Nexus One vs. Motorola Droid

Showing 55 comments

1. curious at 9:16am 20th June 2010 No one commented any thing about T-Mobile that is the carrier for Nexus one. How is the reception quality, and data availability? how satisfied are you with T-Mobile in comparison with Verizon, any problems?
2. Mark at 5:08am 28th May 2010 Is there/Can there be an alternative battery that fits it? Would LiPo Batts be better?
3. Mark at 5:07am 28th May 2010 Like in Froyo? Is it available for the Droid now?
4. BIl Nay at 7:46am 12th May 2010 The Motorola Droid is my new favorite. I like the design, it is heavy and it seems like its more worth the money i paid for it then the nexus one. I know the a8 cortex is used in the beagle board and other things. i know the processor is very good. I picked it over nexus one and use verizon which i like better.Everyone was right, who said that a Droid that has root access with overclock is faster then the Nexus One. It seems safe enough because the processor is really down-tuned for the Droid. <for advanced users only> still the phone is faster then most except newer android phones, like nexus one. Which is fast enough for everyone whose bought it. They will tell you its fast , if not they are doing things most users dont do. I wil preach Droid until 2nd Droid as long as its just updated and not rechanged completly.(meaning dont lose the keyboard and stay with cortex if possible) i like to play around gadgets and Linux, so I think his phone is for me.
5. Will S at 7:07am 10th May 2010 As of Android 2.1 (on all Android phones), applications need to be installed onto the phone's internal memory because of "security" or anti-piracy concerns. This could change with future versions of Android.
6. Mark at 3:44am 10th May 2010 Well, anyone, please?
7. Mark at 10:14pm 7th May 2010 The Droid's apps have to be in internal memory or can they run when kept in the expansion SD Card under latest Android 2.1?
8. Jer at 5:49am 7th May 2010 not true. hold camera button for 2 secs ready to take pic. in-between pics is a slight pause but nothing out of the ordinary for a phone. my omnia was a little faster to take pics but droids quality seems better. both 5mp.
9. Jer at 1:25pm 6th May 2010 the droids slide out keyboard is perfect for games get snes emulator and find out why the keys are flat. please dont complain about the droid, the design is wonderful. dont ruin it for the rest of us. get the nexus one if u like it and pretend its better then you know it is. root the droid and have more speed then the nexus one lol. 16 gb sd solid heavy feel. outstanding design to those who like it. i know reading emails with the keypad out is better then half screen and the resolution is better to boot. hands down droid, good community as well. iphone killer
10. pandora at 2:54am 30th April 2010 Cut a small piece of card stock slip it in under the battery. if its still loose put 2 pieces in it should stay on. i went in and Verizon ordered me a back for free which stays on better.
11. Mark at 11:03pm 20th April 2010 Anyone experienced the sluggish camera load on the Droid? I read somewhere it takes upto a minute to load! Is that true?
12. srk2040yahoocom at 12:08pm 20th April 2010 So I guess from the discussion, I should wait until nexus one gets a slide qwerty keys? That way we get best of both.
13. GTR0N at 3:03am 16th April 2010 OR you can just root your droid, overclock to 1ghz, and find a nice rom to flash and call it good. both are really nice phones though. bottom line decision is provider and keyboard imo. iphone cater to the sheople, android cater to the user.
14. Mark at 1:56am 13th April 2010 What about the FM radio? None on both? :(
    And what about the music and viseo quality?
15. BCImprov at 7:24pm 31st March 2010 First off, I have had my Droid since the beginning of the year and use it so much that the VZW rep on the phone said he is not sure if he has seen more data use from any other customer as what I use. I have had ZERO problems. As for the battery cover... No problem and with a phone this nice you are crazy to not have a case of some sort. It also comes with a 16gb micro SD card vs the N1's 4. The graphics processor on the Droid is FAR superior and the main can be overclocked to 1.1Ghz so I'm not worried about the speed. I also have no real problems with the slide out although it is small, what can you expect for all they pack into this device. Just got the new 2.1 Android OS today and absolutely love it. I suppose if you like a cheap build quality and plastic parts and nearly no storage, no extra keyboard and poor 3D gaming then the N1 is for you. If you don't believe me then look at the games on the Market and read the comments. Sure is funny that my "slow" Droid has much better reviews that any N1. I might add that I was a technical writer for a little place called SONY and also developed new hardware for Gateway computers. I know for a fact that the Droid is every bit as capable as the N1. Besides, who cares? Aren't we all Android users in the end who wish to destroy the iPhone with half the screen res, smaller screen, irreplacable battery and the inability to run multiple apps? In conclusion... I love love love my Droid and won't be trading it until I see a Droid 2!
16. Joe at 1:24pm 23rd March 2010 The Motorola Droid comes with android 2.0. The droid eris comes with 1.5 if that is what you are thinking of.
17. Karen Kelly at 2:20pm 21st March 2010 I love my Droid...
    I am a small girl...and I don't think it's a "manly" phone. I love my pull out key-board for typing emails. For those of you that keep losing your battery cover...there is a hard case you can buy that keeps it all intact. Also, I believe that if that Droid came out first, instead of the iPhone - that the boxy design would be the envy not the curved design...
    I don't want an iPhone wanna be. I dare to be different. That's exactly why I got a Droid...
    not to mention the customer and tech support service with VZN is amazing...
18. Guissho at 10:44am 17th March 2010 Stop being such an ignorant and do a research before talking.
    
