Prizefight (week of November 10)
Prizefight: Motorola Droid vs. Apple iPhone 3GS
Prizefight: Motorola Droid vs. Apple iPhone 3GS
For
many smartphone manufacturers and carriers, the Apple
iPhone is the great, white elephant in the room. Though they might
not want to acknowledge it, the iPhone has certainly changed the game and for
better or worse, it's become the gold standard to which a lot of people compare
other touch-screen phones. While most of the competition might be content to
let their products speak for themselves, Verizon has made a bold move by
singlehandedly calling out the iPhone and AT&T
in its iDon't and "There's a map for that" TV commercials. While the
ads have certainly been entertaining to watch, are they actually true? Did
Motorola really create an earth-conquering smartphone in the Droid? Well, we decided
to find out in our own Prizefight. Read on to see if the Motorola
Droid can really take down the iPhone.
Let's
keep it clean, fellas. Ding ding!
Round 1: Sexiness
Design and looks count for a lot when you're shopping for a cell phone, so here's where we examine the look, size, feel, and sex appeal of the devices.| player | Kent | Brian | Bonnie | the winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Motorola Droid (Verizon Wireless) | 5The Droid gets points for its slim profile and massive, gorgeous display. It's boxier than the iPhone, but I like how sturdy it feels in my hand. | 4Awesome display, the highest resolution on a mobile phone I've seen. It's surprisingly thin, especially with its sliding QWERTY. The fat lip on the bottom...yuck and its square corners are its only blemishes. | 4I'm a little torn here. On the one hand, the Droid's touch screen is absolutely gorgeous and you have to give credit to Motorola for creating such a thin device, especially with a full QWERTY keyboard. However, the design is a little blocky and industrial, which isn't particularly attractive. | 4.3 |
 Apple iPhone 3GS - 32GB - black (AT&T) | 5The iPhone continues to be a sleek, attractive device. Other phones are gaining, but it holds its own for now. Compared with the Droid, I like the rounded edges and curved back. | 5I'm not bored of it and the iPhone still is the sexiest and cleanest device on the planet. I just don't see that changing. | 5This round is about sexiness, and though the iPhone's design hasn't changed much, I still can't deny that it's a simplistically beautiful device. | 5 |
Round 2: Navigation
Sexiness is one thing, but are the devices easy to use? In Round 2, we examine the design and usability of the devices' user interface.| player | Kent | Brian | Bonnie | the winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motorola Droid (Verizon Wireless) | 4Thanks to its large display and Android 2.0, the Droid's touch-screen interface is responsive and user-friendly. On the other hand, I'm not such a fan of the touch controls below the display and I miss a dedicated calling button. Also, while I'm not going to add a point for the physical keyboard--I can take it or leave it--the Droid's keys are flat and slippery. | 5A touch-screen, physical keyboard and navigation pad. What else could you want? No iPhone "pinching" is missed but Android OS makes sense, with a minimal learning curve. Love the pull-down for notifications. And Widgets for key services like access to turn on or off, GPS, and Wi-Fi are great. Android 2.0 makes it happen with more control overall. | 5There's still a bit of "techiness" to the Android operating system, but you really have to appreciate the level of customization it offers. Plus, I think you get the hang of it pretty quickly. Also, while the Droid doesn't have the best keyboard, it is a physical keyboard and I can crank out messages way faster on the Droid than on the iPhone. | 4.7 |
| Apple iPhone 3GS - 32GB - black (AT&T) | 5Even Apple haters have to admit that the iPhone is very easy to use. | 5Still the easiest and most elegant OS to use. You realize that pinching is a subtle but killer feature. Accessing voice commands at anytime is great, too. There's no other OS that both my 3-year-old niece and I can use. | 5Hey, let's be honest. The iPhone is drop-dead easy to use and you can't underestimate the value in that, especially from a consumer's perspective. | 5 |
Round 3: Features
What do these phones offer under the hood? Here we examine the features in each device and rate which phone offers more.| player | Kent | Brian | Bonnie | the winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motorola Droid (Verizon Wireless) | 5The Droid offers a boatload of features and as Verizon's commercial reminds us, it has a few things the iPhone does not, such as a higher resolution camera with a flash and editing options, a removable battery, free navigation software, and better multitasking and customization. Even better, the Droid will beat the iPhone when it comes to tethering. | 5All the key features are here. So what stands out? The Droid rocks the faster 3G EV-DO Rev. A, and its free built-in GPS turn-by-turn by Google Maps with voice search left me impressed. Exchange support and a unified mailbox for multiple accounts. Awesome. Plus, can you say multitasking? | 5The Motorola Droid is packed with an amazing set of features. Android 2.0 brings native Exchange support, free turn-by-turn navigation via Google Maps, and better e-mail and contact management. Plus, you've got the openness of the Android OS, Verizon's EV-DO Rev. A network, and a user-replaceable battery. | 5 |
