Motorola Devour Review

The Motorola Devour is Verizon's first MotoBlur phone, which is already out in Best Buy for $99 and will be released March 15th on all other channels for around $149 with 2 year contract and rebate. It runs Android 1.6 and comes with some nice features.



Here's a rundown of the Devour's features:

• Android 1.6 with MotoBlur
• EV-DO rev A
• 3.1" capacitive touch screen (320x480)
• Bluetooth 2.0
• 8gb microSD card (class 4)
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• 802.11b/g wi-fi
• 3.0mp camera - no flash

Unboxing
There's nothing special about the packaging here. Just the standard white box with charger and manuals. It's obvious Verizon/Motorola spent more money on the packaging for the Droid.

Cosmetic
I think Motorola did a good job of fooling people into thinking that this phone is small. It's actually not, and comes in a tad bigger than the Droid! This is probably in part to the smaller screen, creating the allusion that the phone itself is smaller. It is surprisingly heavy as well; heavier than the Droid actually. (6.35oz vs 5.96oz)

I will say that the styling of the phone is fantastic. It has some great lines and details, and the silver finish is a step in a different direction as of late. It just feels like it is put together very well.



The Devour feels good in your hands. The rubber backing pieces provide the needed grip while the sharp, but rounded metal body gives it some style. The keyboard is reveled by a spring loaded screen flip, unlike the Droid, which you fully push open yourself. (more on the keyboard later)

On the right side you have your volume buttons, a voice dial button, and camera button.


On the left you have the charger port (microUSB), and the removable side, where the battery and microSD card are stored. I'm glad to see you don't have to remove the battery to get to the SD card. The removable side is pretty unique in itself. I'm glad they chose to not cover up the charging port and even recessed it a little.


The top has a recessed 3.5mm headphone jack and the lock/power button.



Screen
As I mentioned above the screen is a bit smaller than I would have liked (I love the Droid screen) and I suspect this will be people's number one complaint. Coming in at only 3.1 inches and a lower 320x480 resolution you're not going to get the clarity you get out of the Droid's screen (3.7" @ 480x854). You're also comparing 65k colors with 16 million.



That being said, the screen is the size of most other phones out there, and works well with the phone. The touch response and haptic feedback work well.

On the bottom of the screen you'll find the menu, back, and home buttons. I was surprised to see the absence of the search icon like most other Android phones. While this isn't critical I do find it useful to search on the fly. In its place is a activity/charging light indicator.

To be honest, I didn't even realize what the square in the bottom left was at first. It's an optical track pad. It's placement is a bit odd, but it is unique and serves its purpose if you want to navigate the screen but don't feel like moving your thumb more than a quarter inch. Wait, what?



Keyboard
I can't quite decide if I like the keyboard more than the Droid or not. Here are the advantages: The keys are more separated and have a better feel, everything is centered on the phone, dedicated number row, and you can easily get used to this keyboard.

Here are the disadvantages: I really don't like it the space bar is put on the same line as letters - this gives a large gap between the v and the b letter. Missing dedicated @, ?, menu, and search keys, only one alt key on the right, and no directional pad.



So you might have to decide for yourself if you like this keyboard. Sometimes it depends on the phone that you are coming from.

I should note that the Devour does have a vertical on-screen keyboard, which is less useful because of the screen's size. I couldn't find a way to bring up a horizontal on-screen keyboard like with the Droid.

Here's a comparison between the Devour and the Droid's keyboards:


Battery
The 1400mAh battery is rated at an astounding 443 hours stand-by time and 6.48 hours talk time. I suspect this is because it has the same battery that the Droid uses. The battery definitely has more then enough power to last you through the day even with heavy use.

Software
I was disappointed to see another phone running Android 1.6 while others are being released as we speak with 2.0 and 2.1. Maybe MotoBlur wasn't ready for 2.0 yet? I'm not sure. 1.6 isn't bad at all, I'm just one of those people that likes to have the latest version of everything, and I think others will have the same feeling. Regardless, you still have access to the Android Market so many will not even need the features of the latest Android.



I do like how MotoBlur organizes things. It puts all of your messages and "happenings" in one easy to understand space. Happenings can be messages from social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Messages are e-mails, and text messages. These two sections are displayed on your home screen.

A global status update can also send your messages to multiple social networking sites all at once. Another RSS widget allows you to hook up whatever feeds you may want to see.

MotoBlur also takes care of backing up your contacts, log-in info, home screen customizations, e-mail and social network messages. Using the phone's aGPS, the phone can also be located and even erased remotely through the MotoBlur portal. These are some really nice features, I must say.

I was happy to see that the interface is very responsive and you're not left waiting for things to load. This in combination with the screen makes the phone's experiencing gratifying.

Browser
The browser is pretty standard. Missing is the double tap to zoom, which I've come to enjoy on the Droid. Don't expect to see any pinch-zoom either. I found that after you do zoom out the pages are a bit more grainy on account of the lower resolution of the screen. Like other Android phones you can open a new window, but there is no tabbed browsing. There is, however flash light.

Camera
I was glad to see that the camera is quite responsive and takes pictures quickly, but that unfortunately came with the price of 3mp and no flash. The colors in the pictures weren't as full as they could be and there is definitely some graininess on account of the lower resolution. The camera does get the job done, but if you're looking for something with a more powerful camera check our the Droid Eris or Motorola Droid, which both have 5mp cameras.

Here's some more comparison shots with the Droid:




Conclusion
The Devour definitely fits a small niche of users who don't need the Droid, and don't want the Eris because it doesn't have a keyboard. Think of this as the mash-up between the Droid and the Eris.

The addition of MotoBlur is nice, but it's not a deal breaker. Verizon is pushing the social networking features of this phone more than anything else. I guess it all depends on how you want your social networking packaged.

Here are some reasons you would want the Devour over the Droid:

• Cheaper
• Straight forward social networking features
• Nice design
• You may like the keyboard better

Reasons to get the Droid:

• You really want Android 2.0 (or 2.1 very soon)
• Being a bit more expensive doesn't matter
• Better camera is a must
• Larger and higher quality screen is a must
• You don't care about MotoBlur
• A little extra styling doesn't matter

Finally, I'll leave you with my "MotoBlur" pic complete with lots of aperture: