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rockitdog

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Mar 25, 2013
2,724
1,241
Is the Verizon Droid brand dead? At one time the Droids were all the rage but it seems they've really fallen off the radar lately.

I'm intrigued by the Droid Maxx and it's massive 3500 mah battery. I like the big screen and the fact that it's close to stock android. I wish it was a 1080 screen but 720 is good enough.

Does anyone have any experience with the new Droids? Any suggestions?
 

TacticalDesire

macrumors 68020
Mar 19, 2012
2,286
23
Michigan
The new droids are basically droid branded moto x's in different shells. Software wise and internally they're practically the same.
 

rockitdog

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Mar 25, 2013
2,724
1,241
I'm bummed it only has 294 ppi. That seems so dated compared to other 5 inch displays out there right now.
 

adder7712

macrumors 68000
Mar 9, 2009
1,923
1
Canada
The current Droids are essentially Moto Xs in a different shell. Some software features are the same too.
 

Hastings101

macrumors 68020
Jun 22, 2010
2,355
1,482
K
Word on the street is the current Droids are essentially the same phone as the Moto X in a different shell - software's pretty similar too. :p

I don't think the brand is dead yet but it's probably not going to be around for long with Google involved in the designing of products now.
 

appleofmy"i"

macrumors regular
Feb 2, 2010
174
57
I thought rumor had it that this year's lineup completed the contract that Motorola had with Verizon to make the Droid brand.
 

mpayne2k

macrumors 6502a
May 12, 2010
876
63
Is the Verizon Droid brand dead? At one time the Droids were all the rage but it seems they've really fallen off the radar lately.

I'm intrigued by the Droid Maxx and it's massive 3500 mah battery. I like the big screen and the fact that it's close to stock android. I wish it was a 1080 screen but 720 is good enough.

Does anyone have any experience with the new Droids? Any suggestions?

At one point "droid" was my only association with the Android OS. I didn't realize it was for Motorola devices exclusively. So yeah, now that Samsung rules the land and "galaxy" seems more synonymous with the Android brand it is definitely off my radar.

It seems a pretty sad reach when they use Edward Norton to make the commercials for their brand identity now. I remember 4 years ago all they had to do was show random red/black images and say "DRRRROOOIIIID" at the end of the commercial and it screamed "coolness" Now, it is on the backs of a 40yo+ actor who for all intents and purposes has been out of the spotlight since the mid aughts or late 90s!
 

rockitdog

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Mar 25, 2013
2,724
1,241
I wonder if Droid wasn't exclusive to Verizon if more people would be interested in them. Moto X seems to be selling well by all accounts and it's available on every carrier and there's essentially no difference between between the new Droids and the Moto X.
 

gotluck

macrumors 603
Dec 8, 2011
5,717
1,260
East Central Florida
I wonder if Droid wasn't exclusive to Verizon if more people would be interested in them. Moto X seems to be selling well by all accounts and it's available on every carrier and there's essentially no difference between between the new Droids and the Moto X.

yes, if they sold a gsm, bootloader unlockable droid maxx, I could definitely see it selling well.

Similar to the current tmobile MotoX or dev editions.
 

AustinIllini

macrumors G5
Oct 20, 2011
12,699
10,567
Austin, TX
Because the term "Droid" is licensed to Verizon by Lucas et al, it was never going to be a true rival to the iPhone. As a result, the Droid name has become somewhat limited as phones have become less network specific.
 

rockitdog

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Mar 25, 2013
2,724
1,241
Because the term "Droid" is licensed to Verizon by Lucas et al, it was never going to be a true rival to the iPhone. As a result, the Droid name has become somewhat limited as phones have become less network specific.

When Android was a baby, the only Androids I knew of were Droids. They were the "iPhone killer" back then according to people who I knew that had them.
 

thehustleman

macrumors 65816
Jan 3, 2013
1,123
1
At one point "droid" was my only association with the Android OS. I didn't realize it was for Motorola devices exclusively. So yeah, now that Samsung rules the land and "galaxy" seems more synonymous with the Android brand it is definitely off my radar.

It seems a pretty sad reach when they use Edward Norton to make the commercials for their brand identity now. I remember 4 years ago all they had to do was show random red/black images and say "DRRRROOOIIIID" at the end of the commercial and it screamed "coolness" Now, it is on the backs of a 40yo+ actor who for all intents and purposes has been out of the spotlight since the mid aughts or late 90s!

It wasn't exclusively Motorola, it was exclusively Verizon. HTC and Samsung both made Droids.
 

AustinIllini

macrumors G5
Oct 20, 2011
12,699
10,567
Austin, TX
When Android was a baby, the only Androids I knew of were Droids. They were the "iPhone killer" back then according to people who I knew that had them.

Yes, but once the other carriers got their first Android devices, the Droid name became obsolete. Once the iPhone became available on VZW, Droid marketing scaled back and phones on other carriers were not called Droid. Soon (for whatever reason) devices like the Thunderbolt came out on Verizon and were no longer using the Droid name either.

----------

It wasn't exclusively Motorola, it was exclusively Verizon. HTC and Samsung both made Droids.

In fact, I believe the HTC Hero was retroactively named "Droid Eris" around the time the original Droid (MOTO DROID) was released. Just found my old Moto Droid in the back seat of my wife's car. Looked to sell it, was offered nothing. Got rid of it.
 

TacticalDesire

macrumors 68020
Mar 19, 2012
2,286
23
Michigan
Yes, but once the other carriers got their first Android devices, the Droid name became obsolete. Once the iPhone became available on VZW, Droid marketing scaled back and phones on other carriers were not called Droid. Soon (for whatever reason) devices like the Thunderbolt came out on Verizon and were no longer using the Droid name either.

----------



In fact, I believe the HTC Hero was retroactively named "Droid Eris" around the time the original Droid (MOTO DROID) was released. Just found my old Moto Droid in the back seat of my wife's car. Looked to sell it, was offered nothing. Got rid of it.
I would have held onto an OG Droid even if it wasn't worth anything. If only for nostalgia sake.
 

T5BRICK

macrumors G3
Aug 3, 2006
8,314
2,391
Oregon
In fact, I believe the HTC Hero was retroactively named "Droid Eris" around the time the original Droid (MOTO DROID) was released.

Ugh. My wife had a Droid Eris at one point. What a horrible phone. My beat-to-hell iPhone 3GS ran circles around it.
 

AustinIllini

macrumors G5
Oct 20, 2011
12,699
10,567
Austin, TX
Ugh. My wife had a Droid Eris at one point. What a horrible phone. My beat-to-hell iPhone 3GS ran circles around it.

The Droid Incredible was certainly better, but the Eris was terrible, as was 2.X Android versions.

ICS changed the Android game. Jelly Bean solidified the OS as an equal to iOS. At this point, the two systems are matching each other punch for punch.
 

T5BRICK

macrumors G3
Aug 3, 2006
8,314
2,391
Oregon
ICS changed the Android game. Jelly Bean solidified the OS as an equal to iOS. At this point, the two systems are matching each other punch for punch.

Oh, I'm not arguing that point. I just saw "Droid Eris" and had flashbacks about how terrible it was. I owned a HTC One until about 4 months ago and it was great.
 

AustinIllini

macrumors G5
Oct 20, 2011
12,699
10,567
Austin, TX
Oh, I'm not arguing that point. I just saw "Droid Eris" and had flashbacks about how terrible it was. I owned a HTC One until about 4 months ago and it was great.

didn't mean to be argumentative. "Droid" to me just represents and earlier Android version which was way behind its competition.
 
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