Motorola DROID 3 User Reviews

evanross posted on 05 Apr 2013, 11:08

6

A great disappointment

evanross has owned it for more than one year before publishing this review

The phone started great but the longer I owned it the worse and worse it became. Apparently it's a problem for many motorola phones, the UI becomes more and more sluggish until it's so slow that you have to power cycle the phone. That, unfortunately, is required every 12 to 48 hours.

Build quality 7/10

Reception 7/10

Call quality 7/10

Internet 2/10

Multimedia 7/10

Camera 6/10

UI speed 1/10

Everyday usage 1/10

Text input 10/10

Display 7/10

Battery 7/10

Pros

• physical keyboard

Cons

• will sometimes mute bluetooth when making a call
• UI becomes so slow it's unusable
• Needs daily power cycle to get it to be 'normal' ui speed
• It'll take up to 90 seconds from tapping a button until it actually makes the call
• Wifi connection is iffy
• It shuffles ringtones around randomly

Mylesh55 posted on 01 Feb 2012, 02:26

6

Pretty... OK.

Mylesh55 has owned it for less than year before publishing this review

Its defiantly a good phone but not the best, the little things are great, but where it counts is slacking... After extensive use it is not impressive. When did it seem like a good idea to only put 512 RAM in a dual-core phone with lots of crap being forced to run in the background?

Build quality 9/10 Great solid build and feels great in the hand. The lock button is bad without a case...

Reception 10/10 Good for Verizon, shame to see no 4g. But I'm not holding that against it.

Call quality 9/10 Second best I've used. Clear. But power consuming. Downgrade form D2.

Internet 8/10 Very good but the stock browser is just passable.

Multimedia 2/10 Gallery is AWFUL and UNUSABLE! Music player crashes and DEMANDS a market download instead of its crap.

Camera 7/10 Start-up is average for a single core. Preview is good. Shutter speed is AWFUL! Quality is good but color is off before and after update.

UI speed 6/10 Looks cool! But not very usable and lags in everything it does. Looks good but truly dead on the inside.

Everyday usage 7/10 Very usable and easy to adapt to is you're looking to do nothing but one or two simple things per day like text and update Facebook. For power users, stay away from this buggy trap! Constant restarts.

Text input 10/10 It has a outstanding physical keyboard, the best you'll find.

Display 5/10 Resolution is great. Screen is poor. Colors are washed out. The HORRID pixelation is ugly to say the least. Its good that the screen got bigger since the D2 but just another step back with lower quality.

Battery 10/10 Works well and last almost 2 days, crappy screen doesn't use much power so it lasts

Pros

• Keyboard
• Build quality
• Great battery life
• Gingerbread with animations

Cons

• Aweful media apps
• Horrid screen
• Horrid UI
• Camera is bad
• WHERE IS THE RAM???
• Stock apps are bad
• Bugs, bugs and more bugs.
• Self-restarting
• Misleading ads
• Lag. Lots and lots of lag.

Mylesh55 alternatives:

Motorola DROID BIONIC

Motorola DROID X2

dg.tech91 posted on 03 Jan 2012, 12:04

10

Droid 3 - AWESOME!!!

dg.tech91 has owned it for less than month before publishing this review

The only major problem I found is the battery - sometimes it's really hot!
The minors problem is camera button and no 4G which is not a big deal.
Otherwise, many updates that really improves the capability of the phone!
The size is perfect in my opinion.

Build quality 10/10

Reception 10/10

Call quality 10/10

Internet 10/10

Multimedia 10/10

Camera 8/10 A bit slow and no camera button

UI speed 10/10

Everyday usage 10/10

Text input 10/10

Display 10/10

Battery 7/10

Pros

• Nice size
• Processor speed
• Dual camera
• Physical keyboard

Cons

• Camera (no button)
• Battery

Droidude posted on 23 Oct 2011, 13:09

9

Great addition especially after the software update

Droidude has owned it for less than 3 months before publishing this review

Phone was decent out of the box, except for the blue tint on the photos, sub par battery life, long screen redraws and 3G signal drops. The rest of it worked great. About a month ago, Motorola and Verizon OTAed a large software update that addressed most of the issues. The phone works great now. I actually like the new 3D Blur and the rest of the interface. Battery life increased drastically and the camera is working better but still needs work. Blue tint is gone. I use it everyday for work and like it a lot. I think Phonearena should take another look at the phone and post a update in their review of this phone. It has gotten a lot better since the update. I recommend it to anyone.

