Fellow TechXaminer, Andrew Allen, and I are always chatting about why cell phone manufacturers are constantly stripping the power away from devices as soon as they slap the word “Mini” on them. The "new" Motorola Mobility (a Google Company in case you didn’t know) is looking to reverse that trend with its recent launch of the Droid Mini. This is not an in-depth review since I have less than 24 hrs to ship the device to Mom. Maybe I will follow up this post with her review. Let’s get into it.
Hardware
First of all I have to give Motorola props for not insulting consumers by attempting to make us think a 4.3 inch device can’t handle the power of a 5.0 inch device. Other than physical size, battery, and screen type, the differences between the Mini and big Droid brothers, Ultra and Maxx, are negligible.
The Droid Mini is based on the same Motorola X8 Mobile Computing System architecture as its larger brethren. All 3 DROID devices, like their cousin the Moto X, have dual core 1.7 Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processors that still pack a lot of punch in 2013, and can hang with most quad core smartphones on the market. The Droid Mini includes 2GBs of RAM, and a fairly decent 16GBs of storage onboard. Sorry folks, no SD card slot to expand that storage. That's something to keep in mind if you want to store your entire video library on your 4.3 inch device.
This year’s Droid family, including the Moto X, are all being marketed with 10MP Clear Pixel rear cameras, and 2MP front facing cameras. The Clear Pixel, in theory, is supposed to provide better low light photography. I won’t have time to really put the Mini’s camera through the paces, but I do have possession of its big bro, Maxx, so I will possibly share some images and thoughts down the road. Afterall, it’s the same exact camera. The few pics I have taken all seem social media approved to me.
You can’t knock Moto’s hustle when it comes to device stamina. Motorola’s battery technology is unmatched in the industry so far in terms of cramming a lot of juice in small packages. The Droid Mini has a 2000 mAh battery, which Motorola claims will give you up to 28 hrs on a single charge with mixed usage. Honestly, these days, if I could squeeze 18 hours on a single charge, I’d be happy since I’m not awake 24 hrs a day. Even if the claim is slightly off the mark in any way, I like Moto’s focus on what may be everyone’s biggest pain point with their smartphones: battery life. Motorola also made their little workhorse easy to charge by including wireless inductive charging, which makes me reminisce a bit about my webOS/Palm Pre/Touchstone days. Wireless charging really reduces the wear and tear of the micro usb charging slots since you’re not plugging and unplugging constantly. I’ve had a few go bad on me with normal daily usage.
When I first held the Droid Mini in my hand, it felt tiny. It’s not iPhone tiny, but pretty damn close. The bezels are thin, almost edge to edge, but the Mini feels solid in your hand, not like a cheap plastic toy. The size is ideal for one handed use. I can move my thumb from the top left corner of the screen to the bottom right without any shuffling of the phone in my palm.The back is glossy, so it does pick up prints, but it’s not unbearable. I don’t spend a ton of time staring at the back of my phone. With a nice case on it, it won’t matter at all.
Not a whole lot to say about the display, except it’s 720P, bright, and beautiful. Motorola opted for a TFT display, rather than the Amoled displays of the Ultra and the Maxx. Again that’s one of the minor differences in the new DROID family, which quite honestly makes no difference at all. With its 342 ppi screen, the Droid Mini is really a pleasure to look at.
Something I haven’t personally heard anyone speak about is the sound quality. The Droid Mini packs a nice loud speaker. I won’t go as far as to say it’s the HTC BoomSound quality of the HTC One, but it sounds really great for a little device.
Software
I spent more time on the hardware than I meant to, but the truth is, that’s really only where the Mini parts ways with the bigger Verizon Droid devices in 2013. Everything else, Verizon bloatware included, is identical.
Active Notifications let you see a glimpse of what notifications you have pending by displaying specific application icons when you simply pick the Mini up, and without unlocking your phone. It’s an elegant solution rather than trying to decipher the blinking light morse code. I did notice that it's pretty sensitive to any movement. For example, if you shake the table the device is resting on, the display lights up.
