Droid + Google Android > iPhone
TIME Magazine released its Top 10 Gadgets of 2009 this week and guess who snatched the top spot? That’s right, our good friend the Motorola Droid. With the iPhone 3GS looking on from the number four slot, TIME poured on the praise for the Droid calling it the “kick-ass smartphone” that finally makes Android a “credible challenge to the iPhone.”
Oddly, TIME had some backhand swipes at the Motorola Droid, in spite of its seat of honor. For instance, it degraded the physical keyboard from great to “good enough” and characterized the highest end Android smartphone as a “hefty beast, a metal behemoth” while alluding to its relatively graceless form factor when compared to the iPhone. TIME opined that you won’t miss the gloss and finish of the iPhone, but we think many smartphone aficionados will disagree.
Granted, we are unabashed fans of the HTC Droid Eris, but considering TIME’s tacit criticisms of the Motorola Droid, we can’t help but point out the Eris’s strong points once again. Equipped with the incredibly intuitive HTC Sense (exclusive to HTC smartphones) user experience and made much more pocket-friendly (not to mention pocketbook friendly) with a rubberized backing and rounded edges, the Eris seems like a welcome “best of both worlds” between the aesthetics of the iPhone and the sheer Google goodness of the Droid. The Eris lacks a physical keyboard, but more than makes up for it with its customized virtual keypad that surpasses the tepid “good enough” rating that TIME (and others) give the Droid’s QWERTY. And to top things off, the HTC Droid Eris is on the same “best-of-breed 3G network” from Verizon Wireless that earned the Motorola Droid such high marks from TIME.
And did we mention that the HTC Droid Eris only costs $19.99? That’s nothing to sneeze at, compared to the Motorola Droid’s $300 price tag.
We can’t blame TIME for overlooking the Eris, though. Many do, often relegating the HTC Droid Eris into the shadows by calling it the “Motorola Droid’s little brother.” But snazzy handsets have existed for quite some time – the thing really worth writing home about is Android. And since the HTC Droid Eris gets you Google’s groundbreaking mobile OS with equal class and at a fraction of the cash, we’d hesitate to call the Eris a younger sibling. “Smaller and more efficient” seems to ring a bit truer in this case.
(P.S. Sprint loyalists might also want to check out the Samsung Moment while T-Mobile fans should go for the T-Mobile G-1 – both of which are solid Android phones.)
Related posts:
- Android Fans: Don’t Count Out the HTC Droid Eris
- Cell phone comparison: HTC Droid Eris vs. HTC Hero (both with Google Android)
- Cell Phone Comparison: iPhone vs. Android Phones
- Droid Fans, Rejoice! Google to Acquire Motorola’s Cell Phone Division
- The Motorola Droid is Here! New Phones at Cell-Phone-Plans.net
- Cell Phone Comparison: Motorola Droid vs. T-Mobile G1
- Top 10 Verizon Wireless Upgrades
- Verizon to Launch Droid 2 Global for $200
- Going Global: Motorola’s Droid 2 Global Compared With The Original Droid 2
- iPhone and Android: How to Use Google’s “Near Me Now”