Motorola Droid review

The Motorola DEXT may not have been the comeback hit the once almighty mobile giant was hoping for. But its follow up, the Motorola Droid (or the Motorola Milestone as it is here in the UK), looks poised to not only put Moto back on the mobile map, but blow every other Android blower out of the water with its stellar specs and luscious looks. It’s only available in the US, but we couldn’t resist going hands-on with it and bringing you the results. Read our full Motorola Droid review now for the definitive verdict.

While the Motorola DEXT was a tad chunksome, the Motorola Droid is anything but. The 14mm thin blower is an absolute stunner, with a sleek black frame that recalls a time when Motorola was top of the pile. But it’s when you fire it up that it really looks the part. The 480×854, 3.7-inch screen, is arguably the best ever panel found on a phone.

Size wise, the Motorola Droid’s screen is ideal. Not so big, like the HTC HD2, that you’ll struggle to pocket it, but larger than the iPhone and Nokia N900. We put through a couple of music videos and the detail was nothing short of awesome, delivering crisp and clean pics with no lag. It’s without doubt better than anything the competition can muster at the moment.

And the screen’s skills aren’t just limited to looking good. The capacitive effort on the Motorola Droid makes it every bit as good as the iPhone, blowing every other touchscreen on an Android device out of the water too. The virtual keyboard is ace and so easy to use, so much so that you’ll soon find using the physical QWERTY is nonsensical. The latter isn’t the best QWERTY we’ve handled, its flat keys struggling to respond to our prods.

Read our Motorola DEXT review now

But the really big draw here is Android 2.0. The Motorola Droid is the first handset in the world to get the Big G’s updated software and it’s even better than the original. Obviously the biggest thing here is Google Maps Navigation, the free GPS service that’s causing unfettered panic in satnav companies the world over. At the time of writing, it’s US specific, but it’s an absolute joy to behold. Turn by turn navigation is excellent and the use of Street View to help at junctions is inspired. You also get Wikipedia POI info. In short, it’s every bit as good as a TomTom and won’t cost a penny. The only gripe we have is that it’s not officially out in the UK yet.

The version of Android on the Motorola Droid is vanilla, but you do get Facebook contacts syncing, so your Google pals have status updates next to them at all times. One button access to call, text and IM is ace, but something we’re seeing more of, especially with the Vodafone 360 Samsung H1. There’s also voice search, a feature we became hopelessly addicted to, it’s so breezy to get to grips with.

The Motorola Droid promises to be an absolute killer when it lands over here as the Motorola Milestone. And once it does arrive, it’s going to be well worth a long hard look. It’s undoubtedly the best Android phone yet.