Is the Droid 3 worth getting, despite the issues?

[muzikjay]

I am switching from Sprint to Verizon for their service. I'm an Evo 4g owner now and want a physical keyboard so naturally my choices are between the Droid 3 and the Samsung Stratosphere even though I'll miss Sense UI.

I checked out both phones this morning at the Verizon store and liked the UI on the Samsung because it was a bit snappier than the D3s UI, but the Stratosphere also felt a little to light and cheap and although the slider is spring loaded, it's also really difficult to get open without the phone slipping all over the place.

The keyboard on the D3 is FAR better and more accurate than the keyboard on the Stratosphere and since that's the main reason I'm getting the phone but I'm just worried about all of the issues I've heard of people having with the D3 like constant reboots and laggy performance.

The D3 is only a penny on Amazon and the Stratosphere is free through Wirefly so either one is a viable option price wise.

Any thoughts? How do you all like your D3? Would you choose it over the Stratosphere after owning it for as long as you have? Have the reboots and lag been too big/irritating of an issue?

 

[Clementine_3]

I've had my D3 since launch and have had zero issues with it. After the OTA update it's been a super phone.
A family member just got one and hers has a crackly speaker and sometimes drops 3G connectivity so it is going back. She is going to look at the Stratosphere since it has 4G and she, for some unknown reason, doesn't like the D3 keyboard. I haven't seen the Stratosphere yet and even though the specs are 'lower' than the D3's I think it would be a good choice for her if she decides to go that route.
Anyway, back to your question...yes, the D3 is an awesome phone! I really like mine and don't see anything else out there (or coming just yet) that could make me want to switch. I'll wait for the D4 with 4G

 

[redsox985]

Quite frankly, there's even a thread around here asking where everyone has gone because of how little support this phone requires after the update a few weeks back. Now, all of the activity is modification based and help with mod provoked issues. I've had my D3 over 2 months now and I absolutely love it. The development community for it is strong and with these developments, it got even faster and better. Nothing but praise from me!

 

[TyrannoTaurus]

Honestly, the number 1 thing you can do to make the Droid 3 UI snappier is to not use the Quick Contacts widget. It looks cool, but it's really not needed at all. When I stopped using that, I noticed a HUGE improvement in overall "snappiness."

 

[redsox985]

Honestly, the number 1 thing you can do to make the Droid 3 UI snappier is to not use the Quick Contacts widget. It looks cool, but it's really not needed at all. When I stopped using that, I noticed a HUGE improvement in overall "snappiness."

I don't use this widget, and maybe it's due to running debloated MonsteRom, but my phone is incredibly quick. Despite MR being deodexed, it's very fast. I love it. The 5th revision just came out today. It keeps getting better and better.

 

[HadouGhost]

i actually rely on the quick contacts widger.

i find the phone fast, snappy, and over all runs great!!!

is it worth getting? YES!

 

[brian1g]

I bought 2 droid3s about 2 months ago and we love them. The only gripe I had was very poor battery life but the recent update has fixed that (my battery life has tripled with the update).

The phone does get a little sluggish sometimes but a quick restart seems to fix the problem. I would recommend the droid3 to anyone, great phone.

 

[jaycbrf4]

I also got 2 D3's with my upgrade. Ended up paying $53 for 2 with free kickstand cases and car chargers. My girlfriend and I both love the phone. No problems at all.

Would recommend times 2!

 

[Sneeky]

I see no issues...

 

[jkmasi]

I like the phone for good call quality and the excellent keyboard. The camera sucks, though. Too slow to start and really slow to capture photos. Didn't really bother me until I compared with the camera on my Inc 2. Also, higher resolution screen makes everything tiny.

 

[bebbles]

After having had HTC and Samsung.......... I would definitely choose Samsung over the Droid3.

The Droid3 is by no means a bad phone.... Im content with it, but there is absolutely no feature on this phone that stands out. Samsung has a better display and is so much easier on the user, with better options for customization/daily use. But thats just the opinion of the 3 D3 users in my household... =T

 

[TyrannoTaurus]

After having had HTC and Samsung.......... I would definitely choose Samsung over the Droid3.

The Droid3 is by no means a bad phone.... Im content with it, but there is absolutely no feature on this phone that stands out. Samsung has a better display and is so much easier on the user, with better options for customization/daily use. But thats just the opinion of the 3 D3 users in my household... =T

Have you looked at the specs on the Samsung Stratosphere though? Such a lesser phone than the DROID 3.

 

[doogald]

I am switching from Sprint to Verizon for their service. I'm an Evo 4g owner now and want a physical keyboard so naturally my choices are between the Droid 3 and the Samsung Stratosphere even though I'll miss Sense UI.

I checked out both phones this morning at the Verizon store and liked the UI on the Samsung because it was a bit snappier than the D3s UI, but the Stratosphere also felt a little to light and cheap and although the slider is spring loaded, it's also really difficult to get open without the phone slipping all over the place.

The keyboard on the D3 is FAR better and more accurate than the keyboard on the Stratosphere and since that's the main reason I'm getting the phone but I'm just worried about all of the issues I've heard of people having with the D3 like constant reboots and laggy performance.

I had an Eris for almost two years. Two weeks ago I upgraded to the Bionic, but decided that it wasn't for me and switched the D3 on Monday instead.

So, I had the Bionic for almost two weeks; the D3 is basically the same phone - same UI, same processor, same resolution display on a smaller screen (so higher DPI.) It has 512 MB of RAM rather than 1 GB, which is I think the only major difference (beside 4G).

