Revisited – The Difference Between “Droid” and “Android”

Much has changed since my original post. View the original post The Difference Between “Droid” and “Android” here.

Recap:

In short, the only “Droid” devices you will see are owned by Verizon. Verizon has the licenses with Lucas Films that allow them to use the term “droid”.

What has changed?

At the time that I wrote this article, the Moto Droid was the only Droid on the market. The Motorola Droid was the first android phone marketed heavily by Verizon as a Droid. However, these days Verizon has many android devices, all under the “Droid” family, such as the Droid, Droid 2, Droid Eris, Droid Incredible, Droid X, Droid Pro, and Droid Charge.

A note on 4G:

While the Samsung Charge may be “the first Droid to be infused with 4G LTE power,” it is not the first android device to utilize 4G. In fact, Verizon Wireless marketed the HTC Thunderbolt as their first 4G LTE device altogether, so perhaps they do not consider the Thunderbolt in their “droid” family.

T-Mobile had devices on their own 4G HSPA+ network much earlier than Verizon (myTouch 4G). Similarly, Sprint has been boasting their 4G Clear network even before T-Mobile (HTC Evo).

All 4G networks are not created equal, but both the HTC Thundebolt and the Samsung Charge use Verizon’s same 4G LTE network, so you can expect them to perform on the internet equally fast. This difference is merely for marketing.