    1)To begin with, an Android phone is not "Jailbroken"....that's for iPhones. Google "Rooted" android phones so that you can have some info.
    
    2) Current Nexus 1 phones are GSM phones, while Verizon's network is a CDMA network, so basically what you are saying is that you can "tweak" a CD player to play your collection of long-plays. Once again.. get the facts straight.
    
    3) This has already been said but apparently you didn't read it, and I doubt you have any knowledge about it anyway. Just because one brand of processors have more "MHz" than the competition doesn't mean it is faster. It's all about implementations and how efficient that processors is. An AMD processor compared to an Intel processor with the same MHz doesn't necessarily have the same power ( I am assuming you know at least a little bit about PC brands)
19. dave at 7:23pm 16th March 2010 why are people even talking about the keyboard? if i wanted a droid without the keyboard i would have just got the htc droid. i think the htc was actually cheaper...
20. Fahad at 2:17pm 12th March 2010 You should ask people how many of them actually use Droids keyboard. I never use it. I would love to use... But i never do. I begin using it, get frustrated, and go back to the on screen keyboard. For a droid use like me, going up to Nexus one, would be a god-sent.
21. Fahad at 2:14pm 12th March 2010 Yeah, and I so far, were in the majority. They really should have expected the size of the keys and key surface to be an issue. Droids keyboard is horrible.
22. Fahad at 2:09pm 12th March 2010 haruspex is correct. the other two are wrong.
23. lrry at 2:12pm 26th February 2010 I like the overall hardware of the droid better. Im kinda old school and its nice to know I am hold a real phone instead of some credit card to talk through. And everyone knows the more you touch the actual screen the shorter the life span, thus, making the sliding keyboard an advantage. Not to mention with the sliding keyboard to get to maintain the full screen view with browsing the internet. I will admit that not having the separation or bubble effect of the keys make it more difficult to type. But way better then trying to type on a totally flat screen surface. This tends to over heat the phone quicker as well. The 5mp camera is very nice, and crisp. I have video of several high school games as well, very clear. The droid just seems to give the user more options. Weather you are into the options or not, its at least nice to know that there is something to appeal to everyone.
24. haruspex at 10:15am 26th February 2010 No, it came with 2.0 when I bought it in November and got an OTA update to 2.0.1 with 2.1 coming in the first quarter of 2010
25. loki1830 at 8:50am 26th February 2010 No lag with Ver Droid. It is very fast and I use it for work all day, maps,email,voice,data. It is excellent. I actually like the physicall key board. And I am 6'2.
    Also ask any IPHONE user they will switch to Verizon if verizon had the IpHONe. So at least that says that ATT network still sucks.
26. what nexus? at 9:49pm 25th February 2010 do you guys even understand the fact that the droids processor has been "slowed" to increase battery life? it's not working at optimal speeds. so there for the droid is faster. it also comes with a 16gb card..nexus comes with a 4gb..the physical kb is crap..but most people don't use it anyway and like the virtual..I myself wish it came with a kb from the tp 2 or an LG device. either way..no matter how you slice it..the nexus is garbage until it comes to vzw. Phones are nice..but they are nothing without good, reliable service...hey..just look at the iphone..mk? talk to some of your lil tool friends that left w/e company to go to at&t to get the iphone..what are they doing now? they're crying about how slow it is and how the service sucks..and that they wish their contract was up...doesn't that blow :(
27. Vyshin 69 at 8:24pm 25th February 2010 yea but the Nexus has a faster processor. which means there will be little lag between switching apps. that's my main dislike about android is the lag. I have to have a phone that can multi-task, unfortunately iphone was not an option for that reason.
    Now the droid has two processors. One dedicated strictly to the graphics. which might mean videos will load faster, and playback better than the nexus.
28. Will S at 1:13pm 25th February 2010 @JustPurchasedANexus,
    
    You are incorrect that the _current_ Nexus One can be "jailbroken" and switched to Verizon by any user.
    
