Motorola DROID Mini Pro Reviews

The iPhone’s remarkable success is proof that people do value good experiences in small packages. But for an Android manufacturer to make this same admission would be to undo all the work spent convincing the public that Android is a step ahead of the iPhone just because it’s bigger. “You don’t get people switching from Apple to Android because they want starred emails in Gmail,” said Greengart. “It’s because they want a bigger screen.” Companies don’t want to concede that a bigger screen doesn’t necessarily equate to a better phone because they would risk losing some of these converts. Manufacturers are still releasing smaller phones like the Droid Mini, but they are simply not as good as the best large smartphones on the market — I'd recommend the Droid Mini over the Ultra, certainly, but you shouldn't buy either one. Small phones are still targeted at placating a segment of the market that doesn’t want a large phone and doesn't demand a first-class experience, but what about the people that do? The Droid Mini comes closer than most, offering nearly identical specs to its larger counterparts for less money, but from the poor design to the weak battery life, it just feels carelessly thrown together. The entire time I used the Mini, I wanted to swap it out for the Moto X.

Who is the Droid Mini for? It's for people who want to save a buck, for one, since the Mini is no less powerful or featured than any of its bigger brothers. It's for Google-philes, since Motorola's leveraged its status as "Google's phone company" to make Google Now the centerpiece of the device. It's for people who want Android phones to stop growing, since its 4.3-inch display can safely be operated by any adult hand. And it's for people who don't care about looks, since this phone has been visibly beaten with the ugly stick. If you're a Verizon user, and you don't mind carrying a charger around with you, and you meet all the criteria above, the Droid Mini will suit you just fine. It's fast, compact, and filled with ways to make your life more convenient. If someone were to take its best qualities and put it into a better designed package, we might have a real competitor to the iPhone in the 4-inch range. For now, though, the Droid Mini can take its place as one of the best small Android phones on the market today.

I admit I was initially intrigued by the $99.99 Droid Mini when I first learned about Motorola's most compact handset. After all, it has the same speedy X8 mobile processor that you get on the Moto X ($199.99), Droid Ultra ($199.99), and Droid Maxx ($299.99), and it tackles the same nifty voice control tricks and notification skills of Motorola's more expensive models. By all means, it will serve you well if price is your primary concern, but remember that you'll be making some serious design compromises to get that bargain price. The screen that produces low-contrast images in kooky colors is hard to swallow by itself, but the real deal breaker for me is the Mini's slippery, fingerprint-prone chassis. That's why I can't in good faith recommend the Droid Mini over the Moto X if you have a bit more room in your budget. For $100 extra it has the same impressive features packed into a device of comparable size and far higher build quality. The final cherry on top is the Moto X's larger AMOLED screen with superior imagery.

The Motorola Droid Mini is a little less attractive than the similar Moto X, but it's also less expensive.

Just as the Motorola DROID Ultra is this year’s replacement for the DROID RAZR HD, the new DROID Mini takes the place of the DROID RAZR M in the line-up. In fact, both the DROID Mini and DROID Ultra share similar features, such as the 1.7GHz Motorola X8 SoC, 10MP Clear Pixel camera, and Kevlar construction. With the Mini, all is coming in a smaller package for those not looking for a massive smartphone...