Upcoming "Droid Killer"

[Timaphillips]

Uh oh....

Looks like the upcoming Nexus One (N1) by Google is going to make our Droids look like kiddie toys. Too bad it's on T-Mobile .

Google Nexus One Hands On - Nexus one - Gizmodo

I wonder if Motorola will give our processor speed a bump in reaction to this. Word is that it's actually under-clocked.

 

[vincentp]

Most Snapdragon phones will be slightly underclocked to preserve battery. The thing is so fast it's really not efficient or necessary to run it at the full speed. The Droid's processor is probably underclocked for the same reason. A lot of the noticeable speed difference from videos you may see is the difference between 2.0 and 2.1 as well. The Droid's processor is not tremendously slower than the Snapdragon in real world use, and we can already install a version of 2.1 if we want. It's very likely that the Droid will get an official 2.1 update at some point.

That said, I doubt this is going to be a "Droid killer", since it's on the paltry T-Mobile network, and it still doesn't have a physical keyboard. That may not matter to some people, but a lot of us bought the Droid specifically because it did. Verizon is probably going to get a similar (HTC made) device in the near future too, whether it be called the Bravo, Incredible, Passion, Dragon, or one of the other ten names that's bound to come up before we actually see a real phone.

 

[colnago]

... Too bad it's on T-Mobile .
...

Yeah, its gonna suck getting 5-10Mb connection speeds for $10/mo, and then be on 21Mb by next summer.

 

[vrdubin6]

I am actually kind of curious how noticable a proc increase would be. I know there are overclocking apps out there for rooted DROIDs but i have yet to really look into any feedback.

 

[vincentp]

Yeah, its gonna suck getting 5-10Mb connection speeds for $10/mo, and then be on 21Mb by next summer.

Speeds are nice, but in my city the service is terrible. There's nothing more frustrating for me than calling my friends who use T-Mobile. Calls drop constantly, connections are lousy. It's unfortunate because they have a nice selection of phones and are basically the testbed for new Android offerings.

 

[Timaphillips]

Yeah, I hear T-Mobile blows...

And I agree that 2.1 will be a lot faster. And the phone is by no means slow at all for me.

The keyboard for me is pretty useless as I've grown accustomed to the soft keyboard and actually prefer it. And I purchased the phone because it had a physical keyboard...go figure.

As far as design goes, I like the hard edged Droid compared to the tiny Eris for example.

 

[Timaphillips]

Yeah, its gonna suck getting 5-10Mb connection speeds for $10/mo, and then be on 21Mb by next summer.

Speeds are only as good as the phone can handle.

 

[colnago]

Speeds are nice, but in my city the service is terrible. There's nothing more frustrating for me than calling my friends who use T-Mobile. Calls drop constantly, connections are lousy. It's unfortunate because they have a nice selection of phones and are basically the testbed for new Android offerings.

Don't count them out...they're in the middle of a big push to expand their 3G/3.5G/21Mb network, to not only upgrade speeds of existing 3G areas (decent footprint from DC-to-Philly corridor where I am), but upgrade "Edge" speed areas to 3G+.

 

[vivimatsuk]

yea my friends were talking about this fone. too bad its on t-mobile, it'll pass as a fone, but fail with its service provider.
and don't worry guys, it wont "kill" Droid

 

[virtus]

I like how the term "killer" is used so liberally. The droid was called an "iphone killer" - it's a great phone but not a "killer". Same goes for the N1. It looks like a great phone, but a faster processer and a slightly more vibrant screen do not make it a "killer".

What is a faster processor going to really give you? Smoother transitions and slightly faster (measured in milliseconds) programs? Android 2.1 has already given us fast and smooth transitions.

The N1 is smaller and smoother. That's great and I can't wait to try one. Personally, I prefer a hardware keyboard - so I don't mind my clunky droid that is a few mm thicker.

I do like the ability to surf and talk at the same time. That will come in handy while using google nav. If I am using Nav on the droid I can't call anyone because if I miss a turn it won't recalc my route until I hang up.

 

[vincentp]

I like how the term "killer" is used so liberally. The droid was called an "iphone killer" - it's a great phone but not a "killer". Same goes for the N1. It looks like a great phone, but a faster processer and a slightly more vibrant screen do not make it a "killer".

What is a faster processor going to really give you? Smoother transitions and slightly faster (measured in milliseconds) programs? Android 2.1 has already given us fast and smooth transitions.

The N1 is smaller and smoother. That's great and I can't wait to try one. Personally, I prefer a hardware keyboard - so I don't mind my clunky droid that is a few mm thicker.

I do like the ability to surf and talk at the same time. That will come in handy while using google nav. If I am using Nav on the droid I can't call anyone because if I miss a turn it won't recalc my route until I hang up.

"Alternative" is a better word for "killer" in this case. The Droid is not going to remove the iPhone from the radar - far from it - but it's definitely a viable alternative, equalling and surpassing what is usually considered the king of phones in many ways - network being the most important to many. In the same way, the N1 is not going to make my Droid obsolete. It's an awesome phone, don't get me wrong, but I agree with you about the physical keyboard - I'm not giving that up for anything. I'm also very reluctant to switch from Verizon for any reason. You could offer me a phone that drives my car for me while giving me a ****job; I'm not going to be terribly willing to use it on a bad network.

