Droid X2 First Impressions/Reviews

**terpitude71** · 05-18-2011, 05:33 PM

Howdy everyone,

The purpose of this thread, is to hear members thoughts & opinions on how the Motorola Droid X2 stacks up amongst a suggested list of attributes:
Aesthetics
Screen
Hardware
Phone - including bluetooth & speakerphone usage
Overall User Interface (including Motoblur)
Widgets
Signal quality (Compared to other devices)
GPS
Social Networking
Email/Calendar
Battery Life
Performance
Media (music, movies, DLNA)
Keyboard's
Camera (both still & video)
How the Droid X2 compares to your previous smartphone (if applicable)
Disappointments (if any)

Feel free to provide as little or as much detail as possible, while trying to make it as useful as possible. Hopefully this will help others who are considering the Droid X2, but would like to hear some user feedback first. Also, please do not review the Droid X2 prior to having one

And if you read a review that you found helpful, please use the Thanks button to show them your appreciation!

**Stagger0** · 05-19-2011, 09:22 PM

Ok so far I'll start out with the thing everyone wants.

Out of the box, smartbench 2011 score:
Productivity: 2978
Games: 2524

This thing is FAST. I have had an OG Droid and a TMO G1. This thing is wicked. I played Dungeon Defenders HD on it, ran like a hot knife through butter. On screen keyboard default is extremely nice and quick, swype is... I don't like swype yet. I have to get used to it I guess.

Battery life seems that it could use a little improvement, but then again it is LOADED with bloatware. Signal quality seems nominal.

The new "Blur" is really a lot like the old blur, just with fancier icons and an overall darker theme.

The qHD screen is fabulous. I'll do some more work with it and get more info tomorrow.

Quick edit, for some reason, Dungeon Defenders sometimes causes a reboot.

**alcor34** · 05-19-2011, 09:47 PM

Im loving this phone, screen is excellent, wifi is great, the speed is amazing, i mean when i hit a task it pops. Battery is good and came fully charged, keyboard is a whole lot better. It's not running Gingerbread but it's pretty close to some of the leaks that i have seen. It does have some new apps that i will find very useful like Rich Location etc. I don't know if it's just my device, but the hard buttons seem to be recessed to fit more smoothly with the screen, it's nice, they don't rock or shake, there is no loss of light through the edges like in the X1 and they snap nicely. Also the finish on the phone is nices than the original.

Im not crazy about the ton of actual vzw apps it came with but...

I'll edit my post later when i have played with it more. So far not disappointed at all.

p.s i love the fact that it flahsed dual core when it's powering up. "show off"

**ohnoitsryan** · 05-19-2011, 10:20 PM

Good reviews. Getting mine tomorrow, tired of this Thunderbolt crap.

**adjangs** · 05-20-2011, 12:34 AM

Impressed with build quality. It looks like droid X but dosn't feel like one exactly.

Snappy for all the bloat on it, though I was a bit disappointed that scroll lag was still very much evident in menus, worse than a rooted fascinate (my daily driver). I'm curious if that would be fixed without motoblur working its magic in the background.

The buttons feel solid, like they won't fall off any time soon.

**ottscay** · 05-20-2011, 12:45 AM

Scroll lag will be gone once Gingerbread hits - GPU UI acceleration FTW.

**JoJoCal19** · 05-20-2011, 07:17 AM

Can someone PLEASE post pictures of the screen!!! I need to see how the qHD looks. Deciding between this and a TB.

**bhcohen7** · 05-20-2011, 07:26 AM

Overall, I think the phone is great! It's super fast, has great screen resolution and is easy to use. Having migrated from a Storm 1, I feel like I've gone from a tricycle to a mercedes.

The only frustration I'm having is getting the navigation app. to work. When I launch it, I get a message saying it's "checking for navigation availability", and the program never loads. My GPS settings are enabled, so I'm at a loss on how to fix the issue.

Is anyone else having this problem?

**Liberati0n** · 05-20-2011, 07:46 AM

Originally Posted by bhcohen7

Overall, I think the phone is great! It's super fast, has great screen resolution and is easy to use. Having migrated from a Storm 1, I feel like I've gone from a tricycle to a mercedes.

