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After our own in-depth Droid X Review we have no problem recommending Verizon’s latest Droid and for those who have been patiently waiting, its finally available! You can either buy it directly from Verizon Wireless for $199.99 or check out our phone store where you’ll get a Special Phandroid Promotion Price.
With a 4.3-inch screen, 1GHz processor, 8MP camera, Wi-Fi Hotspot feature and a whole lot more, the Droid X packs a mean robot punch. If you decide to pick it up, or are even debating getting the Droid X, we highly recommend you head over to the Droid X Forum where thousands of people are already sharing invaluable tidbits.
Now allow me to fall victim to some of the best brand advertising we’ve seen in years… DROOOOOOID!
If you love Android and love what it stands for, please don’t buy this phone.
http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/07/14/droid-x-actually-self-destructs-if-you-try-to-mod-it/
You do realize you’re doing the entire Android community a disservice by not mentioning the locked Bootloader, right?
If you’re going to recommend a phone to people, you should at least make sure they know what they’re getting into. And you call yourselves an Android fan site :(
already bought it! I can’t wait.
If this article is true: http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/07/14/droid-x-actually-self-destructs-if-you-try-to-mod-it/
Then I hope this phone is a huge failure. Screw Motorola.
my god you pessimistic people, don’t you lot smile? have anything nice to say, a little constructive. Seems these blog tags are only for criticism so heres mine!
WARNING: The Droid X and upcoming Droid 2 both have a locked and cryptographically signed bootloader. In addition, they both have an eFuse that will blow if any custom roms are detected and brick the phone.
If you buy this phone, you will FOREVER be at the Mercy of Verizon and Motorola for OS Upgrades. Think 6-9 months down the line, when the Droid X is old news, and the latest and greated DROID is being released. How much support for new Android OS upgrades do you think you will get?
A better choice would be the Samsung Galaxy S, which is coming out on T-Mobile tomorrow as the Samsung Vibrant (and other carriers at a later date). The Samsung Vibrant has a faster GPU, better screen technology and has already been rooted.
Unfortunately, Verizon has all the money and has been able to generate alot of hype about the Droid X, a phone which will never see a community upgrade or custom rom.
John May-T-mobile kinda sucks though…but beyound that Moto stated the would upgarde the X faster then they did with the first Droid-so we will see-e
The general public don’t know what a rom is, a custom rom or even care whatsoever. The care about how the phone is (hardware/feel), the apps (can I reserve a movie ticket, etc). As a developer for many many years I’m a bit disappointed that the Bootloader is locked BUT! as a customer and a user I’m very excited to get this phone TOMORROW! and really don’t care at all that the Bootloader is locked. Since I got my Incredible I really stop caring about using any kind of custom rom or building my own. No need.
As other people have mentioned, do NOT buy this phone. Motorola is trying to reverse the openness Google has been pushing for by locking down the boot-loader and be very hostile to how you treat YOUR purchase.
Let’s hope Moto will learn a lesson here!
Everyone buying the DROID X for a “look at me!!” phone, go for it. ALL of you script kiddies and wanna-be’s, coders, romists and repackers alike, DO. NOT. BUY. THIS. PHONE. You’re not cracking the encryption on the Bootloader. All the hassle for what?? TEACH MOTOROLA A LESSON..you will lose the ~10% that buy your phones for what they WERE. To call this a “business” related move is down right LUDICROUS. you can’t even do your loyal customers some justice and explain yourselves. Cowards.
Look at what Microsoft did. WinMo has its problems but it was still a very open system. The closest thing to a PC in your pocket. Microsoft decided they’d rather be more like iPhone and came up with all kinds of restrictions for WP7. I don’t want Android to go down that route.
The HTC Desire also went into “panic-mode” for a lot of us when we did the pushed custom recovery… No idea if it’s the same thing. But those who sent in their phones for repair had a mobo replacement. But today some of the people at Modaco found out where the glitch was and I for one have a custom recovery on mine… HTC ment the Legend and the Desire was un-rootable.. but never underestimate the community :)
Upon further thought, is this a liability type thing? Ya know, how a ton of DROID’s were returned because they “Wouldn’t boot” because the absolute moron behind the wheel of it? Solution: Upon purchase of the device, let me select an option stating “I hereby void the granted 1 year warranty should the phone have a failure not widespread or HARDWARE related. I WILL use this phone to the extent my knowledge allows me” ect ect. This appears another case of “punish the masses because morons can’t read a simple tutorial on how to root a phone, causing multiple returns which cost M money.
