Droid 2 vs. Original Droid; Thoughts and Comparisons

[GuyinLACA]

After almost 3 weeks with the Droid 2, I'd like to draw some comparisons for those considering the Droid 2:

Areas where the Droid 2 is better:
-Call quality is a tad bit better
-Keyboard is more spacious
-Processor speed is evident in most instances
-No more force closes with IM apps
-Battery door easy to get on and off, feels secure when on

Things that haven't changed much:
-Camera is exactly the same quality
-Reception for voice and calls is no better or worse
-Power Button/Volume rocker/camera keys are still cheap plastic and wiggle

Downgrades on the Droid 2 from the Droid 1:
-Speakerphone is only about half as loud
-Build quality is not as good. When I got the phone it was rock solid, but after 2.5 weeks there is already slight play with the plastic sides. My 5 month old Droid 1 feels way more solid.
-The interface randomly stalls for a few moments then registers multiple presses all at once, the Droid 1 did not.
-MotoBlur has too many redundancies in the apps, like Contacts, where you sometimes see the Blur Contacts, sometimes the Android version app. If you were viewing recent calls last, hitting dialer will take you to recent calls instead of the dialer.
-From a hacking standpoint, the locked bootloader is really a downfall. It was nice making the Droid exactly what I wanted.
-Randomly loses 3G signal and/or the browser force closes

Overall, I think the Droid 2 was an attempt to remedy a few of the cons of the Droid, but it comes with it's own quirks. Unfortunately, there are quite a few tradeoffs and you have to decide which things are worse. It's still a great phone, but if I hadn't gotten such a good deal on it, this phone would be going back for sure. DO NOT pay full retail for this phone.

[Natty_lite]

I think the Droid 2 is quite a significant upgrade from the original. Only my camera key has wiggle which I'm guessing was intentional since it's a 2 stage button.

[Jakes]

Weird, I don't even have a fraction of the problems you're experiencing. I did pay full retail for the phone and I'm not returning it. And I too had the original Droid (also purchased at full retail) and I hated and returned it. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

[darc]

I have the original droid played with both the droidx and the droid2 they didnt wow me if I am going to give up my droid I need to be wowed.

[GuyinLACA]

I'm getting a replacement droid 2 later this week so I'm hoping the bugs I experienced were first batch issues. I will keep you posted.

[teddyearp]

Mathmatically not correct, but IMHO it is:

Droid 2 < Droid 1

[mattywalnuts]

I just received a new Droid 2 as a warranty replacement for my Droid 1. I agree with most of the comments from the OP. I still believe that D 2 is a decent upgrade from D 1 just for the keyboard and processor alone. I'm not a super widget guy so LauncherPro helps get rid of MotoBlur. I've also noticed that the bluetooth audio quality is now much better when using a stereo headset. Another major change I noticed is that when syncing a corporate exchange account, you are now forced into using a numeric pin and can no longer utilize the pattern feature.

One thing that is bugging me, the haptic feedback will not shut off, even after unchecking all boxes. Any thoughts? Maybe just a glitch that will be addressed in an update?

[vdefender]

I have a question for you guys who have had both phones, and hopefully still have both phones.

My Droid 1 (and every D1 that I've ever tested) has this issue where if you plug in the power cable and or plug in a headphone cable, the touch interface becomes glitchy. If you don't know what I'm talking about try plugging in the power cable, and then dragging the notification bar half way down the screen and holding it there, it will wiggle and jump around. Has this been fixed on the D2?????

Thanks!

[GuyinLACA]

I finally gave up on the Droid 2 and am shipping it back. I got a Droid X and it's leaps and bounds better than the Droid 2 I had. I'm not sure if the Froyo/Blur combo has memory management issues, but the Droid X runs so much smoother than the 4 Droid 2's I've used.

I'm not saying the Droid 2 is a bad phone, but it's frustrating when you buy a phone from Verizon online, and you're not allowed to get it swapped in store, and they ship you a FRU that's worse. Rather than deal with more headaches, I'll just get my upgrade restored, and wait to see what the PRO/Superphone bring to the table.

I was skeptical of all touch screen, but the vibration feedback on the X really helps.

[vaxick]

I don't understand where Motorola went so wrong with the speakers on the Droid 2 and X. Their so quiet.