Build quality 10/10

Reception 9/10

Call quality 9/10

Internet 10/10

Multimedia 10/10

Camera 7/10

UI speed 10/10

Everyday usage 10/10

Text input 10/10

Display 9/10

Battery 9/10

Pros

• Big screen, fantastic hardware keyboard, multimedia, UI speed, 3d Blur. Android 2.3.4.
• Screen is readable in bright sunlight.

Cons

• Camera slightly better since the update, but needs another software update to become competent,
• 3G drops to 1X in the evenings.

bdhillery posted on 25 Jul 2011, 11:16

10

The Way The Original Droid Shoulda Been Brought Out!!! Phone is off the Hook!!!

bdhillery has owned it for less than month before publishing this review

Coming from the original droid to the Droid III, I am extremely impressed w/ the step-up of this phone. Extremely fast everything worx perfectly. No major issues w/ it outside of battery life, & sometimes when youre heavily multitasking it lags a bit, but thats to be expected w/ ALL smartphones of this magnitude. Overall a very good asset for Big Red that deserves to be promoted a lil better. List of Pros & Cons below:

Build quality 10/10

Reception 10/10

Call quality 10/10

Internet 10/10

Multimedia 10/10

Camera 9/10

UI speed 9/10

Everyday usage 9/10

Text input 10/10

Display 10/10

Battery 8/10

Pros

• Honeycomb-Ish UI
• Dual Core processor (Huge difference from 600mhz on Droid1)
• Keyboard
• 8mp Camera(HD video)
• Front facing Camera
• Android 2.3
• HDMI Out
• 16GB internal storage
• Screen Resolution
• CDMA/GSM capable

Cons

• no 4G (not a problem though)
• Still no simultaneous voice & data unless over wifi
• Several favorite apps not accessible to phone yet (ex. mlb live game stream, video chat, several games)
• Battery Life (to be expected w/ high end smartphones)
• No unlocked bootloader
• no physical camera button for quick pix
• Battery cover a lil' difficult to remove

Mr. Savage posted on 23 Jul 2011, 22:47

10

DROID 3 BABY!!!!

Mr. Savage has owned it for less than month before publishing this review

No 4G.. No Problemo! As for you all complaining about battery life... Go to Settings.. Switching your phone from Global to CDMA... I am coming from an LG Ally to this and the Ally had a wonderful keyboard. This is even better. Calls dropped like crazy with my ally and reception is exceptional with this bad boy. The camera is not all that bad to me. I heard if you switch to Vignette that the camera gets even better. Not really any complaints here... Just satisfied with my purchase!

Build quality 10/10

Reception 10/10

Call quality 10/10

Internet 10/10

Multimedia 10/10

Camera 9/10

UI speed 9/10

Everyday usage 10/10

Text input 10/10

Display 9/10

Battery 9/10

Pros

• Keyboard
• Great Quality
• Call quality is great
• Nice display

Cons

• The fact that ppl sleepin' on this phone!

Mr. Savage posted on 23 Jul 2011, 21:43

10

THE DROID 3 BABY!!!

Mr. Savage has owned it for less than month before publishing this review

Solid all around... I could care less about 4G. Not that big a deal to me. Pages load fast enough for my personal satisfaction.... For those with personal battery life, go to settings and set your phone from Global to CDMA. The call quaility is much better than my LG Ally which would drop call after call in my room. Keyboard is exceptional and I like the screen. Go Launcher works well here. I have been waiting on this phone and I am glad it has lived up to my expectations.

Build quality 10/10

Reception 10/10

Call quality 10/10

Internet 10/10

Multimedia 10/10

Camera 9/10

UI speed 9/10

Everyday usage 10/10

Text input 10/10

Display 9/10

Battery 9/10

Pros

• Keyboard

Cons

DroiDan posted on 23 Jul 2011, 16:19

9

Could Be Better, Could Be Worse

DroiDan has owned it for less than month before publishing this review

My original Droid mysteriously stopped working the same week that the Droid 3 was released on Verizon, so I upgraded to the Droid 3 which had everything I wanted in a new smartphone...except 4g. The screen is larger than the original, the keyboard is superior to the first and second droid, the phone is packed with a qhd screen, 8mp camera, 1080hd recording, dual core processor, and it is a "World Phone."

What is there to complain about?

