My First Fallen Droid…
| by Anthony Perez on December 17th, 2009 |
So, while my Droid and I were narrowly escaping Darth Vader getting out of my car, I dropped it. Heart breaking and on the verge of blasphemous right? Well before I am chastised for life hear me out.
As I was getting out of my car, while wearing sweatpants, my phone slipped right out of my pocket and fell, at most 2 feet, from the edge of my bucket seats in my Toyota Celica to the cold hard parking lot below. On the way down I was able to slightly cushion the fall with my foot in an almost hacky sack fashion. But, my attempts were futile. My Droid then fell on to the upper left corner and reached it’s final resting place screen side down on the asphalt.
Upon inspection I found my phone to still work perfectly fine. There are no missing pixels on the screen, the touch still responds as perfectly as it did before committing suicide, and there are no sharp shards on the screen. Shocking right? Especially when I compared it to a friend’s cracked iPhone screen where I nearly severed my finger on sharp pieces of the glass screen.
Now, maybe the Droid hit just right in order to crack the screen, or perhaps landed on a protruding piece of asphalt. Or maybe Motorola’s build quality is sub par as compared to Google and their Android OS. Personally, I blame the sweat pants!
So, if we’ve learned anything from this experience it’s this:
Motorola Droid + Sweat Pants = Epic Fail!
For those of you risky enough to get out of your car while wearing sweatpants with your Droid in your pocket, do us all a favor and get a case for your own protection. As for me, I’m off to call Asurion and get my insurance replacement Droid…
1. Sean wrote on December 17, 2009
looks like a busted digitizer perhaps. LCD is fine. I had to change both on my G1 not too long ago.
2. fupadroid wrote on December 17, 2009
i have dropped more phones harder than that and they servived. whats up?
3. mlankton wrote on December 17, 2009
I’m sorry that you broke your Droid, but even more sorry that you have to drive a Celica.
4. ari-free wrote on December 17, 2009
this is why a lot of people still want a flip phone
5. jo wrote on December 17, 2009
lol.. celica.. hahaha
anyways, without that annoying “screen thingy” the graphics should be brighter now.
6. Jeff wrote on December 17, 2009
This is why people shouldn’t wear sweatpants in public!
7. Eazyw wrote on December 17, 2009
You ought to be punished Rob.
8. Ogre wrote on December 17, 2009
“Again with the sweatpants?”
“You know the message you’re sending out to the world with these sweatpants? You’re telling the world, ‘I give up. I can’t compete in normal society. I’m miserable, so I might as well be comfortable.’”
9. AngryOaf wrote on December 17, 2009
The phone must have hit at a weird angle because my girl friend drops her droid at least 2x per day (and I recoil in terror every single time) but there’s still no cosmetic damage to the phone at all.
Clearly it was the sweats… or the Celica (thrown in fgj)
10. Bugdog wrote on December 17, 2009
“Motorola Droid + Sweat Pants = Epic Fail!”
Um, yeah. 2 words: Plaxico Burress.
11. some dude wrote on December 17, 2009
I think you just wanted an excuse to get a Nexus One.
12. lostboykev wrote on December 17, 2009
What did you do to it?!!!!! I should call child Phone Services on you!!!
13. Jason wrote on December 17, 2009
I dropped my droid from at least 4 feet onto asphalt without incident. Also sweat pants are the devil.
14. just some dude wrote on December 17, 2009
My condolences for your loss, especially during the holidays. If i may share a word of encouragement during theses trying times. Holiday coupons baby., get out there and shop around.
But sucks dude i feel for you.
15. mobilemadness wrote on December 17, 2009
The Droid is a trooper
16. Zoid99 wrote on December 17, 2009
Now if it had a chin that wouldn’t have happened….
17. Josh wrote on December 17, 2009
I think the one thing that’s worse than wearing sweat pants in public is telling the world that you were wearing sweat pants.
