Like Tree2Likes
Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 34
  1. #1
    tavenger5
    tavenger5 is offline
    Mr Admin Guy
    tavenger5's Avatar

    Cell Phone
    Samsung Galaxy S4
    Carrier
    AT&T
    Location
    PA
    Posts
    11,189 - liked 1151 times
    Blog Entries
    8
    Follow tavenger5 On Twitter
    The HTC Droid Eris is the second Android phone that Verizon has launched this fall. This simplified Droid is basically the little brother of the Motorola Droid and is being marketed as such. It is half the price at $99 with 2 year contact and is so far the cheapest Android phone available.

    Here is a quick feature rundown:
    • Android 1.5
    • 5mp camera w/ autofocus
    • 3.2in display
    • 528MHz processor
    • 288mb of RAM
    • 512mb of ROM
    • 8gb microSD card (class 2)
    • CDMA Rev A
    • Wi-Fi
    • GPS
    • Bluetooth
    • Magnetometer (compass)
    • 3.5mm headphone jack




    The Box
    The Eris comes packed in a stylish black and lime green box:



    Cosmetic
    The HTC Droid Eris is physically smaller and lighter than the Motorola Droid. The device itself is basically a re-branded HTC Hero.

    Front view:

    Back view:


    There are only two side buttons - the volume. The Eris appears very simple and stylish.

    Unlike the Moto Droid, the casing is plastic. The ruberized texture and rounded contours feel good in your hand.

    Here is a comparison of the HTC Eris and Motorola Droid:





    The BlackBerry-like trackball is useful, and it adds to the design of the phone. I also like the dedicated call and end buttons. The end button also doubles as the lock button.

    I'm not a fan of the miniUSB data port that HTC uses. Why can't they use the microUSB port that everyone else uses? I'm sure at one point they will be the odd man out and finally switch their port and USB/charger cable. Why mention this? Because I like that I can have one cable and charger across many different phones, but for HTC phones, I have to get out their charger.

    The microSD card is a push-click style on the side of the phone, under the back casing. I really like this compared to the Moto Droid. With the Moto Droid you have to take out the battery to get the microSD card out, which is really annoying. You also have to pull it out of the slot with a fingernail or pen. At one point I put the card in upside down, something that is impossible with the Eris.

    Boot Up
    When you first turn on the phone you don't see the Droid 'eye', but rather some skate boarding androids. The boot up could've been quicker.


    Screen
    The screen is lively and vibrant like the Moto Droid, but not as big. It is 3.2in (320x480). The menu buttons are touch response, but I did noticed that they're in a different order than on the Moto Droid (home, menu, back, search vs back, menu, home search). No big deal. The response of the screen with its haptic feedback is very nice and provides a good feel.


    Applications
    Pre loaded applications include:
    • Amazon MP3 store, Verizon Visual Voice Mail
    • Google Maps, Calendar, Talk, Gmail, Youtube
    • Quickoffice, PDF Viewer, Peep (Twitter)
    • Stocks (that uses Yahoo finance?), Weather (HTC's app, which is really nice)

    I'm disappointed that this phone doesn't come with Android 2.0. The phone has 1.5 (for the time being) Because of this there are many things missing when compared to the Moto Droid: combined email inbox, universal search and the Google Maps Navigation. Lame.

    Another thing that I found weird: there's an option to send photos to Facebook as you take them, and it works, but the facebook app is nowhere to be found. You'll also get status updates in the notification menu. When you click on your friend you're brought to their profile via the web browser. There is no way to add your Facebook friends as contacts like with the Moto Droid. There is a way to connect an existing contact with a Facebook contact though, but it has to be done manually for each contact. I'm going to assume this is the difference between the Android 1.5 and 2.0 Facebook apps. The Eris definitely fails in the Facebook department.

    Under the Data Synchronization menu 'PC - Outlook Contacts and Calendar' is an option. This isn't an option on the Moto Droid. Although you can download some software to sync your calendar it is harder to sync your contacts with the Moto Droid and Outlook. I'm wondering why Google took out this option that I know a lot of people are wanting. I'm going to guess because they want you to manage your contacts in Google and not Outlook.

    I do like that HTC took some time to customize the home screen with their clock and weather apps. This adds a nice touch to the phone out of the box. The home screen also has 7 'panes' vs the Moto Droid's 3.

    Keyboard
    Here's a big reason you may or may not want this phone - there's no slide out, physical keyboard. This is fine for some people, especially if you're used to typing on a screen. The haptic feedback is really useful here.