The only frustration I'm having is getting the navigation app. to work. When I launch it, I get a message saying it's "checking for navigation availability", and the program never loads. My GPS settings are enabled, so I'm at a loss on how to fix the issue.

Is anyone else having this problem?

If you are talking about VZ Navigator, don't bother, just use the maps app, VZ Navigator costs $10.

**bhcohen7** · 05-20-2011, 08:18 AM

Originally Posted by Liberati0n

If you are talking about VZ Navigator, don't bother, just use the maps app, VZ Navigator costs $10.

No, it's not the VZ navigator app, I think it's the google navigation app I'm having problems with. The icon looks like a blue triangle. It works just fine on my wife's DX (and it's free), so I don't know if the problem is a glitch with the DX2 or is just an issue with my particular phone (configuation, setting, etc.).

**z71kris** · 05-20-2011, 08:36 AM

whats your 3G speeds like with this phone? Anybody from Cleveland Oh pick on up yet...

**bhcohen7** · 05-20-2011, 11:55 AM

My google navigation is finally working. I guess it finally found the navigation availability it was checking for.

**Bravozero** · 05-20-2011, 11:57 AM

I love the DX, and quite honestly if they made the same phone through multiple generations (DX2, DX3, etc) and they kept the same design, that's fine with me. As long as the core features, like the screen, processor, RAM, etc, are upgraded to current standards, I might stick with this model for a while. I'm not big on looks, I'm big on function.

On that note, would you say this runs laps around the original DX?

**Stagger0** · 05-20-2011, 01:01 PM

Day two impressions:

So far battery is holding up pretty good. I'm also sitting in direct sunlight typing this out. I don't know if its visible because of the anti reflective screen or the penile matrix, but its clear.

Hdmi media is spectacular, the phone automatically plays back the video in what ever resolution your TV is, mine was 720p. I'll play with it on my 50" bravia later. Mirroring, on the other hand, leaves something to be desired. The play back is the resolution being rendered, so in this case 960x540 (because of forced landscape.) This results in a semi grainy playback, but is still all sorts of fun.
Edit: Actually on a 1080p television, the play back looks great for games and such.
So far I've played Gun Bros, Dungeon Defenders, and Let's Golf HD2 with amazing graphics.

I have it rooted so now to work on developing stuff for it.

Music playback is also good. I love the variation of the android music player they put in.

**S.Meezy** · 05-20-2011, 01:19 PM

Anybody with the phone: does the home button wake it from sleep or do you have to hit the top power button?

**cromag.rickman** · 05-20-2011, 01:34 PM

Originally Posted by S.Meezy

Anybody with the phone: does the home button wake it from sleep or do you have to hit the top power button?

Home button wakes 'er up!

**Raptor007** · 05-20-2011, 02:43 PM

This is what I was wondering about, real users hands on experiences and impressions. I will be reading over the next few days and may bet this or the D3. I am going to sell a used D2G White that I got on eBay (new) a couple of days ago.

**jhzafrani** · 05-20-2011, 05:53 PM

I got the DX2 this morning and here are my initial impressions when compared to an Atrix 4G:

1. Speed - they are both the same in terms of speed. Both scored relatively the same on the Quadrant test (I ran 10 times) but the Atrix seems snappier overall. Apps seem to open faster and the UI in general seems faster.
2. Screen - it is a beautiful screen. Brighter than the Atrix at its full brightness setting. The resolution is also great and the bigger screen lends itself very well to games and browsing. It is also very responsive to touch events.
3. Blur Experience - Much better than the Atrix version of Blur (not sure why there are different versions considering the Atrix is relatively new as well). The theme is nicer as well and the profiles are a nice add on. The launcher is nice as responsive (although it does gets stuck every now and then).
4. Data Speed - on cell data service, there is no comparison. The Atrix blows this thing out of the water. At my office I have full bars on both AT&T and Verizon and the Atrix's data download speeds are about 2.5 times faster and the upload is about 1.5 times faster.
5. Battery life - this thing drains much faster than the Atrix (the atrix has a bigger battery apparently) which is not good. As is, with my DX1, I had to use the extended battery to go an entire day so I am not sure how this one will perform.

