iphone/droid comparison chart

[tpriddy]

+-----------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+
|                 | AT&T/Apple              | coming November 6th,    |
| feature         | iPhone 3Gs              | VZW/Motorola Droid      |
+-----------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+
| flash memory    | 16GB/32GB               | 512MB + 16GB microSDHC  |
| price w/2yr     | $199/$299               | $199 AR(mail-in/instant)|
| plan/month      | voice + $30 data        | voice + $30 data        |
| w/o contract    | $599/$699               | $559                    |
| memory card     | none                    | microSDHC up to 32G     |
| SOC/CPU         | Samsung S5PC100 600MHz  | TI OMAP3430 550MHz      |
|   core          | ARM Cortex A8           | ARM Cortex A8           |
|   GPU           | PowerVR SGX ???         | PowerVR SGX 530         |
| RAM memory      | 256MB                   | 256MB                   |
| OS              | OS X iPhone/Darwin/BSD  | Android 2.0 (Eclair)    |
| kernel          | Mach                    | Linux                   |
|   multitasking  | no (not yet)            | yes                     |
| touch screen    | capacitive              | capacitive              |
|   multi-touch   | yes                     | yes                     |
|   diag/area     | 3.5" / 5.65 sq.in.      | 3.7" / 5.85 sq.in.      |
|   resolution    | 480x320 3:2 non-std     | 480x854 16:9 WVGA       |
|   colors        | 262K, 18bit             | 16M, 24bit              |
|   graphics RAM  | 345.6KB (337.5KiB)      | 1.23MB (1.17MiB)        |
| headset jack    | 3.5mm                   | 3.5mm                   |
| camera          | 3 Mpixel/no flash       | 5 Mpixel/dual LED flash |
| power connect   | spring-loaded           | microUSB                |
| weight          | 4.8oz                   | 6oz                     |
| dimensions      | 4.5" x 2.4" x 0.48"     | 4.6" x 2.4" x 0.5"      |
| carrier network | GSM                     | CDMA                    |
| 3G broadband    | UMTS/HSDPA              | EV-DO rev.A             |
| WiFi            | 802.11b/g               | 802.11b/g               |
| qwerty          | touch                   | touch + slider          |
| browser         | safari                  | android                 |
|   java          | no                      | no                      |
|   flash         | no                      | no, Flash 10 in 2010    |
| java apps       | no                      | Dalvik virtual machine  |
| media formats   | mpeg-4, H.264, mov, m4v,| mpeg-4, H.263, H.264,   |
|   --            |   mp4, mp3, aac, aiff,  |   mp3, aac, aac, wav,   |
|   --            |   wmv, vbr, audible     |   midi                  |
| visual vm       | included                | $3/mo (googlevoice free)|
| GPS turn-by-turn| TomTom $99              | Google Nav Beta incl.   |
| threaded text   | 3rd party               | yes                     |
| battery         | 1150mAh LiIon           | 1400mAh LiIon           |
|   replaceable   | no                      | yes                     |
|   talk time     | 5 hrs                   | 6.4 hrs                 |
|   standby time  | 12.5 days               | 11 days                 |
|   internet time | 3 hrs (9h WiFi)         | ?                       |
|   video time    | 10 hrs                  | 7 hrs                   |
|   audio time    | 30 hrs                  | ?                       |
+-----------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+

 

[rawness]

That's hard to follow...try this

 

[knickerbocker]

The BillShrink.com thing is interesting because it says you should get a PRE. But I know that I had Sprint, I would only pay $10 less a month than with VZW. They base those numbers on unlimited everything.

 

[johninbigd]

I'm bummed that the Droid doesn't have more RAM. I have an iPhone that I want to get rid of because it's constantly running out of memory. It drives me nuts dealing with memory issues on that thing.

 

[Nakagaki]

The unlimited Data/Message add-on for Verizon is $25 bucks. Where are they getting this 149.99$ price tag??I pay like $100 for 700 anytime mins + unlimited data/messages

 

[shadrap]

Dude, you have to pay $3.00 a month for Visual Voice Mail on Verizon? WTF?

