak and sometimes choppy. When we switched over to the speakerphone, its equally strong audible tones made it very easy for us to hear our callers. We found the middle setting to provide the most optimal experience. Still, moving it up all the way to the maximum, we sensed that it was beginning to strain which made for some muffled sounding voices.

Bars and signal strength seem to be something that's watched intently with a close eye, but thankfully the Motorola DROID 2 was able to retain a solid connection to the network. Hovering around on the average at -85 dBm in high coverage areas, we didn't experience any sudden fluctuations in signal here in the greater Philadelphia region.

Based on our experience with the DROID 2, battery performance looks to be the same as with its predecessor since it sticks with the same sized battery. Heavy users will want to keep a watchful eye on the battery level, but for the average person, it should be adequate in getting by a good 8 hour work shift without requiring a charge. However, it'd be a wise decision to plug this up to a charger before going to bed at night if you want to make sure you'll have a healthy battery level in the morning. The unit is rated for a stable 9.5 hours of talk time and 13 days of standby on a single charge.

Conclusion: 

When you have an army of Android devices out there, especially when we witness multiple top shelf devices being released, it makes it rather difficult for any specific one to stand out unless it's able to set the bar higher. Back in the fall of last year, the Motorola DROID was able to make a name for itself, because it boasted stellar hardware backed with a full bodied platform, while competition was scarce as hen's teeth. However, the DROID 2 is coming in at a time when it's facing stiff competition from basically every side. Case in point with the recently released Motorola DROID X, and we mean recent, which managed to attract consumers with its fresh new looks and equipped power. The Motorola DROID 2 does improve a lot over its predecessor, but it doesn't offer the compelling features found on the DROID X to make it a substantially superior or even equal handset. Granted though it has a slightly improved QWERTY keyboard, its $199.99 on-contract pricing is rather less appealing – even more when the DROID X offers 720p video recording, a larger screen, and the soon-to-be equal size of DROID DOES with Android 2.2. That said, the DROID 2 will surely appeal to those users, who find a 4.3-inch screen handset too big, just can't go without a physical QWERTY, and still want to enjoy multimedia and web in a decent way.

In the end, the Motorola DROID 2 takes the customary route of being a successor by playing it safe with its upgraded features over the original. However, there is this sense of appeal that's lost just because we've already seen this device before. And when the original is getting the Froyo treatment, the only thing that makes the DROID 2 superior are the stronger internals.

Motorola DROID 2 Video Review: