By FINALLY! After lurking in the shadows and having the rumor flashlight on it for weeks, the HTC Droid Eris finally stepped into the light and was JUST NOW officially announced by HTC. As expected, it will be available starting tomorrow for $99.99 on a 2-year contract and after a $100 mail in rebate.
Here is the Press Release the folks at HTC sent us:
Bring an Android Device home for the holidays with
DROID ERIS by HTC, exclusively from Verizon WirelessDROID ERIS by HTC Debuts with Verizon Wireless with HTC Sense Experience and an Ultra-Attractive $99.99 Price
BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and BELLEVUE, Wash. – Beginning Nov. 6, DROID ERIS™ by HTC will invade Verizon Wireless Communications Stores across the United States, bringing the power of the Android™ platform and the Verizon Wireless network together. DROID ERIS by HTC combines the popular Android platform with HTC Sense™, a user experience from HTC that makes it easy for customers to stay close to one another and create an individualized mobile experience tailored specifically to their needs.
DROID ERIS by HTC offers customers the opportunity to customize a seven-panel wide home screen with a wide variety of widgets designed to bring the most important information to the surface. DROID ERIS by HTC also includes the innovative “Scenes” feature, which allows customers to create multiple home screens, each with different widgets and shortcuts, to transform DROID ERIS by HTC from a “work” phone to a “play” phone with just a touch of a finger.DROID ERIS by HTC also organizes interactions by person, which makes it possible to access text messages, e-mails, phone calls and even Flickr streams and Facebook updates from a single contact card. The unique HTC Sense experience found on DROID ERIS by HTC is supported by an array of the latest mobile features, including:
- 3.2 inch capacitive touch screen and trackball interface
- 5.0 megapixel auto focus camera
- Expandable memory with pre-installed 8 GB microSD™ card (up to 16 GB supported)
- Supports USB mass storage
- Bluetooth®, Wi-Fi and 3.5 mm headset connectivity
- Integrated GPS and a digital compass with a sensor that enables the phone to know what direction it is facing
- Smart dialer for simplified dialing by name, number or initials
- Full HTML browser with Flash Lite capabilities
- Seamless compatibility with Google™ services like Google Maps™, Gmail™, Google Search™ and more
DROID ERIS by HTC will be available in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com on Friday, Nov. 6, for $99.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement on a voice plan with an e-mail feature or e-mail plan. Customers will receive the mail-in rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted.
Will the $99 price, slimmer form factor and HTC Sense coax any of you away from the Motorola Droid?
its a nice lookin phone but i’m still gonna wait to see whats goin on with the passion before i buy any phone
“Will the $99 price, slimmer form factor and HTC Sense coax any of you away from the Motorola Droid?” Yes, unless a bigger, faster HTC Sense phone is announced in the holiday lineup today.
This is what sucking. Is the Passion real or not? If not then I may very well want the Eris. Why isnt there more news?
I’m looking forward to playing with both the Motorola and HTC side by side, but I’m leaning toward the more petite HTC. I’m not a “power” or “business” user and it might be good enough for my phone and interwebz noodlings. Are the turn by turn Google Maps included (should be, right?) I’m a current Verizon customer who is due a free phone…anyone know if this would qualify? Here’s to hoping.
Im with Trouble81. It is a good looking device and a great deal at $99, but Im holding out for the HTC Dragon/Passion.
peace, b.
After having a chance to play with it, I’m really convinced by the Eris. HTC sense is beautiful, and a 2.0 update has got to be on the way.
The price is fantastic, as long as you’re happy with Verizon’s plan prices.
Product page not yet reachable through the menu, but with some URL guessing… :)
http://www.htc.com/us/product/droideris/specification.html
Slimmer profile, Sense and $99 is tempting…but Google Navigation is just too hard to pass up. If HTC could guarantee 2.0 was coming in Q1 2010 WITH Google Navigator I might consider it. Then again I do have that 30 day window once I purchase the Droid to return it and exchange for this if it turns out that HTC will be updating….
Verizon doesnt really give a free phone, they give you a $50 credit towards a new phone and all phones apply. If your phone is less than $50 you get the phone for free.(on your current qualifying plan)
Now if VZW would offer some sort of inexpensive data plan as well (2GB limit? rather than the 5GB?). Otherwise it doesn’t make much sense (ha!) to “save money” and buy the $99 phone, when the $199 phone does so much more. Especially if the Passion rumors are true.
