In just a couple more days we will see the official launch of the Verizon Motorola Droid X, the second 4.3 inch display Google Android device to launch on a US wireless carrier. You can check out several reviews of the Verizon Droid X and Sprint HTC EVO 4G (many listed on the last page of this post) and most every reviewer will give both about the same high ratings so you really need to look a bit closer at both devices to see which one fits your needs better. I am blessed to be a ZDNet writer who gets to spend time with many of these devices to evaluate them for myself first hand before committing to buy the ones I find best for me. In this post, I will walk through several aspects of each of these two super smartphones and let you know which one I picked for myself now that I have had some hands-on time with both. I also recommend that you take a look at MoTR podcast co-host James Kendrick’s head-to-head article covering these two smartphones. You should check out my HTC EVO 4G and Motorola Droid X image galleries for a few photos of these two devices and sample photos taken with each of them, including a couple panoramic shots from the Droid X.
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| Image Gallery: Here are a few photos of the Motorola Droid X (with sample photos from both) and HTC EVO 4G. |  |
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Tale of the tape: Specifications
I know specifications don’t tell the whole story, but it is a good place to start when comparing devices side-by-side so let’s take a look at how these two superphones stack up on paper.
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As you look through the table above, you see very few differences between these two devices, but there are some that are present in the specs and also in the design elements of the devices. In terms of hardware we see that the Droid X has three microphones, slightly higher resolution display, 8GB internal storage, and slightly narrower display while the EVO 4G has a WiMAX radio, integrated kickstand, and front facing camera.
While they both run Google Android 2.1 and will both be upgraded to Android 2.2 (aka Froyo) there are some other differences in software and services. They both have the capability to share internet access and act as WiFi hotspots with the Droid X sharing on up to 5 devices while the EVO 4G can share with up to 8 devices. Surprisingly, Verizon included very few pieces of bloatware on the Droid X and instead gives you a Verizon tab in the Android Market where YOU can choose to install things such as V CAST Tones, V CAST Media Manager, My Verizon, and more V CAST Apps and selected 3rd party apps (including Kindle, Shazam, and more). The only custom apps and services I could find loaded on the Droid X are BlockBuster and City ID. Motorola also includes their new user interface, still called MOTOBLUR, that is essentially a few widgets and applications designed to give you quick access to social networks, news, and some other information. I like the new MOTOBLUR since it gives you more control and is not too overwhelming, but still much prefer HTC Sense.
Sprint also keeps the EVO 4G fairly clean with the following services and application preloaded on the HTC EVO 4G; NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile, Sprint Football Live, Sprint Navigation, and Sprint TV. The great thing about Sprint is that all of these additional services are “free” and included in your monthly data fee. HTC has their Sense 2.5 user interface on the EVO 4G that gives you a special Home screen layout, widgets, keyboard, phone dialer, other utilities, and applications such as Peep, Friend Stream, and Footprints.