| Apple iPhone 3GS - 32GB - black (AT&T) | 5The iPhone also packs in the features and I'm glad that I no longer have to complain about the lack of MMS. It also bests the Droid in a few ways: the sync with iTunes offers access to more video, the app selection (for now) is superior, and you can take it abroad. | 4The App Store is more robust and enhances the iPhone's use exponentially. Exchange support here, too. Voice-over commands are actually used. Cut/copy/paste is better implemented. Google's GPS Navigation shows up the iPhone's, but it is said to be coming soon. | 5While the iPhone lacks some of the features mentioned above, it counters with world-roaming capabilities and a more robust app catalog. Also, while we talk more about this in the next round, the Web browser and multimedia features have a slight edge over the Droid. Both phones have their pros and cons, so this round is a draw for me. | 4.7 |
Round 4: Web browsing and multimedia
These handsets do a lot more than just make calls; they also have video and digital music players and Web browsers. We tell you which phone offers a better experience.| player | Kent | Brian | Bonnie | the winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motorola Droid (Verizon Wireless) | 4The Droid offers a great video and media player and access to the Amazon MP3 store. On the downside, it needs access to a full-fledged video store for buying and renting movies and TV content. Music quality is admirable, but video quality could be a tad better. | 4Web browser is excellent. I like the icon-based faves and bookmarks, but it's a step below Safari. The 5-megapixel camera with flash shows up the iPhone. Amazon Marketplace is solid. Media player is very basic. You need to download a video player app, and the Droid chugged through standard MPEG-4 files that the iPhone played flawlessly. Drag-and-drop media syncing is crude. | 4The Droid's Web browser is quite good, especially with the addition of visual bookmarks and simplified list view of open windows. However, I'd say it's still slightly behind the iPhone's Safari browser, particularly with the pinch-to-zoom feature. The smartphone is also very capable at multimedia, with a decent media player and the Amazon MP3 Store, but it doesn't quite offer the same seamless experience that the iPhone offers. Also, while it has a better camera than the iPhone, the picture quality certainly didn't reflect it. | 4 |
| Apple iPhone 3GS - 32GB - black (AT&T) | 5Though you become a slave to iTunes, you're offered a better selection of media for playing on your iPhone. Music and video quality is excellent. | 5Safari's still the best mobile browser. Media player also bests the Droid. Syncing with iTunes shines and access to content available from the iTunes Store is massive. Sites like CNN would display video content on iPhone, but failed on the Droid. Camera is not up to par, but video editing and uploading interface are both better. | 5Something that sets the iPhone apart from the competition is its excellent Web browser. Honestly, this is the one thing I pine for. Of course, the iPhone also offers top-notch multimedia capabilities and performance. You have access to so much content, especially video, through iTunes, but of course, the drawback is that you are tied to iTunes. | 5 |
Round 5: Call quality
Cell phones aren't worth much if they don't make good calls or can't keep up with your demands. In the final round, we check out the call quality of both devices.| player | Kent | Brian | Bonnie | the winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motorola Droid (Verizon Wireless) | 5The Droid's call quality is excellent. The signal was always strong and the audio was loud and clear. | 5Excellent call quality on both sides, reliable calls, better performing 3G network (and yes, I know its regional, but still a faster 3G even outside of San Francisco). Longer talk time and speakerphone sounds better. | 5The call quality on the Droid is really impressive. Audio was incredibly clear, whether on regular calls or speakerphone calls. Also, there were no connectivity issues with Verizon. | 5 |
| Apple iPhone 3GS - 32GB - black (AT&T) | 4The iPhone's call quality has improved as AT&T rolls out more spectrum; it still suffers from occasionally patchy sound and dropped calls. | 3Call quality still an issue, with more echo and "What was that?" Dropped calls are still happening and 3G was more inconsistent. I made a call from the Droid to my iPhone right next to each other and the iPhone didn't even ring. | 3The iPhone's call quality wasn't bad but there was definitely more background noise, and speakerphone calls had a slight echo. In addition, there were a couple of failed calls during my testing. | 3.3 |
The winner is...