    Missing from the keyboard? Multi-touch. I just want to press shift and alt and then a letter at the same time. I hate that shift and alt are toggles. There's no reason they couldn't use multi-touch here. The hardware supports it. Also, keep in mind that the screen is smaller than the Moto Droid; if you have fat fingers, you may have a hard time typing.

    I should also point out that HTC programmed this keyboard and not Google. What does this mean? The keys are spaced out a little more, there's a white background. There's also, imo, a better predictive text layout. This makes it a little easier to type than other Android phones with screen-only keyboards.


    Calling & Sound Quality
    Calling quality is what you'd expect. It's good and I didn't have any problems. I like the proximity sensor that turns off the screen when the phone is up to your face. I've used phones in the past that don't have this and I've ended up ending the call or muting it by mistake.

    The external speaker isn't as big as the Moto Droid. As a result it doesn't reproduce sound as well.

    Battery Life
    The 1300mAh battery on the Eris is average. It is rated for 3.5 hours of talk time, and 15.5 days of standby. When compared with the Moto Droid, that's a whole 2.9 hours less talk time, but a whole 4.25 days more standby. I'm going to assume that more things shut down when the phone is not in use. You'll be wishing you had longer battery life if you do a lot of web browsing on your phone daily.

    Web Browser
    Humm. I'm a bit contradicted here. The Moto Droid has a newer browser that appears to render pages faster, but the Eris has pinch-zoom and has Flash Lite support. I can't decide which one I like better.

    I like that with the Moto Droid, you have more options, like setting a default zoom, and turning off javascript & plug-ins. I also don't mind that it doesn't have pinch-zoom. I also like that when you select a form it zooms in on the form instead of giving you a text field to type in.

    On the Eris, I like that I can view Flash (adobe will probably release a flash plugin for Android 2.0 soon anyway), and the pinch-zoom is kinda neat. When it comes down to it, I think I like the Moto Droid's browser as far as usability goes though.

    Media Player
    There's really nothing special here. The media players on the Moto Droid and Eris are basically the same. Out of the box there is no way to automatically sync your music with your computer. If you want to get music on the phone you have to connect the phone via USB cable and drag/drop the music files you want 'into' the phone. The other method is to buy songs from the included Amazon MP3 application. As I said with the Moto Droid, I'm surprised Verizon didn't put Rhapsody on the phone.

    The 3.5mm headphone jack is useful, but I did notice that due to the contour of the phone a 3.5mm plug won't sit flush with the casing. No biggie.

    YouTube comes pre-loaded on the phone, which is also nice. I appreciate that the whole screen is used.

    Camera
    The camera is 5mp and includes an auto-focus feature. Unfortunately there is no flash. However, I can say with confidence that the pictures look better on this phone when compared with the Moto Droid's camera. Although it's missing some of the options like color effects, scene & night modes, I think the quality of the camera makes up for it. There's also a setting for 3:2 aspect ratio. Here's a pic of an asshole cat taken with the camera and then uploaded to Facebook:

    http://cellphoneforums.net/verizon/t...e-cameras.html

    Taking pictures is done by pressing the trackball. I like this rather than a side button. This may be 'different' for some people since you'll probably use your thumb vs your index finger to take a picture. The speed of taking both pics on the Moto Droid and Eris were virtually the same side by side - which is a bit slow. Geo-tagging is an option. There are four resolution options and white balance settings, spot metering, digital zoom, self timer, spot metering and more.

    I'm curious why they didn't make the volume buttons control the digital zoom. To zoom you have to swipe the screen which makes a zoom bar pop up. Kind of annoying.

    You can also take Video with the Eris. It takes average videos - not as good as the Moto Droid.

    Conclusion
    I like the HTC Droid Eris. It has just enough features to be an interesting and cheaper alternative to the Motorola Droid. Physically, in my opinion, it looks better and feels better in your hands. I wish that it came with Android 2.0. There's no doubt that this will be a deal breaker for some, but for those that don't need a slide out keyboard, this is your phone.

    http://cellphoneforums.net/cell-phon...id-review.html
    http://cellphoneforums.net/motorola-...-htc-eris.html


    See More: HTC Droid Eris Review
    Last edited by tavenger5; 12-03-2009 at 04:41 PM.
    John

    Please click LIKE to show if a post is helpful or not!




