Android Fans: Don’t Count Out the HTC Droid Eris

Wait – before you rush to the store to pick up the Motorola Droid from Verizon, you should really, seriously consider the HTC Droid Eris. The Motorola Droid has been getting all the glory as of late, thanks to it’s cathartic bashing of the iPhone via its “iDon’t but Droid does” commercials, but the Eris might actually be the Droid you’re looking for. Here’s why:

Form Factor

True, the Motorola Droid has an extra half an inch on the Eris when it comes to screen real estate, but what the Eris loses in spec bragging rights, it gains back in intuitive form and function. The Droid is a hard-edged, perhaps even boxy affair that weighs in at 6 ounces. The Eris is decidedly sleeker, with a curved, rubberized backing , a slimmer profile and weighs nearly 2 less ounces. The Eris sheds a lot of the bulk by eschewing the physical QWERTY keyboard (

a deal breaker for some) but many testers were more impressed by the ergonomic virtual keyboard bundled with the HTC Sense “user experience” (see below) than the Motorola’s real, live keys.

HTC Sense – Eris Has It, Motorola Never Will

HTC Droid Eris currently ships with Android 1.5, an earlier (but still undoubtedly cool) version of Google’s mobile OS. That’s because Android 2.0 isn’t quite ready for HTC Sense, which the Motorola Droid doesn’t have. HTC Sense really highlights the competitive nature that Android’s going to facilitate between cell phone manufacturers.  While Android is conspicuously op

en source (another iDon’t), HTC Sense isn’t, and you won’t find anything like it on any other kind of phone.  Proprietary design architectures like HTC sense will be the X factor between different Android models once more manufacturers adopt the OS.

HTC Sense revolves around “putting people at the centre by making your phone work in a more simple and natural way” by allowing almost depthless personalization. For the Eris, this means seven (count ‘em) customizable home screens with hundreds of widgets and Google app shortcuts to choose from. You also get the convenience of different  “Scenes” where you can have preset themes for work, play or travel.

HTC Sense is a pretty decent trade off for Android 2.0 – but with that being said…

Coming Soon to HTC Droid Eris: Android 2.0

Verizon announced recently that HTC Droid Eris will be getting a significant system update in the first quarter of 2010 which will bring the handset to either Android 2.0 or Android 2.1 with HTC Sense still intact. In essence, Eris owners get to have their cake and eat it to, come 2010. If Android 2.0 is what is swaying you towards the Motorola Droid, then sway back to the Eris and sit tight for a few more months.

Still Packs a Punch

In spite of being smaller and more pared down than the Motorola Droid, the HTC Droid Eris still manages to pack in enough features to make the iPhone feel threatened. IT’s got a 5.0-megapixel camera (with video) and a plethora of image editing features plus a 3.5mm headphone jack and file support for every music format you’d realistically want to play (even some that don’t make as much sense, like MIDI or WAV).

Price

At the end of the day, the Droid Eris by HTC is hands-down more affordable than the Motorola Droid, which matters to a heckuva lot of people these days. When it first rolled out, the Eris was $100 (with rebate) while the Motorola Droid would set you back twice that (after rebate). For now, the gap in pricing is even bigger, with the Eris on sale for just $19.99.

Which brings us to the overriding theme for why the HTC Droid Eris just might be a better bet than the Motorola Droid: the disparity in price is huge, but the plusses and minuses for each phone is pretty evenly matched (with the Eris winning out in several categories).

Disagree? We’d love to hear your opinion – let us know in the comments below.

Img source: Daily Mojo

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Tags: Android, Google, HTC Droid Eris, Motorola, Verizon Wireless

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 at 8:59 pm by Jack Busch and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.