Motorola Droid
4.6
Apple iPhone 3GS
4.6
iPhone 3GS: 3
Motorola Droid: 2
Wow, and here we thought the iPhone versus Palm Pre Prizefight was close. After five intense rounds, both the Motorola Droid and iPhone 3GS wound up with the same number of points. Normally, our tiebreaker would be to score to the next hundredth of a point but since both phones score 4.6 even, the next tiebreaker is to choose the phone that won the most rounds. In this case, the iPhone won 3 and the Droid won 2, so the iPhone wins again.
However, this shouldn't be taken as a loss for the Droid or Verizon--quite the opposite. To come in and almost beat out the iPhone says something. As a number of readers have commented, this isn't about being an iPhone killer; it's about giving customers a choice, and it looks like the Droid is giving Verizon subscribers a fine one.
Round 1
Score: 4.3
Two scored it a 4 and one scored it a 5. Key quote from Bonnie, ?(iphone 3gs) . . . design is beginning to bore me.? I suppose its become interesting again in the past few months or maybe it just looks that good compared to the droid. I?ll let you decide.
Round 2 Navigation and Multitasking
Score: 4.0
Key complaint was the lack of the iphone 3gs multitasking.
Round 3 Features
Score: 4.3
This isn?t really comparable any longer as the main complaints with the 3gs were lack of mms, tethering, and turn by turn navigation. I know mms has been added since then and we?re still waiting on tethering, but I?m not sure about the TBT navigation.
Round 4 Web Browsing and Multimedia
Score 5.0
Round 5 Call Quality
Score: 4.0
Reason is obvious. Again perhaps the call quality has gotten worse or just seems worse compared to the droid. Again, I?ll let everybody fight this one out.
Round 1
Score: 4.3
Two scored it a 4 and one scored it a 5. Key quote from Bonnie, ?(iphone 3gs) . . . design is beginning to bore me.? I suppose its become interesting again in the past few months or maybe it just looks that good compared to the droid. I?ll let you decide.
Round 2 Navigation and Multitasking
Score: 4.0
Key complaint was the lack of the iphone 3gs multitasking.
Round 3 Features
Score: 4.3
This isn?t really comparable any longer as the main complaints with the 3gs were lack of mms, tethering, and turn by turn navigation. I know mms has been added since then and we?re still waiting on tethering, but I?m not sure about the TBT navigation.
Round 4 Web Browsing and Multimedia
Score 5.0
Round 5 Call Quality
Score: 4.0
Reason is obvious. Again perhaps the call quality has gotten worse or just seems worse compared to the droid. Again, I?ll let everybody fight this one out.
Now if I can some how get out of my T-Mobile contract and head on over to Verizon...hmmm...
Also, is the iPhone a good looking device, yeah. But c'mon, its a simple piece of plastic with a fake chrome ring. There is nothing to it. Its nice, and minimalistic. But thats it. The Droid is made of metal and glass. It actually has some shape to it, and has a look to it. Its not boring. Looks are all subjective, but giving an iPhone a perfect score for this was kinda weak on your part Cnet.
And once again. Everyone gets on every other phone maker for not having a syncing system like iTunes for their phones. Palm got the Pre to sync with iTunes, but then Apple blocked it(which they have every right to do). But why not mention any other music management system that will sync anything and everything? You have Media Monkey, Winamp, WMP, Songbird,etc. Media Monkey syncs everything from my iPod, to my Cowon, Sansa clip, G1, my brothers iTouch, to my wife's Blackberry, and my old Windows Mobile phones. Why not mention that? What do you want, them to bundle some garbage media mgmt program that will be a throwaway anyhow? Its just one more way for you guys to give Apple a leg up, and its unfortunate because there are so many other options.