 

[tpriddy]

$3 a month for VVM? WTF?

Google voice is free and it looks to be super(ior). - about Google voice

 

[tpriddy]

I'm bummed that the Droid doesn't have more RAM. I have an iPhone that I want to get rid of because it's constantly running out of memory. It drives me nuts dealing with memory issues on that thing.

I too would wish for more RAM. More RAM means better performance, but also more power drawn and shorter battery life.

UNIX family OS kernels like Mach and Linux only report "out of memory" when they run out of virtual memory (swap file). Android uses the Linux kernel. The iPhone, like Steve Job's NeXT platform, uses the Mach kernel.

I found a posting on android-kernel@googlegroups.com suggesting that the eclair kernel uses less than 100MB, leaving at least 150MB for VM. That would be backed by a pagefile on the 512MB internal flash. I wouldn't expect Motorola/Verizon sets up the Droid to swap to the removable flash card so I theorize it comes limited to about 660MB VM. That's not too shabby, but could be easily outstripped in a multiprocessing environment.

A G1 user documented how to manually configure Android to swap to the SD card:

* sped up my application opening time and when i delete alot of messages it no longer freezes
* use at least double the ram that the phone has for your swap but no more than 2gb

The first reply to the post points out there's an app for that (no, not on the iPhone)

FYI - there's an application on the market that does the exact same thing but it's always nice to know how to do it manually. I've been doing it for a while now

 

[billd]

The browser has Java? Really? I thought Android didn't support a full JSE.

 

[tpriddy]

The browser has Java? Really? I thought Android didn't support a full JSE.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)

Software written in Java can be compiled to be executed in the Dalvik virtual machine, which is a specialized VM implementation designed for mobile device use, although not technically a standard Java Virtual Machine.

Should that be listed as java = no? I changed the browser java to no and added the Dalvik virtual machine for java apps.

[SIZE=1]| browser         | safari                  | android                 |[/SIZE]
[SIZE=1]|   java          | no                      | no                      |[/SIZE]
[SIZE=1]| java apps       | no                      | Dalvik virtual machine  |[/SIZE]

 

[MoreYummy]

So how do you run java on android if possible from above post?

 

[tpriddy]

So how do you run java

I don't know, but I hope someone with Android 2.0 (eclair) can load the Dalvik virtual machine and try running browser based Java games in the Android browser.

From what I've read, I suspect the browser does not run Java, but that you may compile Java programs and run them as apps.

 

[MoreYummy]

After some reading, it doesnt run java like you normally do.

You need to recompile it and run it.

 

[johnlgalt]

Another thing to note: I have been talking to VZW folks extensively, and they have all said the same thing:

"The Connect and Premium plans are NOT for PDAs, smart phones and Blackberrys. For those devices you have to purchase the separate unlimited data plans (good for email and data) which is current priced at $29.99 for the regular and $44.99 for corporate (if you have no need for synchronizing email to a corporate server / exchange server on a regular basis, then ignore e the corporate plan).

Also, both (PDA/BB/SP) data plans are currently discounted online by 25%....

So, that chart is way off - I currently have a Family Nationwide Basic plan (700 min / month) with an additional line, and adding two high end devices (Storm2 and Droid) is only bumping my play by ~$50 / month, a full $20 less per month than what BillShrink claims, *and* I have 3 lines total.

BillShrink is unfairly representing the prices in the case of the Droid, and so it is possible that it could be across the board for all phones....

 

[gthrift]

Where do you see the 25% discount? Or are those the smartphone plans with minutes, unlimited test and the corporate email?

 

[CRPercodani]

The unlimited Data/Message add-on for Verizon is $25 bucks. Where are they getting this 149.99$ price tag??I pay like $100 for 700 anytime mins + unlimited data/messages

That is for dumbphones.

