Did any of you consider/look at the Eris before purchasing the Motorola?

[wbbgjr]

I had the HTC Hero (Sprint's version of the Eris) for a week and the Droid for a week, with two days where I had both.

They're both great phones. The HTC hero had some critical bug issues which had to do with the battery life. There were workarounds but I was always paranoid I didn't do the workaround and that the battery would drain right away. Besides that I loved the compact Qwerty keyboard when using the onscreen keyboard in portrait mode. It was so quick to type messages in that mode and the predictive software was excellent. The droid lacks that function and the predictive software is like crap compared to the HTC's.

I also liked the camera better with the Hero. Not nearly as much noise in the shadows and in low light situations as the Droid. There should be a partial fix for the Droid, but I do believe it's a good chance it's the hardware. Noise in photos when taken in the same conditions by two cameras is usually due to an inferior sensor... Though I guess it could be that the camera software is bumping up the ISO unnecessarily.

HTC has a lot going for it. The SENSE UI is not just aesthetics. It provided more option. For example, the camera software allowed you to pick the iso, auto focus on a specific area by pointing to it, etc, etc. It's just a refined and well thought out UI. I understand that vanilla Android is supposed to be plain and you're supposed to add to it. Hopefully, the support for things like picking ISO and the focus on where you point will come. It's just not there yet.

I ended up keeping the Droid because of the snappiness of it and the physical keyboard. It makes a difference in multi tasking and in web browsing. The processor is able to render the pages faster. I tested them side by side so I know there is a difference. Also, I didn't want to count on HTC to provide me with the Android OS updates. They can choose at anytime to stop updating and even wehn they do update it, it will take a bit longer because they have to integrate SENSE.

However, in the end, I would have been happy with both.

 

[ygohome]

My sister just bought a droid this morning. Yesterday evening we were in the store looking over both the Eris and the Droid. She originally liked the smoother lines of the Eris but liked the bigger/better screen of the Droid and the keyboard (she texts alot and her previous phone is an xv6800 which also had a slide out kb).

SO, last night we went home and looked over the youtube reviews online for both phones. The Droid with the better screen, newer version of the OS, faster processor and great reviews... and the fact that both phones are nearly identical in size. *We held both phones next to each other side by side and from all angles. The Droid was surprisingly, to our eyes, the same size as the Eris. Because of those things and the fact she was also concerned about getting the Eris scroll ball dirty from her girly makeup she always has on her hands...

...She decided n the Droid and so far is very pleased. Still learning alot about the android OS (we're coming from windows mobile phones for the last 2 yrs)

 

[novacane]

Guys, grimster is just being a troll. He's just saying things for no reason that have no backing and are just said to make people angry/react. If you respond to him you just feed his trollin.


EDIT:
But I would like to add that I looked at the eris before buying the droid and I liked HTC's customizations, just like they do with all their phones. Ultimately it was the increased storage, faster cpu, and physical keyboard that sold me. I know that occasionally my droid will have some slight lag, so the eris would have drivin me crazy.

 

[mloewen]

I got an Eris on Thursday, I returned it and got a Droid on Saturday. I am so glad I did.
The keyboard on the Eris was driving me nuts. I am sure I didn't figure out the features on it in the time I had it but Droid has so much more.

 

[SwordOfWar]

Well you know what they say. You get what you pay for. There is a reason the Eris s cheaper!

 

[NVash]

Eris, thats that HTC right? I looked at that and said 'No way'. Ill admit, the Droid isnt the most attractive of phones and its a bit bulky but I preferred it immediately. I came from a touch screen phone and couldnt stand how it called people while in my pocket. Id get phone calls from people often telling me how I called them two or three times, my family telling me how I left messages minutes long with nothing but background noise. My girlfriend almost got to the point where she wouldnt pick up the phone when I called because of that. My phone bill would be crazy all the time due to that, and I asked Verizon about it. They told me lock the phone. Brilliant, but the people I called were in my 'Ice Contacts' just in case something horrible happened and I couldnt get out the password to someone. So to see this and the phone not be so reliant on the touch screen made me very happy.

The keyboard is like a dream to me. Before I got my Dare I had a Sidekick and I loved it. Besides the thing being a steaming pile of trash I loved the overall look of the phone and the keyboard. Now I have that back with this phone and the thing is actually worth using. Its a win-win situation.

 

[DiscoStu65]

 

[jimnutt]

Eris is so much more compact and pocketable. Droid feels like you're carrying around a brick in your pocket.

I laugh when people call the Eris slow. Mine runs smooth. I can do anything you guys can on the moto droid. 2.0 will be out for the Eris next month or so.

Except watch video at 854x480. Or read text at nearly 300 dpi. On the other hand, the Eris screen is the same resolution as the iPhone..

 

[ShowTime]

I considered the Eris for a few minutes, but it was 100% based off wanting to save some money. I liked everything about the Droid better, but the Eris was almost as good and significantly cheaper.... but in the end I decided to sack up and spend the extra cash for the better product.

