HTC Droid Eris Review: Is it an iPhone Killer?

Santa was so gracious enough to bring me a HTC Droid Eris. I have been wanting to check out Android for so long now, and I finally get my chance.

I have been reading online for months now that Android is an iPhone killer, well hell yeah it is. I would really love someone to argue with me, because your not going to win. The HTC Droid Eris can do everything the iPhone can do, but better.

Right from the start up, I could tell Android was really trying to push me into becoming social. When I was setting up my phone, I was encouraged to enter in my Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr account. The Flickr account is used for the camera album. I can easily upload pictures to share with my friends and family. The Twitter account is for one of the Sense UI panes. The Facebook account is integrated to let me give out my contact information and of course, browse it.

Google’s applications play a key role in Android, which makes me so happy. My Google Calendar, Contacts, and Email, are all synced up to my phone. Because I didn’t want 61 contacts in my address book from random people I have emailed, I turned that setting off. I enjoy seeing my calendar and email right on my home screen.

HTC makes good use of its feature, “Sense UI”. HTC is the only Android phones to have the Sense UI feature. Sense UI allows you to have 5 panes, and the really cool clock and weather feature, at the top. Sadly, the Sense UI feature is the only reason stopping the Droid Eris from upgrading from 1.5, to Android’s 2.0 software. I haven’t really noticed anything major gone, only Google’s turn by turn navigation (which I don’t really need).

The main reason the HTC Droid Eris, or Android for that matter, kicks the iPhone’s butt is because of the great application catalog. In my earlier post I complained that Android didn’t have a good application market, but I was so wrong. The Android market is amazing! It has everything the iPhone has, but better. I am so thrilled that Google isn’t blocking some of these great applications the market has to offer. For example, the iPhone doesn’t have an application that lets you download any ringtone you want, does it?

The Droid Eris has some great hardware. Though the Droid Eris is missing a keyboard, it still is very easy to type. The on screen keyboard works great. The camera is a 5 megapixel camera, and it takes amazing photos. Though it doesn’t have a flash, it still takes great lowlight pictures. The phone doesn’t have a FM radio, but you can listen to major radio stations over WIFI or the 3g network with an application call IHeartRadio.

I am so happy with the network speed of this device. Being on the best network, Verizon, the Droid Eris doesn’t suffer from AT&T’s, T Mobiles’, and Sprint’s godly awful speeds. The fast speeds make a great way to browse cleanly.

My final stance is that the HTC Droid Eris is it has a better UI than any other phone, a better market place, and its overall network speeds blow any other carrier away. There is no doubt in my mind that the HTC Droid Eris is an iPhone killer, and being the second best phone of all time, beaten by the Motorola Droid.