Feb 22, 2010 09:53 PM EDT by Dana Wollman
Just last week we got hands-on with the Motorola Devour, a Droid-like handset with a more elegant design– not to mention, Motorola’s custom interface, MOTOBLUR. Today, we were handed a working unit, and you can expect a full review soon. But in the meantime, here’s what you need to know if you’re a Verizon customer deciding between this and a Droid. Based on our full review of the Droid and our brief hands-on time with the Devour thus far, both devices are good bets.
|
Droid |
Devour |
|
| Price | $199 (after a $100 mail-in rebate) | $149 (after a $100 mail-in rebate); $99 at Best Buy |
| Operating System | Android 2.0 (upgrade to 2.1 imminent) | Android 1.6 (users can manually download update for turn-by-turn navigation) |
| Multitouch? | Coming soon | Nope |
| Interface | Stock Android interface, as found on the Nexus One. Phones with this UI are usually the first to receive Android OS updates. | Motorola’s proprietary MOTOBLUR interface, as found on the Motorola Cliq. This interface makes social networking a priority, with widgets for Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, and text messages appearing on the main home screen. |
| Design | The phone is black with hard edges. Metal body is hefty but feels solid. D-pad located to right of keyboard. | Slick aluminum body with optical touchpad next to dislay. Its slightly more contoured body and turquoise accents give it a softer look than the Droid. |
| Dimensions and Weight | 4.6 x 2.4 x 0.5 inches, 6.0 ounces | 4.5 x 2.4 0.6 inches; 5.9 ounces |
| Keyboard | Slide-out QWERTY keyboard with keys that we found too flat to comfortably type on. But layout is intuitive. | Slide-out keyboard with raised keys that have better feel. But it has an unusual layout, with a dedicated row of number buttons at the top, and a space bar punctuating the bottom row. |
| Screen | 3.7 inches (854 x 480 pixels) | 3.1 inches (480 x 320 pixels) |
| Processor, RAM, and ROM | 550-MHz Arm Cortex A8 processor with 256MB RAM and 512MB ROM. | 600-MHz Qualcomm MSM7627 with 256MB RAM and 512MB ROM. |
| Expandable memory | 16GB microSD card pre-installed | 8GB microSD card pre-installed |
| Verizon Services on Board | Visual Voicemail | VZ Navigator, V CAST Music with Rhapsoda, V CAST Video, Visual Voicemail |
| Special Features | Sharper 5-MP camera, Google Search by Voice | Moto Portal online backup stores contacts and photos; MOTOBLUR backup stores your various accounts; and Flash Lite support (Flash 10 is coming, says Motorola) |
| Best For |
Power users looking for speed and a big, high-res screen. | Social networking fans who want to the latest updates without digging. |
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February 23rd, 2010 at 2:57 pm
Droid is $99 at best buy too.
March 14th, 2010 at 11:12 am
Devour is the best for me. The DROID just has way too many bells and whistles that MOST people won’t use anyway. Devour is cheaper, too. Battery life is better. The DEVOUR keyboard tops the DROID’s by far.
March 14th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
Bought the Devour yesterday after a year of putting up with a Storm. Keyboard is great, the reason I chose it over the Droid. Seems like a great phone.
March 15th, 2010 at 8:35 pm
I’m thinking of getting the Devour because I’ve played with my friend’s Droid and the Droid seems to be super thick to me, so I still have to play with a Devour but I’d pick the Devour over Droid.
March 25th, 2010 at 4:16 pm
umm DROID!!! what others can’t droid does.
March 29th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
Devour is AWESOME!! Droid is getting old now.
March 31st, 2010 at 6:32 pm
i like the devour but what draws me to the droid is the 16 gb pre installed microSD card and the bigger screen i dont like the keyboard but the touch screen seems pretty accurate the devours keyboard is nice but the touchscreen is less responsive oh and the droid is buy one get one free at verizon my updates in may and i really want one someone help me choose
April 5th, 2010 at 11:25 am
The camera quality in the devour is pretty bad. It does not have autofocus. The barcode scanner app simply can’t take a clear enough picture to work. I played with a devour for a while the other day trying to get it to work and it just couldn’t do it. The Droid and the Eris both have autofocus cameras that work as well or better than the iPhone’s.
One feature I do like in the devour is the little black square on the side of the screen is a touch pad like the new blackberries have.
