GregHowley.com

Droid X

September 17, 2010 -

So I've finally entered the world of smart phones. I'd owned three cell phones over the past decade: A Motorola i90, a Motorola i580, and a Motorola W385. None of these ever really did anything other than make calls, send text messages, and send pictures. For my birthday this year, I got a Droid X. I'm liking it a lot, and still learning how to use everything that the phone can do. I've got only one complaint - the battery life is terrible.

I understand how much screen brightness settings and running apps (especially ones that use network resources) will affect the battery life, and I've been managing those things as best I'm able.

I visited the Droid forums, and found a thread on which people were discussing battery life. Some were getting two days out of the battery. Others, like me, found that the battery would die after 7 hours of light to moderate use. I'm hoping that this guy is right and that my battery life will improve after a few drain/charge cycles. I've read up on lithium-ion batteries, and it seems that draining them fully is generally a bad thing, as is storing the phone on the charger. But I may drain it completely once or twice, just at first, to see if the battery's lifespan improves after the first week.

Comments on Droid X
 
Comment Mon, September 20 - 5:33 PM by Frank
I'm still on the fence between this phone and the Droid 2. I really like the physical keyboard, but the Droid X is just so huge and cool looking. Do you have any thoughts on the two?
 
Comment Mon, September 20 - 7:20 PM by Greg
You're asking the same questions that I was. The two phones are the same in a lot of ways. Differences: The Droid 2 has the keyboard. The Droid X has a bigger screen, higher megapixel camera, and can output HD video via HDMI. It's all about whether you really want that keyboard.

I just figured out that my battery life issue was totally about the bad signal I get at work. I left it on airplane mode all day today at work and my phone is still at 75% charge now at 6pm EDT.
 
Comment Wed, September 22 - 1:30 PM by Frank
Ok gonna grill you for a few more questions :)

How do you like the larger form factor? Any issues just carrying it around in your pocket? Seems like it might be slightly awkward when compared to your standard sized phone.

Back to the keyboard, is the on-screen keyboard pretty good? I really like the physical keyboard on my current phone and to make the switch to a touchscreen keyboard would be tough unless it's really good.

That's good news on the battery. I've done that on every phone I've owned and always forget about how much searching for signal kills a battery.
 
Comment Wed, September 22 - 1:42 PM by Greg
It's not too bad having it in my pocket - it's there right now. It's long, but thin. I guess it might bother some people, but I'm fine with it. Once I start wearing a coat, it'll probably live there instead of a pants pocket.

The on-screen keyboard hasn't bothered me too much, and I expect it to get better once I figure out Swype. Turning the phone sideways gives you tons of space and larger keys. I've experimented with the built-in voice recognition a couple times. It seems like it might have a use when I have a long sentence/paragraph to type and I'm able to speak out loud.
 
Comment Wed, September 22 - 3:57 PM by Frank
Damnit Greg, now I'm going to have to find the Verizon store on my lunch break so I can test drive one. Thanks for your feedback man!