You guys do a great job on most of your products. But the clear bias for anything Apple is getting tiresome(that and the dumb adds that pop up before I get to your site). I refuse to put any weight on any of your reviews and prizefights that have anything Apple related. Apple makes great products, but step back a little and see how things really are. The world looks amazing when you arent looking at it through Jobs eyes. There are sometimes better options out there.
1) WEIGHTING - There seems to be too little weighting given to the call quality / reliability / coverage factor. This is still primarily a PHONE, yes? It's not a music player / gaming device that just happens to also allow the owner to make calls. Form factors, sexy UI's, and 10-bazillion apps are all nice and good. Likewise, "world phone" capabilities are nice for the 5% of us that "travel the world" and Google Maps is great for those of us w/o GPS but, if I can't get a reliable signal in my house, or calls drop on my weekly commute across the state or the network goes down for 1/2 a day (e.g. T-mobile last week) then there's a problem.
Based on reviews and first hand accounts, I'm strongly leaning towards Verizon here....how many cnet editor rants have there been regarding the iPhone / AT&T relationship in the last year? Sorry, but the fact that you can only use the iPhone on AT&T's network is a big sticking point for me right now...especially coming from Sprint and T-mobile. I want reliable coverage in the US first and foremost.
2) VALUE - I don't think I've seen any reviewer in conjunction with their comparison also factor in the plan costs. I've been comparing all 4 carriers using the following assumptions: "Family" plan with 2 smartphones, data + text, 3000/unlimited minutes, visual voicemail. Surprisingly, even with my substantial corporate discount, a comparable AT&T plan is going to be $40/mo more than Verizon thanks to the $30/line data and $15/line text. Over a minimum time period of 24 months, that amounts to a whopping $960 more......
I completely agree. I don't understand how the iPhone gets a 3 from two judges when both state that the phone "fails" to ring or "failed to call" in their test cases. To me, 3 is an average score from a 1-5 scale. Is ATT so bad that even a failed call qualifies for an "average" score? We must be spoiled at VZW that our calls actually go through when we press the send button.
Call quality all depends on where you live. I've lived in places where Verizon gets horrible coverage and AT&T is king. Right now, I'm in So Cal and I have zero issues with call quality on AT&T. Too much is made of that.
These devices are for customers who are looking for phones that can do it all, and do it all efficiently. With that said, the device serving as a 'phone' is only one slice of a large pie. So ultimately it depends on what your priorities are.
Though you hear many people complain about AT&T's service, the amount of people who own iphones is staggering. The reason is exactly what the CNET editors stated in the prize fight. The iphone is still the best looking and most easily usable device out of all the smart phones. With the app store included, it makes the iphone's capabilities almost limitless as far as software.
I sell luggage for a living. Just about every bag we carry in the store has a pullout handle and wheels (that's the basic phone metaphor) but its the extra features and look that define who buys a Tumi versus a Hartmann versus a Victorinox bag. Same metaphor goes for cars.
It all depends on what you want to get out of your phone in the end.
Verizon Blackberry connected to BES
calling plan 39.99 a month for 400 minutes...on the website so go check it out...
DATA plan required with blackberry was 60 bucks a monht roughly...they've changed this now - you have to get unlimited data in order to connect to BES with Verizon - I'm hearing they have similar charges now with Droid for connecting to just plain ol' exchange)
Text messages were 10 bucks for 250
These aren't completely accurate numbers since the plans have changed on teh verizon webiste and I can't pull them up anymore..but they haven't changed all that much. Go to the website and you'll see. The bottom line is my monthly bill with my wife on the plan with a blackberry as well (not connected to BES so she could get lower data plan) came to just at 210 bucks. Regardless of how you want to look at that, I was paying over 100 bucks a month for my one phone after tax. My iphone is going to cost me about 75 with all the same services and minutes etc. When you factor in that I can now cancel my land line now that I get cell reception in my house...well, the nubers certainly don't work out as you've posted above.
To all the haters, just try using the iPone and the Droid side by side. You'll come around I'm sure.
p.s. Have you actually held the Droid? It's an ugly brick by anyone's standards.
Everyone has their opinion, I know. For me personally, nothing comes close to the iPhone.
I play with my wifes Itouch and the thing is still pretty impressive when i compare it to my droid. The itouch just works period. Open source is awesome though, I had a WinMo and that thing was so cracked and hacked it was awesome. I am hoping to do the same for my droid.
