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"Why I bought the Eris and why Iove it so far..." on by littlebuffalo
Pros: Call quality, network, web browser, customization, price, screen quality, autocorrection, mini USB, ease of use, multi-tasking, proximity sensor
Cons: no flash on camera, occasional lag, battery life
Summary: I purchased the Eris on the day it came out because it is the best phone on the market for MY intended uses. I have used the iphone extensively and tested other phones in the store including the motorola droid, storm2, palm pre and Hero. I left AT&T to buy this phone. The finish and feel of the phone is great. It seems a little wider, but thinner than the Hero. HTC sense was a little overwhelming at first, but after only two days of owning the phone I have the phone set up the way I want, which is something the iPhone can not do.
A tip for the battery life: set your email accounts so that the update less frequently. I have multiple accounts set up on my phone and I still had one to update every 15 minutes. I changed them all to update every 2 hours and got significant improvement. Now I get 10-12 hours from a charge with medium-heavy use (about 20-30 minutes of talk, texts, email, facebook and a little bit of games thrown in).
The web browser is excellent. It has pinch or tap zoom and webpages load very quickly. The scrolling and zooming is not quite as smooth as the iPhone but the Eris supports flash while the iPhone does not. Youtube videos seemed very poor at first, but then I figured out that you can choose to watch them in high quality and they look great.
One thing that I love and many people overlook or don't care about is that the Eris charges and connects to a computer with a standard mini-usb cable without having to install any software. I personally do not like iTunes, so for me this is very nice. I just plug my phone in and a computer recognizes it the same way it would a jump drive. I just copied my mp3s into a folder I created and the phone played them just fine. I can also use any mini-usb charger, which is almost the standard for cell phones now.
The Eris has been a great phone so far. The call quality is fantastic, including the speaker phone. And so far the Verizon has had better coverage and more stability than AT&T. Within an hour of owning the phone I had all my email accounts, visual voicemail, contacts and facebook set up without having to look at the manual.
There is significantly less android apps than apple, but I have found the ones I wanted and they work just fine. If I'm running multiple apps at the same time the phone does get some major lag, so multi-tasking is a blessing and a curse. I downloaded TasKiller which helps a lot, but there is still some very slight lag. I would say the iPhone 3gs is "snappier" but both phones do not even compare to the motorola droid. The Eris seemed to be quicker than the Hero, which I found odd because it is almost the same phone. One thing the Eris has that the Hero does not is a proximity sensor.
I have found the battery life to be disappointing. This could be due to the fact I have been using the phone constantly since I got it. The camera takes great pictues, but it does not have a flash which would be nice. I found the video quality to be average.
Those are my initial thoughts on the phone. I am very happy with my purchase and I like the Eris better than the iPhone. I'm not saying that it is a better phone, but I am saying it is a better phone for me. The iPhone works fantastically for what it can do, but I can't do everything I want to do which is probably the biggest decider for me. I hope my opinion helps, but I encourage people to research and test phones extensively themselves to determine the best phone for them.
Updated on Nov 14, 2009 -
"Beautiful, Slim Smartphone from Verizon (FINALLY)" on by billysive
Pros: Slim form factor
Beautiful screen
Customizable
Verizon - but NOT loaded with Verizon proprietary stuff (like VZ Cast etc)Cons: No direct media sync software
No built in To Do that will sync with Outlook tasksSummary: This is a pretty long review designed to help someone decide if this is the right phone for them. I am a someone who always checks out CNET reviews before buying a new product and the user reviews have always been helpful. This is the first time I am writing a review about a product - hope it helps.
I am a long time Verizon customer who was still using a Palm Treo smartphone and who had iPhone envy. I wanted a beautiful phone - but with all the comments about bad service on ATT was worried to make the jump. Also I always loved the customizability (is that a word? :) ) of my palm phone and wanted something I could make more like my own.
Along came all the hype about the Droid - I started to get excited - until I saw it. I hated the design :( But then I started seeing pictures of the Droid Eris and I thought - this is the phone for me.
OK - enough background info - here's the deal on the phone.
DESIGN:
It is very slim and light - dare I say it is very iphone like in its looks and feel. Slightly smaller screen than iphone but more than adequate.