Well...I am disappointed that I will stuck with 3g for another 2 years. After reading about the pros and cons of 4g, I suppose I can try to justify why I won't really need/want it. 4g drains a battery much faster than 3g, and the Droid 3 already blazes through battery life faster than what should be expected.

What is with all of the glitzy animations that Motorola smeared over Gingerbread? They can be annoying and there doesn't appear to be a way to get rid of them. I suppose I will have to live with the flashy transitions every time I turn to a different home page.

For a qhd screen, I wouldn't expect to see as many pixels as I do, some even appear to bleed.

The keyboard is excellent. This is a well built and durable phone. Call quality sounded comparable to the original Droid.

In conclusion, 4g aside, this is the best phone on Verizon with fast performance, the best physical keyboard, 4'' screen, and high end camera/video technology.

Build quality 10/10

Reception 10/10

Call quality 9/10

Internet 9/10

Multimedia 9/10

Camera 8/10

UI speed 9/10

Everyday usage 10/10

Text input 10/10

Display 8/10

Battery 7/10

Pros

• Dual Core
• Great Physical Keyboard
• 4 Inch QHD Screen
• 1080HD Video Recording
• World Phone
• Durable Design
• Android Gingerbread

Cons

• No LTE(4G)
• Pentile Screen(Pixels are visible)
• Bloatware (preinstalled apps that can't be deleted)
• Bulky and heavy
• Poor battery life
• Microsd card not included
• No physical camera button

BaseGiants posted on 16 Jul 2011, 21:42

9

Amazing Phone with Horrible Battery Life

BaseGiants has owned it for less than month before publishing this review

So far I am loving pretty much everything about the Droid 3. Running everything at once doesnt even phase the dual core processor. And the camera(s) are great for point and shoot.

My biggest complaint is the battery life. After fully charging over night and using low to moderate data the battery will drop to below 40% by the afternoon. Even using "Maximum Battery Saver" mode with hardly any syncing apps/widgets the power consumption is terrible.

I have purchased the extended battery in hopes that the extra 25% increase will help.

Build quality 10/10

Reception 8/10

Call quality 8/10

Internet 9/10

Multimedia 9/10

Camera 10/10

UI speed 10/10

Everyday usage 10/10

Text input 10/10

Display 9/10

Battery 3/10 Average battery life on moderate data usage is between 6-10 hours.

Pros

• Full QWERTY
• Amazing Camera
• Fast UI

Cons

• Poor Battery Life

kagebob posted on 16 Jul 2011, 17:11

10

Very good Droid

kagebob has owned it for less than month before publishing this review

So far this is a huge upgrade in the Moto Droid series. Although I have played with the Droid 2, I'm actually going from the original Moto Droid to this. It's got everything you could ask for in a 2011 smartphone. The touch screen is much more responsive than the first two. The screen is very big and sharp. The UI is fast and useful.
A couple of my favorite features:
- Comes preloaded with some GREAT ringtones. It's silly but this is one of my favorite features, even though I know I can put my own in.
- The Favorite Contacts widget is very practical and works great.
- Recording in 1080p is really nice.
- The dual core processor loads games and apps in the blink of an eye, and allows for very smooth ui transitions.

Some things that I don't like, but are subject to personal preference:
- No more dedicated camera button. This is a very illogical change to me. It makes it hard to take pictures of myself with the 8mp camera. One might argue that it has a front facing camera, but at 0.3mp, it's hardly a fulfilling self portrait for facebook.
- The standby/power button has been moved from the top right to the top center. I liked holding the phone with my right hand and using my thumb to turn it on. (Very personal preference. Not important.)
- The ? mark is now an alt key. You use that thing all the time. "What's up?" "Where are you?" "Are you suggesting coconuts migrate???"
- There may be a fix for it, but the phone can show avi movies, but cannot play them.

Build quality 10/10 Solid phone, heavy in hand, smooth responsive screen.

Reception 8/10 I don't get very good reception at home.

Call quality 10/10

Internet 10/10

Multimedia 9/10 Records video in 1080p. Doesn't play the popular video .avi file.

Camera 9/10 No dedicated camera button. Front facing camera is lower resolution than most others.

UI speed 10/10

Everyday usage 9/10 Camera, ? mark, and standby button changes make everyday use less smooth.

Text input 10/10

Display 10/10

Battery 10/10

Pros

• Slide out keyboard.
• Very responsive touchscreen and UI.
• 32GB internal memory and supports a 32GB memory card.

Cons

• Changed buttons.
• Doesn't play .avi files. As of yet.