gdgt

I will be getting one of these two phones on Friday. I am really torn between the great specs of the Droid and the great Sense UI with the Eris.

Anyone have any thoughts/opinions about which phone is the better choice?

I'm in the same boat as you. At this point I'm leaning towards Eris. The Droid's specs are nice and all, but aside from turn-by-turn navigation (which will make it to Eris when HTC gets around to updating Sense to 2.0), there's not really anything there that I'm really willing to shell out an extra $100 for.

I went for the droid and ended up yearning for the Eris. The question is can you upgrade from 1.5 or will you need a new platform? At least 1.6 is needed to properly view the new app store. Once I am sure I can upgrade I am buying. Side by side performance with the moto is comparable, despite the tech hype. BTW - spoken turn by turn on the moto phone is great if you speak robot.

if u want speed go droid and if u want cool ui go eris.

I have been a long time iPhone user but been primarily using the Hero for the past week and I think the physical keyboard and larger screen are worth the price. The Hero on-screen keyboard is not a responsive as the iPhone, which is itself barely acceptable, at least partially due to it being more cramped. I am constantly wanting to slide out the keyboard just to dial a phone number.

I too am trying to decide which phone to get and plan on playing with both today in store. One concern form me is the new cancellation fee they may slap onto smartphones being $350.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/04/verizon-looking-to-bu
mp-early-termination-fee-to-350-on-advanc/

This makes me think twice about getting the faster phone to keep up with more demanding applications for the future. I do love the Sense UI and wish it came on the DROID's processor because I don't need the keyboard, although it is a nice addition.

I'd say go with the Droid. Software can be upgraded, but hardware cannot. Plus, if you're posting on this site, you're more inclined to go down the hacked ROM route, and I'm praying to the lord almighty that someone finds a way to port Sense UI onto the Droid (I feel it really is only a matter of time, it's the premier Android phone after all).

I'm going with neither. Haven't you guys heard about the HTC Passion at all? Its got specs better than the DROID and probably an android 2.0 version of Sense UI. Plus a bigger screen than the Hero for easier typing. BGR put the release date as early as Black Friday.


Wait a month to see if if it comes out. If not go with the DROID.

I'm torn between both phones, and I think it comes down to personal preference, something I can only determine if I actually hold the phones in my hands and try to use them. I'm going to the Verizon store (hopefully next week) to see for myself which of the two I'm more comfortable using.

The majority of people at the local Verizon store came in to see the Droid but walked out with an Eris. It's $100 less, far more elegant, and simply FEELS a lot better in the hand.

I frankly don't understand the media/blog-o-sphere-o-tron's fascination with the Droid. Motorola totally failed on ergonomics & UI with the Droid, IMHO. Much to HTC's delight most likely. :-)

It's interesting - I went into a VZW store today to compare the Droid & the Eris, and I left feeling pretty conflicted.

The Droid is neat - the screen is fantastic (really beautiful!), and I think Androis 2.0 is impressive, but the keyboard is basically useles. Maybe (just maybe) it would be more useful with practice, but I doubt it.

The Eris is beautiful. THe screen's not as nice and it doesn't have the features of 2.0, but the Sense UI is much nicer than the stock Android, and the seven home screens means a whole lot more customization.

If VZW does bring out a an HTC phone with Sense and Android 2.0 I think that'd be my ideal, but for right now, even though I wanted to like the Droid more I'm partial to the Eris.

I am swaying towards, the Eris rather than the Droid, not because of price, but because of HTC and their history with Android. Nobody today can do it better than them.

It's a bummer they don't have 2.0, but I am sure it will be out as soon as HTC gets their Touch compatible with it.

Do the GPS on both compare equally?

Does anybody know how lenient Verizon is being on giving customers the 2-year upgrade price if your 2 year contract isn't up for a couple of more months?

A comparison of the two here:
http://cellphoneforums.net/motorola-droid/t305029-compar
ison-between-motorola-droid-htc-eris.html

my boss just got the Eris yesterday. gotta say, i love it. i picked up the droid earlier in the week & hated how it felt in my hand. the eris felt great. processor seemed pretty decent for normal activity. only thing holding me back from completely loving android is the music player. i want one device for phone/music. i just feel like android devices can't touch the iPhone in that aspect.

I've been working on the same decision since for a while. I'm planning on picking up an Eris when my contract is up next week. (You can get both phones for $50 less and without the hassle of rebate debit cards at Wirefly, BTW.) I've played with both phones. The build quality seem about equal, and HTC and MOTO both have good reps.

If you value simplicity more, you'll likely prefer the Eris, with its smoother, smaller physical design and more polished UI. As others point out, you're also likely to get Android 2.0 and Google Nav in the near future. HTC has offered significant software updates on their other android phones in the past.

But... you're getting a more 'mature' platform, and it's screen is nice, but pales next to the Droid's which is best-of-breed ATM. If you care a lot about pixel density, but still prefer the 'all-screen' form factor, be patient! There's no question Moto, HTC, and every other android MFR will offer something to fit your needs in the coming months.

The Droid offers that superior screen, better specs (the experience is only slightly better than the Eris, though), a D-pad (which as far as I can tell is only useful for games), a physical keyboard (albeit a subpar one - my hand-me-down Envy's keyboard is way easier to type on), and Android 2.0 / Google Nav right now.

I thought about getting a Droid with the understanding I would never open the slider, but I have come to weigh the HTC UI improvements and simple physical design of the Eris over the screen, better specs and Android 2.0 of the Droid.

Now, if I valued simplicity above all else - over flexibility and network quality, say - the iPhone has end-to-end platform simplicity in the bag, and probably will for a long time... But I don't, so I'm really excited about finding what seems to be a nice balance in the Eris.

I was eligible for my upgrade this past week. I did a lot of research, including looking at this forum, while trying to decide between the Droid and the Eris. I went into the store planning on purchasing the Droid, but played with both phones and kind of liked the Eris better because of its smaller size. The web browsing didn't seem significantly slower, at least not enough to bother me.
I actually purchased the Droid because the research I had done and the employees in the store told me that it was the "better" phone, with all of the newest and best applications and processor, etc. I also was worried about not having an external keyboard because I had never been good at using the virtual qwerty keyboards (on my Dare). However, after having it for a day, actually less than 24 hours, I realized that it just wasn't the phone for me and that I actually liked the virtual keyboard way more than the external one. The phone was way too big and clunky and this bothered me more than I had thought it would - it actually hurt my wrist and fingers to hold the phone and type on it. The trade off for better features at the expense of the convenience and comfort provided by smaller size wasn't worth it for me. I returned the phone (and all of the accessories) in order to trade it for the Eris. All the employees at the store looked at me like I was crazy, but oh well. I am now much happier with my phone and so happy that I did it. Yes, there are a few things the Droid has that the Eris doesn't (turn by turn navigation for example - which, by the way, I found extremely annoying on the Droid and don't really need since I have a perfectly functional nuvi).
Don't let people's opinions of what an awesome phone Droid is make you feel like you have to get that phone (I did feel pressure from the Verizon employees to buy that phone and to stick with it). Yes it's great, but so is the Eris and if the Eris fits your life better, then go for it! I love it!

i've played with the droid at stores a lot. i cannot stand it's design. like you said, it feels heavy/clunky. no thanks. and the eris will get the android update soon anyway.