Motorola Droid X: Thoroughly Reviewed
by Brian Klug on July 20, 2010 4:27 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Motorola Droid X
- OMAP
- Mobile
As I mentioned before, the X's obvious close comparison is the HTC EVO 4G. As noted, the X is a few millimeters taller than even the EVO. Not by much, but still notable.
The next interesting comparison is the original Motorola Droid, at least until the Droid 2 comes later this summer. My friend gracioiusly left me his original Droid for the purposes of this review and physical comparison - ironically he's since replaced it with an HTC Incredible, and after playing with my X, will replace it as soon as he can get an X.
From top to bottom in this following photo is the iPhone 4, HTC EVO, X, Droid, and Nexus One.
Splayed out on a surface, from left to right; X, HTC EVO, Droid, Nexus One, iPhone 4. We'll talk more about the displays later. My Droid 1 unfortunately lacked a battery which is why the display is off, but later on I'll show a comparison.
Packaging
We’ve talked about packaging briefly with other smartphones, so we might as well talk about the X’s. It’s there and it’s square. Honestly, the X’s box is a bit spartan, but since Verizon is intent on selling lots of these things, it needs a good pallet density. The X rests inside with little space at top and bottom to spare.
Inside are just the necessities. You get a micro-USB cable which is a short 3 feet or so, and the USB charger. There’s 5 booklets of stuff about phones probably giving you cancer, and a getting started guide in two languages you won’t ever read. None of this paperwork is actually the manual (for that, you have to go online and grab the linked PDF).
I wish the X’s bundled USB cable was longer. I don’t know what other people do, but I usually put my phone on my nightstand. Maybe it’s just me, but 3 feet isn’t enough to let the phone be plugged in, or in my hands in bed. I almost always end up buying a huge USB extender cable (I’m looking at you, Apple). The Nexus One thankfully came with a generously long cable. Maybe I’m being too picky.
As I noted, the unbranded, class 4 16 GB MicroSD card comes preinstalled in the X. There’s no case, box, or packaging for it, but 16 GB is pretty generous for a MicroSD card.
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czesiu - Tuesday, July 20, 2010 - link
great review!higher res version for this please:)
http://images.anandtech.com/doci/3826/DROIDX-Anand...
Brian Klug - Tuesday, July 20, 2010 - link
I'm actually going to dump all the screen comparison photos I've got (there are quite a few) into a gallery, then you can peruse at native resolution. Should be up in a little bit ;)-Brian
hatter_india - Tuesday, July 20, 2010 - link
Fantastic review but I expect no less from AnandTech. But there are a couple of bloopers:1- OMAP 3630 is third mobile chip to use 45nm process. First is of course A4. But second is Samsung's Hummingbird, a chip that the korean company designed with help of Intrinsity. This chip is found in Galaxy S or its variants. Samsung is the same company that also tweaked A4, which incidentally is fabbed by Samsung. Too many coincidences ;-)
2- A comparison to PowerVR SGX 540 found on Galaxy S would have been interesting as according to Samsung SGX 540 is almost three times more powerful than SGX535.
3- Droid X should have also been compared with Galaxy S or any of its variants like Captivate, Vibrant etc
hatter_india - Tuesday, July 20, 2010 - link
This line: Samsung is the same company that also tweaked A4, which incidentally is fabbed by SamsungShould read: Intrinsity is the same company that also tweaked A4, which incidentally is fabbed by Samsung
Goty - Tuesday, July 20, 2010 - link
Does AT have any plans to review any of the Galaxy S phones? I just picked up a Captivate on Sunday and I'd love to see how it stacks up. I just ran the Neocore benchmark and got around 55 FPS, which speaks well of the GPU, but I'd like to see results from the other tests you guys do.Brian Klug - Tuesday, July 20, 2010 - link
Hey Goty,We definitely have plans to do reviews of all of the Galaxy S phones we can get our hands on. I'm working on getting them as soon as possible ;)
I'm also pretty excited to explore that SoC and compare.
-Brian
Ram21 - Tuesday, July 20, 2010 - link
Really enjoyed this review. Keep up the great work! Being as thorough as you guys are really helps to make good decisions on purchases.SonicIce - Tuesday, July 20, 2010 - link
lol how long before we can attach an external mouse and keyboard to a phone to use it as a pc and play 3d games online with itstrikeback03 - Tuesday, July 27, 2010 - link
How about this?http://www.androidcentral.com/dell-streak-logitech...
ltfields - Tuesday, July 20, 2010 - link
Guys, another gold standard review. I may not be able to pick up an X because I'm still under contract with another carrier, but the reviews are riveting. Keep up the excellent work!