My Motorola Droid X Review

What was included in the box:

1. Motorola Droid X
2. Standard Lithium Ion Battery (1540 mAh)
3. Micro USB Wall Charger with Detachable USB Cable
4. 16GB SanDisk MicroSD Memory Card
5. Getting Started Brochure
6. Product Safety & Warranty Brochure

First impressions:

1. The screen is massive and vibrant.
2. High resolution screen with vivid colors.
3. The phone is light and thin.
4. The phone is sturdy and well built.
5. High quality speaker phone (similar to my Storm 2).
6. The phone’s battery life was not good (this was fixed after Verizon Update 1.13.604 was released on July 19) .
7. I am happy to report that I have not had any of the problems that a small group of people have had (screen problems, dead pixels, etc. etc.).

Pros:

1. Reception is amazing on the Droid X. I tested it in a known dead zone (my Storm 2 and my dad’s Motorola V750 Adventure are) inside of the restaurant where we take our tour guests for lunch. The phone was able to dial out, hold a conversation, and not drop the call or become garbled. I do not have 3G inside, though (it was 1X the whole time).
2. The Droid X is light, thin, and fits great in my pocket and hands.
3. The screen is amazing. The size is outstanding for watching videos, browsing the internet, and just all around everyday use.
4. After Verizon update 1.13.604 was released earlier this week, my battery life has increased almost 25%. At the end of the day, I have 60% battery life left (when it is fully charged at the beginning of the day) with my weather being updated every 15 minutes, and my Gmail being synched instantly. I used to have between 35-40% battery life left at the end of the day (off the charger at 7:30 am and back on the charger at 5 pm). The battery life is better than my Storm 2 used to be with the extended battery. I still may purchase the extended battery when they are released in August (that is the estimated availability as of now).
5. The camera quality is excellent. I like the fact that the Droid X has a built-in LED flash.
6. The virtual keyboard is outstanding. This is by far the best virtual keyboard that I have ever used.

Cons:

1. The battery was draining fairly quickly (this was fixed after not constantly playing with it, and especially after the Verizon update 1.13.604 was released earlier this week).

Third party applications installed:

1. Advanced Task Killer
2. AppBrain App Market
3. Battery Left Widget
4. Barcode Scanner
5. GPS Status
6. TV Guide Mobile
7. TripAdvisor
8. FlightStats for Android
9. TIKL – Touch to Talk
10. IMDB Movies & TV
11. Zedge Ringtones & Wallpaper
12. RingDroid
13. Speedtest
14. ShopSavvy Barcode Scanner
15. Timeriffic
16. Digital Clock Widget
17. Battery Widget
18. Speedtest.net Speed Test (Ookla)
19. FCC Mobile Broadband Test (Ookla)
20. Google Sky Map
21. My-Cast Weather
22. Dolphin Browser HD
23. Pandora Radio
24. Shazam Encore
25. SlingPlayer Mobile
26. The Weather Channel
27. Facebook for Android


Accessories that I purchased:

1. HDMI Cable
2. HDMI Multimedia Desktop Charger Station
3. Black Carbon Fiber Wrapped Cover
4. Anti-Glare Display Protector (3 Pack)
5. SanDisk 32GB MicroSD Memory Card with SD Adapter and Microreader

Closing Comments:

This is an outstanding phone. It is very easy to use from when you first power up the device. I had previously imported all of my contacts over to Google Contacts (from Outlook) and imported my Outlook calendar into Google Calendar prior to having my new phone activated in the store.

A good friend of mine sent me an interesting video that Engadget posted on their site about a recent test that Apple conducted claiming the Droid X suffers the same fate as their precious iPhone 4.

Here is the article:

Apple keeps antennagate alive with Droid X's 'kill switch' (video) -- Engadget

I am happy to report the following (I posted my opinion under the comments):

"I just tried this on my Droid X. While the signal does go down like it would on different phones in weak areas (I am currently in a weaker area), I only lose about 5 to 6 dB when I do this (which is well within the normal range and is nowhere near the 20 dB loss with the IP4). Apple must be mad since they know that there is a better made phone out there that will definitely be competing with their precious IP4."

I should also mention that I came from the BlackBerry Storm 2. And while both OS have different advantages and disadvantages, I am happy to say that I do not miss BB (other than BBM). I am hoping that there will soon be a cross platform app that will allow me to chat with my BBM friends. My emails come through almost instantly and the apps are a lot cheaper and offer more features than BB did. For example, My Cast Weather on my Storm 2 did not find my location like it does on my Droid X. Also, BB does not have a Weather Channel widget (or app) that will follow your location and update when you change cities.

I was also fortunate to get one last Thursday morning on launch day. I waited patiently in line (there were approx 20 people ahead of me) and I was lucky as I walked out of the store with the absolute last Droid X in the store. I need to also mention that I do not see any of the problems that a small group of people have experienced on their Droid X. In closing, I am very happy that I switched to the Droid X and I am very happy with my phone.

NOTE: All of the following pictures were taken with my Droid X:

 

Alligator:




Swamp Lily:




Pontoon Boat Going out Towards the Gulf of Mexico:




Airboat:

 

Close-up of Dragonfly:




Nice Fountain Near Dusk:




Shopping District at Night with Very Low Light Conditions:




Borders Bookstore at Night with Very Low Light Conditions:

 

Thanks Charlyee. Yes, I am enjoying it very much.

Thanks our3rotts. Yes I am enjoying my new X.

Thanks Jason. The 4.3 inch screen is amazing. Slingbox is awesome on the X.

 

Thanks Joe. I appreciate it. :biggrin:

 

Thanks paulmac. Hopefully by then Froyo will be available for the Droid X. Also, the Droid 2 will be coming out supposedly on August 12.

 

Good luck with Froyo. I will wait a little longer until more people root their X’s and all of the problems are worked out before I root my Droid X.

 

Thanks Quint101. I am liking the X. The big screen is what sold me on the device. The battery life has greatly improved from when I first had it (especially after the 1.13.604 update). The Droid Incredible is a nice phone too. I actually played with one the day I got my X. The Droid Incredible is well built and has a nice sharp screen.

 

Good luck paulmac. I hope you don't have to wait too long. Hopefully you won't experience any of the reported "issues." I have had the Droid X since day 1, and I have not seen any of the "issues" on my X as others have reported.