Product Review: HTC Droid ERIS

It's been eons since I got my last new cell phone. Well, not really, but it has been a while. The last new cell phone I got was a Sony Ericsson through AT&T back in 2007. I loved my Ericsson because it gave me MP3 player capabilities and phone service without having too many bells and whistles. Although I love gadgets and geek toys, I have been decidedly against getting a Smartphone since their inception.

My biggest beef with Smartphones has been: Why do I need all of this stuff? If I want to send an e-mail, download music, look at a map, chat with friends, Tweet, Facebook and Myspace, I have 8 computers/laptops at my disposal. What's the point?

The HTC Droid ERIS has changed the way I look at my mobile phone.

I purchased an HTC Droid ERIS one month ago and I haven't been able to put it down since. Actually to be fair, I got it for free by signing a 2 year contract with Verizon. If I had to purchase it, I probably would have stuck with another slider or flip phone since I am a creature of habit.

The ERIS has a ton of features, apps and gadgets, but doesn't feel clunky or cumbersome like some of the other Smartphones I've played with in the last few months. The touch screen is pretty responsive, although it does take some time to get used to where exactly you have to touch to use the Home, Menu, Back and Search buttons on the bottom of the screen. The scroll bar is handy sometimes, but overall touching the screen gets you to where you want to go, and sliding or scrolling across the screen works great.

My biggest beef with the ERIS is the web browser. The stock browser works OK, but sometimes takes a long time to load even when on a WiFi network or when 3G is fully available. Initially I had downloaded the free Dolphin Browser from the Android Market, and it worked remarkably well until I downloaded an update last week. I'm back to using the stock browser now, but am looking forward to another free app that will make surfing the web a bit easier.

Which brings us to the applications. There are apps for just about anything, from calculating your BMI to creating your own ringtones and backgrounds. Need a pad to doodle on in a boring meeting? Need to find out how to do measurement conversions? Want to practice playing Texas Hold 'Em before heading out to Vegas? The Android Market has you covered with tons of apps. My advice here: Stick with the free apps, and upgrade to a paid version if you find one you really like. Some of the apps don't work quite the way you expect them too, and there are free versions of almost all of them so you can test them out before you buy.

The digital camera takes great photos, and decent video for a phone. It doesn't do great in low light, but pictures and video taken in well lit areas (outdoors or well lit room indoors) turn out great. Some pictures taken on heavily overcast days will come out looking washed out in grays and blues, but generally speaking the pictures come out clear and crisp.

Without a doubt, if you are looking to make the transition from a standard cell phone to a Smartphone, I recommend the HTC Droid ERIS. Its ease of use, compact size and customizable style make it a fantastic option for anyone who is looking for something new. Verizon's HTC Droid ERIS is a definite BUY.