 

[Atst44]

Eris vs Moto

I owned the eris first.
It feels so much nicer in your hands.
Sense has soo many nice/fancy widgets to keep your attention.
Hard buttons for the phone are VERY nice...

But I am a geek. I like to play...
The Eris took FOREVER to get rooted...
I wated for 80 days... that was too long for me.

Now that I have the droid...
It feels way more durable.
Has a much more vast community.
Has an amazing screen. (Better than the OLED stuff out there IMO)

The Moto was definitely worth the $$$
I dont even regret not waiting on a nexus or incredible now that I have the MOTO...

 

[ark(i)tek]

Eris is so much more compact and pocketable. Droid feels like you're carrying around a brick in your pocket.

Brick sized/shaped phone = Fail

Eris is so much more compact when you hold both together its amazing, Moto Droid is much less ergonomic.

Eris has HTC Sense UI interface which blows away anything Moto Droid has.

I laugh when people call the Eris slow. Mine runs smooth. I can do anything you guys can on the moto droid. 2.0 will be out for the Eris next month or so.

Eris rules.

I got a Motorola and my father got an Eris. He got the Eris because he isn't really tech savvy and he liked the feel/look better. I can tell you from doing things on both phones (the exact same things) the Eris is not as fast, not as capable, not updated yet, and it IS more ergonomic and pocket friendly.
I particularly don't like the bottom "fixed" buttons on the Eris - they are very slow to respond and need to be pushed head on to work.
Motorola Droid is better IMO if you don't mind the "boxy" look/feel.
Also: I could have done without the physical keyboard, I almost never use it, since the touch keyboard is so easy to use.

 

[frickingphil]

Owned the Eris for 3 months.

A friend that owned a Droid was interested in the Eris, and I was interested in her Droid, so we traded phones for a couple days. I'm a power user, she's the opposite. Barely uses the internet functions on the phone. I had her Droid rooted and running on CyanogenMod + bekit 1200 MHz, she was using the 2.1 Leak on my Eris.

I bought my own Droid 2 days later.

Our combined observances...
Eris:
-Slow and "laggy" (her words) when compared to the Droid, and especially when compared to an overclocked Droid, but it wasn't too bad coming from my iPhone 3G.
-Despite the small number difference, the Eris is much more pocketable and feels smaller. The rounded corners do the trick.
-Vibrate is crap.
-Sense UI is a real treat, and the home screen scrolls much smoother on the Eris.
-Better camera. I had a much easier time getting good exposure and DoF on the Eris vs. the Droid.
-A perfect phone for someone not looking for as much device as the Droid.

Droid:
-Larger, heftier. I can barely reach the unlock button with my finger while holding the phone one-handed.
-The industrial design is too busy for me, and as manly as a bunch of hard angles are, the thing kinda looks like a makeup case.
-The speed is like a breath of fresh air coming from the Eris.
-The screen is nice and roomy, but I actually think they've put too many pixels on the thing, the clarity difference between the Droid and the Eris is obvious, but not as mindblowing as you'd think
-Camera is a bit lackluster, and the flash doesn't really help much for proper exposure. The two-step camera button is nice, though.
-Call quality is nice, both the Droid and Eris have dual mic noise cancellation.
-I miss Sense UI...but not too terribly. Beautiful Widgets (pre-censoring) has alleviated a lot of that

 

[trumpet444]

My parents both have the Eris. I have a Droid. I rooted mine and unlocked all sorts of capabilites. I'm very familiar with both phones. They're both very good phones but I'm more for function and capability than looks. Some people think the Eris is better looking and the Droid is too industrial looking. But as one Droid commercial said, "....its a robot, not a princess".

Both phones are quick. If you're wanting normal phone functions, make phone calls, text, send pix/flix, take pix/flix, occasional gaming, in a smooth looking phone(exterior), etc, then the Eris is for you. But if you want BETTER gaming, pictures, videos, overclocking, speed, sound(speakers), then the Droid is for you. The Eris is very capable, but the Moto Droid is much more capable.

If you are in the market for one of these phones, these are just my opinions so I strongly suggest that you play with both for a week. (loiter your local VZW kiosk!) I did that for atleast a month before I bought the Droid. What might be cool for me, other people don't care about. If you really are considering getting the Eris, PLEASE wait a little longer for the HTC Incredible. Its just like the Eris but a little bigger and MUCH MUCH more advanced on the inside. I would've considered pre-ordering the Incredible based on specs alone, because they are amazing, but I really do not like the sense ui. Also the same reason why I would pass on the N1.

 

[frickingphil]

but I really do not like the sense ui. Also the same reason why I would pass on the N1.

The N1 is a Google Experience phone, so it doesn't run Sense UI.

Where the N1 is Google's baby (but happens to be made by HTC), the Incredible is HTC's baby, so they threw all the bells and whistles on it.

Well, if you don't look at the EVO, that is.

 

[li2327]

I had the eris first and really liked it. I just liked the droid screen and keyboard. The eris is an awesome second choice.