I know what you're really asking "Should I ditch my iPhone for a Droid?" And the answer is: Only if you think AT&T blows and you want to stick with/change to Verizon. For most everyday users, (as in, you only do 20 emails a day tops—it's hard to deal with a glass keyboard for more than that—and want the best internet browsing experience as well as tons of useful apps) the iPhone is still a very, very high benchmark in the smartphone world. That said, the Droid is the best phone running Google's Android OS. The screen is large, crisp and bright, the build quality is solid and has the perfect amount of heft, but more importantly, it's faster than other Android phones—in other words, you don't have to wait five seconds for the Facebook app to launch as you do on other Android phones with weaker processors. It also has a pretty sophisticated 5MP camera and the beta version of Google Maps Navigation which, aside from the overly femme-botic voice guide, is incredible. No need for addresses: Just say "Navigate to In N Out" and in a few seconds, all of the In N Out Burgers near you appear in a list, you tap the one you want, and you're off.
So what's wrong with the Droid? The keyboard, while large, is flat. I don't get it? Haven't designers figured out that bigger flatter keys don't work better than compact ones that have a curve to them? It's about the shape of the keys, not the size.
What else is wrong with the Droid. To put it simply: it's not an iPhone. There's not as many apps available, they don't seem to run as smoothly, and the Android OS just isn't as pretty as the iPhone OS. All those smooth transitions from one app to the homescreen, the carefully chosen typefaces, being able to pinch to zoom—when you live with a device everyday, all of those little details count more than, say, the fact that the Droid's camera has a flash and you can adjust the white balance and picture size.
The bottom line: the iPhone still rules, the Palm Pre is a close second (but it's on Sprint), and the Droid is in third. But if you're a power user that needs to crank out tons of emails but still wants a sleek, sophisticated smartphone, I'd go with the Blackberry Bold 9700 —more on that next week.