Touchless Controls, the heart and soul of Droid cousin Moto X, can be found in the Droid family from Mini on up to the Maxx as well. Train your Droid Mini to respond to your voice, say the magic “Ok Google Now” phrase, and you can command your Droid to navigate you to whatever destination you desire without laying a finger on it. It’s slick, futuristic, and at times quite practical. I wish you could customize the trigger phrase that brings the phone to life, but hey, the cool factor is not lost.
Droid Zap allows you to share images with other 2013 Droid owners who are within range with a two finger swipe up that “throws” the images into the cloud. With a two finger swipe down they can “catch” the image. Um... yeah. All I can say is that it works, but I seriously wish I could have a chat with the Motorola marketing department about that branding.
One of my favorite software features is Motorola Connect. The software works in conjunction with a desktop Chrome Plugin that essentially syncs your phone’s texts, calls, and contacts with your computer. In other words, it’s similar to having Google Hangouts, Facebook, or iMessage messenger-like capabilities as long as you have Chrome running on your PC, Mac, or Chromebook. Your phone can basically sit on the charger across the room, while you respond conveniently to text messages coming in, or even compose them! Well played Moto!
The Quick Capture feature is intended to be a quick double twist of the wrist to launch the camera software without unlocking the phone, and hunting for your camera shortcut. This takes some getting used to. I’ve been successful launching it about 85% of the time. It’s a bit gimmicky, but hey it’s there, and used enough, it could become second nature.
Active Notifications let you see a glimpse of what notifications you have pending by displaying specific application icons when you simply pick the Mini up, and without unlocking your phone. It’s an elegant solution rather than trying to decipher the blinking light morse code. I did notice that it's pretty sensitive to any movement. For example, if you shake the table the device is resting on, the display lights up.
Touchless Controls, the heart and soul of Droid cousin Moto X, can be found in the Droid family from Mini on up to the Maxx as well. Train your Droid Mini to respond to your voice, say the magic “Ok Google Now” phrase, and you can command your Droid to navigate you to whatever destination you desire without laying a finger on it. It’s slick, futuristic, and at times quite practical. I wish you could customize the trigger phrase that brings the phone to life, but hey, the cool factor is not lost.
Droid Zap allows you to share images with other 2013 Droid owners who are within range with a two finger swipe up that “throws” the images into the cloud. With a two finger swipe down they can “catch” the image. Um... yeah. All I can say is that it works, but I seriously wish I could have a chat with the Motorola marketing department about that branding.
One of my favorite software features is Motorola Connect. The software works in conjunction with a desktop Chrome Plugin that essentially syncs your phone’s texts, calls, and contacts with your computer. In other words, it’s similar to having Google Hangouts, Facebook, or iMessage messenger-like capabilities as long as you have Chrome running on your PC, Mac, or Chromebook. Your phone can basically sit on the charger across the room, while you respond conveniently to text messages coming in, or even compose them! Well played Moto!
The Quick Capture feature is intended to be a quick double twist of the wrist to launch the camera software without unlocking the phone, and hunting for your camera shortcut. This takes some getting used to. I’ve been successful launching it about 85% of the time. It’s a bit gimmicky, but hey it’s there, and used enough, it could become second nature.
The Bottom Line
There’s a lot of Maxx in this Mini frame, from the hardware internals, to the software, and even wireless charging. It’s a great comfortable size, and lives on the opposite end of the embarrassing, “too large to put to your ear” Android phone trend. In fact, I think there is a huge advantage for Motorola. When it comes to OS software upgrades, Motorola will have a much easier time rolling those out given the near stock Android experience, and hardware consistency across this year’s Droid family. I’d expect no new Droid device to be left behind including the Droid Mini. If the Droid Maxx didn’t exist, I’d seriously consider the Droid Mini for myself, which is why it’s getting shipped to Mom. She’s getting, in my opinion, a powerful device with a budget friendly price tag at $99 on contract with Verizon Wireless. Not to steal any shine from the Moto X, but I think it would behoove Motorola to consider releasing the Mini in a few different colors. Other than the glossy back, and possibly if you have a preference for larger screen sizes, there’s nothing to dislike about the Droid Mini. It puts other “Minis” on notice.
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