subject: HTC Droid Eris Review: A Solid Alternative to the Motorola Droid [print this page] The HTC Droid Eris is a solid alternative to the Motorola Droid for a few reasons. First, the Droid Eris will cost $100 with a -year contract, making it the most affordable Android phone currently available--and half the price of the Droid. Second, the Droid Eris runs HTC's slick Sense user interface overlay, which is a lot more aesthetically appealing than the somewhat sterile Android 2.0 (also known as clair) user interface. Lastly, the Droid Eris is lighter, and more pocketable than the Droid. In my brief hands-on time with the Droid Eris, I found that it felt very comfortable in hand due to its curved, rubberized backing.
I purchased the HTC Droid Eris on the day it came out because it is the best phone on the market for MY intended uses. I have used the iphone extensively and tested other phones in the store including the motorola droid, storm2, palm pre and Hero. I left AT&T to buy this phone. The finish and feel of the phone is great. It seems a little wider, but thinner than the Hero. HTC sense was a little overwhelming at first, but after only days of owning the phone I have the phone set up the way I want, which is something the iPhone can not do.
The web browser is excellent. It has pinch or tap zoom and webpages load very quickly. The scrolling and zooming is not quite as smooth as the iPhone but the Eris supports flash while the iPhone does not. Youtube videos seemed very poor at first, but then I figured out that you can choose to watch them in high quality and they look great.
One thing that I love and many people overlook or don't care about is that the Eris charges and connects to a computer with a standard mini-usb cable without having to install any software. I personally do not like iTunes, so for me this is very nice. I just plug my phone in and a computer recognizes it the same way it would a jump drive. I just copied my mp3s into a folder I created and the phone played them just fine. I can also use any mini-usb charger, which is almost the standard for cell phones now. I also post the instructions on http://www.Droid-Eris.com
The Eris has been a great phone so far. The call quality is fantastic, including the speaker phone. And so far the Verizon has had better coverage and more stability than AT&T. Within an hour of owning the phone I had all my email accounts, visual voicemail, contacts and facebook set up without having to look at the manual.
There is significantly less android apps than apple, but I have found the ones I wanted and they work just fine. If I'm running multiple apps at the same time the phone does get some major lag, so multi-tasking is a blessing and a curse. I downloaded TasKiller which helps a lot, but there is still some very slight lag. I would say the iPhone 3gs is "snappier" but both phones do not even compare to the motorola droid. The Eris seemed to be quicker than the Hero, which I found odd because it is almost the same phone. One thing the Eris has that the Hero does not is a proximity sensor. I have found the battery life to be disappointing. This could be due to the fact I have been using the phone constantly since I got it. The camera takes great pictues, but it does not have a flash which would be nice. I found the video quality to be average.
Those are my initial thoughts on the phone. I am very happy with my purchase and I like the Eris better than the iPhone. I'm not saying that it is a better phone, but I am saying it is a better phone for me. The iPhone works fantastically for what it can do, but I can't do everything I want to do which is probably the biggest decider for me. I hope my opinion helps, but I encourage people to research and test phones extensively themselves to determine the best phone for them.
HTC Droid Eris Review: A Solid Alternative to the Motorola Droid
