Conclusion

So my overall impression with the Droid? I absolutely love this phone. As I stated earlier, I have used both Windows mobile and Blackberries and both would require reboots during the time I was using them. The Droid handled everything that I threw at and did it with ease. With multiple applications open I didn't experience any slowdowns. I was able to browse the web, listen to music and use the Google maps at the same time with little or no performance hit.

Sound quality on the phone is good. most people that I called noticed the reduction in background noise. I did not experience any of the echoing issues that had been reported. The only time that I noticed any sound quality issues is when I was in an area of low coverage, but even then the sound quality was far better than that of my HTC Touch Duo.

While others may be listing the Droid as the iPhone killer, I cannot say that it is. The number 1 reason for that is the iPhone is well established and is on its second revision. The Droid just launched a month ago, but it is making waves and it is able to compete against the iPhone, so only time will tell.

My review was delayed by one day due to a system update. I used the phone for approx. 3 weeks. On Saturday December 12, 2009, I received an update to the phone's operating system. The update fixed a few issues. One of the most important was being the issues with the camera. While the quality of the 5 mp camera is questionable, the speed was horrendous before the update. After the update, the autofocus is almost twice as fast as well as the actual image acquisition.

The patch made an already great phone even better. Other improvements that were included in the patch fixed audio echoing issues, improvements to the battery life, SMS and messaging management and a few other minor fixes. Overall the patch included over a dozen fixes.

I have never been one to rush out and buy the latest and greatest gadgets. While I like to test them and do reviews on them, I am not willing to put my hard-earned money on a product that has not been fully tested. The Droid has changed my mind. Google, Verizon, and Motorola really did their homework when it comes to this phone and released an very powerful smartphone. The phone itself has a very low learning curve and even novice users will be able to use it quickly. Advanced users will find that the simple interface is welcome as well. I am truly impressed with this phone. It has worked flawlessly for me and the only issue that I had with it was battery life. I am sad that I have to return the Droid, but only for a short time, as I will have one of my own in the very near future. Pricing for the Droid is 199.99 with a mail in rebate and a new two-year contract. I have seen ads for current Verizon customers looking to upgrade for 149.99, so pricing doesn't break the bank either.

I want to thank our friend at Verizon for providing the Droid review sample to us. Verizon is our newest sponsor and we look forward to a long working relationship with them.

The Droid smartphone from Verizon earns our Editor's Choice award.