    1) The current Nexus One is already unlocked but the hardware only supports ATT/TMO bands (e.g. GSM networks, or which Verizon is not).
    2) Even Verizon stores cannot switch a phone to their network (even if it supports Verizon bands, such as a phone from Sprint). The stores do not currently have the equipment to setup a phone from another network. (One reason: Verizon does not use SIM cards).
    
    Google (and I believe Verizon) have said that there will be a Verizon compatible Nexus One released later in 2010.
    
    (If you have any supporting evidence that the current Nexus One (which has already been rooted, btw) has the complete hardware capability to run on Verizon, please post that information because you would be the first to publish that information.)
29. JustPurchasedANexus at 12:59pm 25th February 2010 Just to keep things real here... both phones will be rooted and jailbroken by other developers. It's gonna happen. With that said, the hardware superiority Nexus One has over the Droid will yield greater potential for these developers. 550MHz compared to 1GHz of processor speed will make a big difference sooner or later. It may not be greatly obvious now, but it will be in the long run. The 512MB of RAM the Nexus One carries will also prove to be a beast in the development world. Both phones are great but let's face it... money is better spent on the cheaper Nexus One.
    
    BTW, once the Nexus One is "jailbroken" it can be switched to the Verizon network by any user. For those of you who love Verizon... uhhh, that'll make you begin to use your Droid as a paper-weight.
30. jnoonan at 8:10pm 23rd February 2010 The reason that I am waiting for a nexus one (to move from my 3GS) is because of the lack of a physical keyboard. I do not like moving parts on a cell phone and I do not like the small keys on the Droid nor any other cell phone with a physical keyboard. I prefer my virtual iPhone keyboard to any physical cell phone keyboard that I have ever tried.
    
    Now that said, I love my iPhone but am tired of dropped calls and of the draconian app approval process.
31. iamtuxmeister at 10:31am 22nd February 2010 your information is incorrect, the Motorola Droid ships with 1.5 and OTA updates to 2.0.1
32. Zach at 2:38pm 21st February 2010 Not at all. Overall, I like my Droid, but the physical keyboard was one of the things I thought I would prefer, after having found it difficult to type on friends' iPhones. Instead, I find myself never using the physical keyboard at all. As a previous poster mentioned, you have to be able to use your thumbnails to type with any accuracy, and I've found that my hand gets tired very rapidly holding my thumbs at the angle to do that. The other big difference between the physical and virtual keyboard is that there is no suggested word completion when using the physical keyboard, as there is with the virtual one. I hope this will be addressed in a future update. All in all, if you offered me a version of the Droid with all other specs identical, but which lacked the physical keyboard and was therefore thinner and lighter, I would take it in a heartbeat. I got my Droid only a few weeks before the Nexus One announcement because there hadn't been any talk of a Verizon-compatible version. Knowing what I know now, there isn't any way I'd purchase a Droid _today_. I'd just wait a couple more months for the CDMA Nexus One.
33. adolf at 11:35pm 20th February 2010 you got it there, i am definatly envious of the MHz and also the extra ram the N1 has, but i like the qwerty it leaves more room to view on screen stuff
34. adolf at 11:27pm 20th February 2010 hey man i can use that qwerty keyboard just fine, its just people with big clumsy fingers cant, lol
35. Bryan at 8:51am 20th February 2010 lol, I wouldn't say envy. It depends on the person. The biggest con on the nexus is it doesn't have a slide out keyboard the problem with using an onscreen one is you can't see the full screen. Usability wise it's easier to mess up on a virtual keyboard then a slide out one as well. Looks wise, I think everyone agree the droid is definitely more manly looking. Also I'm not really for sure nexus one is really faster. It has a newer version of android which might be why a few applications perform a lil faster we will have to see when it comes out to droid. As I've stated before. 1gighz doesn' mean much to me.. Example the ps2 only had 200mghz compared to the first xbox 700mghz because of the architect behind the ps2 processor it was actaully just as fast and the ps2 could keep up with the xbox just fine. The advantage the xbox had was with it's graphics card it could do lighting, shader, etc models better.
36. Envious_one at 1:05am 18th February 2010 I am a droid owner and I must point out the obvious elephant in the room--
    
    DROID USERS ARE ENVIOUS OF THE NEXUS ONE
    
    No matter what they say, they WANT the faster processor FOR SURE. More vivid colors sounds enticing as well as the damn right gorgeous look of the Nexus One.
    