@#5
T-Mobile is 2nd Best in regards to android variety and better service matched with price
Sprint and AT&T can’t even compare to how good tmobile is.
I would say that most of the people buying this phone won’t do Custom ROMs so I don’t think mentioning something is relevant in this article. Just cause you can’t hack the phone doesn’t make it a bad phone. I think Motorola is entitled to do what they want with their products.
You guys rip Motorola when in fact Verizon is likely demanding that the bootloader be locked. You may know code but you don’t know shit about the business relationship.
@PooPonYOU…agreed
And just bc I don’t want to do custom ROM’s doesnt mean I want a LOOK AT ME PHONE , Id give an Iphone 4 for that. The bootloader doesnt take away for me anything from the phone, I wasnt gonna do it anyway shrug.
@Rob “punish the masses because morons can’t read a simple tutorial on how to root a phone, causing multiple returns which cost M money.”
Come on dude…I have nothing against modding/rooting or anything else but If you consider XDA and others the mass…you need a reality check.
Mom & Dad & your hip cousin don’t care bout the bootloader and they are the mass…
Well I’m done with motorola and htc and basicly all android devices till they give an option to remove there os crippling “UI inhancements”.
I hate moto blur.
Haven’t played with samsungs or LGs UI deal but I. Know I’ll hate it.
Sence UI makes me cringe.
I just want vanilla android!
And physical keyboards!
This is why I got the G1 and the motodroid keyboards and no UI skin.
And no freedom to flash the roms or even custom bootloader is crazy.
I hope everyone who gets this phone enjoys it really because many are mad because they can’t root but if you are the type of person who wants updates as soon as they come out then I wouldn’t get this phone. No matter what Moto says about how “fast” they are going to update it, the only company that can send out updates fast is Google and they only have one phone. I know your getting 2.2 next month but that was first released to Moto in May so that means it is going to take around 3 months to get the newest update, so please remember that when 3.0 comes out that you will probably have to wait three months. I still think it was stupid for Verizon to not carry the Nexus One because even Moto said if you want an unlocked phone to get a Nexus.
Its completely laughable to tell people to not buy a phone because it has an encrypted bootloader. Do you tell people that they shouldn’t buy a car because they can’t change the engine in it? Did you try to change the engine in your car and then tow it back to the dealership claiming that “it broke”?
Please. 99.9999% of the people that want to buy this phone – me included – will buy this phone because the hardware is awesome – and the promises of froyo for it by the end of the summer.
As for “Think 6-9 months down the line, when the Droid X is old news, and the latest and greated DROID is being released. How much support for new Android OS upgrades do you think you will get?”
My Original Droid is getting froyo – sooner than a lot of other phones are. And no – I won’t install some custom ROM from some random dude on the intertubes.
So get over yourself and your self-righteous “boycott” of the Droid X and Droid 2. Your inconsequential complains will invariably fall upon deaf ears.
Motorola is a business. If a locked bootloader was bad for business, they wouldn’t do it. So the entitled “masses” might want to assess their real importance in the world and not the self-perceived importance. — What does this new lock mean? To the overwhelming majority of consumers who buy a phone, maybe some useful and fun apps? Nothing at all. It’s business as usual. To the ROM creators? It’s time to pony up some real money if you want to test your mods because every failed attempt will cost you a phone with an unambiguous voided warranty. To those who just want to use custom ROMs? There won’t be any. Creators are not going to spend thousands or tens of thousands trying to get a hack to work. Easier for them to focus elsewhere.
I’ve been a blackberry user for the past 3 years and this will be my first android (due to mainly the lack of features on bb and my jealousy, but I’ll miss you bbm!). I’m sure I will be just fine not having the ability to hack my phone (yeah im in that 90% or so of people who can wait for froyo and be totally happy with a feature-rich device). Dash Shiron’s explanation of their stance makes 100% sense. Also, I guess if my phone feels totally crippled and bricked before I even open the box like you guys are saying then I have 30 days to decide if I want to switch. So don’t listen to the whiners, try it out I say.