 

[vonfeldt7]

Most Snapdragon phones will be slightly underclocked to preserve battery. The thing is so fast it's really not efficient or necessary to run it at the full speed. The Droid's processor is probably underclocked for the same reason. A lot of the noticeable speed difference from videos you may see is the difference between 2.0 and 2.1 as well. The Droid's processor is not tremendously slower than the Snapdragon in real world use, and we can already install a version of 2.1 if we want. It's very likely that the Droid will get an official 2.1 update at some point.

That said, I doubt this is going to be a "Droid killer", since it's on the paltry T-Mobile network, and it still doesn't have a physical keyboard. That may not matter to some people, but a lot of us bought the Droid specifically because it did. Verizon is probably going to get a similar (HTC made) device in the near future too, whether it be called the Bravo, Incredible, Passion, Dragon, or one of the other ten names that's bound to come up before we actually see a real phone.

I agree with pretty much everything here. The Droid's processor is very capable, and with Android 2.1, it's even more evident. If you haven't tried/seen videos of 2.1 in action, it's a lot faster than 2.0 and it's not even ready to be released yet.

 

[zandroid]

Jason Chen is a DROID hater. Who cares if it is a Droid killer. I like my phone.

 

[vivimatsuk]

Jason Chen is a DROID hater. Who cares if it is a Droid killer. I like my phone.

exactly! i love my Droid. period LOL plus, Droid just came out so we'll see what will happen to it in a few months

 

[vincentp]

exactly! i love my Droid. period LOL plus, Droid just came out so we'll see what will happen to it in a few months

Same here. It's always going to incite a little bit of envy when something comes out that puts your brand new, "cutting edge" phone to shame, but we've dealt with that in the computer world forever, and phone's are the same way. You can't ever expect to have the best for very long, assuming you can even define "best". I used a Blackberry Pearl for almost 3 years. I watched all sorts of new Blackberries and other phones pop up that were vastly more capable, and I was a bit jealous, but my phone worked fine and I was happy with it. I kept the thing until it's unfortunate Sprite related demise, and I don't feel like my life would have really been any different or better had I upgraded.

 

[colnago]

Speeds are only as good as the phone can handle.

I went from the Droid and just picked up the N900...only gets 3G on T-Mo, but is good up to 10Mb down, 2Mb up. $59/mo for unlimited voice AND data is hard to pass up.

I'm still hoping to get a "Milestone", but looks like its only HSPA on AT&T, who I'm still with and trying to leave at contract's end.

 

[GDroid]

The Droid looks better than the Nexus. What's up with the grey?

T-Mobile = No Good

 

[craigrn16]

Just read the Cnet hands on with it, they tested it with the iPhone 3gs and Droids and its faster than both.

 

[Miga]

Yeah, its gonna suck getting 5-10Mb connection speeds for $10/mo, and then be on 21Mb by next summer.

I have yet to see T-mobile with those speeds. I had t-Mobile for 5 years and they promised 3g in my town (Springfield Mo) for the last 2 years. It never happened. If i drove 5 miles outside of town I had no service. Hell i didnt get service in my house in city limits. They let me out of contract with 4 lines because they admitted their service sucks here and it wont get better for many years to come.

I will prob never leave Verizon. I don't drop calls anymore, i get coverage in the boonies and i love my phone.

I also don's see how you paying $10 a month. My data plan with my My Touch 3g was $30 for each line. I never once seen 3g on my phone.

 

[jmccarthy14]

This guy is very, very down on the droid. I don't think he got one ).

He says things that don't even make sense. He says the nexus one is almost twice as fast as the droid in a test, but the 3gs is only slightly slower than the nexus one... so the 3gs is almost 2x as fast as the droid? With the same processor? Holy magic browser!

AND the 3gs is as fast as a snapdragon. Impressive too. Wonder what the guy owns currently?

Last, didn't someone kick around a number like 9% or so for the real life performance increase snapdragon offers?

The OLED screen I envy, but 9% I can live without for Verizon and a keyboard(err gamepad).

 

[brettlewis]

Saying its a "Droid Killer" is not bad thing. I look at it this way, The G1 lead the way to help expand the product name. Then came some intermediate phones that improved the os and hardware configurations. The droid was the second milestone in android, both improving the os enough to give it a new whole number and in hardware with nice camera a slide out keyboard and a good processor. Next is the Nexus one, a sort of super phone of the month in the android line. It will make other android manufacturers want to build to that level and in the end increase the entire product line and name. Having another phone kill your phone is ok, cause chances are you phone is still great as it is, and in 2 years you can go get a new top of the line phone. All this means is more development and more competition in the market leading to better products in the end.

hope you read that...

 

[Jakbob]

Service provider makes up 51% of the quality of a phone imo. If the provider is bad, or in this case, lacking of service, then the phone and features are useless. Droid has verizon. It's not dying anytime soon.

From all my past experience from phones, verizon is the only provider to guarantee me 100% at all times. No matter WHERE I am.

 

[Miga]

Service provider makes up 51% of the quality of a phone imo. If the provider is bad, or in this case, lacking of service, then the phone and features are useless. Droid has verizon. It's not dying anytime soon.

From all my past experience from phones, verizon is the only provider to guarantee me 100% at all times. No matter WHERE I am.

Right. I dont care if the Nexus can get up in the morning and make me coffee. The network stinks and without service its a paper weight. Do you want a $600+ paperweight?

 

[brettlewis]

Right. I dont care if the Nexus can get up in the morning and make me coffee. The network stinks and without service its a paper weight. Do you want a $600+ paperweight?

Well technically it could be like $600 PSP...

 

[alostpacket]

Gizmodo ftl. That dude was an obviously iPhone fanboy who was making half of that up.