    *Envy*
37. John L at 8:14pm 15th February 2010 Yeah. Actually when using the keyboard you get the full view of this awesome screen. Something you cannot do with the others. And there are times when I like the virtual keyboard. Also keeps your smudges off the screen. The google maps are sweet and it is fast. I have no delay when using it. No issues with this phone at all
38. bob saget at 4:03pm 15th February 2010 Why the hell would anyone want a physical keyboard? maybe if we were in the year 2004 then the physical keyboard would be cool and new but technology has modernized and people dont want useless shit on the phones A.K.A the physical keyboard. touch is what its all about GO nexus one, proud owner for 4 weeks now
39. Nicole at 2:22pm 15th February 2010 That's a great point about using the keyboard to still have full view of the screen. I'm glad to hear the keyboard is useful. I was leaning strongly toward the Droid, and you might have just pushed me over. Thanks!
40. John L at 2:18pm 15th February 2010 I have the verizon droid. I actually use the key board just to keep the screen clear. 6'2 but the keyboard works fine is just takes a little getting use to. I like using it so I can keep the full view of the screen without typing on the screen. Phone is durable dropped it a couple of times no scratches. But my wife did swipe her ring against the screen. Not too happy about that. She is not allowed to use it anymore.
41. Bryan at 5:45am 15th February 2010 two types*
42. Bryan at 5:44am 15th February 2010 we're comparing to types of prcessors here. The Qualcom and Arm Cortex. 1 ghz vs 600mhz means nonthing to me. I'm not arguing any case Droid or N1 I'm just pointing out the fact that a 600mghz can be faster then a 1 gighz processor key word "can be" not saying it is. Depends which processor has better optimizations.
43. Nicole at 8:32pm 13th February 2010 It seems like the biggest difference is the physical keyboard. So one question for users of the Droid: do you actually use it?? I have a Verizon Voyager right now, and use it exclusively for texting. I also have an iPod touch, and WISH I had a physical keyboard to type emails. That virtual keyboard is FRUSTRATING for typing out anything more than a few sentences. Is the physical keyboard worth it?
44. hassiusm at 3:22pm 12th February 2010 Nexus one owners will cry out for a physical keyboard. And the phone will look up and answer "No."
45. MKZ at 8:18am 11th February 2010 Working for VZW (indirect) and owning a DROID- I love my DROID and will wait for next gen. I'm a chick with longish nails, so the keyboard is more useful to me than, say, a dude with big thumbs. They did miss the mark with it. There are 2 non-keys which = wasted space. Next gen will probably (hopefully) correct.
    It loads faster than my husband's Hero (surprise), and despite my severe abuse it's still in great condition, running everything at top speed.
    Biggest, baddest issue is in-call. It randomly mutes. Fail.
    Also camera=fail. It's blurry and slow. *sigh*
    While I'm envious of the N1's faster processor, users I've spoken with have said differences in load times are minimal.
    Best place to see the processor is in the new tweaks to the UI. Minor cosmetic changes that make people happy. I do see the trackball pissing people off though, if it's anything like the Eris/Hero/Blackberrys.
    I'm saying that the N1 will appeal to the people who want an iPhone w/o AT&T.
    Haven't rooted my Droid yet, but what this thing is capable of doing is scary awesome.
    It's better somewhat on paper, but the real test will be its release on VZW and really it'll probably boil down to exactly what it's boiled down to for every smartphone- personal preference. N1 is curvy and sexy, DROID is manly and butch. And huge.
    I like my keyboard and metal shell and the not oversaturated reds that come with AMOLED. But that's me.
46. Eric at 2:25pm 28th January 2010 For what it's worth, I don't hate the keyboard...yet. The keys are small & flat, so I end up using my thumbnails to depress the keys. I find that compared to the portrait mode touchscreen keyboard, I am more accurate. With the touch screen, it's still difficult for me to predict which key I'll hit when I touch the screen. Maybe just a training issue.
47. Cayerace at 8:53am 18th January 2010 The Droid has that nice QWERTY keyboard.... you clearly have not used this QWERTY keyboard... it useless. Keys are WAY... I mean WAY to small. Motorola missed the mark completely. Horrible design.
48. john at 7:22pm 8th January 2010 I havce the droid for verizon. Excellent phone but lost the back battery cover, stupid thing never locks. I had to go to the store and they gave me a new back for free. Still has the same problem. Call quality is excellent.
    Only real difference is the processor, nexus is faster but I do not see that as I big issue, Droid is very fast hardly any problems
49. Harry P. Ness at 10:03pm 7th January 2010 Android is awesome. Moto Droid is ok. Touchscreen is great, physical keyboard is garbage and a total waste of space, battery case slides off more than it should and my reception is worse that it has ever been with Verizon. Places where I got reception in the past are now getting dropped calls. That being said, it's still pretty sweet. But having never used the Nexus One, I can confidently say that it will be better than the Moto Droid.
50. Will S at 7:56am 7th January 2010 Main benefit of the Nexus One over the Droid long term is the 1GHz vs 500MHz processor.
    1. justin at 3:48pm 5th March 2010 actually, the ARM processor in the Droid is 600mhz, running at a locked 550hmz for time being. This processor is also a little more powerful in design terms, so you cant compare a straight 550mhz to the 1ghz snapdragon cpu in the N1, as the processor in the Droid has a far better extension set and design specs, it would be equivalent to a 700 or 800mhz snapdragon processor as far as peformance. Still underpowered you say? Then you forgot that the Droid has something the Nexus One does not... a GPU PowerVR chipset running at 430mhz... which can easily take the load of the cpu for anything graphics related and 2d/3d hardware-acceleration, giving it a more than likely actual raw performance gain over the N1's single CPU / No GPU layout. And we all know, with likes of CUDA, and older SMP, and multi-cores, that processes can be threaded and handle by not only a CPU, but now to GPU's, which can actually outperform their CPU counterparts and produce some fairly wicked performance when developed for correctley. And while the Nexus has 512MB RAM, and the Droid has 256MB RAM, it has something the nexus doesnt, 512MB ROM, which stores permanent resident memory, and leaves the 256MB of RAM to do read and writes... On the Nexus, all the pressure is put on the RAM, thus leaving it with less available memory than the Droid while running, as you can see here: http://s0.2mdn.net/1451021/IntoMobile.html?rfp=http://www.intomobile.com/2010/03/04/nexus-one-has-less-available-memory-than-droid.html Also, the Droid has a fullzised keyboard, and comes with 16GB Card from the getgo, while the Nexus only comes with 4gb, and no slideout keyboard.
51. Lucas at 7:11am 7th January 2010 i have had the Motorola Droid for 3 months and I love it. It sounds to me that the Nexus one is the same phone. The only difference is the looks and I think the Nexus one was built to look like the iphone and I hate that.
    