Overall, I think it is a good device. I had the original DX and loved it. This one is overall faster and sports a better screen but I am not sure that it is a good upgrade. I will report back after having it the entire weekend and deciding whether or not I will keep it...

**Stagger0** · 05-20-2011, 07:19 PM

Originally Posted by jhzafrani

I got the DX2 this morning and here are my initial impressions when compared to an Atrix 4G:

1. Speed - they are both the same in terms of speed. Both scored relatively the same on the Quadrant test (I ran 10 times) but the Atrix seems snappier overall. Apps seem to open faster and the UI in general seems faster.
2. Screen - it is a beautiful screen. Brighter than the Atrix at its full brightness setting. The resolution is also great and the bigger screen lends itself very well to games and browsing. It is also very responsive to touch events.
3. Blur Experience - Much better than the Atrix version of Blur (not sure why there are different versions considering the Atrix is relatively new as well). The theme is nicer as well and the profiles are a nice add on. The launcher is nice as responsive (although it does gets stuck every now and then).
4. Data Speed - on cell data service, there is no comparison. The Atrix blows this thing out of the water. At my office I have full bars on both AT&T and Verizon and the Atrix's data download speeds are about 2.5 times faster and the upload is about 1.5 times faster.
5. Battery life - this thing drains much faster than the Atrix (the atrix has a bigger battery apparently) which is not good. As is, with my DX1, I had to use the extended battery to go an entire day so I am not sure how this one will perform.

Overall, I think it is a good device. I had the original DX and loved it. This one is overall faster and sports a better screen but I am not sure that it is a good upgrade. I will report back after having it the entire weekend and deciding whether or not I will keep it...

Yeah, battery life could use a little bit of room for improvement. I'd bet money that Gingerbread helps it. I'm sitting here with 11 hours of heavy use (3-4 of pocket legends 1-2 of dungeon defenders, many phone calls). So it's not horrible.

**jhzafrani** · 05-20-2011, 07:27 PM

Originally Posted by Stagger0

Yeah, battery life could use a little bit of room for improvement. I'd bet money that Gingerbread helps it. I'm sitting here with 11 hours of heavy use (3-4 of pocket legends 1-2 of dungeon defenders, many phone calls). So it's not horrible.

Interesting observation. I did not run any games or talk on the phone. I have 3 email accounts setup (all push and getting about 10-20 emails an hour). I did do a lot of installations (pushed from the online market). I guess it will also take some cycles for the battery to reach its full potential...

**darkmatter** · 05-20-2011, 08:25 PM

Originally Posted by JoJoCal19

Can someone PLEASE post pictures of the screen!!! I need to see how the qHD looks. Deciding between this and a TB.

Wouldn't going to the store to compare be better? Comparing different screens through yet another screen seems kinda odd to me.

I'm more curious how this screen compares to droid charge, or maybe even xperia play.

**JoJoCal19** · 05-20-2011, 10:21 PM

Originally Posted by darkmatter

Wouldn't going to the store to compare be better? Comparing different screens through yet another screen seems kinda odd to me.

I'm more curious how this screen compares to droid charge, or maybe even xperia play.

Nah. I'm familiar with how the TB screen looks and I just want to see what the qHD screen looks like. I'm 40 minutes either direction from my closest Verizon corp stores and it's really not worth it for me to burn the gas just to look at the DX2 screen.

**lowchef1** · 05-21-2011, 01:33 AM

the phone is definately snappy......quadrant scores are very impressive..screen is beautiful...very pleased!

**darkmatter** · 05-21-2011, 02:22 AM

Originally Posted by JoJoCal19

Nah. I'm familiar with how the TB screen looks and I just want to see what the qHD screen looks like. I'm 40 minutes either direction from my closest Verizon corp stores and it's really not worth it for me to burn the gas just to look at the DX2 screen.

Yea, but can you really get a feel of the screen through your monitor? Not to mention it would be a picture of a screen seen from a monitor.
I know for a fact that Flickr butchers colors somewhere between the upload and the posting. Ie, same pic on the same monitor, side by side, the flickr image looks terrible compared to the actual picture file.