My first impression of the Devour with MotoBLUR for this review was that this phone is a solid, heavy duty, mini computer at your fingertips.
It's also social networking at your fingertips. The Devour with MotoBLUR feature allows all of your networking tools to be available on your home screen, with updates on the latest messages received (on twitter, facebook, emails...), without extra logins or apps to open. Devour with MotoBLUR is a great time saver since you can take a quick glance at the home screen to see what were the latest messages.
I loved the social features, but Devour with MotoBLUR seemed to be bogged down a bit. Connection was very slow at times. Other times, I needed to completely reboot the system. For example, on more than one occasion, the camera would not work, and instead I would get a black screen every time I tried to open the feature. This was corrected after a reboot. Other times, the web browser would just freeze.
Battery life is not optimal. If used at full capacity, you will need to charge the Devour with MotoBLUR by midday. There are ways to conserve the battery usage and I highly recommend doing this. (Go to Settings, Battery Manager). Another option is to download a Task Killer app manager from the apps menu. This app closes all programs that are running at the same time and using up battery power.
This may sound silly, but I LOVE how easy it is to turn Devour with MotoBLUR off. It is quick and doesn't make any loud chimes signifying that it is shutting down, which is helpful if and when you need to shut off your phone while at church or in a meeting.
I also love the placement of the voice button on the side of the Devour with MotoBLUR. It makes turning on the voice activator easy. You never have to even look at your Devour with MotoBLUR, or scroll thru menus to get to the feature. So I put it to the test and tried a "drive and dial" at the same time. I attempted it both with the bluetooth and without. I like the feature, but I would highly recommend that you say "Call" and then give the number instead of the name. Every time I tried the name method, it NEVER picked up the right person I was trying to contact. For example, I would say "Call Gina" and it would come back and say "Did you say 'Call Cheeker'"? Or, "call Maria" and it would ask if I said "Call Lorrima" even though there is no such person in my phonebook (but there is a Maria).
I also had the opportunity to test out the new text to speech feature with the bluetooth headset. What a concept! You can retrieve text messages on Devour with MotoBLUR hands-free and automatically (while driving, shopping, etc.) as they get decoded and are read to you through a bluetooth headset. After getting some support, I finally figured it out. I tried it out with a friend. I sent a text message, and when she replied, it automatically came through on my headset spoken to me. It got every word correct! I tried to reply using speech to text (via the Handcent SMS app) but could not figure it out. I guess I need to contact support again:). And, unfortunately, when she replied back to me again, it would not come through as speech anymore and I was forced to read it again and use the touch screen to get through the messages. The notification chime came through on the Devour with MotoBLUR headset but not the message. Only the first time through did it work, even though the feature was turned on the entire time. I don't know what I could have been doing wrong, but I would think that even if this was my error, I would expect the phone to not be so difficult. What could I have been missing that I was supposed to figure out? So, I took a break and decided to try it again by texting a different friend. The first message she texted back to me came through on the headset, and it seemed to be working again. She never texted again so I could not test my theory.
Per usual with the android market, the Devour with MotoBLUR has a great selection of games and apps. Also, emailing was easy. I find it to be a mandatory feature now where you type in the first few letters and then the phone finishes it by giving you options to click from. MUCH easier than retyping the entire email address each time. I was emailing quickly and loving it. It's all about time saving features with me. The keypad was very easy to get used to and use quickly. The universal inbox was very convenient. You can set up multiple email addresses and retrieve them all at once, or one by one. And, on the Messaging screen, Devour with MotoBLUR gathers texts, social network messages and e-mails all on one screen for quick response.
One other function I need to be able to use from my phone is twitpic. Although this phone gave me the message "Uploads disabled" when I tried to upload my pic through Twitpic, I was still able to post to twitpic with Devour with MotoBLUR via the email link they provide and then attaching the pic. The roundabout solution worked here.
The slide out QWERTY keyboard is convenient, comfortable and an easy option. You can go back and forth from touch screen to keyboard with no problems.
You can do the same voice activated services like calling, searching on web, etc. but you can't use the voice activated feature to do searches on VZ Navigator. If I'm out and about and get lost, it would be nice to speak into the phone with something like "Navigate to" and then provide an address or whatever and have it automatically turn on the VZ Navigator and begin directing. But, maybe I'm asking for too much here.
Here's more cool fun facts about the Devour with MotoBLUR: Contacts, log-in information, home screen customizations, e-mail and social network messages are backed up automatically on the secure MOTOBLUR portal. The portal also allows customers to use the Devour with MotoBLUR's fully integrated aGPS to help locate the phone if misplaced (or worse yet, stolen). This can be done from a computer and is easy to use once you've signed up. Additionally, remote wipe easily clears information from a lost device - very handy, and a good feature to have available since most of us put our lives (and others as well) on our phones.
All in all, Devour with MotoBLUR is a good phone - powerful and filled with social networking benefits - but with minor setbacks. I hope this review is helpful.
Note: Verizon loaned me a Devour phone to review free-of-charge, but the opinions reflected in my writeup are my own.
I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of diets suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. #superbowlfood
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i love this g...
