HTC Droid Eris Review: Specifications, Design and Display

HTC Droid Eris Review: Specifications, Design and Display
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The HTC Droid Eris is an early Android smartphone. It is a CDMA smartphone which runs on Verizon’s network and has Android 2.1 Eclair. Verizon offers some of the most popular Android smartphones on its network, like the Motorola Droid and the Motorola Droid X. The HTC Droid Eris is also a very good option for Verizon’s customers looking for a mid range Android device with good hardware specs. It is very similar to the very popular HTC Hero except that it has a different design and is a CDMA phone.

Specifications

  • Dimensions: 113 x 56 x 13 mm
  • Weight: 120 gms
  • Network: CDMA (EVDO)
  • Display: 3.2 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen display, 320 x 480 pixels with 256K colors
  • Memory: 512 MB ROM, up to 32 GB MicroSD support
  • OS: Android OS 2.1 Eclair
  • Processor: Qualcomm MSM 7600 528 MHz processor
  • RAM: 288 MB RAM
  • Connectivity: 3G Rev. A, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, microUSB 2.0
  • Camera: 5 MP camera, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus
  • GPS: GPS transceiver with A-GPS
  • Battery: Standard Li-Ion battery, 1300 mAh

Design and Display (3 out of 5)

While the Droid Eris is similar to the HTC Hero, it sports a very different design. It doesn’t have the Hero’s distinctive chin and has rounded corners and a black soft touch finish. It has dimensions of 113 x 56 x 13 mm and weighs close to 120 gms which makes it pretty compact. It has really good build quality and feels sturdy.

The device has a 3.2 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen display with an HVGA resolution of 320 x 480 pixels. The display supports up to 256K colors. The display quality is quite good and the brightness levels are nice. It offers great contrast as well. It’s a great display overall, but the new Samsung Super AMOLED displays are much better. The sunlight legibility is also decent. It comes with a light sensor and also has an accelerometer for automatic rotation of the display.

Below the display there are 4 touch sensitive buttons: Home, Menu, Back and Search. There are also two hardware keys for Call and End and a trackball for navigating through the UI. There is a volume rocker on the left, a 3.5 mm headphone jack on the top and the USB port on the bottom. The camera and the battery compartment are on the back.

Hardware and OS (4 out of 5)

The HTC Droid Eris originally shipped with Android 1.5 but has now received the Android 2.1 upgrade. It is similar to the HTC Hero in terms of hardware: it has a Qualcomm MSM 7600 528 MHz processor and comes with 288 MB RAM. It also has 512 MB ROM memory and supports microSD cards of up to 32 GB.

The Android 2.1 Eclair OS comes with the HTC Sense UI which is the best custom UI for Android. It offers a very intuitive interface which is easy to use with superb graphics. It has the standard homescreens, widgets, notification bar and other elements and supports customizable Scenes. The interface is fast and responsive and the RAM is enough for multitasking with a lot of apps without any lag.

Multimedia (4 out of 5)

The HTC Droid Eris is quite capable when it comes to multimedia functions. It has a nice 5 MP camera which can capture images at a maximum resolution of 2592 x 1944 pixels. The camera comes with autofocus but doesn’t have flash. It features the familiar camera user interface found in HTC Android phones and offers basic image customization settings. The image capture quality is quite good with vibrant colors and the images look natural. It can also record average quality videos at low resolution.

It supports audio playback for the MP3, WMA, AAC, eAAC+ formats and video playback for 3GP, WMA, MP4 videos. The audio quality is very good and the video playback is also decent. Both the interfaces are easy to use.

Connectivity (4 out of 5)

The HTC Droid Eris is a CDMA phone which supports the EVDO standard. It offers EVDO Rev. A connectivity and also has Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g. It comes with Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP and microUSB 2.0. It also has a GPS transceiver with A-GPS support. It has the excellent Webkit browser found in all Android devices which is probably the best mobile browser after the iPhone’s Safari. The GPS reception is quite decent. Even the call quality is very good; unlike the iPhone 4, you won’t experience even a single dropped call on the Droid Eris, thanks partly to Verizon.

It comes with a standard 1300 mAh Li-ion battery which offers good battery life. It lasts for about 1.5 days with moderate usage.

The Verdict (4 out of 5)

If you are looking for a decent Android smartphone, the Droid Eris is dated but is still a good option. I would definitely recommend it.

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