@jdog You realize that just because you can load custom roms doesn’t mean you can upgrade to the latest android OS whenever it is released right? The only reason there are 2.2 roms for the Droid right now is because verizon sent it out to a few test users and they shared it with everyone else.
@adamsinger77 if that is what you want don’t bash HTC then, they gave us the Nexus One and open sourced the hardware drivers, and allowed us to unlock the bootloader with one command letting you do whatever you like with it.
I have to say, i think its ridiculous what peole are saying in here. Maybe it does suck that the phone can’t be hacked to carp, but that’s only for a limited crowd, as a few have stated in here. I am loving this phone. I would recommend it to anyone. Like anything though, try it before you buy it and if it doesn’t do what you want-like root or rims or what have you-then don’t buy it. That is certainly no reason to flip out and start some weak-minded campaign for nobody to buy the phone at all. Its a good phone, chill out people.
Going to pick this phone up for my wife in a few hours and she doesn’t care about rooting one bit!
@MensahWatts
I’ve been a TMo basher, for rolling 3G out late, and for offering 1st gen Android technology phones into 2010. But with the Slide and now Vibrant, I’m pretty pumped about the direction TMo is going. Plus, my network connectivity (in Oklahoma and the Midwest) is better than my spouses iPhone 3GS.
If TMo continues to move forward with their rollout of 3.5G technology, and continues to offer relevant Android phones, then their suckage factor should continue to abate.
@Wilco I know for a fact T-mobile is the fastest in Houston and New York. I get up to 7.5mbps download.
@All you’ll be crying about updates everyone does even people with the Nexus One, go to the official Nexus One support forums there is a thread with 4,500 post and 4,000 are people whining about having to wait for 2.2. So at least having the option to do something about is a must have feature. Moto is just giving iGay fanboys reason to say Droid doesn’t allow custom roms. Come on Verizon what happen to Droid Does?
Well, I’m an android developer and I can’t tell you how many times I get bug reports about my app that someone with a custom ROM is having trouble with something – that people with normal stock don’t have. A custom ROM just causes more headaches for developers since who knows what bugs are in the O.S. that a dev will never be able to test?
So on this argument I think it’s somewhat of a good thing.
-Brad
@brad: Precisely. I hate going through the market and seeing all the comments about how an app doesn’t work on some obscure ROM that only 4 people care about. Its misleading.
Also, this is going to help with the “fragmentation” problem that linux had. Too many distros, too many dependencies that can’t be met by every application.
I applaud Moto for doing the right thing – both for themselves and for Android.
Can you imagine if HP, Dell and Acer sold their pc’s locked down, w/ no way to change or upgrade the OS on your own? “Ohhh you want to install Win 7 Pro on your pc? Sorry, you’ll have to wait until we decide to allow you to do so, if we ever decide to allow you. Yes, we know the PC is your property, but we’re still going to dictate how you use it.”
These ‘phones’ are no longer phones. They are pocket PC’s running what is essentially a full blown Linux OS.
Yes Motorola is free to do as they wish w/ their phones, and the vast majority of the end users will happily use their phones, blissfully unaware that their phones are locked down. And were the phones sold w/ unsigned bootloaders those same 98% of the end users would remain blissfully unaware as to what the words root and ROM mean. The people that have enough tech savvy to tinker w/ their phones, upgrade the ROM, etc. are well aware that their actions void their warranty should something go awry.
A simple disclaimer pop-up upon obtaining root, ala the Nexus 1, solves this whole issue.
Well XDA there is a new challenge with this phone.
I hope you someday break the boot.
“A simple disclaimer pop-up upon obtaining root, ala the Nexus 1, solves this whole issue.” — No, it doesn’t. As mentioned, developers who stay in the sandbox have to contend with complaints about apps not functioning because the user has a custom ROM. Users won’t sign away their warranty rights even if given the choice. The first question that comes up when a ROM is released is, “Can I restore it in case I need to get it replaced under the warranty?” And custom ROMs can cause unwanted and unexpected things to happen on the network. Getting around tethering was mentioned already. Well, that’s theft. It’s stealing bandwidth you’re not paying for. So yeah, VZ and Moto want that locked down. And who knows what else a custom ROM can do to network traffic in the name of “Optimization”. (By the way, cranking all the dials to 11 isn’t optimizing it. Optimizing is a balancing act of CPU performance, battery and HW life.) Smart move by Moto. It only screws over the people who were screwing everyone else over to get their own jollies. Touche.
