Verizon Droid Eris Arrives — Small Android Phone
The good folks at Verizon have just dropped off a loaner Droid Eris at Mobile Tech Manor. The Eris is Verizon’s Android phone produced by HTC, so it has the HTC Sense interface baked in. I was surprised how small the Eris is in the hand, it almost feels too narrow for my big hands. It is very thin and light and is a typical HTC Android phone.
The Eris has a svelte 3.2-inch screen displaying at 320×480. It runs Android 1.5, although I have been told by Verizon that 2.1 will be released for the Eris early next year. For some reason I was thinking that the Eris lacked Wi-Fi, but this handset has it and it works fine.
I am getting it set up now so I can test it out — here are some quick photos to show the phone from all sides:
Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.
After evaluating the Sprint Hero, why would you be surprised how small the Eris is? It’s basically the same handset in terms of size and weight, no?
Yep but it’s been a couple of months since I had the Hero in my hand. This feels lighter than the Hero due to the plastic case vs. the metal of the Hero.
The Eris is thinner than the (Sprint) Hero (and with a higher megapixel camera). Looks nicer too. Unfortunately, many of the cool apps don’t run on Android 1.5 – reinforcing your OS splintering theory.
I’ll have to hold them both the next time I’m out. I can’t see much difference on paper when the Hero is 4.46″ x 2.22″ x 0.54″ and the Eris is at 4.45″ x 2.19″ x 0.52″ I guess it’s all about the “feel” when it comes to a single millimeter difference. ;)
Huh, didn’t realize they were that similar in size. They feel and look more substantially thinner. I’ll take my Sprint Hero to the Verizon store and snap a pic with my iPhone for you this weekend.
A mm here, a mm there. Pretty soon you have the old Motorola brick phone.
It’s getting 2.x in Q1 of next year.
Good to hear that VZW told you that it’s getting 2.1! I knew it was at least getting 2.0 but am glad to hear it will be 2.1. I’ve owned the Eris for a few days and enjoy it so far but am really waiting for the 2.x upgrade.
I was also told that an update would be pushed to the phone any day now to address some of the issues, including battery life.
Will the update to 2.0 or 2.1 be automatic, or is there something you have to do to get it? Sorry, newbie here. Getting the Eris next weekend. Am jazzed.
All Android OS updates are done OTA (over the air). You will receive a notification automatically on your phone when the update is available.
Or when you hear that Verizon is rolling out the update, you can get it by going to Settings>About Phone>System Updates if you don’t feel like waiting the few days of the roll out process.
Enjoy your new phone!
Thanks for the info, Steve. I appreciate it. Can’t wait for Saturday!!
I think when the Eris gets the 2.0 or 2.1 update (Q1 2010) that it will not be an “Iphone Killer” but will instead be a “Droid Killer” I have worked with the Droid and think it is too bulky to carry in my pocket. I will pull the trigger on an Eris in January. I know the passion is also due out, but I don’t to keep waiting on the latest and greatest.
Motorola better get smart and make the Droid 2 with a virtual keyboard or they will see their sales numbers take a dive once the full HTC lineup is in the channel.
Android will help bury the iPhone. The iPhone marketshare is peaking. Apple fanboys will always prefer iPhones, but as the smartphone market expands, more people will get other phones rather than the iPhone. Well, it is now, as the more people use Symbian and RIM, than iPhone.
In case you have not seen this…….HTC Droid Eris on Android 2.1 Video
http://www.droid-eris.com/updates-and-cupcakes/2-1-video/
Hey! My guestion is how big of a micro sd hc card will the droid eris hold