18. summerfish wrote on December 17, 2009
Mine dropped from my seat from my dad’s dodge truck. My grandma yanked the headset that was plugged into it an it went flying. It was like only 2 weeks of having it. I was pissed! But then to my amazement, There was not a single scratch on it. I mean we all heard it crash and flop around on the pavement. I think Motorola did do a great job on the Droid.
19. LaptuaZ wrote on December 17, 2009
Sweat pants kill a lot of phones…I need to get my friend a pair since he has an iPhone…that for some reason cannot take mp3’s I send him through email and apply them as ring tones without hooking it up to a computer. I hope my G1 does not die similar to yours, chances are it will fall out of my hand while I flush the toilet…fav place to play with my phone…then all my rooted work is lost! But hey…new droid time ;) It just has to last long enough for the Nexus One to come out…
20. Nathan H. wrote on December 17, 2009
My iPhone survived worse.
I think it’s time for me to get a case for my newly purchased Droid. Thanks for the warning!
21. Wing wrote on December 17, 2009
Broken phone? There’s an app for that …!
22. Chris wrote on December 17, 2009
My wife owns a celica aka egg shell. I own a Toyota Tundra and I hate getting in that ity bity car. before anybody says anything im 5′9 185 athletic built. Bottom line your nearly laying on the floor in that car. and sweat panths lol maybe if your going to the gym.
Love my Droid
23. mikipedia wrote on December 17, 2009
:) Ogre
24. Richard wrote on December 17, 2009
I never really liked the HTC touch diamond look.
25. Carig wrote on December 17, 2009
Ah sweatpants, the pockets are so tempting but as soon as you angle them wrong everything comes shooting out.
I say keep the phone, the cracked screen design looks cool.
26. are you kidding?! wrote on December 17, 2009
This is Android news?
27. todd wrote on December 17, 2009
Ah! My G1 did a face plant on asphalt too! It took a stage dive out of the pocket of my hoodie as I was getting out of my Dakota. I think it was the small pebbles on the asphalt the spidered the glass. Still functional though!!! If it wasn’t for the screen protector holding the glass together, I think pieces would have dropped out like a tweaker’s front teeth.
I haven’t done the insurance exchange yet — I can’t afford the downtime until after the holidays. (Root’n and reinstall’n Cyanogen is gonna suck!!)
Anyone have any input if removing CM ROM is necessary prior to exchanging a phone? (I don’t know if the insurance company would look at a hacked phone as voiding the insurance coverage, even though the claim is on phsyical damage, not software related)
Step away from the sweat pants, and no body get’s hurt!!
28. davis wrote on December 17, 2009
wearing sweat pants AND driving a Celica? Nothing about that is okay
29. Grant Succeeded wrote on December 17, 2009
My daughter cracked the screen on her g1 (or I guess it’s actually the plexi/acrylic cover over the screen) but all the touch functionality was fine. She used it like that for several months before I finally helped her transfer to a different g1
30. Daniel McG wrote on December 17, 2009
I’m not so much sad that you broke your droid, because thats out of your control in situations like this.
I am, however, on the brink of tears because you signed up for insurance with ASURION of all people. That was in your control and you should be chastised greatly for such a terrible choice.
Good luck with that TERRIBLE company.
31. espiritiv wrote on December 17, 2009
Actually flip phones break easier than bar phones. a hinge is beging to be broken. You just need to get a protector for your phone to keep the screen from breaking.
32. Anony wrote on December 17, 2009
Last Saturday, I ate carry-out from Taco Bell for lunch and felt a rumbling sensation soon after finishing. As I was holding my Droid at the time, I shoved it into my pants pocket as I started to run for the toilet. On the way, a fart crept out. As I dropped trow to do my business, I realized that the fart had some power behind it and soaked juices through my skivvies and into my pants. I panicked, I did my business as quickly as possible, kicked my pants off and grabbed clean ones. I figured that if I tossed my pants into the wash right away, they’d be fine, I fired up the washing machine. As I was about to sit down to watch some TV not more than 5 minutes after starting the washing machine, I asked myself, where’s my Droid?
I’m positive that Google Latitudes last update was from within my washing machine.
