While the Motorola Droid Pro isn’t the sleekest-looking Android phone around, it does pair both a touchscreen and a keyboard in an easy-to-use candybar slate form factor. More importantly, it brings plenty of strengths that make it a good option for a business phone.
Physically, it looks a bit odd -- almost like somebody took the Droid and attached a QWERTY keypad right below the display. That shouldn't be that big of a deal, though, since this is a business phone, so a little industrial aesthetic wouldn't hurt. As a result of the design, it's a tad big, but it remains pocketable.
Display is a 3.1-inch capacitive touchscreen (320 x 480 resolution), which is bright and colorful but pales against many other options when it comes to sharpness. Touch interface is sufficiently responsive. The four-row keyboard is almost as good as the ones on Blackberry devices. Suffice to say, typing is a positive experience.
As a phone, the Motorola Droid Pro makes for average call quality. Audio sounded good for the most part, although we encountered background noises a couple of times. Those on the other end reported excellent reception, so the problems were only on our end. Speakerphone was good and should be usable outdoors. Battery life is rated at 6.5 hours.
The usual smartphone fare is here, from a variety of calling options to basic messaging to a slew of Google apps onboard. For connectivity, you get 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS. Android's advanced messaging features all make it in one piece, as well, so this should be a solid device for IMs and emails. There's even support for corporate directory lookup and a unified calendar that syncs your enterprise calendar with your Google calendar.
There are two key features here that differentiate it from other phones (aside from the unusual looks, of course). First is a dual-mode functionality that supports both CDMA and GSM -- a superb convenience when you're traveling (yes, this is a world-roaming phone, both for calls and data). Second, it comes with enhanced security, which allows you to wipe the device storage and SD card remotely, along with other improvements.
A number of useful apps are preloaded, including QuickOffice, a backup assistant and a VPN client. For multimedia, it sticks to the default Android player, which is serviceable, though unspectacular. The 5.0 megapixel camera offers a good selection of editing options and takes rather good shots.
Aimed at business users, the obvious question is: will the Motorola Droid Pro be a better choice than a Blackberry? When it comes to RIM's core strengths, this phone doesn't quite make the bar. Considering the dual-mode operation, excellent keyboard and the better experience of Android 2.2, though, there's a good case for picking this one.
