Motorola Droid X: Thoroughly Reviewed
by Brian Klug on July 20, 2010 4:27 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Motorola Droid X
- OMAP
- Mobile
Software - Android 2.1
I want some froyo already.
The X launched with Android 2.1, although Motorola emphatically promises that they will update the X to 2.2 “late summer.” That update will bring all the Froyo goodness I’ve been enjoying on my Nexus One since the update, including flash, tweaks to the UI, much improved responsiveness, and “update all” in the market among a host of others.
Droid X Software - after OTA Update
To be honest, using 2.1 on the X makes it just feel old after using my Nexus One with 2.2 solidly for a few weeks. I can understand Motorola wanting to launch the X as soon as possible, but launching mid summer and promising a platform-changing and relatively major update by late summer is a bit puzzling.
Motorola Droid reviews written running 2.0 at launch read totally different than reviews from the device running 2.1. So too will the X will be changed from 2.1 to 2.2. Hopefully we’ll still have our X when the update hits, because 2.2 honestly makes 2.1 feel old in so many ways. I’ve been spoiled running my Nexus One with froyo more than I thought possible. That’s not to say that 2.1 isn’t totally manageable and workable, it’s just that for a phone launching right now, the update can’t come soon enough.
MOTOBLUR lite edition
Motorola has rolled a lite version of their BLUR interface and skin into the X. It isn’t the full on intrusive BLUR that the CLIQ or Devour featured. It’s not as much of a reskinning as HTC’s sense, but still does change the UI.
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MOTOBLUR lite - it's honestly minimalist
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The phone comes out of box with Blur widgets all over the home screens. Literally every single one has Motorola widgets and shortcuts, a number of which I immediately dragged to the trash.
Motorola tries to roll all of your social network messaging into a unified messaging application (whose icon consistently confuses me with Gmail’s shorcut icon). It’s a good idea that ended up pushing me over the Twitter API call limit a bunch of times on other devices, but does pull down Facebook messages and others effectively.
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Social Networking Unified Inbox - Great in theory, not perfect in practice
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I’m just left wondering what use having this done is when Facebook and Twitter offer their own applications and integration - you can inadvertently wind up with two duplicate Facebook icons and inboxes in the messaging app.
But a lot of it I think is quite tasteful. The clock, calendar, and weather widgets are well done, arguably a bit better than Android’s default. The contacts shortcuts are also not bad. They still aren’t as nice as some of HTC Sense’s, but not nearly as bad as I expected them to be. Motorola keeps its widgets in a different tab when you long press on the home screen, so they’re not mixed into your main widgets library. If you don’t like ‘em, they’re segmented away in a separate menu entirely.
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Blur Widgets - Not bad
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The other interesting thing is the way most of the BLUR widgets are resizable. Long press on the widget, and up pop some resize handles at the corners. They’re a tiny hard to get the hang of at first, but you can then drag and resize the widget entirely. I think that’s kind of cool - for example, you can resize the date/calendar widget and see a ton of events instead of just one. Pull down the contacts widget, and you get more shortcuts. Make the weather widget longer, and you get more detail.
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Blur widgets can be resized dynamically
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The rest of the sense tweaks seem to make the interface actually less busy than stock Android. The signal icons are simple, the shade has no texture when you pull it out, and the applications launcher is just a bunch of application tiles. There’s no 3D cube effect like the Nexus One (which still feels laggy to me), nor a pop up shade like the old Droid, or a button and tray like Sense.
I feel like most of the Blur additions are pretty minimalist, thankfully.
The only major annoyance is what happens to the three icons at the bottom when you change screens left or right. Normally, you see three icons - phone, the applications launcher, and contacts. If you drag back and forth to change which home screen you’re on, however, this changes to a home logo and dots corresponding to the 7 home screens.
It changes from the bottom to the top when you're touching the screen.
The problem is that this visualization to let you know what screen you’re on (which itself seems a bit extraneous unless you’re spatially challenged) gets in the way of tapping on the applications launcher - it will replace the 3 icons for a full 3 seconds. I inevitably end up sliding to a different home screen, wanting to launch the app launcher, and tapping on home. It’s frustrating. I guess the icons are useful if you want to tap on a specific page, but seriously, it gets in the way.
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PCR - Tuesday, July 20, 2010 - link
I really enjoyed this review and wanted to let you know what a great job you guys did. It is very through and informative. Keep up the great work :)Pedro80 - Tuesday, July 20, 2010 - link
Guys..come on..- visually.. the EVO looks way better
- HW - the Samsung Galaxy S performs better
- HW - the Samsung Galaxy S features a much better display
- and (most importantly IMHO) a device that bricks (shits?) itself when you attempt to install a different version of the (the same! open!) operating system
..isn't worthy this kind of acknowledgement..
Already, devs in the Android community are asking Motorola to leave the OHA (Open Handset Alliance).
[Droid X Brick a Brac]
http://www.wirelessandmobilenews.com/2010/07/droid...
[Motorola responds to Droid X bootloader controversy]
http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/16/motorola-respon...
[Why Motorola should be asked to leave the Open Handset Alliance]
http://www.absolutelyandroid.com/why-motorola-shou...
leexgx - Tuesday, July 20, 2010 - link
at the moment it just prevents you from using your own cooked firmwares (puts the device into recovery mode so it can be re-flashed with factory image)must admit my sisters samsung galaxy s does look nice (compared to the HTC desire or Sony X10 xperan {big one} ) And it comes with an 1500Mha bat so should last more then an day use (the G1 i had was horrid on bat life had to turn it into an brick and fit an 2200Mha bat to it)
Very disappointed with the screen on the HTC desire (one its smaller then my HTC HD1 my bad lol,) the screen is Not made of Strate line of pixels like normal screens are so an Striate line or Single dot text is wiggly
v12v12 - Monday, August 16, 2010 - link
Thank you man... FINALLY some voice of true dissent! While the rest of the zombies on here clap and rave; the REAL issues come out in your post. Course as most zombies behave, they either flat out ignore it (Jobs/Apple/big-corp mantra). It seems like people in today's society are more and more becoming fanboyed about anything "new." Their supposed reasoning and logic (lack thereof) skills are deteriorating generation after generation._The more "entertainment" devices these nefarious companies produce, the more you all open up their mouths and ask for another spoonful. Not ONE mention of how these devices are actively spying and reporting your Internet usage, phone calls/txts/tweets/facebook blah blah. Everyone just happily uses them with out even asking... HRMM this device pretty much is my personal log/journal (txts, calls, tweets, surfing etc.) and the phone corps CAN and DO turn over ALL of your info to the NSA/CIA "secret" rooms (AT&T anyone?)
SURPRISE! http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2007/06/spy...
Merry Xmas! http://news.cnet.com/AT38T-sued-over-NSA-spy-progr...
Gotta LOVE them spIphones: http://www.squidoo.com/iphonespy
Iphone owns drones! http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/080210-your-...
SpyPhone: http://www.spyphoneguy.com/
*** Do you actually THINK that the NSA/CIA/Govt doesn’t have their OWN in-house versions of this type of spyware that CAN be remotely installed on your phone w/o your consent???*** You’re a complete FOOL if you don’t think they don’t ALREADY have this type of stuff and are using it to track the MAFIA
http://www.zdnet.com/news/fbi-taps-cell-phone-mic-...
http://www.technewsdaily.com/hacked-smartphones-co...
Yet you all happily browse away, not knowing for SURE that "someone" or some group isn't recording your EVERY form of personal/private communication with these uber "smart" devices. Yep, no CCleaner or data-encryption/wipe when BIG-BROTHER is siphoning the data off at the SOURCE. HAHA I love it... everyone is so caught up being "entertained," and 1-up'ing everyone else with their newer toys; all the while someone else IS watching and tracking your most PRIVATE (so you thought) behaviors.... Course no mention from Anand (nothing personal boss) or any of the other review/tech sites about it either. Lol... Jokes on YOU all... Soon some of you will be BUSTED/RATTED out by your PHONE in the near future. All those supposed "private" txts and crap will come out in full public view, when they have your ass in court for some talk about picking up a "sack, dub, nuggets, green, trees" and anything else considered "illegal" at the time or arbitrarily deemed an "act of terrorism," which NOW puts you under the guise of the PATRIOT-ACT, which essentially STRIPS you of nearly all your rights afforded to you by the Bill-of-Rights and that has-been document call the CONSTITUTION of the UNITED STATES.
Yep, this IS going to be yours/mine and everyone else's future if people don't start inquiring about the SECURITY of these devices, aside from whining about being about to NOT crack the eFuse etc.
You've been warned; now back to being "entertained," (aka, distracted/deceived).
puffpio - Tuesday, July 20, 2010 - link
I'm curious (and I hope you and others are too!) about how an overclocked Droid fares against a Droid X?Many rooted/custom ROM Droid people have no problem taking their phones up to 1Ghz
1Ghz OMAP 3630 vs 1GHz OMAP 3430 would be an awesome comparo
Goty - Tuesday, July 20, 2010 - link
Good to know. I ran most of the same benchmarks on my own and it seems that the Captivate is actually slower in the Sunspider test than any of the newer TI or Qualcomm SoCs, but faster in everything else. Very curious.Anyhow, looking forward to the review(s)!
metafor - Tuesday, July 20, 2010 - link
Sunspider is kinda wonky. It can vary depending on what version of the browser you're using. In either case, unless you know you have the exact same software, it's usually not a good way to test processor speed.cgalyon - Tuesday, July 20, 2010 - link
This was the best review I've seen of the Droid X thus far, by a large margin! Very thorough and pleasantly objective. Keep up the great work!FozzyofAus - Tuesday, July 20, 2010 - link
Great to hear.The Galaxy S has been on sale in here in Australia for a while and I'd love to see how it compares to the HTC EVO and Droid X.
Regards,
Michael.
FozzyofAus - Tuesday, July 20, 2010 - link
Background reading on performance from another site:http://androidandme.com/2010/07/news/droid-x-vs-ga...
No doubt your review will be even better when it's ready.
Regards,
Michael.