The HTC sense UI is beautiful and pretty intuitive. Like any new product there is a slight learning curve - but I found myself quickly navigating around the phone without a user guide open in front of me.
If you are reading this you probably know this has no physical keyboard. I was nervous about this. However I quickly found myself typing away with the onscreen keyboard. The auto-correct is very good. It definately takes some getting used to - but now I like it. I hate the idea of a slider phone so this is just right for me.
The touch screen is very responsive. Movement from screen to screen is very smooth. One of the negatives seen listed about this phone is that it has a slower processor than the Droid (and the iphone) - but I have not found it sluggish at all 3 days in. Is the Droid faster - I guess it must be - but does that mean this is too slow? - no.
PIM MANAGEMENT:
I use Outlook (not exchange) for my main contact and calender on my desktop. HTC has its own sync program (download from their website) which allows you to sync the phone with your Outlook contacts and calendar. However it does not give the option to sync your Outlook Tasks.
You can also set up the phone to sync with an exchange server and sync your email, calendar, and contacts from there.
Allows you to have more than one calendar on the phone and you can see any or all of them in one view The calendar options are somewhat limited. I used to use Agendus on my Palm and it gave so many views and custimization features. But I hear they are writing an app for Android.
And of course since this is a Google Android phone If you use a calendar on google and/or are a gmail user then everything will sync with ease.
MEDIA (MUSIC and VIDEO)
Although the phone has a good music player and can also play videos there is no built in software to sync your media onto the phone. You have to connect the phone to you computer (with supplied usb cable) and then it acts like a hard drive and you transfer files over to the phone. As would be expected the ease of use of the media player is not as good as on an iphone / ipod - but it is more than adequate. But I am the type of person who wants a phone that can play my music - not a music player that can make a phone call.
At first I couldn't find a video player (there is a music player program) and was worried the phone couldn't play videos. But then I realized if you move a movie or video onto the phone it shows up in the Albums programs along with your photos. (Tip: download free Video Player software from Android Market - it acts as an interface to see what videos you have on the phone - in Albums you cannot see the names of the files just a screenshot)
Phone has standard 3.5mm headphone jack so you can use whatever headphone you like (none included).
ANDROID MARKET - theres an App for that.
Of course no where near the amount of apps available as on the iphone app store - but there are still 1000s of them. No way to browse full list of apps on your computer (found this very disappointing) but there is a direct link from the phone. You need a gmail account to use the store - but that also means all your apps are remembered in the cloud - so you can always go back and find them if you have to reset the phone. When you do find an app you like it is installed over the air - very very easy. And just as easy to uninstall it if you don't like it. Most seem to be free.
FINAL WORDS
I am very happy with this phone. It has been a long time since I got a new phone. I have been waiting for Verizon to come out with something worth getting. Android seems a nice operating system - but I think it is HTC who has really made this a great phone. -
"2 Weeks in n I love this phone. Its amazing" on by banmille
Pros: For a phone you can bearly feel in your pocket this phone is packed. I have GPS, WIFI, fast reliable internet, clear voice calls, tons of 5 star rated apps from the Market (free) 5 megapixal camera/video. If you can think it you can probably do it
Cons: When Im running 20 apps and only have 20M of ram available the phone slows down a bit. There's an app for that. Advanced App Killer ( free at the Market ) 5 seconds later I have 90M of ram and I flying again
Summary: Its a phone with great call clarity, no dropped calls. Its also an Excel and Word viewer, a compass, a level, a stop watch, an alarm clock, an MP3 player, with email, a calendar, Youtube, weather, traffic, directions, smooth fast browser, smooth fast touch screen, someone besides Apple finally figured out the touch screen. It may not have 75000 apps but it has over 10000 and all the ones i downloaded are free. This phone rocks
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"Great alternative to iPhone for Verizon users" on by cheekygirl34
Pros: Smart phone, able to customize, add apps, great call quality, love the way it feels
Cons: Battery life, manual on how to use the phone is NOT INCLUDED in box. Had to go to the website listed on the inside of the "tips/shortcuts" manual and upload the PDF (going green I imagine!).
