This is a popular Android phone and that is probably down to it’s price of $100.
The Droid Eris was first released as the HTC Hero in Europe and then the Sprint HTC Hero in the US. In essence it’s been remodelled as the Droid Eris.
Design
The Droid Eris has a simple design that is modern and attractive. It’s rounded edges along with chrome finish makes it look quite stylish. It’s simplicity is what attracts me to the way it looks.
The phone has a 3.2 inch HVGA screen which really does stand out and looks great with the 320 x 480 pixel resolution. The colors are vibrant and stand out impressively.
Like the iPhone you can use the Droid Eris either landscape or portrait in certain applications like email or when your brosing the web. It has what’s called an accelerometer, which changes the screen aspect.
The Keyboard
HTC have their own keyboard in the phone. It’s not the standard Android keyboard which has had mixed reviews. I’d say this keyboard is easier to use with more space and responsiveness. Of course there’s always the choice of downloading a keyboard app if you don’t like the one built in here, but it is an improvement on the standard Android version.
Software
This Android phone is responsive when you use it’s touchscreen and there are no problems using it. At the bottom of the screen you get four buttons or soft keys – home, menu, back and zoom.
It’s debateable as to what’s better, soft keys like the Droid Eris has or hardkeys built in to the hardware. I tend to go with the opinion that hardkeys are better because it’s normally easier to feel them out and press them. When you’re in the dark and can’t see, it’s useful to be able to feel what you’re pressing.
With that said, I like the design of the HTC Droid Eris and I don’t think hard keys would be in keeping with the simplicity of the design.
When this Android phone was first released it was running on Android 1.5. It has 2.0 now and is due to get Android version 2.1 in the very near future. Very good news because having a phone that’s as inexpensive as this one at $100 is a great way to get a fast Android phone cheaply. Android needed this, to open the market up to more people.
Customizable
HTC likes making it’s phones customizable and it runs with what’s called HTC Sense. Instead of having the standard Android home screen interface you actually get 7 options which can be customized to whatever you want.
You just flick through the 7 different screens by sweeping your finger across the display. On each new screen you can customize it as much as you want by adding shortcuts and applications.
HTC also gives you Scenes, which is a feature that lets you customize your phone according to what you’re doing on a particular day or part of the day. You can have a social, work, play, travel or HTC scene and create your own as well.
I like this feature because you can change your phone to set it up for whatever applications you would use more when you’re at work, or at home, or wherever you are. It saves time.
You just need to be aware that it does take a bit of time to set up in the beginning. When you first get the phone you might think it’s information overload but it actually makes things simpler in the long run.
The phone has a 528 MHz processor and 288MB of RAM. It’s probably fast enough and everything seems responsive, so there arent any complaints here.
The Camera and Video
The Camera is better than the Motorola Droid, which isn’t hard, but even then it’s still not much better than that. It has 5 Megapixels but pictures seem a bit lifeless and there’s no flash, which strangely isn’t unusual with Android phones (the Nexus One has a flash and is one of the exceptions). You also need decent light to get a good picture with the Droid Eris, but then again that’s the same with a lot of smartphone cameras.
The video isn’t great quality either and needs a lot of light too, pretty average as far as video goes.
Summary
This phone is a very good buy. A good qulaity phone with Verizon for $100 that will have Android version 2.1 running on it. This Android phone has everything most people need. Good design, decent speed, it’s responsive, customizable, has the latest version of Android, and it runs on Verizon, a reliable carrier with good coverage.
What Others are Saying
Gizmodo “The cheapest Android phone you can buy—and the best, for the money.”
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CNET “The HTC Droid Eris is a satisfying Android device that offers a nice contrast to the Motorola Droid. And you can’t beat the price.”
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PC World “The HTC Droid Eris is an affordable and feature-packed alternative to the Motorola Droid.”
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