{"id":201,"date":"2010-07-18T21:36:08","date_gmt":"2010-07-19T04:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/?p=201"},"modified":"2016-03-26T17:18:45","modified_gmt":"2016-03-27T00:18:45","slug":"droid-1-vs-droid-x","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/droid-1-vs-droid-x\/","title":{"rendered":"Droid 1 vs. Droid X | First Impressions"},"content":{"rendered":"

I just upgraded from the original Droid<\/a> to the Droid X<\/a>. Since PCWorld’s\u00a0article<\/a> comparing the original Droid and the new Droid X is just sad<\/a>, I decided to do my own comparison. I’ll do my best to list some first impressions, and highlight the key differences between the phones, based on actually owning and using both of them.<\/p>\n

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For all of the feature-comparison-table<\/strong> lovers out there:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\n

Droid 1<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Droid X<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
OS<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/td>\nAndroid 2.1
\n(Google Experience)<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n		Android 2.1
\n(MotoBlur)<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Battery<\/strong>
\n(yes, different sizes)<\/span><\/td>\n		1400 mAh Li Ion 3.7v
\n(Model BP6X)<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n		1540 mAh Li Ion 3.7v
\n(Model BH5X)<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Weight (Measured)<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/td>\n169g<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n150g<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Camera<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n5 MP<\/span><\/td>\n8 MP<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Recording<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nDVD quality (720×480) <\/span><\/span><\/td>\nHD 720p (1280×720) <\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Wifi<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/td>\n802.11 b,g<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n802.11 b,g,n<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Predictive Text<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/td>\nAndroid<\/span><\/span><\/td>\nSwype<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
HDMI Out<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/td>\nNo<\/span><\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
FM Tuner<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/td>\nNo<\/span><\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Keyboard<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/td>\nHardware\/Software<\/span><\/span><\/td>\nSoftware<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
LCD Size<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n3.7-in.<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n4.3-in.<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
LCD Resolution<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n480×854<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n480×854<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Processor<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nOMAP3430
\n550 MHz<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n		OMAP3630
\n1 GHz<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RAM<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n256 MB<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n512 MB<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Internal Memory<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n256 MB<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n6.5 GB<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
External Memory<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n16 GB microSD<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n16 GB microSD<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hard Button Order<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nBack|Menu|Home|Search<\/span><\/span><\/td>\nMenu|Home|Back|Search<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
i can haz root?<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span><\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Linpack MFLOPS<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n4.510 (2.1)
\n12.707 (2.2)<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n		8.265 (2.1)
\n13.64 (2.2)<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Screen<\/strong><\/p>\n

Obviously, the first thing I noticed about the Droid X was the giant, beautiful<\/em> screen. Even though both phones have the same resolution, the X has a bigger screen, so everything on the X’s screen just looks bigger. This makes the on-screen keyboard (especially in the vertical position) much more usable on the Droid X over the Droid 1, which has narrower keys. MotoBlur’s icons seem big and bubbly, and the widgets just look downright ugly and blocky. It is really<\/em> nifty<\/em> to be able to resize the widgets, unfortunately most of them look cartoonish and awkward. Comparing the screens side-by-side, I noticed the Droid 1 had a slight greenish tint, while the Droid X had a slight blueish tint. With the brighness maxed, the Droid X’s screen appears much brighter too.<\/p>\n

Update<\/em>: I notice that the odd bulge<\/em> on the back of the Droid X actually tilts the phone forward just enough to help prevent the orientation of the screen from changing when lying the phone down, screen facing up – a problem I had with the Droid 1.<\/p>\n

Buttons<\/strong><\/p>\n

The next thing to notice, which also quickly became very annoying, is the new hard-button order. After going almost one year with the [intutive] order of Back|Menu|Home|Search<\/em> on the Droid 1, I was pretty comfortable using those keys without even thinking about it. Now, I must get used to Menu|Home|Back|Search <\/em>on the Droid X. Even after several days, I’m still confusing the Back<\/em> and Menu<\/em> buttons. Going back to the keyboards for a minute, I really didn’t use the hardware keyboard on the Droid 1 much, but I gladly and quickly whipped it out when the on-screen keyboard got annoying – I mainly used it as a backup keyboard.<\/p>\n

Update:<\/em> It doesn’t take long to get used to the new button order, and I haven’t really missed the hardware keyboard since the Droid X’s screen makes typing easier.<\/p>\n

Applications\/Settings<\/strong><\/p>\n

Next, opening up the app drawer looks very similar to Droid 1’s, except there are many more crap-apps that come installed by default (Blockbuster, CityID, SocialNetworking…). Navigating around in the Settings menu is also similar to Droid 1’s, with a few extra settings buried here and there. To name a few: Battery Manager<\/em> can reduce display brightness and data usage at night; Smart Profile: Face Down<\/em> offers can set a silent profile if the phone is placed face down; Media Audio Effects<\/em> offers minimal equalizer settings; Swype<\/em> is installed but disabled by default.<\/p>\n

Update<\/em>: Playing some Digitally Imported\u00a0radio<\/a> side-by-side, the Droid 1 has a much<\/em> louder speakerphone than the Droid X, and almost completely\u00a0drowns\u00a0it out.<\/p>\n

Durability<\/strong><\/p>\n

Holding the phones one in each hand, the Droid X is\u00a0noticeably thinner and lighter. The Droid 1 feels much more solid and sturdy though. The thick, almost bare-metal, casing surrounding the Droid 1 (along with it’s heavier weight) makes it just feel like it could take a beating (it has<\/em> after nine months of using it!). \u00a0Compared solely to the Droid 1, the Droid X is thinner, lighter and has a sort of plastic feel, giving the impression that it is more fragile.<\/p>\n

Update<\/em>:\u00a0Handling solely the Droid X for a few days, it doesn’t really feel plastic, but quite strong.\u00a0I guess it is the mindset that heavier is stronger, which [gladly] isn’t always the case.<\/p>\n

Customization<\/strong><\/p>\n

After seeing the light, and rooting my Droid 1, I am a little nervous about the Droid X being left in the dark<\/a>.\u00a0Hopefully, it will just be a matter of time before the Droid X gets rooted. This is important because rooting my Droid 1 breathed new life into it – it’s overclocked to 800 MHz and runs Android 2.2, making it actually feel<\/em> as fast as the stock Droid X. If the BuglessBeast ROM wasn’t running now on my Droid 1, the gap between the two phones would be much larger.<\/p>\n

Update<\/em>: Nixing MotoBlur for LauncherPro<\/a> has drastically improved my experience with the Droid X. Thankfully, at least I can still choose any launcher app – \u00a0I do recommend LauncherPro!<\/p>\n

Battery Life<\/strong><\/p>\n

From comments below: “For a quick and dirty observation right now, I\u2019d say the Droid X does have slightly better battery life.” I\u2019ll try to do a good in-depth comparison soon…<\/p>\n

Update<\/em>: As usual, AnandTech produces another excellent review –\u00a0this time of the Droid X<\/a>. Here are the average hours of the three General Battery Life benchmarks<\/a> they<\/em> did: <\/span><\/p>\n