33. Manacit wrote on December 17, 2009
I’ve, unfortunately, dropped my G1 farther then that (fell from my hand onto the pavement) and the only thing that broke was a little tiny chip from the plastic battery back. Otherwise you can’t tell it’s been dropped at all. It’s been holding up very well so far :)
34. Brandon wrote on December 17, 2009
Hmm….
My g1 has been dropped at least 3 times now, on concrete, one time while moving at a rapid pace, and a few scratches on the case is all it got. The droid must not be built to the same quality. :)
35. Del wrote on December 17, 2009
@Eazyw: Rob? This article was composed by Anthony Perez.
36. sonson wrote on December 17, 2009
the droid review was not that “in-depth” as it didnt’ cover the phone’s build-strength…so this is part 2 of that in-dept review…
37. Minja wrote on December 17, 2009
I am looking to buy a celica actually, I hope I don’t recreate this incident.
38. rizo wrote on December 17, 2009
You should have got a phone wirh a chin. I guess motorolla didnt learn anything from their cheap ass razr?
39. webby wrote on December 17, 2009
r it really broke or r that one of those cracked screen apps ?…
come on, own up, it were just a slow android newz day, so you had to create some newz.
40. Rob wrote on December 17, 2009
DAYS before my DROID even arrived, I drove to Greenville, OH (Since it’s the only damned corporate store within 50 miles of me) to buy the $29.99 Case+Holster combo. Hours before my phone arrived, an InvisibleShield was sitting on the counter waiting for the droid.
The same with my G1. Screw Asurion, $50 initial investment = no scratches to the actual phone, just the case.
41. Brett wrote on December 17, 2009
You’re not alone. I dropped my Droid facedown from waist height with a binder flipped over on top of it. My glass looks much worse. Just got my replacement from Asurion today after a 7 day wait because it was backordered.
42. Wayne wrote on December 17, 2009
I have had my g1 fall face first from my bicycle onto concrete and nothing has happened to the screen…Maybe the chin wasn’t such a stupid design? ;-)
43. GMoney wrote on December 17, 2009
Damn yo! My G1 has taken numerous, unbroken falls onto asphalt and concrete from heights greater than that and has barely a nick. I was enamored by the build of the Droid… until now.
44. JR wrote on December 17, 2009
“You will find that clones are immensely superior to Droids”
45. Style wrote on December 17, 2009
I have dropped mine 4 times on concrete, and had it fly out of a jacket pocket and hit a wall. Number of scratches? 0. I think you just got unlucky.
46. Jennifer wrote on December 17, 2009
I dropped mine 3 ft… no cover, not even a scratch.
47. Zac wrote on December 18, 2009
Isn’t Verizon’s one-year warranty supposed to cover this? They replaced by old LG Dare twice for touchscreen and software-related issues..
48. Steve Kondel wrote on December 18, 2009
I’ll say it again. The problem was that you were driving a Toyota Celica. The reason being that only people who wear sweat pants drive Toyota Celicas.
49. Brett wrote on December 18, 2009
Verizon’s warranty doesn’t cover user stupidity (damage). Thats why they make you pay 8 bucks a month for insurance.
By the way, there is no way I would have expected my Droid to survive landing facedown on concrete under a 5 pound binder. I still consider it a solid phone. I’m against putting a case around it. Maybe I’ll reconsider if I break another one :)
50. Wrx99 wrote on December 18, 2009
This is about the second worst thing that can happen to a guy that wears sweatpants, the worst being sexual aroused when wearing said pants in public.
51. BearsSuperfan wrote on December 18, 2009
There used to be a time when you could drop a Motorola phone and cofidently KNOW it would still work. When Sanjay Jha took over, he axed thousands of experienced engineers and hired a bunch of low cost (inexperienced) freshouts in China to design the phones. THAT is why the phone broke. Too bad the warranty doesn’t last as long as a 2 year contract.
Designed in China. Made in China with the cheapest parts on the planet. And you wonder why it broke?
