The Motorola Droid may have garnered all the headlines, but it's not the only new Android phone from Verizon Wireless. The carrier also announced availability of the HTC Droid Eris, a slightly smaller, but similarly feature-packed Android phone. Here's an overview of what you'll find in the HTC Droid Eris.
Price and Availability
The HTC Droid Eris is available for $99.99 from Verizon Wireless when you sign a new two-year service contract. That price includes a $100 mail-in rebate that comes in the form of a debit card, not an actual check. (Note, though, that Verizon's Web site is offering the $100 off as an online discount, not a mail-in rebate, so you don't have to pay that extra amount up front.)
Design
The Droid Eris is similar in shape to HTC's myTouch 3G, another Android phone currently available from T-Mobile. Where the Motorola Droid is sharp and angular, HTC's Droid Eris is curved. Like the myTouch, the Droid Eris sports a 3.2-inch touch screen -- notably smaller than the Motorola Droid's 3.7 inch display. Its 480 by 320 screen resolution also pales in comparison to the high-res 480-by-854 screen that Motorola's phone offers.
The Droid Eris is smaller than the Motorola Droid; it measures 4.5 by 2.2 by .5 inches and weighs just 4.2 ounces. Its smaller profile is due to its lack of a hardware keyboard, though. Like the myTouch 3G, the Droid Eris is a touch-screen-only phone. (You do get a roller key and two hardware buttons on the front of the phone, though.)
Voice and Data
Like the Motorola Droid, the HTC Droid Eris runs on Verizon's CDMA and high-speed EvDO networks. It also includes support for Wi-Fi networks and Bluetooth Wireless, and its full-HTML browser includes support for Flash Lite.
Software
While the Motorola Droid runs the latest version of the Android operating system -- version 2.0 -- the Droid Eris ships with version 1.5. (T-Mobile's collection of Android phones, which include the myTouch 3G and the T-Mobile G1 have been updated to Android version 1.6.) Verizon hasn't said when the Droid Eris will get an update.
The older version of the Android OS means that the HTC Droid Eris does not include the slick new Google Maps Navigation app that you'll find on the Motorola Droid. You will get an updated version of Google Maps, but that doesn't offer the spoken turn-by-turn directions that Google Maps Navigation offers.
The Droid Eris also offers access to the Android Marketplace, so you can download plenty of apps to your phone. While the Android Marketplace doesn't have the selection found in Apple's App Store, which now boasts more than 100,000 apps, it does offer a good selection of apps for both work and play.
Messaging
Like all Android phones, the HTC Droid Eris is heavily tied in with Google's services, like Gmail. But the Droid Eris offers the ability to sync with your Outlook calendars and contacts directly, not through a Google account. It also offers support for Microsoft Exchange e-mail accounts.
Camera
The 5-megapixel camera on the HTC Droid Eris is a big step up from the 3.2-megapixel model found on the myTouch 3G. The camera includes autofocus and captures video, but lacks a flash.
Music and More
Like the Motorola Droid, the HTC Droid Eris doesn't include access to Verizon's suite of V Cast services, but instead offers the music features found on most Android phones. You get one-touch access to Amazon's MP3 store for DRM-free music downloads, plus a basic music player for organizing and playing back tunes.
Stay tuned for a full review of the HTC Droid Eris.