Opinion Piece Author: Kris Russo, NBC25 Account Executive
The same great phone, which for the most part launched the Droid OS into the market as we know it, and that we all have come to enjoy with some special tweak’s!
Phone
The Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid 4 is extremely similar to the two counter parts the original Motorola Droid and the Droid 2 and 3, there is some small features that make it look slightly different. It has a larger screen and a faster processor which is nice when running multiple apps, the phone doesn’t seem to lag at all!
Of course it links with Facebook, Twitter, and now the new Google+ data (contact’s photo and profile info) in the address book however it is a few extra clicks to make it all link. The applications are not pre-installed however they can be added through the market with ease! There is also a favorite callers list that is displayed at the top of the main home screen and only shows 5 favorites to choose from, however if you drag it down it opens up the list of all the favorites instead of just the top 5.
There is a quick launch for the phone at the bottom of the screen; it is a little green button with a phone. The placement of it was in a spot that took some time to get used to; it’s set up more like a quick launch app would be instead of being a permanent fixture at the bottom of the screen. The clarity of the phone is good there where no problems with people being able to hear.
The Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid 4 has the option of 2 keyboard types of keyboards, the normal touch screen droid keyboard as well as a full slide out QWERTY keyboard. The keys on the slide out seem to be slightly larger then the keys on the Droid 2, 3 and Original Droid, that makes it nicer for those with larger hands and fingers to make sure it is more comfortable for them to use.
Design
The Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid 4 is running the Dual Core 1.2 Ghz processor with 1GB of LP DDR2 RAM and the Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread OS with the Motorola Application Platform.
It also has the built in voice input on any text field and it works very well as long as you are not in an area with large amounts of background noise or in a car with road noise, them it will not pick it up.
There’s a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top left side and the power/sleep button on top in the middle of the device. The volume rocker on the right side of the Droid 4 and Micro USB and the HDMI connections are on the left side toward the bottom of the phone.
There are quick launch touch keys for menu, back, home and search below the screen.
Display
The screen on the Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid 4 is a 4-inch, 960 x 540 pixel touch screen display. This is very nice compared to it’s earlier models, however some may notice that the screen pixels can still be to pronounced, that may bother some people who notice it, however for the average consumer it may not be as noticeable! This makes the Droid 4 the thinnest 4G QWERTY smart-phone that is on the market to date. It also features scratch resistant Corning Gorilla Glass as well as a water-repellent nano-coating over the phone.
Camera
The Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid 4 camera is an 8 megapixel on the rear of the devise with a 1080p recording capabilities and has the quick launch from the locked screen for taking that quick shot that would otherwise be missed and a 1.3 front-facing camera on the front of the phone that will record 720p. It features auto-focus as well as face recognition, touch to focus technology and even panoramic modes.
The video recorder captures 1080p HD video and also has HDMI port to be able to share the videos on your big screen! It also includes a 1.3 MP front facing camera it makes it simple to video chat with your friends through Google Talk, it comes preinstalled on all Droid devises.
There is a quick launch for the camera at the bottom of the screen, when you first look at it the icon doesn’t really look like a camera it looks more like a front load washing machine, but that is the quick launch for the camera!
Battery Life
Most smart-phone users have concluded by now that no matter the phone in use it will have to charge every day.
Interface
The Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid 4 run Android 2.3.5 which runs on the latest version of Gingerbread OS with the Motorola Application Platform that runs five home screens.
The Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid 4 never slowed and scrolling between pages or up and down long lists happened without hesitation. The user interface is wickedly fast and responsive. It does have to Dual Core Processor however that doesn’t mean anything to the average consumer they operate the same as a single core processor but where you notice the biggest difference is in the graphics, gaming, and the video output feature. The Dual Core Processor also helps with the battery life. Anyone who is a seasoned Droid user knows that the battery’s don’t last for any extended length of time and the Dual Core Processor helps with saving on the battery because it doesn’t make the phone work as hard.
Web
It has a full HTML browser. It is integrated with Flash 10.1 for web browsing so viewing most sites with flash files is not a problem.
You can pinch-zoom pages in as far as you want, you get a nice screen shot of bookmarked pages, and they can all be viewed in landscape or vertical configurations.
Special Feature Apps
The Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid 4 has quite a few apps that are new and a great addition to the phones features.
MOTOACTIVE: Is a Motorola fitness tracker
MOTOPRINT: This is an application is used to connect wirelessly to a printer.
TASK MANAGER: Included task killer for problem apps.
SMART ACTIONS: This application is used to set the phone to do various functions throughout the day. For example, it can be set for “home” mode, which allows the volume to be set at 100% so a call is never missed within a certain time frame. “Battery Saver” mode allows for the phone to go into sleep mode during certain times of the day or if the phone has been inactive for a given length of time. “Sleep” mode turns the ringer off at a set time and turns it back on at a set time daily. There are also “Battery Saver” modes, “Workout” Modes, other preset modes, as well as an option to create custom modes. However this is confusing to set up if not familiar with different work mode settings.
Conclusion
The difference between the Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid 4 and it’s predecessors are small to say the least, why fix something that isn’t broken. There are many things that one would enjoy about the phone and little things that improved on the original! It is a great phone for someone who wants all the power and versatility of the Droid OS on a global platform with a slide out QWERTY keyboard.
Specs
Processor: Dual Core 1.2 Ghz processor
Storage: 16GB Internal Memory for emails, texts, and apps
Screen: 4.0-inch qHD 960 x 540 Touch Screen Display
Camera: 8MP rear with Auto-focus with 1080p HD recording and 1.3 front facing camera for video chatting
Audio: 3.5mm headset jack
Connectivity: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS
Weight: 6.31 ounces
Battery: 1785 mAH Li-ION – Usage (approx) 12.5 hours – Standby Time (approx) 8.5 days
