Droid/Milestone

V4NT0M · 21 May 2010 at 21:04

This is aimed primarily at those who have/had a Droid/Milestone.

Word mobile people, so I doubt I'll ever get a non android phone again and am looking into what phone I want to get when my contract is up in October, I know 5 months away right, but I don't really think there will be that many other devices to choose from than there are now.

I was obviously looking at the desire but then I started looking at the droid which I had discounted months ago because I thought it was massive and the keyboard looked a bit funny. But now I'm really liking the squareness of it, it seems to be quite powerful and obviously has the physical keyboard.

I just wonder whether it is worth getting a handset based around a ~500Mhz chip when there are a lot of 1GHz phones around. Also wondering how the droid is to hold, is it creaky, hows the keyboard and general performance.

If I choose the Droid will I be out of luck a year down the line? Is it going to become outdated fast?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts

Airax · 21 May 2010 at 21:23

Its not quite a fair to compare speed on MHz alone. The Milestone uses an ARM Cortex A8, the Desire a Qualcomm Snapdragon. They both handle tasks differently. That said generally day to day use, you'll find the Desire "feels" faster, as HTC have tweaked their build of Android something crazy. I'm sure I've seen speed tests that put the Desire ahead of the Milestone, but only just, not by a huge amount.

As a device, the Desire software is much more well rounded. For most people having all the HTC enhancements makes Android more usable and a lot nicer. The Milestone has stock Android, so isn't as "nice" but more open to tinkering. If you type a lot, then the H/W keyboard wins out of the touch screen one IMHO. If your wondering about being out of date by the end of the year, both devices will be replaced there is no win there.

HTC have said some of the devices releases this year will get the Android 2.2 update and Motorola have "3 versions forward" policy, so it should also get Froyo, but they haven't made an official announcement yet.

If your looking at those devices, also consider:
Motorola XT720 (8MP Camera, Xenon Flash)
Samsung Galaxy S (so much crazy tech its scary).

MoodyB · 21 May 2010 at 21:34

Another option might be the newly rumoured Htc Vision, which sounds like a Desire with a slide-out Qwerty keyboard :

http://androinica.com/2010/05/21/htc-vision-may-be-first-android-superphone-with-qwerty-keyboard/

Or the Htc Memphis, which is meant to be the Hero+qwerty keyboard :

http://www.slashgear.com/htc-hero-plus-qwerty-memphis-version-tipped-for-june-24th-0445975/

At least by the time you're ready to change, you'll know whether either of these is near.

MouseMat2004 · 21 May 2010 at 22:40

Droid is the US version, exactly the same but only works on their mobile networks. Google partly invested into it, so its nice and open. You can install custom firmwares etc. Then Motorola brought out the Milestone, exactly the same but for Europe etc.... but Motorola decided it would be a good idea to lock it down (unlike every other Android phone) so you cant install custom firmwares, you have to live with the bugs (and theres plenty)

Milestone is well built and fairly fast, but its problem is software, not Android but Motorola. Get a Desire, twice the memory and HTC can actually produce good software to go with their good hardware.

V4NT0M · 21 May 2010 at 23:41

The Galaxy S looks great specs wise but looks exceptionally bland physically.

That's why I came around to the droid, for some reason it just looks really nice to me... On the milestone version does it come with the same motoblur crap that was on the Dext?

Also mybad I thought snapdragon was cortex a8.

Clipsey · 22 May 2010 at 02:46

I hate upgrading phones, as I can never decide and am always afraid of getting one and then it being out of date too quick. Been 'out of contract' since November, and still am yet to upgrade. It was gonna be the Hero, then the Nexus, and now it's the Evo

I'd go with the Nexus as I think it will always be updated first and looks like a real solid phone.

MouseMat2004 · 22 May 2010 at 07:41

Skyfall said:
The Galaxy S looks great specs wise but looks exceptionally bland physically.

That's why I came around to the droid, for some reason it just looks really nice to me... On the milestone version does it come with the same motoblur crap that was on the Dext?

Also mybad I thought snapdragon was cortex a8.

Milestone is barebones Android thankfully. It can be overclocked now and runs quite smooth at 1Ghz

You can still root them too but like I said they're buggy, quite a few inc me are getting massive battery drains (9hrs light usage and its down to 40%), problems around music autoplaying for no reason and lots of other bugs but Motorola wont release a quick patch, they make you wait until the next big update.... which I'm sure will introduce new bugs.

Airax · 22 May 2010 at 08:27

Skyfall said:
The Galaxy S looks great specs wise but looks exceptionally bland physically.

That's why I came around to the droid, for some reason it just looks really nice to me... On the milestone version does it come with the same motoblur crap that was on the Dext?

Also mybad I thought snapdragon was cortex a8.

The Milestone/Droid don't come with MotoBlur it is bare Android as has been pointed out. Don't write off the Galaxy S. It does look like a slightly bigger iPhone, which isn't a bad thing. The back has a unusual dotted "pattern" on the back which makes it stand out. The Milestone has a keyboard which gives it an advantage over other handsets. The Galaxy S gives crazy tec (Super AMOLED screen, Cortex A8 @ 1GHz), the Desire offers better S/W and UX. All are great phones, so decide whats important for you.

Ignore all the talk of the HTC vision. That's still a while away.

Abooie · 22 May 2010 at 09:10

The Windows 7 series phones released at the end of the year will be worth having a look at too.

Columbo · 22 May 2010 at 09:30

No way I could live with the Desire...

A colleague of mine has tweaked his to the hilt and barely (& I mean barely) gets a day's worth of battery out of his & I'd call him a medium user.

IIRC he's had to turn of 3g and Email sync to manage that as well.

Its all well and good having the speed and mhz but what I still dont get is what the hell is the point if every time you do 1/2 an hour of web surfing it needs a sodding charge.

I've read various comments about it getting better over time which his has tbh as at first he was getting around 10 hours max.

Hugest_UK · 22 May 2010 at 13:47

Dont Forget the the rumoured Galaxy S Pro out a month after the galaxy S adds a hardware qwerty keyboard and will (if its released) be my next phone

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/31/samsung-galaxy-s-pro-to-come-with-a-qwerty-keyboard-in-june-say/

Cheers,
Hugest

Airax · 22 May 2010 at 18:37

Hugest_UK said:
Dont Forget the the rumoured Galaxy S Pro out a month after the galaxy S adds a hardware qwerty keyboard and will (if its released) be my next phone

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/31/samsung-galaxy-s-pro-to-come-with-a-qwerty-keyboard-in-june-say/

Cheers,
Hugest

I think its unlikely you'll see the Galaxy S with a keyboard 1 month after the Galaxy S. Its not been officially announced, that post was in March. I seriously doubt we'll see it very soon. Any way we'll see lots of handsets with slide out QWERTY keyboards Q3/Q4. After that we'll see devices using 1.3 GHz processors, which will make way for dual core 1.5GHz in 2011. What ever you buy will be outdated, so I guess its question of biting the bullet when a device that matches what you want is available.

Hxc · 22 May 2010 at 19:00

DROID 2 should hopefully be out by then, that's what I'm setting my sights on. I am beyond happy with my milestone and cannot consider giving up a real keyboard.