What sort of “practical” data limits could be placed on SmartPhone? Euro users, I know your carriers offer various data plans, what can you get by with per month?
crap, this phone looks really thin! or is it just the angle?
droid or eris?…….
Bas, thanks for the url guessing, it’s a great find!
I was sold on the Droid, but I just came back from my local Verizon store, they swore up and down that the browser speeds were pretty much equal between the two. Eris is slimmer and lighter so not being a big texter nor gamer, I am thinking tomorrow at 0600 its the Eris. :-)
For me, no keyboard. No sale.
For those discussing dimensions and the thinness of the Eris, can this be right?
DROID:
2.4 (x) x 4.6 (y) x 0.5 (z) inches
ERIS:
4.45” (L) x 2.19” (W) x .51” (T)
It seems the Eris is quite a bit thinnner?
@Bas
Wow, nice find! In case people haven’t picked up on this yet, this device is $80 cheaper than the Sprint Hero, and despite that they’re throwing in an 8GB micro-SD card in the box. Definitely a nice touch. Unfortunately, the battery is reduced from 1500Ah to 1300mAh, as compared to the Sprint Hero. However, I have my doubts that that will impact real-world usage much, if at all. Oh, also, this device is not longer/taller than the Sprint Hero either. The Hero is (LxWxT) 4.5″ x 2.22″ x .54″, and the Eris is 4.45” (L) x 2.19” (W) x .51” (T). Those are taken directly from HTC’s website. The Verizon version is ever so slightly shorter, narrower, and thinner than Sprint’s version. And the Hero weighs in at 4.5 ounces, with the Eris at 4.23, probably the difference of the battery size, mostly.
@David: because 0.51 inch is so much thinner than 0.5 inch?
I like the looks of this device. The US is quite lucky the last few weeks, with all these Android phones. I hope they cross the pond soon.
I have the Droid preordered at Best Buy, but am now really torn between it and the Eris. Price is not an issue (seeing that 2 years of service can cost over $2,000, a $100 difference is nothing). But if the Eris has a better UI and camera (I hear the Droid camera is crap), it may be worth getting, especially if it will be upgraded to 2.0 soon (with Google Nav). The biggest reason I was excited about the droid, however, was the real keyboard (I am a long time Blackberry user). However, I hear that is crap as well.
Does anyone know which device has the better GPS hardware? I am always getting lost, so good GPS accuracy (and getting a quick fix on the satellites) is important.
the droid might be a little heavier and a little more expensive. Its got me sold on the HUGE screen and google nav right out of the box. The physical keyboard looks to be a little “flat” but I’m sure ill get used to it in a couple of days.
Just remember the camera has been confirmed to be a software issue on the droid by a google employee. (Don’t ask who) as for the UI, I guess that is use preference. I for one will not be getting Sense knowing it uses an opera browser (opera is horrible on pc’s and has horrible standardization when it comes to displaying a website, I see no reason mobile will be different). everything else about sense though is great, if only we could get the sense source code :-D
I know I will be buying the Eris as opposed to the DROID. The DROID is an amazing phone, but an extra $100 sounds great, so the thinner Eris (which in my opinion is more aesthetically pleasing)will certainly be grabbing my dollar.
@David: Moto runs on 2.0, which integrates turn-by-turn nav., while Eris runs on 1.6 (no turn-by-turn). It’s likely the Eris will be upgraded next year to 2.0, but who knows when. Right now, the Droid meets your navigational needs.
I tried both the Droid and the Eris at my local Verizon store last night. The Eris wins hands down on styling and also has the better control layout for use as a phone (the Droid forces you to use software keys for beginning and ending a call, while the Eris has hardware keys for that purpose), but the Eris is also quite simply too small for me to type accurately on. You can go into landscape mode for texting and web browsing — but NOT for updating your contacts and so on. Also the accelerometer is slow and insensitive.
That said, for someone with small hands, who is already used to a touch screen, and who prefers portrait over landscape, the Eris will be a great device. It feels high quality and it’s rare that you can say that these days about electronics.
What I’d really like is a Droid without a physical keyboard, but I’ll take one with the keyboard over the Eris.
@DBX….Droid w/o keyboard + faster processor + Sense UI (likely) = Passion/Dragon