Since October 17, 2009, the Motorola Droid was the hottest Android smartphone on the market. However, the expected launch of the Google Nexus One in the sunrise of 2010 writes a new chapter in the smartphone Android battle. Experts are already confused as to whether the Nexus One will be able to overpower the Droid, especially since the former isn’t linked to any specific provider.
A comparison of the Google Nexus One and the Motorola Droid may be able to answer some questions.
Google Nexus One
Featuring a Snapdragon 1GHz core processor, 512MB of DDR2 RAM and 4GB microSD card storage capacity that are expandable to 32 GB, the Google Nexus One is an advanced device that runs on Android 2.1 OS. Besides, the device comes with a 3.7″ WVGA AMOLED touchscreen that natively supports 480×800 pixels resolution allowing users to navigate through their picture gallery and enjoy absolutely bright and sharp pictures on this touchscreen. Even better, the touch sensitivity of Nexus One is far better than any other Android phone currently available on the market.
Featuring no keyboard and trading-off for a sleek design and light weight, the Nexus One comes with four ingenious touch buttons at the bottom of the screen, namely Home, Menu, Search and Back buttons, and a navigation trackball. On the upper side, the device features a 3.5mm headphone jack, while on the bottom side there is the micro-USB port and the microphone headset. On the back side, there is the 5-megapixel camera with flash that allows users to capture sharp pictures at an exceptional accuracy and speed. However, the feature that demonstrates Google’s sophisticated decision making is the Gallery app that is really user-friendly offering users more options than other Android phones when browsing their photos.
The Google Nexus One comes at a retail price of $199.
Motorola Droid
The Motorola Droid denotes Motorola’s return in the smartphone arena. Featuring a 550MHz processor, 256 MB of DDR2 RAM and 16GB microSD card that can be expandable to 32 GB, the Motorola Droid is the first smartphone to run on a Google Android 2.0 OS. Besides, the device features a 3.7″ WVGA touchscreen that natively supports 854×480 resolution, offering users absolute delighting when viewing their sharp and bright images. Even better, the clarity of the text is outstanding on the Droid as the device has a unique pixel density that enables users to read an e-book as if they are in front of a laptop screen.
Another exceptional feature is Droid’s QWERTY slider keyboard. Featuring larger and flatter keys than other Droid smartphones (HTC Touch Pro or the N900), the Droid’s keyboard allows users to type more comfortably using their thumbs instead of their thumbnails.
The device comes also with 5-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, 3.5mm headphone jack and a Micro-USB port. Moreover, the native support for Exchange, the unified contact list and the exceptional new mapping and navigation application from Google as well as fast 3D graphics chip make Motorola Droid good choice for a smartphone.
The Motorola Droid starts at a retail price of $199.99.
The bottom line
The Nexus One has a more advanced OS (Android 2.1 vs. Android 2.0 of the Droid). In terms of ergonomics, both smartphones are pretty similar (Nexus One Height: 119mm, Width: 59.8mm, Depth: 11.5mm – Droid Height: 115.80mm, Width: 60mm, Depth: 13.7mm); only the Nexus One is quite lighter weighing 130 grams including the battery, while the Droid’s weight is 169 grams with the battery.
The Droid has both onscreen virtual keyboard and slide-out QWERTY keyboard that is convenient for users who like both touchscreen and typing. Moreover, it features a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus, dual LED flash and DVD quality video recording of 720×480 pixels resolution, while the Nexus One does not have a camera at all.
The bottom line is that it all comes down to personal needs. It looks like Google competes with itself. Although the Nexus One and the Motorola Droid are quite similar and come at the same retail price – or at least this is what is expected for the Nexus One – , there are distinct differences that can be addressed by personal preferences.