Google Nexus S vs Motorola Droid X - Feature Comparison

Google Nexus S vs Motorola Droid X - Feature Comparison
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Google Nexus S vs Motorola Droid X - Fight!

When the <strong>Motorola Droid X</strong> was first launched, it was one of the most powerful phones on the market. It was marketed heavily by Verizon and Motorola, and went on to become one of the most popular Android phones. In terms of sales, it came second only to the <strong>Samsung Galaxy S</strong>.

It has some of the best hardware you can get in a smartphone and includes an 8 MP camera. It was launched with Android 2.1 Eclair and the MotoBLUR UI but now has been upgraded to Android 2.2 Froyo.

The Google Nexus S, on the other hand, has just been launched and comes with similar hardware specifications. It has a lower resolution 5 MP camera but comes with the latest version of the Android OS - Android 2.3 Gingerbread. This makes it the best Android option as of now, at least in terms of software.

In this article, we pit the Nexus S and the Droid X against each other, and try to see who emerges victorious.

Design and Display

The Motorola Droid X is one of the biggest smartphones you will ever encounter. The display is huge at 4.3 inches and the overall dimensions of the phone are also quite big. It is a bit heavy, at 155 gms. It has a standard candybar design and is quite sleek at just 9.9 mm.

The Google Nexus S is much more stylish than the Droid X. It is also smaller and weighs less - just about 129 gms. It also has a smaller 4 inch display, but is not as slim as the Droid X, at 10.9 mm.

While the Droid X has a 4.3 inch TFT capacitive touch-screen display, the Nexus S has a 4.0 inch SuperAMOLED capacitive display. The Nexus S clearly has the better display which offers much better contrast and brightness.

The difference in the sizes is not that big, so the Nexus S wins this round.

Hardware and OS

Both the Droid X and the Nexus S sport similar hardware - the Droid X has a 1 GHz TI OMAP processor with 512 MB RAM and 6.5 GB internal storage while the Nexus S has a 1 GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor with 512 MB RAM and 16 GB internal storage. The Nexus S doesn’t support memory cards.

Both the phones run Android, but while the Droid X runs Android 2.2 Froyo, the Nexus S runs the latest Android 2.3 Gingerbread. The Droid X has the MotoBLUR UI shell on top, while the Nexus S runs the vanilla Android 2.3 Gingerbread UI, which is much better in my opinion. Android 2.3 Gingerbread is much faster than Froyo and has a lot of improvements over it.

One other advantage of the Nexus S is that you can be sure that it will be the first to receive any Android OS upgrades (hint: Android 3.0 Honeycomb). The same cannot be said about the Motorola Droid X. The Nexus S wins this round too.

Camera

The Motorola Droid X comes an excellent 8 MP camera with autofocus and dual LED flash. It can capture images at a maximum resolution of 3266 x 2450 pixels. The image capture quality is one of the best in mobile phones.

The Nexus S comes with a 5 MP camera with autofocus and LED flash, and can capture images at 2560 x 1920 pixels. The image quality is quite good, but compared to the Droid X, it stands no chance at all.

The Droid X can also record 720p HD video at 24 FPS, but the Nexus S can record only WVGA videos at 30 FPS.

This round is clearly won by the Droid X.

Connectivity

When it comes to connectivity, both the Droid X and the Nexus S seem evenly matched. Both offer 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with DLNA and Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP. Both offer GPS with A-GPS support and have the Webkit based browser which is excellent. The Nexus S comes with NFC (Near Field Connectivity) while the Droid X comes with a stereo FM radio built in.

The Droid X is powered by a 1540 mAh Li-ion battery while the Nexus S comes with a 1500 mAh Li-ion battery. Both have decent battery lives and last for about a day and half with moderate usage, but the Droid X edges out the Nexus S in this case.

There is no clear winner when it comes to connectivity.

The Verdict

Both the Google Nexus S and the Motorola Droid X are excellent phone options, but I feel that if you were to buy a phone today, the Nexus S would be a much better option.

It runs the latest Android OS - Android 2.3 Gingerbread and has a much better display. As I said earlier, it is also the most likely phone to get Android 3.0 and subsequent upgrades.

Between the Google Nexus S vs the Motorola Droid X, I would definitely recommend the Nexus S. Check out the <strong>Google Nexus S review</strong> for more details.

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