    Get the Moto Droid---backed by Verizon the best network.
52. RenAldo Johnson at 10:15am 6th January 2010 I've had my G1 for over a year, and I haven't had any "issues" with it at all. Hardware-wise, it's been way more solid than my Sidekick Endeavors, and I run a rooted build, so any software issues are either my own fault (experimentation) or quickly rectified by the insane dev community.
    
    Furthermore, Phone companies don't care what phone you use as long as you stay on their network, so of course they support. Also, when someone signs up with a phone company, they usually buy insurance, and most phone companies support them.
    
    Worse case scenario is that something is "wrong" with ANY phone, and you pay a small surcharge (or none at all if you have $6/mo insurance like most people) and get a new one.
    
    If your carrier offers insurance, that is.
    
    And because TMo PARTNERED WITH GOOGLE, it's evident that there will be a support system in place for all the people who will use their N1 on TMo's wireless system.
    
    But I do agree that the Motorola Droid is still alive and kicking. The advertising is hot, and even when the N1 comes to The big V, both these phones cater to different people. They are both different ways of experiencing Android. Some people love keyboards, some people love form factor, etc.
53. Will S at 6:16am 6th January 2010 The Motorola Droid is alive and kicking. With Verizon, their huge ad campaign, and the sure number of Droid users, the Droid will most likely be supported than the Nexus One, at least for the time being until the Nexus One is out on Verizon.
    
    By "supported" I mean that Verizon has REAL people to talk to about issues with the Moto Droid. Nexus One does not; also because of the volumn of Droid sales, accessories will most likely be more abundant (at least for now).
    
    Google and HTC should keep this same form factor for many phones to allow as many accessories and apps to be compatible as possible.
54. Joe at 8:16pm 5th January 2010 The Motorola Droid comes with 2.0, but gets and 'over the air' update to 2.1 for free.