Rob, it has a locked bootloader. You should not be recommending this phone at all.
Best Buy is not honoring verizon early upgrade!!!! Just got told it would be 599
Personally, I don’t think I’ll ever load a custom, unsigned ROM on to my phone. Telling people NOT to buy the phone because it can’t be rooted is just silly. 90% of the Android-buying populace doesn’t care about that, and the other 10% will simply buy an EVO or an HD2. I’m a geek and a tech lover, and I ordered this phone anyway, knowing it’s locked.
I don’t know what Moto’s business reasons are for not locking the bootloader, but I can make some guesses. High up on my list is preserving the integrity of the WiFi hotspot service.
Regardless – I think it’s an excellent piece of hardware, and since I’m looking for a stable device, not an experimental platform, I’m happy to buy it – locked bootloader or not.
It’s less then 1% that mess with any rom. Anybody who does knows it’s locked down by now because that crowd does it’s homework. It’s a great phone and if my contract was up I would be getting it. This is such a non-issue.
“It’s less then 1% that mess with any rom.”
1. Site your source
2. Even if that were true, it is still a ridiculous thing for Motorola to do.
The whole point behind android was to be open and give people options. Real options. These phone companies are shocked, SHOCKED that some people don’t want their shitty UIs and bloatware, so rather than leave the phone be for people to find a way to opt-out, they put a time bomb inside of it in case anyone is feeling creative. This is the kind of crap Apple pulls, and it’s disgusting.
If I buy a phone, it is MINE. I should be able to do whatever the hell I want with it so long as it is legal. Motorola can void my warranty if they want, but to purposefully insert a mechanism to BRICK the phone if anyone tinkers with it goes too far, and I hope someone makes out a solid legal case against them for breach of implied warranty of merchantability.
You want the Droid X? Fine. But just know you are encouraging the same kind of bullshit that Apple does when they close their garden. It is merely a matter of scale.
Um I dont think that android’s “openness” was meant to allow USERS to just do whatever they wanted. It’s open in the sense that carriers and manufacturers can do what they want. If you are a user that wants to have the same freedom then get a Nexus One. There is no “obligation” in android that if you use it you have to leave it “open” for everyone.
I think a lot of people misuse the term “open” when they talk about android, and just apply it to whatever they think openness should be.
I think it’s still plenty “open” – you can still install apps that aren’t from the market, you can still use flash (once you get 2.2), etc. Still much more open than Apple.
-Brad
I’m eating popcorn with my new shiny Droid X at my side watching people argue over something that’s really not that critical. And on top of that, it’s now come to light that the supposed efuse chip might not even be active but just sitting their unused.
So I’ll continue enjoying my X while watching this bickerfest.
I went to pick up my DX today and Verizon refused to let me upgrade early because my contract doesn’t expire until 1/4/2011. If it ended 4 days earlier I would be eligible. WTF!!! I’m on the phone with them right now trying to get them to let me do it anyway, but they don’t seem to be budging…$#@!$^
Motorola didn’t let you in? Well too bad, just pick-up your bags and leave. Just placed my order of this new cool phone.
Hm….well I went to look at a Droid X today at my local Verizon store, Quadrant test gave a score of 1205, not bad. And the phone is much lighter than the original droid.
I’m not sure why people keep saying it wont fit in a pocket, its the exact same width as my original droid, and only about .25″ longer. The screen is nice, and the phone is snappy. BUT I think I’ll keep my original Droid for now.
-Brad
Quadrant scores:My Original Droid overclocked to 900Mhz running Android 2.2, gives 1255. The Droid X running Android 2.1, 1Ghz chip, gives 1205.I’m thinking though that when DroidX gets a 2.2 update, it will be the fastest thing out there.