Summary: I've been holding off on getting a new phone or switching carriers to get the treasured iPhone (I love Apple), but I'm glad I waited and stayed with Verizon. I did a lot of research on the the internet before the release date of 11/6/09 and then spent about two hours in the Verizon store asking questions about the Moto Droid and the Droid Eris and taking my time to really work both phones and get a feel for how they work, what they offer, how they feel in my hands, etc. In my opinion, the Eris is a better buy...not only does it look sleeker and feel better in my hand, but I didn't enjoy the aesthetics of the Moto Droid...which was too clunky. Did not like the slide-out keyboard either.
Even though the Moto Droid is already running Android 2.0, it wasn't enough to push me towards the Moto Droid...I have to actually like looking at a phone and enjoy how it feels in my hand, but that is my own personal preference. HTC is working on the Android 2.0 upgrade for the Eris, and because of the extreme customization that can be done with the Eris the upgrade is taking a little longer. I can wait for the 2.0 upgrade if it also means I can save $100 off the cost of a new phone as well. I should mention that I did like the docking station "alarm clock" concept of the Moto Droid...wish the Eris had something similar, but again, it wasn't enough to sway my purchase decision.
PHONE FUNCTION. First and foremost, this device has to be a PHONE for me and not a mobile computer. I am impressed with call quality, how contact info is organized and how the touch-screen numbers are large when you go to place a call that you manually have to type in.
BATTERY LIFE. Out of the gate, I didn't get a lot of battery life - but then again I was busy customizing and loading apps, calling friends to verify call quality, playing games to see how the interface worked, etc. I've found that by switching the phone into "airplane mode" when I'm at work (inside the building - cannot get phone service) it saves battery life as the phone is not actively searching for a signal or for updates. I've had the Eris since it's debut on November 6th and the battery seems to be lasting a lot longer now than it did the first week I had it...which is a good thing.
CUSTOMIZE, CUSTOMIZE, CUSTOMIZE! Love this phone for that reason. Suits my needs perfectly. I can change the home screen interface to reflect if I'm in "work mode" or "casual mode" (there are other options available, but those are the only two I use). You can pull all the info you wish to see on the SEVEN different home screens then save the "Theme" under a custom name you give it. This is a great feature if you wish to keep your personal apps separate from your business apps.
CAMERA. Love that it has a 5.0 megapixel camera to capture those impromptu photo ops. Wish it had a flash, but am not too dissappointed that it does not. When I want to take "real" photos I just use my "real" camera and not my phone. I love the "albums" feature and how I can seemlessly flow through the pictures I've taken or downloaded to my phone.
SOCIAL. Love that I can do updates to my social network pages on the go and that all of my contacts also get updated. Convenient!
WEB. Love that you can save bookmarks of your frequently-visited web pages!!! I've found the browser fast and responsive.
MP3. Have not tried to upload music yet. Will be interested to see how sound quality is and how the interface is. I'm used to seeing Verizon's music interface so this will be different as it does not support V-Cast.
Overall, great phone and it's a "keeper" for me. I've been loyal to LG phones in the past, but HTC has certainly swayed me to try something new...and I'm glad I did. -
"Tried 5 high end phones in last 2 months, Eris wins!" on by johnw43
Pros: Great form factor, feels good in hand, very solid. HTC keyboard very good. Sense UI is good. Excellent display. Battery life not as bad as reported by other reviewers for me. Verizon network.
Cons: Looking forward to 2.0 operating system
Summary: This phone has it all. Don't mean to review other phones here, but I have tried a number of phones lately. Had jailbroken Iphone for 30 days, liked the phone, AT&T call quality unacceptable. Mytouch 3G was nice, but could not type with any accuracy on the soft keyboards, even with HTC, Touchpal, and Better keyboard apps. Motorola Droid was heavy, and slide out keyboard was worthless, soft keyboards not so great either. T Mo BB Bold was very good, except call quality was terrible, very unblackberrylike. Browser stinks too.
I was nervous about the typing experience on this phone, but I am very impressed. The Iphone soft keyboard, to me, is excellent, and this one, even in portrait mode, is a close second. Call quality has been very good, happy with Verizon thus far. Love the HTC sense UI. Had read phone could be sluggish, not really a problem for me, use task killer liberally though.
This thing is a sleeper, GREAT Phone, especially for the initial cost.
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