  2. #2
    newdroidhater
    newdroidhater is offline
    Newbie

    Posts
    2 - liked 1 times

    Re: HTC Droid Eris Review

    I just got my Droid, and I have to say Im super disapointed......The touch screen is "touchy", the browser is slow compared to my Iphone....and it's not super user friendly...maybe I just need to get use to it, I'm going to give it a week and I will let you know.
    yotang likes this.



  3. #3
    srvctec
    srvctec is offline
    Junior Member
    srvctec's Avatar

    Cell Phone
    Samsung Rogue SCH-u960
    Carrier
    Verizon Wireless
    Location
    Kansas
    Posts
    18 - liked 1 times
    Follow srvctec On Twitter

    Re: HTC Droid Eris Review

    Great review. Especially liked the a$$hole cat remark. I'm not a cat fan.

    Think I'll stick with my newly acquired Samsung Rogue.



  4. #4
    kadian43
    kadian43 is offline
    Junior Member

    Cell Phone
    Apple iPhone 4
    Carrier
    Verizon Wireless
    Posts
    8 - liked 1 times
    Follow kadian43 On Twitter

    Re: HTC Droid Eris Review

    looks like a great phone to have, but I would rather have the big brother version
    How I got a Free Iphone 4 http://freebienetworkz.info



  5. #5
    darkdust90
    darkdust90 is offline
    Junior Member

    Posts
    9

    Re: HTC Droid Eris Review

    nice looking phone



  6. #6
    Buzzvillain
    Buzzvillain is offline
    Newbie

    Location
    Buzzville
    Posts
    3

    Re: HTC Droid Eris Review

    Samsung omnia all the way son
    TXT8010/T05_0 UP.Browser/6.2.3.2 (GUI) MMP/2.0



  7. #7
    Shubham Mathur
    Shubham Mathur is offline
    Banned

    Posts
    3

    Re: HTC Droid Eris Review

    wow nice



  8. #8
    nevahascards
    nevahascards is offline
    Newbie

    Posts
    3

    Re: HTC Droid Eris Review

    i want



  9. #9
    namratasnv
    namratasnv is offline
    Member

    Posts
    52 - liked 2 times
    Follow namratasnv On Twitter

    Re: HTC Droid Eris Review

    Great reviews about Android.
    Good have to such kind of mobile phone.
    The mobile is looking cool with unique color.
    Thanks.



  10. #10
    azz547
    azz547 is offline
    Newbie

    Posts
    5 - liked 1 times
    Follow azz547 On Twitter

    Re: HTC Droid Eris Review

    very stylish and has great features. my father has one or something very similar and its great for work.

    and its much better than the iPhone in my opinion.
    Last edited by azz547; 12-16-2009 at 09:13 PM. Reason: Auto-merged Double post
    MobiSplash likes this.



  11. #11
    chatdeau
    chatdeau is offline
    Junior Member

    Posts
    10

    Re: HTC Droid Eris Review

    It's really easy to say "much better than iPhone" ... a little more details on that affirmation please?



  12. #12
    thomaszmark
    thomaszmark is offline
    Junior Member

    Posts
    18 - liked 1 times

    Re: HTC Droid Eris Review

    it looks so nice!!!



  13. #13
    Dakobah
    Dakobah is offline
    Newbie
    Dakobah's Avatar

    Posts
    5 - liked 1 times

    Re: HTC Droid Eris Review

    woah this phone looks cool, i like the camera and the touch screen looks easy to use too, thanks for the review help my friend decide on this camera.



  14. #14
    strutwatson
    strutwatson is offline
    Newbie

    Posts
    4
    Follow strutwatson On Twitter

    Re: HTC Eris Droid Review

    Text automatically translated from: German to: English
    Hi,
    Yes i just got it yesterday and it took just a mon to get used to from a blackberry pearl-yes u can customize a picture for everything including unlock screensaver and wallpaper-i highly recommend it very worth the money! best phone ever! even if not used to touch screen



  15. #15
    Psybadek
    Psybadek is offline
    Newbie
    Psybadek's Avatar

    Cell Phone
    Motorola Droid
    Carrier
    Verizon Wireless
    Posts
    5

    Re: Re: HTC Eris Droid Review

    Really good review! When I was at the Verizon store looking at the Droid and Eris I was actually deciding which one to get. I love the simpler look of the HTC, although it doesn't have the qwerty keyboard like the Droid, it's not needed. I never use it because the keyboard on the touchscreen is amazing.

    I would recommend either phone to anyone. I love my droid though. Best purchase I've ever made in my life! iPhone -1!



  • Similar Threads




  • Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast