Motorola Droid X: Thoroughly Reviewed
by Brian Klug on July 20, 2010 4:27 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Motorola Droid X
- OMAP
- Mobile
Still Captures
What’s particularly interesting about the X is that it contains a bonafide mechanical shutter system that actually actuates. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it’s there. In what testing I’ve done, the shutter actually seems to activate of the time in low light situations than in bright light outdoors, which is a bit paradoxical to me. If you look close in the video, you can actually see the lens assembly go in and out for focusing, which is pretty normal.
Stills themselves aren’t amazing on the Droid X, but a definite step up from the camera on the Motorola Droid. If you’re making that jump, the difference will be a welcome improvement in camera quality.
You can compare all of the shots we’ve taken at 7 different locations in the gallery below. I’ve updated the results with an example shot from a Nikon D80 DSLR as well for comparison as something of a baseline. We’ve now got photos from the Droid X, EVO 4G, HTC Incredible, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, KIN ONE, KIN TWO (which has the competing 8 megapixel Sony IMX046 SoC), Motorola Droid, N900, and Nexus One. Location 7 and 4 are the most interesting, in my estimation.
The shots really speak for themselves. The EVO 4G and Incredible tend to oversaturate and over-sharpen, and the iPhone 4 does have some over-saturation of its own.
What I found particularly interesting about the X’s shooting modes for stills was in picture modes. The X will let you shoot stills very quickly at the expense of quality - they’re captured at 1 megapixel - in multi-shot mode. You don’t get to dictate when the exposures take place, 6 photos are just captured in rapid succession.
Next, there’s a self portrait mode that uses face detection to take your photo whenever it sees a face. Remember face detection I hit on earlier? This is an interesting application for it. Unfortunately, it refuses to detect my face and take the photo about 80% of the time. I even used my notebook’s built in webcam to monitor what was going on and if my face was in the frame. Even perfectly centered, most of the time inexplicably no dice. It even pops up a “no faces detected” box after 30 seconds. Apparently I’m a vampire or somesuch living undead.
But what I found really intriguing was the included auto stitch panorama mode. This is one of the most interesting applications I’ve seen for the compass; location aware image stitching. That’s right, you go into this mode, and can stitch together six images. That’s been done before, sure, but in the bottom left, you get an augmented reality preview showing how far you need to rotate to the next position before a photo is automatically captured. Repeat the process, and the software stitches the images back together automatically.
Panorama - Stitched entirely on the X
There’s just something so right about this process - I shouldn’t have to manually overlay bits of the previous image if the smartphone already has a good enough compass to know what direction we’re pointed, so do it in software! The X does precisely that.
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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.