52. Sober wrote on December 18, 2009
Not sure if I hate you for destroying Droid or wearing sweat pants while I have -15 outside. Dam you anyways!
53. Pat wrote on December 18, 2009
….damn lol
54. Johnny Awkward wrote on December 18, 2009
The Real WTF is the sweatpants.
Oops, wrong website.
55. Nik wrote on December 18, 2009
You wear sweatpants. You don’t deserve a Droid.
Foolish man!
56. ade wrote on December 18, 2009
Hmm, thanks for the warning. I drive a similar car and wear sweatpants all the time :) Maybe a cheap replacement digitizer + glass will come for droid on ebay soon, like there is for iphones, dirt cheap. Any tried any of those iphone replacement digitizers/glasses? My friend needs one and he’ll probably make me fix it.
57. JMoney wrote on December 18, 2009
sweatpants = epic fail
58. Ross wrote on December 18, 2009
It must have just hit at the perfect angle. These things are routinely tested by dropping them from 5′ onto feathers, foam pellets and kittens.
Perhaps the Moto drop testers need to start wearing sweat pants over their “I ♥ Android” underoos. It would be useful for them if you provided accurate specs on the sweat pants. Were they android-apporved lime-green, for example?
59. Chikedor wrote on December 18, 2009
Ouch… .___.
60. Bill wrote on December 18, 2009
I have had my Droid for three weeks, and have not bought a case . been thinking about it and after this picture . I am in ..
GOING TODAY
61. ontheFritz wrote on December 18, 2009
@Ogre… love the Seinfeld reference… but seriously – what a weak Droid! R2 would not be happy *shakes dome head.
62. aaron wrote on December 18, 2009
Chin! That’s why HTC rocks :) google = ask htc to manufacture nexus one :)
63. Buster wrote on December 18, 2009
I dropped mine from about 3.5 feet landing face down on rough asphalt, only thing that saved mine was a cheap clear case. Screen was fine just dings in the case.
64. RandyB wrote on December 18, 2009
SWEATPANTS = FAIL. Droid or no Droid.
65. JiMMaR wrote on December 18, 2009
“SWEATPANTS = FAIL. Droid or no Droid.”
lol that was funny XD
and damn dude , when I saw the pic of a broken droid on the main site .. I was gonna cry (not really)
and I was gonna order one abroad (didn’t reach us here yet) but what if something like this happens to me [no I don't wear sweatpants] but ..
urgh ..I’ll go bang my head on the wall
66. Vlad wrote on December 18, 2009
Boo at Motorola. I dropped my Dream nearly million times from at least 3 feet and it’s rock solid!!!
67. Marc wrote on December 18, 2009
Chalk it up to bad luck.
I jumped out the back of my friends dad’s truck, which is at least 6 feet high.
What comes creeping out of my jacket pocket and is forcefully pushed to the ground? Yeah…
I let out a cry. Pick up my droid. Let out a sigh of relief.
Only thing wrong with it is the plastic backing in the upper left corner got a bit chipped.
Next time I’m going to go for 8 feet. Wish me luck ;)
68. Ben wrote on December 18, 2009
I like sweatpants. I think they say “I know that society is full of crap but I’m above all that, and I might as well be comfortable”. I’m not a failure for wearing them, but I wonder how dull other people’s lives must be if they’ve got nothing better to do than judge me by my trousers.
Here’s a tip: buy the sweatpants with deep pockets.
69. Scott wrote on December 18, 2009
Hey, at least it was just sweatpants! Imagine the carnage if he were also wearing a cape!
All drops are not considered equal. I think the issue is that it landed on the corner. Had it landed on the face the screen might not have cracked.
70. ontheFritz wrote on December 18, 2009
@Ben… As long as you believe it, I guess that’s all that matters. But know that everyone else thinks it’s a little sad. haha. jk :)
71. Droidz wrote on December 18, 2009
I was laughing at the sweatpants part until I realize my 1-month-old Nexus1 is sitting in my sweatpants pocket. Taking it out right now. Thanks for the lesson. B-)
72. Jeff wrote on December 18, 2009
On a related note.
