I've been with the iPhone since I camped out on launch day of the original iPhone. Since then, I've made the launch day upgrade to the 3G and then the 3GS. To say that I am "dependent" on my iPhone is a bit of an understatement...honestly, I've been rather addicted to it. It has truly revolutionized how my day-to-day activities play out.
With that said, I have finally been forced to give it up for one reason: the network (or lack thereof). AT&T is absolute junk. Maybe you've had a different experience and have good coverage where you live and I'm happy for you. But I do not. I live in Houston and work in the medical center as a physician where I am dependent on my cell phone for communication and patient care. Unfortunately, the iPhone is only a gadget where I live and not a phone. For example, I can get in the elevator in the basement of a building with a person talking clearly on a Verizon, Sprint, Tmobile, Cricket, and Boost phone and ride all the way to the top floor without any of them missing a syllable. Me? Not only do I have zero bars in the basement, I have zero bars on the top floor. In fact, I can only think of about 3 places where I can get reception. Add that to an average 20-25% dropped calls OUTSIDE the hospital and you've got utter sh|t no matter how you cut it.
With that said, I've had to come to a decision: what do I want/need more? The best gadget in the world or a cell phone? Sadly, you cannot have both. Enter the Droid. Finally, a device that looks like it could offer the functionality of the iPhone on a robust network. So, with much trepidation, I opened a new Verizon account and picked up the Droid on launch day keeping my iPhone 3GS for the trail 30 days. Here's my report card so far:
iPhone (quick thoughts for comparison)
Hardware: 95/100
Almost perfect sans poor battery life. It's SO fast. EVERYTHING snaps when you open an app, close and app, reply to an email, or scroll a page--there is INSTANT responsiveness when you touch your finger to the screen. I'm lightening fast on the virtual keyboard. The camera takes outstanding pictures and wonderful videos that I can trim and edit. The screen is gorgeous. The hardware vibrate toggle makes me wonder why every phone isn't that easy.
Software: 99/100
Beautiful and elegant yet functional.
Network: 0/100
Unacceptable.
Total score: 194/300 = 64%
Droid
Hardware: 75/100
The Droid does feel great in your hands. The metal casing screams durability and the weight makes me feel like I'm holding a tool, not a toy. Since I'm nearly as fast on my iPhone's virtual keyboard as I am on my laptop, I have no desire for a physical keyboard here and this dings the Droid a few notches in my book, but that's just personal preference. I would have preferred a single solid piece of metal that doesn't slide-out on accident (though, this has rarely happened thusfar). The screen is gorgeous as well...but while the extra vertical height is appreciated, they did this at the expense of a little bit of width. This is counter-intuitive in my mind because the virtual keyboard relies on width to properly space its virtual keys--with decreased width comes congested keys. The volume up/down button is flimsy and feels like it's going to fall off. Also, there's no hardware vibrate toggle for me to easily switch on the fly without activating my screen first. The camera takes improperly exposed pictures with poor color saturation and is very slow to focus. And 256mb of maximum app storage is just silly.
Software: 75/100
Android has potential, but I'm afraid it's its own worst enemy in that there will never be standardized hardware, which will put a ceiling on the quality of the apps that we see. Devs on the iPhone know exactly what every handset can and cannot do and may adjust their software accordingly--Android devs have no such luxury. The biggest problem I have with the OS right now is that it feels SO sluggish in comparison to my 3GS. For example, when I go to the Marketplace and start to scroll the list...there's often a delay before my finger is registered and again from when the finger motion starts and stops. This leaves for an almost disorienting experience as everything you do lags behind your motion and stutters until it seems that it buffers what's on the screen. It may not be a big deal to some that do not know better...but after living on an iPhone, it makes me feel like I've stepped back 10 years in time. They HAVE to improve the responsiveness.
Network: 100/100
AT&T guys that may be reading this...it really is amazing. I have yet to drop a single call since Friday morning whereas I would have dropped literally dozens of iPhone calls. I finally have a phone and a reliable way for my family to get in contact with me. It's amazing.
Total: 250/300 = 84%
In the end, I'm going to be keeping the Droid. It's not an iPhone killer, but it's certainly the next best thing...add that to the ability to actually use it as a cell phone and you have a real winner.
Now...where were those latest Verizon iPhone rumors...