I had plenty of issues with dropped data on the Bionic (I had it set to CDMA only, as 4G is very spotty where I live), but found that even you have it set to 3G only, if the 4G service goes down, it also loses 3G as well. (That happened last weekend.) If you have great 4G where you are, and that extra bandwidth is important to you (it is really not to me), then the Stratosphere has that advantage over the D3. However, it is a single-core CPU vs. dual core on the D3, and the D3 has a higher res display. It does come with a bigger battery, though.

There are a lot of people who hate the Pentile display but I don't have any problems at all. It's bright and extremely visible outdoors in bright sunlight.

Anyway, I have had no reboots, no slow downs or lag. I don't love the Moto skin that I guess is no longer called Blur, but it's not terrible. The UI is far more responsive with animations turned off as well.

I do have to say that I didn't try out the Stratosphere at all. I wasn't actually looking for a keyboard phone; the D3 appealed more because it had up-to-date specs (dual core, 1 GHz) in a world phone.

The D3 is a great, solid phone.

 

[redsox985]

The main reason many 4G phones sport 1GB of RAM to our 512MB is the WebTop support, which has 512MB dedicated to WebTop EXCLUSIVELY, and to no other function than WebTop. Essentially, they both have 512MB available for phone use.

 

[glennj]

Though people generally disparage the Pentile display on the D3, I need a phone I can easily use outdoors or in other bright light situations. Only the Pentile display does that. My old iPaqs also were easily readable in bright sunlight, with their "transflective" screens, but the D3 Pentile is almost as good and the HTC Thunderbolt I used briefly required I hide in the shadows. Deep shadows. Pentile appreciators can stand forth under the bright clear sunlight, unashamed !

Glenn

 

[Shurple]

i love my droid3

repeat:

i love my droid3!!!!!!!!!

no issues!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jkmasi]

Fired up my D3 again the other day because I really like the hardware. The keyboard is really, really nice. I switched back to my Inc2 after one day, though. The D3 is just not smooth or responsive enough. I find that sometimes I have to tap twice on the screen... etc. Don't get me started on the camera - it's just not up to par. Call and signal quality are great, however, so maybe I will try a factory reset and reconfigure one more time before I sell it.

 

[redsox985]

Fired up my D3 again the other day because I really like the hardware. The keyboard is really, really nice. I switched back to my Inc2 after one day, though. The D3 is just not smooth or responsive enough. I find that sometimes I have to tap twice on the screen... etc. Don't get me started on the camera - it's just not up to par. Call and signal quality are great, however, so maybe I will try a factory reset and reconfigure one more time before I sell it.

Are you running the 5.6.890 software update? This sounds like pre .890 issues.

 

[oaklane]

I am switching from Sprint to Verizon for their service. I'm an Evo 4g owner now and want a physical keyboard so naturally my choices are between the Droid 3 and the Samsung Stratosphere even though I'll miss Sense UI.

I checked out both phones this morning at the Verizon store and liked the UI on the Samsung because it was a bit snappier than the D3s UI, but the Stratosphere also felt a little to light and cheap and although the slider is spring loaded, it's also really difficult to get open without the phone slipping all over the place.

The keyboard on the D3 is FAR better and more accurate than the keyboard on the Stratosphere and since that's the main reason I'm getting the phone but I'm just worried about all of the issues I've heard of people having with the D3 like constant reboots and laggy performance.

The D3 is only a penny on Amazon and the Stratosphere is free through Wirefly so either one is a viable option price wise.

Any thoughts? How do you all like your D3? Would you choose it over the Stratosphere after owning it for as long as you have? Have the reboots and lag been too big/irritating of an issue?

We've had our D3 for a couple of months and neither one reboots, rarely are they every powered off. Our previous phones were a D1 and an HTC Droid Eris so the D3 is way faster. Would buy it again.

 

[MicroNix]

Any thoughts? How do you all like your D3? Would you choose it over the Stratosphere after owning it for as long as you have? Have the reboots and lag been too big/irritating of an issue?

Here's my 2 cents.

Overall, the phone is pretty nice. I do not have the reboot issues everyone else has. The OS doesn't crash. The display is decent and post update, my battery life went from the toilet to easily lasting the whole day with some to spare.

There are times when it definitely doesn't feel like a dual core phone though. Both popular 3rd party music players I've ran stutter at times for example. Even adjusting buffer and cpu priority doesn't seem to help. Stock player works but isn't anything to write home about.

The camera. If you carry your phone with you everywhere and have times when you quick pull it out to capture a moment, the stock camera software on here will absolutely disappoint you. They built a decent app with a good array of options but the speed at which it runs will cause a preacher to swear. It is utter garbage. Video taken is choppy at times like the internal memory can't keep up with the HD capture. Overall, I give the camera/video software on the D3 an "F" for failing to deliver an experience that is expected in this generation of smart phones.

If I had the choice now, I'd be straight Nexus. I regret not waiting (and I was happy with my D1)

 

[Abb0nz]

I've only had my D3 for a short time but so far so good... except for the length of time the camera takes to actually take a picture, there's a good second delay. If you want it to snap pic's, don't bother.

 

[rushmore]

Agreed if pics are a priority, but would frankly say that for all Moto phones, including the Razr. Odd how Moto can NOT get a good photo function solution on devices. Is it too expensive to them, or is Motorola THAT deep inside a bubble they do not hear or see the camera complaints by customers or reviewers?

 

[doogald]

I use Camera Zoom FX and HDR Camera Plus and photos are taken as close to instantly as I can tell. It'd be nice if stock photo software was better, but for just about the price of a cup of coffee that problem is solved.

 

[IzelTokatl]

If you're looking for a solid phone, and keyboard then get the D3. I picked this thing up on day 1, no real issues yet. Like started before, it only gets better with root and some tweaks.