Motorola Droid X: Thoroughly Reviewed
by Brian Klug on July 20, 2010 4:27 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Motorola Droid X
- OMAP
- Mobile
Micro HDMI Out
So what about that micro HDMI port on the device? The X joins a small number of smartphones packing an HDMI port of the micro variety. I’m going to start by just noting that it’s very difficult to find one of these cables except at a carrier store. Ironically, I got Anand’s HTC EVO 4G the same day I was planning on doing media center testing with the X and proceeded to spend the next few hours searching for a cable - neither the X nor the EVO bundle even an adapter. I ended up having luck at a Sprint store - point is that these cables aren’t very popular yet.
So how does HDMI out work? Its functionality is very basic right now and is limited largely to playing back a slideshow of photos from the gallery application, or video playback. I found that although the pictures slideshow worked fine, the transitions were slightly low framerate, the photos never filled up my display entirely (not even aspect ratio correct stretched, just centered and small), and generally it left me wondering why anyone wouldn’t just use DLNA to view them over something else. Maybe throw in some Ken Burns effect eyecandy, Motorola?
Playing back a video captured on the X - the phone turns into a control interface
Videos captured on the phone itself played like I expected them to and sounded excellent as well.
Motorola will have a media dock available which promises a few more things, specifically audio playback, but without rooting and modding the device HDMI out is a bit limited. You can’t make the entire Android interface appear on your TV, for example.
There’s an HDMI settings menu in the settings menu. Inside, you can set the video output format to a maximum of 720P. I left it on automatic. There’s no other configuration here - nothing for whether you want HDMI to be the device’s sound out method, video out method, or anything else. It’s just this.
While the EVO supports YouTube over HDMI, the X does not. Videos that you can browse to and open with a file browser play over HDMI whenever the cable is connected. I had the most success with MP4 videos using the H.264 codec at 1500 kbps. I tried every type of audio profile but couldn’t get surround working on the X - for whatever reason I could only get stereo.
The music player also for whatever reason doesn’t play over HDMI when the cable is connected. However, with a bit of trickery I could get pandora or whatever audio I wanted playing over the HDMI out. Just fire up the music, then fire up gallery. Boom, all your audio will go over HDMI. It’s handy I guess if you’ve got an A/V receiver but don’t have a headphone 1/8” audio cable laying around.
When you’re doing anything that has HDMI output enabled (the photo gallery or video playback), the device turns into a basic control interface like I showed before. There are some monstrous buttons and one at the top left to exit out of HDMI playback.
Remember HTC’s excuse that the reason for the 30 FPS framerate cap was HDMI video playback? I was curious and used the Droid2Dtest application others have used on the EVO which showed the 30 FPS cap on the X.
The X is capped to 60 FPS, unlike the EVO’s 30, as shown in the overlaid screenshots above which I've annotated. Yep.
Perhaps the discrepancy is that HTC needed the 30 FPS cap for YouTube playback (which the X lacks). Either way, it’s clear that the reason HTC was capping the EVO is a bit more complicated than just for HDMI out. It’s also possible that the SoC difference is the case - remember that the Snapdragon SoC has the Adreno 200 GPU whereas the OMAP 3630 in the X has PowerVR SGX 530. It’s entirely possible HTC’s cap was there for hardware limitation reasons.
Motorola's Gallery
I mentioned the gallery while talking about HDMI out - it isn’t the Android gallery experienced on stock devices. Motorola has clearly rolled something of its own, and though it isn’t as flashy, it does get the job done.
I also noticed that it seemed a bit faster at loading previews than the stock android gallery, though at times I was still left staring at a ton of blank thumbnails.
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Spoooon - Tuesday, July 27, 2010 - link
Just noticed some similarities between a "review" on CNN (http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/technology/100... and this one:CNN Money:
Overall, the build quality of the X is solid. Motorola has pulled off two high-end Android phones -- this and the original Droid -- that really feel good and inspire confidence. There's no give on any of the buttons, the volume buttons aren't loose and broken out of the box like some were on the original Droids, and the grippy plastic makes it feel even better. Having the phone tilt a few degrees and not rest completely flat on surfaces will help prevent the back from getting scratched up.
Anandtech:
Overall, the build quality of the X is solid. Motorola has pulled off two high end Android phones that really feel good and inspire a lot of confidence. There’s no give or play with any of the buttons, the volume buttons aren’t loose and broken out of the box like some Droids were, and the grippy plastic makes it feel even better. Again, I think having the phone tilt a few degrees and not rest completely flat on surfaces will help the back not get scratched up.
They are peppered throughout the CNN review. Maybe CNN borrowed your content with your consent?
Spoooon - Tuesday, July 27, 2010 - link
Oops. Noticed the attribution on the first page of the CNN article.LOL, I started reading it an hour ago, then stopped to work, then went back to it. :)
grkhetan - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link
Hello, One question about the antenna chart. In the "holding naturally" column, where you touching the lower left black strip in the iphone 4?THanks
Gaurang.
brucebergman - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link
I buy a phone to make phone calls first, be fancy second. (Fancy is nice, yes! But...) I didn't see anything on antenna analysis, or an externally accessible antenna jack should you feel the need to plug in some serious RF gain.My last two phones were the Audiovox CDM9000 and the LG VX2000, and currently is a Palm Treo 700wx. What do they have that the new crop do not? A real antenna, for those places where the NIMBY's won't allow new cell sites, and a way to connect an external antenna if you go out in the boonies a lot.
Until someone addresses this, I'm sticking with the Palm Treo. Or till it's hopelessly outdated and/or breaks and they can't find a replacement, at least.
weekilter - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link
Too bad Moto couldn't have had the same understanding that Apple did and prevent VeriZon from putting their logos all over the device. Why the carriers think their logo adds to the appeal of a device is lost on me.myshadows - Monday, August 9, 2010 - link
Thanks for the awesome review! I may have missed this, but what is the speed of the internal 8 GB of memory compared to the Class 4 SD Card?ItsaRaid - Sunday, August 29, 2010 - link
Anand or Brian-Which would you pick?
Im trying to decide which way to go, I have a BB9700, with problems, I have looked at Both Phones the IPHone 4 and the Droid X- Im stuck- Hope maybe you can guide me as well.
Here is my Direct Contact Info:
ItsaRaid@columbus.rr.com
Hope you will take a few moments of time and help guide my decision making. Both Screens are Gorgeous and their sizes are no a big deal-
Thank You
Larry
BookDoctor - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
I'm with you right down the line, especially regarding the length of the charging cord. Seems to me it's just another case of the supplier wanting to make an extra buck on accessories. Oh, well. . . . Nonetheless, I think the superior performance across the board makes it a small price to pay to have what's--at least in my book--the best Android device thus far.smithgood9 - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
As a Droid X fan, I find it useful to me. I wanted to transmit videos to PS3 for enjoying, but I failed. Because PS3 can only play it supports video formats. and PS3 can't support 3GP or other formats. Fortunately, I find a great Droid X video converter - Foxreal Video Converter, which can convert between various videos with excellent output quality. Use it transmit videos to MP4 and transmit videos to PS3 by DLNA function.