 

[johnlgalt]

Where do you see the 25% discount? Or are those the smartphone plans with minutes, unlimited test and the corporate email?

I just went online and when it came time to configure my plan after adding the the 2 Storm2s, the discount was showing on the price.

That is for dumbphones.

Yeah, which is why I wish BillBlinders would do a bit more research before posting BS.....

 

[CRPercodani]

No billshrink has it right for the plans they listed, but the user I quoted was that VZW has a 24.99 add-on for unlimited data+messaging which is what I was referring to.

 

[rawness]

I do know that the Billshrink plan costs are wrong for verizon. It's $130 for unlimited everything and $100 for the 900 minutes. This can be easily checked by going to VZW's website.

 

[CRPercodani]

NO you are wrong, people, please understand that for the Droid you need the $30 data feature, not the Premium or Connect plans with "unlimited data". For 900 minutes you need the 59.99 plan then add on 30 for data, if you want unlimited texting its the 79.99 Select plan with 900 mins, then the 29.99 email and web for smartphone which all comes to 109.

 

[johnlgalt]

No billshrink has it right for the plans they listed, but the user I quoted was that VZW has a 24.99 add-on for unlimited data+messaging which is what I was referring to.

You can get that plan that BillShrink has listed, but you still have to pay an additional $30 (minimum) for the unlimited Data plan for smartphones PDAs and BBs. I have talked to 6 different VZW reps now and they say the eact same thing - the plan listed in the BillShrink refers to an unlimited Data plan - which is useless to the Droid, all BBs, and the other Smartphones / PDAs offered by VZW. So, yeah, if I picked the most expensive plan I can get it *will* cost that- but to say that hte Average Droid user will be paying the plan with 5 GB data limit is bogus.

I do know that the Billshrink plan costs are wrong for verizon. It's $130 for unlimited everything and $100 for the 900 minutes. This can be easily checked by going to VZW's website.

But those plans still don't do squat for Web access / data access on the Droid.

NO you are wrong, people, please understand that for the Droid you need the $30 data feature, not the Premium or Connect plans with "unlimited data". For 900 minutes you need the 59.99 plan then add on 30 for data, if you want unlimited texting its the 79.99 Select plan with 900 mins, then the 29.99 email and web for smartphone which all comes to 109.

Exactly.

 

[tpriddy]

Reading over the confusion over plan pricing I realized that I shouldn't ding AT&T for charging $5 for SMS. I forgot that my Verizon SMS isn't free, I simply chose a plan with unlimited SMS.

 

[CRPercodani]

You can get that plan that BillShrink has listed, but you still have to pay an additional $30 (minimum) for the unlimited Data plan for smartphones PDAs and BBs. I have talked to 6 different VZW reps now and they say the eact same thing - the plan listed in the BillShrink refers to an unlimited Data plan - which is useless to the Droid, all BBs, and the other Smartphones / PDAs offered by VZW. So, yeah, if I picked the most expensive plan I can get it *will* cost that- but to say that hte Average Droid user will be paying the plan with 5 GB data limit is bogus.

No, look at the VZW site. Billshrink has it all correct. For unlimited minutes and messaging you choose the Select Unlimited plan which costs 119.99 then add on the 29.99 email and web for smartphone. You get 149.99. Then for 900 minutes and unlimited messaging you choose the Select 900 plan which costs 79.99 then add on the 29.99 email and web for smartphone and you get 109.99. The Unlimited everything plan you are getting confused with is under Premium Plans and that one only costs 139.99 but won't work for data on the Droid.

If you need visual proof I can do screen shots from the VZW site.

 

[faculak99]

Guys,

Question, will the Hero be able to run 2.0 eventually?

Love the car mode on the Droid, and visual launching of apps.

 

[CRPercodani]

Yes HTC is updating Sense to Android 2.0. Don't get to excited about Car Home because I have heard from a few sources that it is a Droid exclusive app. Hopefully someone will dump it and pass it out to everyone else.