Droid Mini by Motorola (Verizon Wireless) Phone Review and Specification



The Droid Ultra, Droid Mini, Droid Maxx, and Moto X are all based on the same chipset, Motorola’s X8. That’s basically a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro dual-core Krait 300 processor running at 1.7GHz with an Adreno 320 GPU. On benchmarks, it holds its own with Snapdragon 600-based competitors, so banish all of those complaints about it being an “older part.”

All of these phones have effectively the same performance, which is very good. The phone feels fast and responsive, with smooth scrolling and few delays. Like the Moto X, the Ultra is running Android 4.2.2; Motorola says an Android 4.3 update is coming.

Phone Specification :
  • Processor Speed : 1.73 GHz
  • Operating System as Tested : Android 4.2.2
  • Screen Size : 4.3 inches
  • Screen Pixels Per Inch : 341 ppi
  • Screen Resolution : 1280-by-720 pixels
  • Screen Type : TFT LCD
  • Camera Resolution : 10MP front/2MP back
  • Dimensions  : 4.81 by 2.41 by .34" (HWD) inches
  • 802.11x/Band(s) : 802.11 a/b/g/n
  • Video Camera Resolution : 1080P
  • Battery Life (As Tested) : 13 hours 40 minutes
  • Available Integrated Storage : 11.03 GB
  • CPU : Qualcomm Snapdragon
  • Service Provider : Verizon Wireless
  • Total Integrated Storage : 16 GB
  • High-Speed Data : EDGE, EVDO Rev A, LTE, HSPA+ 42
  • Phone Capability / Network : GSM, CDMA, UMTS, LTE
  • Form Factor : Candy Bar
  • Bluetooth Version : 4.0 LE+EDR
  • Bands : 850, 900, 1800, 1900, 2100, 1700, 700
  • Weight : 4.59 oz

Features and quality

Like the other new Droid phones, the Droid Mini is made of a very slick black Kevlar which looks and feels like plastic. It attracts some serious fingerprints on the back panel. The Droid Mini’s slickness bothers me a lot less than the Motorola Droid Ultra’s, because it’s small enough to securely hold and operate with one hand.

At 4.77 by 2.41 by .35 inches (HWD) and 4.6 ounces, it’s smaller and lighter than the Moto X and Verizon’s other leading smartphones, but its 4.3-inch TFT LCD screen has the same 1280-by-720 resolution as the Moto X’s 4.7-inch AMOLED panel does. That makes for a higher pixel density, at 341 pixels per inch. LCD screens also typically have cooler, less-saturated colors than AMOLED screens do, and the Droid Mini’s screen is both a bit brighter and a bit better color-balanced than our Moto X.

The Droid Mini supports Verizon’s CDMA network, the AT&T HSPA+ network (oddly enough), foreign HSPA+ networks on the 900 and 2100MHz (but not 1800MHz) bands at speeds up to HSPA+ 42, and Verizon’s LTE network on 700MHz only—for now. A firmware update will bring support for Verizon’s AWS LTE spectrum, which will improve LTE speeds where it’s implemented.

The Mini can hit Wi-Fi networks on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies, including the new 802.11ac networks. All the usual other radios are here, too: Bluetooth 4.0 (which works very well for voice dialing and media playback), GPS, NFC and such. No, you can’t have Google Wallet; Verizon blocks it.

I got 13 hours, 40 minutes of talk time with the Droid Mini, better than the Droid Ultra but not quite as good as the Moto X. The Mini has a 2000mAh battery, smaller than the other two phones, but its smaller screen size will help balance that out for comparable battery life.



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