-Brad
Regular people don’t care about any of this Bootloader crap — I know because I’m a regular person and I’ve been lurking on these boards for a month or so because my Verizon contract is up and I figure I’ll get a cool next-gen phone. Verizon’s advertising has been insane, and that’s going to drive sales, regardless of the proposed boycotts among tech-nerds. Now I will say this — I just stopped by my local shop and checked out the X for myself. This thing is way too big — no way this is going to feel right in your jeans pocket. I honestly think, if this phone actually turns out to be a flop for any reason, it will be for the size alone. Strangely, the camera bulge didn’t seem that weird because otherwise the phone is so thin. But really, unless you’re carrying this in a handbag, nobody wants a phone this big unless it’s for bragging rights. And let’s also face it that women (with handbags) are gonna be repulsed by hideous styling and absurd size.
Droid X sold out by 12 noon in Mass (Boston retail). Any other sites out yet? Is this another incredible waiting to happen
I just heard that VZW sold 100K Droid X so far.
The biggest reason to flash a device with a custom ROM is to get rid of the damn bloatware that the manufacturers insist on installing. Stock Android 2.2 is slick and works great. Blur and Sense just mean that you’ll be getting upgrades 6-9 months behind everybody else.
If Motorola gave the user the option to pick their install (or disable/uninstall the crapware), then maybe this wouldn’t be quite as big of an issue.
Also, saying that only a small fraction of people is true, but a much larger amount benefit from that work. I’ve had multiple people ask me how I installed 2.2 on my G1.
I think it’s absolutely hilarious that so many coders, hackers etc. are throwing such petulant tantrums over the locked bootloader. So many personal attacks on Motorola, who are only protecting their best interests.
Also, nobody cares about supporting hackers; nobody cares that people who don’t like “bloatware” want to find a way to opt-out; nobody cares about how “it’s my phone, I should have FULL RIGHTS TO EVERY ASPECT OF IT;” Motorola certainly doesn’t. Consumers can get along just fine without your roms and other stupid crap that doesn’t work as well as the software the phone was released with. I can understand, however, the desire to tap the amazing resources this phone now places at your fingertips (no pun intended).
It’s worth mentioning that my iPod Touch is jailbroken; the novel features gained are completely outweighed by the effort it took the writers of redsn0w etc. to jailbreak it in the first place.
I am new to droid and android software and just purchased the Droid X. I like the phone but would like more control like the admin account on my PC verses the user account so I could delete the software I don’t want, like BlockBuster and Skype type software that I never use and keep having to kill app on. No one should have to pay for text either. The phone should be used for tethering without charge.
I’d gladly root my phone if I could gain the admin rights to delete application and sure I will still get future updates and not break my phone.
Open source software doesn’t mean open source hardware. When someone does “reverse engineering” on a software to allow the hardware to do things its not supposed to do that is boarder limit breaking the law (or in less dramatic scenario the T.O.U): using free internet access when u know its not (hey you do pay for internet access on your phone, they dont give it to you free either) 2)overrides that would allow u to access sites or data your are not supposed to. Look at it this way, its a little for,them protecting their assets and a little bit for you,covering your hind for the things your doing wrong but you don’t know your doing wrong, like a child lock on the back doors of your car, parental control on your TV. What if a terrorist genius hacker created a ROM so cool that hundreds would download run and slowly aided through technological thievery to finance terrorism? there goes your BOA pin #, your SSN, address info…again might far fetched.Look, I am not a hardcore techie, I stay informed and managed to root then install custom roms on my droid1, but I don’t know whats happening in the background, even rooted appkiller wouldnt kill all apps. Putting your phone at the mercy of XXX coder is really a leap of faith and through numerous forums I have read comments from fear of rooting, to fear of the actually painless but not risk free rom updating to the fatal bricking IF you didn’t follow instructions to a T. That’s a lot to put on a $600 phone. Its not a pc, you cant go buy a new hardrive if that got corrupted. And even upgrading a PC isnt free,unless you have Linux but again its not BUGLESSBEAST Linux (no offense to any coder) compiled person X and person Y that tell you install at your own risks
Anyhow sorry for the long post, but then again I don’t know write short sentences :)
Oh and who on this forum got their phone yet? I ordered mine on Amazon on 23th of July and was told to expect by sept 1. Need a new phone ASAP since my droid1 took a plunge with me(literally) in the pool…