There has been no better time to shop for smartphones under $100,
with the current crop of bargain phones delivering really good specs and
impressive performance. Should the Motorola Droid Mini, a compact
smartphone that falls in the category, figure in your list of options?
Design
If you're tired of ever-growing phones, then you'll like this
handset, which measures 4.8 x 2.4 x 0.35 inches (l x w x d), making it
easy on the pocket and even easier on the hands. Design isn't ugly, but
aesthetics isn't the priority here -- the overall appearance seems
masculine, all while coming in at a respectably manageable size.
Display
The Droid Mini's screen is a 4.3-inch 720p LCD. It's bright and
sharp enough, although you can definitely see the difference once
compared to better phones like the Moto X. Colors didn't always look
very natural, although non-discerning users who aren't spoiled by AMOLED
displays probably wouldn't mind.
Camera
Motorola has never been a big player on smartphone cameras. At
least, not until recently. The Droid Mini has benefited from that
recent focus on better optics, with a 10 megapixel sensor that manages
impressive-quality stills both indoors and outdoors -- images had crisp
detail, colors were accurate and exposure seemed just right. If we have
any complaints, it's just the field of view for the camera felt a
little too narrow, making it hard to shoot wider scenes. Video capture
is good, but nothing particularly special.
Features
It runs a near-untouched version of Android 4.2.2, so stock Android
fans are going to love it. The few added touches Motorola put in (e.g.
Circles and the multiple functions accessible from it) are actually very
useful. The software Verizon loaded, of course, tend to cross the
bloatware boundaries, but we've all been there, complained about that
and all. Other features we enjoyed include Active Display (pulsing
screen alerts), Wireless Display (screen mirroring), and, of course,
Touchless Control (basically, voice control using the X8 platform),
which is way better than the typical voice commands on many phones.
Performance
The Droid Mini felt fast. Sure, I never really pushed it with
resource-heavy games, but the tasks and apps I normally use ran
flawlessly with zero lag.
Calls were crystal clear on both ends, with voices coming through
loud and natural-sounding. On speaker, there's a certain flatness to
the sound, although it's plenty loud, allowing for easy use even when
outdoors. Those on the other end said I sounded great on
speakerphone. Expect a full day of service from the 2,000 mAh battery
on moderate use.
Overall
If you can get over the sub-par looks and the less-than-great screen,
the Motorola Droid Mini brings a lot to the table: a solid camera,
excellent call quality, and a few novel features. Plus, it packs the
same X8 processor as Motorola's way more premium phones, giving this
some serious muscle for heavy computing tasks. It's available from
Verizon, priced at $49.99 on a new two-year agreement.
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