CNet reviews the Motorola Droid

[danDroid]

CNet has posted a list of the "Best Five Cell Phones" and the Droid ranks #3 on that list:

[video=youtube;gCJdo_Ayhc4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCJdo_Ayhc4]YouTube - Motorola Droid Video Review - CNET[/video]

The Droid's display is gorgeous, the Android 2.0 updates are excellent, and the handset is lightning fast, particularly for an Android phone. We'll refrain from using the dreaded "iPhone killer" expression, but comparisons between the two devices are obvious, and we see the Droid as a real competitor to Apple's device. Sure, we had some complaints, but for Verizon's first pass at Android, the Droid more than delivers.

The good: The Motorola Droid boasts a gorgeous display and the benefits of Android 2.0, including a faster Web browser, Google Maps Navigation app, and better messaging and contact management. It also offers excellent call quality, long talk time, and improved speed over previous Android devices.

The bad: The QWERTY keyboard feels flat and the dialpad control is restricted to the home screen. Music and video capabilities still trail behind the competition. Dual-mode functionality for world-roaming capabilities would have been a nice addition.

The bottom line: Some minor design issues and multimedia quibbles aside, the Motorola Droid is the most powerful and fastest Google Android device to date. It fully embraces the openness of the Android platform and offers Verizon customers a smartphone that certainly rivals the other touch-screen devices on the market.

Specifications: Band / mode: CDMA 800/1900 (Dual Band) ; Talk time: Up to 385 min

 

[mnmbaldwin]

I believe CNET is just calling these the "Top 5" and that they are in alphabetical order.

 

[Kevin8se7en]

I like Cnet but they are Apple Fanboys.

They rated the Droid the same as the iPhone 3GS but if you look carefully, they rate it based on 3 categories... DESIGN, FEATURES and PERFORMANCE

iPhone 3GS:
Design: 9.0
Features: 8.0
Performance: 8.0

Moto Droid:
Design: 8.0
Features: 9.0
Performance: 8.0

Here's my beef....
IMO, Features should carry more weight than design. I'd rather have a feature rich phone with a crappy design that a crappy phone with a good design.. right?

That being said, the design on the iPhone isn't even better. Design is 1 part looks and 1 part how they implement the features. I personaly like the way the droid LOOKS better, but for the sake of argument, lets say the iPhone looks better. It still doesnt have a real keyboard or a Camera flash... therefore, the Droid is at the very LEAST on par with the design.

the Features are fine.. I think it's fair.

The Performance.. how does a phone that has slower internet and drops numerous calls have as good performace as the droid? It makes NO sense. The Droid is probably the best performaing phone ever made. The iPhone has BELOW AVERAGE performace because of it's dropped calls.

In the end, the Droid SHOULD have a 9.0 across the board and the iPhone 8.0 across the board but somehow Cnet found a way to make them get the same rating. When i see an Apple product reviewed on Cnet, I usually deduct about 0.5 points off it's overall score due to pure fanboyism on Cnet's part.

The iPhone 3GS' call quality shows no improvements and the 3G signal reception remains uneven. We still don't get Flash Lite, USB transfer and storage, or multitasking.

vs.

The QWERTY keyboard feels flat and the dialpad control is restricted to the home screen. Music and video capabilities still trail behind the competition. Dual-mode functionality for world-roaming capabilities would have been a nice addition.

Basically the iPhones performance sucks
and
The QWERTY keyboard that the iPhone doest have along with the lack of world-roaming... which the iPhone also doesnt have both suck. Basically, the only thing they dont like about this phoen that the iPhone does do is the music/video player.

It honestly should be:
Droid: 9.0
iPhone: 8.0