Friday, October 23, 2009

Storm2 vs ‘Droid

Its a battle royal, high tech vs high tech, at stake is my next phone contract, a weighty matter indeed. Usually there are one or two features that sway me one way or the other, but not this time. :| Andy and I have hashed and rehashed this for hours and can’t seem to reach a definitive conclusion, so here’s the data on the Storm2 vs Droid:

Email
It’s not uncommon for my Gmail to show up on my Storm before it shows up in my Gmail inbox. Thats some tight integration. BUT, you would expect tight integration between an Android (Droid)phone and Gmail, so I feel like this is a wash.

Phone
The Storm has a nice application that works with GoogleVoice. But it’s somewhat loose integration and the user interface leaves a lot to be desired. The Droid on the other hand has basically native GoogleVoice integration, you actually replace the phone dialer with a new one that integrates natively with GoogleVoice. Clearly Droid is superior.

Screen/Keyboard
The Storm/Storm2 screen with surepress/truepress is a real innovation and makes the UI so much easier to navigate. It also makes typing with the onscreen keyboard faster. The Storm2 has the new version that has multitap and multitouch. SUPER COOL. The Droid has a standard touch screen, similar to the iPhone. BUT, the droid also has the slide out keyboard, so it could be argued that the Storm needs the screen to make typing better, while the Droid does not. Neither one offers a Dvorak Keyboard. :(
[UPDATE] the Droid has a software Dvorak keyboard that works very nicely. Search for “dvorak” in the  android marketplace.

So who wins here? Its hard to say. The Storm screen IS better, by far. BUT, the Droid has a slide out keyboard so it doesn’t NEED surepress.

Network
They are both on Verizon, love ‘em or hate ‘em, this is a wash.

Tethering
The Storm offers bluetooth tethering. I use this quite a bit. It allows me to tether my laptop to my phone effectively turning it into an EVDO modem. The Droid does WiFi tethering, which is to say that the phone is basically a portable WiFi hotspot. Clearly the Droid phone wins out here.

Applications
As of today, the Storm has many more applications available than the Droid. For example there is a Storm version of Slinglpayer, but not a Droid version. Sling Media are working on a Droid version though, and I feel like the application disparity will be non existent in a couple of months. So I feel like this category is a wash too.

So, who wins? Which is the better gadget? I just don’t know. Currently I am leaning towards the Droid with its tight GoogleVoice integration giving it the slight advantage over the Storm2.

10 comments:

  1. Phone: Google Voice (and the gVoice 'berry app) is in beta. The integration will be better. Personally, I think it's pretty good now. The only issue is that if I want to SMS from my 'berry, I have to go to my contacts app rather than my SMS app.

    Keyboard: You don't need dvorak on your phone. When you're typing with just your thumbs, it's a completely different muscle memory than typing at a full keyboard. You will type just as fast on qwerty, and it will not mess up your head. That being said, Android is Google. That means open source. Suggest it as a feature or make it yourself and repaint your keys.

    Apps: not a wash. I sent you a text about this last night, and I'll re-iterate here. I have almost no games on my Storm. I have one (admittedly very cool) roguelike game (sigmore mines 2), for which I paid six bones. I have not been able (and I have looked, but not extensively) to find many good games for it. I have found a couple good 'berry games, but they don't work right on the Storm. I've found a couple good iPhone games, but they don't port to the Storm. I'm going to continue looking, but for me, the apps category is a point for DROID.

    I feel myself leaning more and more toward the DROID as well, but I must re-iterate my assertion that GVoice is not a valid comparison. It is beta software, and it is open source. The integration will be better. I don't think you'll get a replacement dialer for the 'berry, but you will get better-integrated SMS.

    One thing you forgot to mention. WiFi. Storm 2 does it. Does DROID?

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  2. Also, DROID's browser will run flash. Storm doesn't.

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  3. PS What is this "notification panel" I keep hearing about?

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  4. Yes, the Droid does WiFi, see "Tethering".

    As for GVoice, I basically agree that it will get better on the Berry, but I dont see there ever see the 'Berry GVoice app being as good as Droid.

    Dvorak, I agree.

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  5. "these are the droids you are looking for"

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  6. http://thor-blogs.blogspot.com/2009/10/this-is-droid-im-looking-for.html

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  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  8. Reassuring comment about Dvorak. A critical element in my computing experience!

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  9. Well Jane, since I posted the original, I found a software dvorak keyboard. So the on screen touch keyboard is dvorak, but the hardware keyboard is still QWERTY.

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