Droid X: Promise
and problems
plans). This unlimited usage does not
cover tethered devices, however: That
feature costs an additional $20 per
month for a 2GB data bucket and 5
cents per megabyte for overages.
REVIEW: Motorola’s Droid X for Verizon boasts
a touch-screen display, a Swype on-screen key-
board, and high-resolution still and video cameras,
but there were a few problems.
I tested a Droid X running a prerelease version Android 2.1. Adobe
Flash support won’t ship at device
launch with this version, but will be
added later in the summer when
Android 2.2 (Froyo) becomes available for an over-the-air update.
A larger, heavier device
The 4.3-inch touch-screen display
(854x480 WVGA) takes up the lion’s
share of space on what is an unusually large device. At 2.6 by 5.0 by 0.4
inches and 5.47 ounces, the Droid X
is noticeably longer, wider and heavier
than the iPhone 4 (2.31 by 4. 5 by 0.37
inches and 4. 8 ounces).
The lack of a physical keyboard lets
Motorola keep most of the device slim,
but the Droid X thickens to nearly 0.6
inches near the top due to the camera
assembly, making the device feel top
heavy and awkward to hold in portrait
mode. The unwieldy placement of the
MicroUSB port on the lower left side
compounds the awkwardness, making it more difficult to type in portrait
mode with the device plugged into a
power outlet or a PC. The on-screen
keyboard is much more usable in landscape mode.
Motorola also added the usable
Swype on-screen keyboard, bringing
drag typing to the Droid X. Not only
does Swype allow me to change the
position of my hands while typing—
from a two-thumb pecking model to
a single forefinger drag position—but
my typing speed improved 10 percent
to 20 percent, with better accuracy.
To complement the large screen,
Motorola added a high-resolution still
and video camera to Droid X. The 8-
megapixel still camera features auto-
the latest Android phone, delivers
solid connectivity and policy support
for Exchange e-mail infrastructures,
good multimedia playback and cap-
ture experience, and network tether-
ing. Though touted for its support for
Adobe Flash 10.1, the Droid X lacks
that feature at launch.
While I encountered a few problems with the Droid X’s 802.11n WiFi
implementation, they could be attributable to the prerelease version of the
software on my test device.
Droid X is available now for the
Verizon network, with a list price of
$580. However, Verizon will offer the
Droid X for $199 with a two-year contract, after a $100 rebate. According
to the company’s representatives,
the Droid X will be available at
this discounted price to any
current customers eligible
for an upgrade any time
in 2010.
Verizon representatives iterate that the
Droid X comes with
an unlimited data
plan—with no
hard or soft
caps—for
$30 per
month (on
top of the
voice and
messaging Despite the large screen, the Droid X is mostly thin and not too heavy, measuring in at 2.6 by 5.0 by 0.4 inches and 5.47 ounces. But the device widens near the top by the cameras.
By Andrew Garcia
Every road warrior needs rugged, encrypted storage. Intellectual property, client lists and contracts could fall
into the wrong hands if stored on a
removable device that’s lost or stolen.
Every corporate data asset in the field
should be encrypted, at the very least.
Motorola’s Droid X for Verizon,
