Verizon Ambassador Program

So recently I became a Verizon Wireless Ambassador. A pretty nifty program where I get to try out devices and service from Verizon and then review it.

The first device I get to try is the Driod RAZR. This is my first experience with an Android phone. I’ve had an iPhone since the original so having “the other” kind of phone is totally new to me.

So far my experience has been a bit mixed with the RAZR.

The good:

• The new 4G LTE network is ridiculously fast. One speed test and it was remarkably faster than my home’s wireless network. In fact it was nearly double. Very impressive.
• The call quality on Verizon – something also new to me – was good as well. Not a lot of dead spots that I could see.
• The Android OS is pretty nifty when you get down to it. Lots of different, yet, cool features to it.
• The phone itself is pretty quick, apps load fairly quickly and run pretty smooth.
• Having flash on a phone is pretty interesting. I was able to get ESPN3.com to work, which was awesome.
• Speaking of streaming video, the quality on the RAZR screen is remarkable. It’s a bigger screen than the iPhone that I have right now and the quality is very nice.
• The “turn-off when phone goes in to pocket” feature is a nice touch.
• Widgets are pretty cool, and can be customized pretty easily.

The eh-not-so-great

• Battery life on the RAZR is pretty pathetic. It takes a while to charge for one thing and either its because I don’t know how to turn some processes off or something but the battery just drains even when you aren’t using the phone.
• Just like with most devices during heavy use, it gets fairly warm. Almost laptop warm.
• No Ice Cream Sandwich loaded on the phone was a pretty big disappointment. I’ve read/heard great things about that update.
• Too much crapware loaded on the phone that you can’t remove.
• The back of the phone has a weird plastic that doesn’t seem to be removable yet bubbles up real easy.

I’ll do a few more of these blog posts about the RAZR until the device has to be returned in late March.