Wife + Flashlight App + HTC Magic + Dog on Leash + Squirrel = Very Similar Epic Fail!
But my replacement screen off ebay just arrived at home today according to the tracking! I can’t wait to get home to fix my phone! Got a nice flip leather case off ebay to prevent future issues.
73. Joe A wrote on December 18, 2009
The fact you admitted to wearing sweatpants outside of your home is reason enough to have someone smash your Droid for you. Looks like Karma took care of that bit itself.
74. James wrote on December 18, 2009
I consider myself lucky, i was getting out of my Chevy 1500 with my droid in my sweatpants pocket, it took a dive landed on the corners and is still in perfect working condition. Other than the 2 scratches on the corners.
75. jeremy wrote on December 18, 2009
dont you just want to kick yourself………. for wearing sweats out of the house. hope ya had insurance.
76. Stephan wrote on December 18, 2009
I dropped my droid from about 4 feet while jumping and it was fine. I was changing my tire and had to jump on the tire iron to get the lugs off. It flew up and out right on to the concrete. Besides some dings on the metal trim around the screen, the glass itself was perfectly fine. Yours must have fell in the perfectly horrible way….my heart goes out to you! :(
77. Jay wrote on December 18, 2009
Have fun paying another $85 dollars for your new Droid on top of what you already paid….My friend dropped his Droid face down and his screen spider webbed similarly but it still worked the same……Waaaaay to expensive of a deductible when you already pay $7.00 a month added on to a near $100.00 phone bill…..I wonder if the deductible goes up if you break another one?
78. Zac wrote on December 18, 2009
They make you pay $85 for a replacement? Then what the hell does their one-year warranty cover? The Verizon tech support doesn’t know how to fix software/firmware issues anyway; they’d reflash the stock for you at most. They would say “Try rebooting your phone.” like a bunch of useless idiots would. They don’t really have much device knowledge, rather than word of mouth or the basics that all reps are taught about all phones. I learned this from multiple past experiences with other smartphones.
79. Clashrainn wrote on December 18, 2009
Do yourself a favor and spend $25 on some ghost armour http://WWW.ghost-armour.com Not only will it protect you from nasty cracked screens, it will also protect all the other surfaces of your Droid from ugly scratches. I outfitted my entire Droid right after I got it on launch day. Don’t waste your time with the cheapo screen protectors you find at Verizon or best buy. Plus with ghost armour you can still use your car dock and multimedia dock if you have it. Try doing that with any case on the market!
80. Clashrainn wrote on December 18, 2009
Make that http://WWW.ghost-armor.com
81. n0manarmy wrote on December 18, 2009
Epic fail, more like epic fall!
82. RayBird wrote on December 18, 2009
@James I had my suspicions that Droid owners drove Chevies. Now we know.
83. B.Rose wrote on December 18, 2009
I think this is a major problem with Verizon/the Driod, the fact that it’s really hard to find a good case for it. I tried three different cases from the Verizon store and all of them inhibited the physical keyboard (made it impossible to use the numbers row). They really need to find a solution for this.
84. cransr wrote on December 18, 2009
i love how the add next to the post is droid is dropping. lol
85. James wrote on December 18, 2009
How did you do that? I was in a rollover car accident and mine went out through the windshield and it looks better than yours.
only one small scratch on the screen and a chewed up body.
Works fine. I am posting this from my Droid.
86. Jon wrote on December 19, 2009
I dropped my eris about a month ago. My screen looked about the same as yours. The funny thing is that my phone still worked fine also. Must be a sign of good quality. I just wish these beautiful screens were concrete proof.
87. Goudie wrote on December 19, 2009
Aoutch… :/
88. Shawn.P wrote on December 19, 2009
How did you get that HTc Sense Clock widget.
Just bought my droid last night and would like to get it
89. ChainReaction wrote on December 19, 2009
That HURTS.
At least you’ll get a new one. But broken hearts cannot be replaced.