April 11th, 2010 at 7:34 pm
I have the droid and i love it most people dont like the keyboard but i adjusted easily so i didnt find that a problem i only wish it has flash player for like games on the internet though but oh well
April 18th, 2010 at 7:11 pm
I just got the Devour last monday. Id have to say its #@$! awesome. However the camera does not meet my standards. I would much rather have the 5mp.
April 19th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
I got so fed up with the Blackberry storm that I bought a new phone. It ended up costing me $40 less per month for the same plan so if you are a storm user and can upgrade you should really make the switch to a phone that can do actually something. The devour is great, but mildly buggy. Camera isn’t great, but everything else works wonderfully. Its more of just an android vessel anyway.
You should not think of android as a phone but as a multi-use computer. Since all the big apps are cross platform (shazam ect) who cares what hardware you use. Droid probably wins by the specs but Style beat the numbers for me.
April 21st, 2010 at 2:46 am
I bought the DEVOUR and my husband got the DROID….It works for me cause of the social networking…camera sux and memory is 1/2 of that in the DROID!! Im finding myself on the DROID more than my DEVOUR…it’s FASTER too!! So…I might just turn mine in before the 30 days end.
April 30th, 2010 at 7:19 pm
I found the Devour at Costco for $30.00 with a car charger and case! I love this phone it is awesome!
May 3rd, 2010 at 8:46 pm
Droid by far. I got the Devour and it was working great until the apps started to crash and I couldn’t use the screen because there wasn’t enough haptic feedback. Keyboard is great but other than that it sux. And what’s up with the screen, there is like a huge gap at the bottom of it. I returned the phone to the store a day after i got it and they said noting was really wrong with it it was acting normal so i switched to the droid and I am way happier with it. The biggest difference is that droid now runs android 2.1 and the devour is running on the old 1.6 which is a lot slower than 2.1. if your a person who is obsessed with their social networking than get the devour but if you want a good smart phone that is fast and awesome get the DROID!! Also, the keyboard on the droid isn’t terrible and you can use an onscreen keyboard or you can talk into it to message people.
May 18th, 2010 at 10:21 am
the devour is wayyyy much better than the droid i had it for a month now and no problems didnt occur yet its the best phone out
May 19th, 2010 at 2:00 am
I got the devour a little over a month ago and its a great phone I wish they would update to a newer version of android though its def a nice phone but I’m a techie and kind of regreting not getting the droid because of the bigger screen and updated andeoid system not to mention a camera that can actually take pictures wortha damn overall though I would reccomend the devour to anyone that is really into social networking but motoblur just isn’t enough tech for me
May 24th, 2010 at 11:26 pm
I been had the droid and I also just picked up da devour both are very good phone the devour just looks a little beter but what other can’t do driod does
June 6th, 2010 at 8:22 pm
just ordered devour. im certainly hoping this reveiw is accurate
June 23rd, 2010 at 10:07 pm
D R O I D. IS. THE. BEST!!!!!!!!!!!
June 30th, 2010 at 11:56 pm
I’m a web browsing person. I want good fast technology but yet a good phone. Should I get the Devour or Droid and unlock it for another carrier?
July 7th, 2010 at 12:44 am
I LOVE THE DEVOURR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Its so cuteee its perfectttt its the only phone where i wld do anything for.!!!! and thatt doesnt happen quite oftenn.. this phone sang to my soul!!! get the devour
July 15th, 2010 at 3:07 pm
i have had the devour since basically the day it came out some time in may and the verizon store sold its first to me, and i love it, other tha the fact it developed soooo many glitches, its a requirement to backup your contacts immediately because it deletes them regularly, easy to accidentily touch, when i turn it off it freezes and i have to take the battery out, sometimes just randomly turns off. but i love the keyboard as opposed to the droids. but my final complaint is that they should come out with more cases and accessories, there is one case thet you can get and it is clear and is only on one side. but i still like the motoblur interface for networking.
August 19th, 2010 at 5:22 am
I have had the devour for about two days its slow bulky cheap and camera is awful and not to mention android 1.6!!!!lol I can’t wait till I get my droid x to get rid of this pos please stay away rom this phone……
September 8th, 2010 at 8:01 pm
I have friends that have droids and I have a devour and well when it comes down to it here’s what you choose, better camera and graphics or a faster phone overall with still really good graphics. Get the devour the droid is over rated
September 11th, 2010 at 10:16 pm
should i get the devour or droid?
September 20th, 2010 at 11:31 am
I Love The Devour, The camera isn’t the Best But its bad a$$:)