Motorola Droid Pro vs. Motorola Droid 2 Global - The Battle for Global Droid Dominance on Verizon

Motorola Droid Pro vs. Motorola Droid 2 Global - The Battle for Global Droid Dominance on Verizon
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Battle of the Verizon Business Oriented Smartphones

Motorola has aimed at all levels in the market, from entry level to more business savvy users. The Motorola Droid Pro and Droid 2 Global are both aimed at the same market, the business savvy, heavy user, and they’re both offered through the same carrier, Verizon. While the Droid Pro goes for the BlackBerry look and the Droid 2 Global goes for the landscape slider look, they both run on fairly similar hardware and are both preloaded with Android. In addition, for business users who travel internationally, both the Droid Pro and Droid 2 Global are global, world phones, meaning they have SIM card slots available to roam on international GSM networks.

With so many similarities, which powerful smartphone comes out on top? Is it the Droid Pro going for the older, yet simpler look, or is it the Droid 2 Global’s more youthful appearance? Which smartphone is easier to use, as well as smoother to use? Which ones has the better feature set? Find out in this exciting battle.

Design and Display

The Motorola Droid Pro and the Motorola Droid 2 Global come in entirely different designs.

Droid Pro

The Droid Pro aims for business users who prefer smaller screens, but a physical keyboard underneath the screen, BlackBerry style. The Droid 2 Globals aims for business users who prefer larger screens, along with larger keyboards to type on, very much similar to current generation Android smartphones. The Droid Pro features a 3.1 inch touchscreen display which comes off fairly bright and crisp while the Droid 2 Global opts for a slightly larger 3.7 inch touchscreen display, which is just as bright and crisp. With just a 0.6 inch difference, the Droid Pro actually has a larger screen than one would think.

The Droid Pro is more curved in design while the Droid 2 Global is more blocky, which gives the Pro a slight edge. The curved design makes the Droid Pro look a bit more updated and modern, with a touch of class as well. In all honesty, for the design and display arena of the Motorola Droid Pro vs. Motorola Droid 2 Global battle, it really comes down to personal taste. For this particular review, the classier, rounded, modern design of the Droid Pro edges out over the Droid 2 Global. The Droid Pro’s design overcomes the half an inch disadvantage it has over the Droid 2 Global.

Winner - Motorola Droid Pro

User Interface

The user interface on the Droid Pro and Droid 2 Global differs ever so slightly. The Droid Pro features a full portrait QWERTY keyboard underneath the 3.1 inch display. The keyboard itself is slanted ever so slightly to help with one handed typing and the spacing between keys is decent, though not the best. The overall keyboard experience on the Droid Pro is decent, though if you have larger hands it may start to get harder to type.

The Droid 2 Global, on the other hand, has a slide out landscape keyboard, which makes the keyboard larger and spacier than on the Droid Pro. The keys feel nice on the fingers and they are highly responsive. Typing on the Droid 2 Global feels natural and even users with larger hands will not have much of a problem using the keyboard.

Regarding the touchscreen itself, both have responsive touchscreens and the user interface between the two is extremely similar. They both offer options such as IP VPN for the business user and the Microsoft Office product integration is decent. Using either smartphone for work on a Word document or Excel spreadsheet feels fairly natural.

Overall, in the user interface arena of the Droid Pro vs. Droid 2 Global battle, the keyboard is the make or break deal, and the larger, landscape keyboard of the Droid 2 Global puts it above the Droid Pro.

Winner - Motorola Droid 2 Global

Performance

The performance on both the Motorola Droid Pro and the Droid 2 Global is phenomenal. They both feature extremely powerful processors, with the Droid Pro coming with a 1 GHz TI OMAP3620 processor, while the Droid 2 Global comes with a 1.2 GHz TI OMAP processor and a dedicated GPU. This means the Droid 2 Global edges out the Droid Pro in the processor department. On these powerful processors, both smartphones run Android 2.2 with a minimized version of MotoBLUR. Android runs very smoothly on both the Droid Pro and Droid 2 Global, thanks to the processors.

The call quality on both the smartphones was also excellent, coming in clear and concise, both incoming and outgoing. Verizon’s network was more than impressive and the coverage was more than adequate. Calls were also fairly clear when roaming on GSM networks internationally with the use of a SIM. One thing to note is that neither phone will work with a SIM in the United States as the particular bands for AT&T and T-Mobile seem to have been banned.

Overall, the Droid 2 Global edges out with the win in this particular section, thanks to the 1.2 GHz processor.

Winner - Motorola Droid 2 Global

Features

On the features end of the battle, the Droid Pro and Droid 2 Global are pretty fiercely matched. Both feature a 5 megapixel camera with dual LED flash. Both cameras are decent for both pictures and video recording. Both run on Android 2.2, meaning they have access to thousands upon thousands of applications, both paid and free, and they can run those applications smoothly. In addition, with Android 2.2,

Droid 2 Global

they have the ability to load Adobe Flash files in the web browser.

Another feature common in both is that they are both global world phones, capable of using Verizon’s CDMA network in the United States and the GSM network found internationally. All that’s required is a valid SIM which can be placed in the phone. The ability to connect in so many markets helps with business users who travel frequently and both smartphones handle this ability well.

The only slight difference the Droid Pro and Droid 2 Global have is in the storage area of the house, which could be considered a feature. The Droid Pro has 2 GB of internal storage while the Droid 2 Global has four times that – 8 GB. Both have expandable microSD slot to add on an additional 32 GB of external storage. In total, the Droid 2 Global is able to store more applications, pictures, videos and games than the Droid Pro. This slight edge, once again, gives the Droid 2 Global the win, just barely.

Winner - Motorola Droid 2 Global

The Winner

In the Motorola Droid Pro vs Motorola Droid 2 Global battle, the Droid 2 Global edges out with the win. Though the score is 3 to 1, 2 of the wins are by an edge, not exactly the most decisive of wins. Both are fantastic smartphones, not only for business savvy smartphone users, but for power users looking for a powerful Android smartphone to use. The Droid Pro’s design is actually extremely attractive, but in this battle, design alone is not enough to win. Ultimately, edging out little victories here and there puts the Droid 2 Global above the Droid Pro.

Overall Winner - Motorola Droid 2 Global

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