;)
90. Dave wrote on December 19, 2009
2 feet to pavement?
Don’t they make cases for that thing? Or would that make it too big. I drop my 2G iphone regularly, for the last 2+ years, in a case, with a screen protector, and its totally fine.
I wouldn’t put a case on a Droid tho, I’d need to wear cargos everywhere just to carry it. Can’t wait till an iphone sized android comes out on vzw. That’s the only thing holding me back.
91. Paweł Słowik wrote on December 20, 2009
aoutch :(
92. voda wrote on December 21, 2009
Nice App, it looks so real… :P
93. Jason wrote on December 21, 2009
I dropped mine 2 days after it was released from Verizon in a very similar fashion. Getting into my car, it dropped out of my jacket pocket approx 2 feet to the ground. The entire bottom of the screen cracked and I was forced to get a replacement.
94. C. Enrique Ortiz wrote on December 21, 2009
How could you?!!! You don’t deserve Android! LOL. ;-)
95. Chip Fox wrote on December 21, 2009
Same thing happened to me! The Droid barely fell about 2 feet. The screen cracked almost as bad as that and it still worked fine. No terrible shards cut me. I used it for about a week like that.
96. johnny q wrote on December 22, 2009
gizmodo SEZ… it’s hard to break! LOL
http://gizmodo.com/5432300/why-even-clumsy-people-like-you-would-have-trouble-breaking-the-display-on-a-motorola-droid
97. Happens wrote on December 29, 2009
It happens…
For those of you comparing it to drops of your G1, Dream etc… the Droid is very dense. Lots of weight packed in that size, and no free space. It is therefore much harder on it itself when it falls.
Cases and covers look honestly, dorky.
Invisishield looks kickass, but I don’t want to lose the nice rubberized texture on the back.
Warranty is the best solution. $8 / mo is not really that bad to replace something with what? $300 of parts in it at least?
98. FireSokar wrote on December 30, 2009
I mean come-on SweatPants? atleast spring for the sleep pants…. more comfortable and it says, i havent given up just lazy… p.s. my droid eris almost hit the concrete same way…. just with sleep pants.
99. Nico wrote on January 31, 2010
No entiendo un carajo lo que escriben jjajaja
100. Timothy Fu wrote on February 5, 2010
Well I sat on my phone and have a nice hairline crack now. I wish there is a way to replace it!
101. Mike wrote on February 17, 2010
I did the same thing to my moment. screen worked fine, just giant cracks all over it. 5 foot fall to the floor in a kitchen. ouch
102. PacoBell wrote on March 26, 2010
You manage to shatter Gorilla Glass? Man, you should have that sample sent to Corning. With all those crazy demos they did at CES this year, I’m kinda surprised you managed to pull it off. Did it land on a diamond spike or something? LOL!
103. Gwen wrote on April 22, 2010
Same thing happened to me except only one crack but the screen works fine. Motorola knows how to make good phones. <3 my phone
104. Eric wrote on May 17, 2010
Man that sucks. doesn,t seem like that big of fall to do all that.
105. jeff wrote on May 26, 2010
Definitely caused by having a toyota (that must suck) and still having the toyota sucks even more. Besides the point I forgot I had my Droid and not a ball in my lacrosse stick when I attempted to throw it against the driveway and have it bounce back to me. Instead I realized I had my phone and the battery and cover flew 20 feet away and the phone made an evil thud. I thought the worst, but when I picked it up it turned on fine and there were only a few minor scratches on the corner from impact.
106. Zippers wrote on May 29, 2010
“39. webby wrote on December 17, 2009
r it really broke or r that one of those cracked screen apps ?…
come on, own up, it were just a slow android newz day, so you had to create some newz.”
you idiot. it can’t be the broken screen app, because if you look, the cracks reach out past the view screen and to the edges -_-
also, these pictures made me hurt. i found them while actually looking for a hard case for my Droid xD
107. mike wrote on June 24, 2010
seems fake to me, look at the borders of glass y can see some kind of glue or something