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Need help deciding between iPhone 3gs and DROID

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macrumors member
Original poster
May 1, 2008
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I'm currently using a cheap prepaid phone and am now looking into getting either an iPhone 3gs on AT&T or a DROID on Verizon (I previously owned an iPhone 3g for about a year so I kind of know what to expect with the 3gs). I've been on the fence for the past week and can't really decide which will be best for me.

On the DROID, you have:
+ Better network (However, AT&T coverage is fine in my area, but this may be an issue when traveling)
+ Google Navigation (which may or may not come to the iPhone)
+ Widgets & Background Apps (that said, the only thing I wished my 3g could do was run AIM in the background, but I've heard it now supports push notifications which works for me)
+ Hardware: higher res screen & camera, camera flash, physical keyboard (I'll have to try to the keyboard to see if I like it, but I had no problems with the iPhone software keyboard).
- Less responsive UI (browser is slower, multitouch has slight lag)
- Less eye candy (e.g. some of the android twitter apps looks extremely ugly when compared to ones like Tweetie)
- Questionable build quality (motorolla)
- CDMA (and I'm assuming lower resale value as a result)

On the iPhone 3gs, you have
+ Amazing interface (in terms of design and responsiveness)
+ Best web browsing experience currently on a smart phone
+ Many high quality apps in the app store and overall better ecosystem (e.g. Tweetie, Facebook app, etc. beat their Android counterparts)
- Network (again, AT&T is fine in my area, but will be faced with this issue when traveling)
- No Google Navigation (or any free turn-by-turn car navigation)
- Lower resolution screen and camera (having used the 3g, I think it's screen resolution is fine, but one would assume that sooner or later apple will release a higher resolution iPhone which could spell all sorts of disaster for the app store. Would newer, high-res apps work on older phones and vice-versa?)
- New iPhone coming soon? Historically, a new iPhone has come out every July. But, considering all this new competition (and the fact that the 3gs wasn't THAT big of a jump from the 3g), I'm wary of a new iPhone coming out shortly after I buy a 3gs.
 
I can't say one is better than the other. Not because they're the same, but because what's great for me might be great for you.
I'm not fond of the physical keys of the keyboard, maybe I'm just not used to it.
I also don't want widgets to run down my battery power. I do like having thousands of applications I can use, and while the Droid may have that in time...it doesn't right now.

The camera? I like 5MP, but lets face facts, if I'm taking professional pictures I'm not using a cell phone. So 3MP is fine for my personal use.

So its really up to you and what you need out of a phone versus what you want out of a phone. List that out and I think you'll find an answer.
 
Well, none of us have a droid yet, so we really can't give you first hand thoughts about it. Personally, I love my 3GS and wouldn't want to go to any other phone currently available, but that's just me.

I think you're safe in assuming apple will not have a new iphone until next summer. They don't rush out new products just because the competition has new offerings.

One more thing you might consider - would you rather use apple's ecosystem (itunes/app store/mobile me (optional)) or google's (google apps and marketplace, amazon for mp3s). Personally I prefer apple in this regard (though I do use gmail along with mobile me), but I'm sure others will differ. But if you have a strong preference for one over the other, that could be the deciding factor.
 
The Droid looks pretty good, but understand its a new product that hasn't been released to the public yet so there may be unforseen pros or cons that haven't yet been discussed. Also, consider what your monthly bill would be.
 
I saw some pictures that the DROID took on engadget and they were pretty bad. It looks like the 3GS takes much better pictures. Who cares about MP anyways when talking about a cell phone? Are you really going to blow the picture up and do a lot of editing on it? I don't think so. I think what you want is just a clear picture, which the 3GS does better.
 
barkomatic said:
The Droid looks pretty good, but understand its a new product that hasn't been released to the public yet so there may be unforseen pros or cons that haven't yet been discussed. Also, consider what your monthly bill would be.
Click to expand...

Monthly bill will be pretty much the same on either for me.
 
montush said:
There are two other implications of choosing CDMA you should consider if they matter to you -

1) Cannot use the data connection when on a phone call (and not connected to Wi-Fi)

2) Need another phone for most overseas travel

Also see http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/11/03/motorola-droid-review/ for a latest, detailed review.
Click to expand...

1) I don't think I ever tried to use data on my 3g while taking a call. Can you take a call on speaker while browsing the web or looking at maps on the iphone?

2) Overseas travel isn't an issue for me. Plus international charges on the iphone are so high I wouldn't use either overseas.
 
Action said:
1) I don't think I ever tried to use data on my 3g while taking a call. Can you take a call on speaker while browsing the web or looking at maps on the iphone?
Click to expand...


Yes you can. I don't use it that often but it does come in handy sometimes when looking up a phone number for someone or looking up traffic patterns on google maps. It's nice to have, but definitely wouldn't be a big deciding factor for me.
 
Action said:
1) I don't think I ever tried to use data on my 3g while taking a call. Can you take a call on speaker while browsing the web or looking at maps on the iphone?

2) Overseas travel isn't an issue for me. Plus international charges on the iphone are so high I wouldn't use either overseas.
Click to expand...

I use my data over 3G all the time. I check e-mails for information, send e-mails, look up things pertaining to the conversation, navigate directions, the list goes on and on. I also get bored a lot of times when talking and it gives me something to do.

If the Droid doesn't offer that, they might look for a place to fix deals because the lack of that feature definitely breaks it.

The whole overseas argument is valid, most do not have to worry about that at all but the lack of internet data while on a call? Ouch ouch ouch
 
The Droid camera is downright AWFUL and looks about as good as the 1.3 MP piece of junk I have now. So change the camera to a - for the Droid and a + for the iPhone.

If you don't believe me you can read this little excerpt from the Boy Genius Report review:
Camera:
The camera, a 5 megapixel autofocus dual LED flash, is straight up disappointing. It doesn’t seem to be hardware-related as we’re almost positive it’s a software issue, but man… did Kodak just say peace out to Moto or? This thing couldn’t focus on any sort of scene, portrait, landscape, a close-up — nothing — to save its life. On top of pictures not coming out focused properly, the camera application is ridiculously slow, sometimes pausing up to 7 or 8 seconds after you’ve taken a picture before it will let you snap again. What’s worse is that with geo-tagging enabled, delays get even longer.
Click to expand...
And this snippet from the Engadget review:
Motorola has smartly outfitted the DROID with a 5 megapixel camera coupled with an LED flash. It sounds like a match made in heaven, right? Well, not quite.

While the camera certainly seems capable of taking great looking photos, getting everything to play nice isn't as easy as it should be. First off, the camera is painfully slow to focus and snap pictures -- and when it does, the results can be unpredictable. Strangely, the lens seems to be able to take pretty sharp macro photos (it's even a setting in the camera app), but it struggled with getting adjusted to close subjects, even in broad daylight. Sometimes we got lucky and cranked out a decent pic, but the process was frustrating. Furthermore, the new settings Google has added to 2.0 are contained in a hard to get to and counterintuitive menu which sits to the left of your viewing area. Trying to make changes on the fly was a hassle. If this is the best the engineers at Google can do, they need to outsource this work.
Click to expand...
And here's a link to the Engadget gallery with some test shots http://www.engadget.com/photos/motorola-droid-camera-test-shots/

:(
 
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