In other words, lets compare the phones and then let each one compare their local networks. You say you don't travel much; couldn't that be the same argument of someone with excellent local AT&T coverage?
Plan costs are dependent on what you want and any comparison could turn out to be rather complex, but I agree with you that it must be done, but on an individual basis.
1) WEIGHTING - There seems to be too little weighting given to the call quality / reliability / coverage factor. This is still primarily a PHONE, yes? It's not a music player / gaming device that just happens to also allow the owner to make calls. Form factors, sexy UI's, and 10-bazillion apps are all nice and good. Likewise, "world phone" capabilities are nice for the 5% of us that "travel the world" and Google Maps is great for those of us w/o GPS but, if I can't get a reliable signal in my house, or calls drop on my weekly commute across the state or the network goes down for 1/2 a day (e.g. T-mobile last week) then there's a problem.
Based on reviews and first hand accounts, I'm strongly leaning towards Verizon here....how many cnet editor rants have there been regarding the iPhone / AT&T relationship in the last year? Sorry, but the fact that you can only use the iPhone on AT&T's network is a big sticking point for me right now...especially coming from Sprint and T-mobile. I want reliable coverage in the US first and foremost.
2) VALUE - I don't think I've seen any reviewer in conjunction with their comparison also factor in the plan costs. I've been comparing all 4 carriers using the following assumptions: "Family" plan with 2 smartphones, data + text, 3000/unlimited minutes, visual voicemail. Surprisingly, even with my substantial corporate discount, a comparable AT&T plan is going to be $40/mo more than Verizon thanks to the $30/line data and $15/line text. Over a minimum time period of 24 months, that amounts to a whopping $960 more......
Anyway this is one of the best PF
I, for one, don't even have a smartphone, so you guys are the lucky ones. I'm waiting it out until mid 2010 until the Android system gets all sorted out, or whether Apple decidies to let Verizon have the honor of carrying the iPhone, because AT&T can go suck it.
Btw, HTC phones have one of the worst reliability track records on the market - even my wireless provider, who sell HTC phones, cautioned me on their reliability track record.
The funny thing about your comments is that they expose your own bias, one that smacks right in the face of the irrefutable fact that the iPhone set a new standard of excellence for smartphones - they are the measuring stick all other phone companies are using to build a better product. If anything your garabagy HTC wouldn't exist had it not been for the undeniable influence from the iPhone design.
Just a couple of examples:
- No multi-touch - so many people have said this simply because they couldn't pinch to zoom on the browser/picture gallery. First, pinch to zoom is a feature resulting from multi-touch and not the definition of it. Secondly, multi-touch is natively implemented in certain areas (like the virtual keyboard). Thirdly, say that it's not implemented in certain areas of the OS rather than saying it doesn't support it.
- No video player - really?? Did you even try to use the phone? It does have a video player. It is very basic with little features but it does have one.
There are a bunch of other examples (like the inability to sync music claim) but this post is already too long. If you are just an iPhone fanboy not willing to do the research before downplaying the abilities of another phone/OS, just say so before you start these ridiculous articles.
People, the "phone" (I think we should call it something else - maye a PADD, after the similar devices in Star Trek) is just a platform. Just because a program isn't in the device out of the box doesn't mean it's not there... it's a 5 minute trip to the app store... not hard at all.
Jess
www.privacy-stuff.be.tc
No amount of 'jailbreaking' can improve the iPhone's archaic 320x480 display resolution (2.69 times fewer pixels than the droid), substandard audio quality/volume, last-generation aspect ratio, etc.
I have a 'jailbroken' iPhone, and it's still far more limited than my DROID.
For those concerned about the so-called "creepy factor" with Google's data collection and privacy policies, take a look at Google Watch before allowing Google into your mobile world.
But I agree, he IS an idiot.
-Google has a huge advantage over Apple in regards to apps that I didn't hear anybody mention. Refundable apps. Apple does not offer that, and I doubt they ever will. I think that's a huge factor you have to look at, because if you spend $6 on a nice app, and end up hating it, with Android, you've got a bit of time to return it. With the iPhone, you're stuck with it.
Just some things to consider before you do nothing but praise Apple's apps.
And by the way.. I gave my touch to my daughter a short while after I got my DROID!!!
I wish ATT sold the Droid.
Jason from Oxford, Mississippi