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Motorola Droid 4 Rumor Roundup: Hardware, Release Date, Pricing

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Back in September, to the surprise and disbelief of Android enthusiasts and Droid 3 owners everywhere, a phone for Verizon called the Motorola Droid 4 leaked out. Why the surprise? Well, the Motorola Droid 3 at the time had only been out for two months.

It came out in July of this year. Needless to say, it was a little bit of a shock to see a successor, with the same keyboard but with 4G LTE on board, leak out so soon after launch.

Since then, the Droid 4 has leaked out numerous times and it appears that Verizon has plans to launch the Motorola Droid 4 at some point during 2011, possibly alongside the heralded Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

Droid 4

So, we wanted to run down everything we know about the Motorola Droid 4, pre-launch, and give you a glimpse at the phone that, in all honesty, should have been Verizon’s Droid 3.

Hardware

As we said, this is the phone that should have been what Verizon released as the Droid 3. In a nutshell, the phone is essentially the exact same thing as the Droid 3 only the Droid 4 has a 4G LTE radio on board. That means that when it’s connected to Verizon’s LTE network, it will be able to pull data speeds that are around 10 times faster then those found on the Droid 3.

Droid 4

Here is a rundown of the Droid 4’s rumored specifications:

  • 4″ screen – qHD
  • Full 5-row “illuminated” keyboard
  • RAZR styling
  • 4G LTE
  • Non-removable battery
  • Android 2.3.5
  • 1080p video recording
  • Front camera
  • HDMI out
  • MotoACTV syncing

If you’re familiar with the Droid 3, you should be familiar with all of this. The only major differences are the inclusion of 4G LTE speeds and a dual-core processor that is clocked at 1.2GHz.

The chip will likely be of the OMAP variety as well and not of the Tegra family.

Droid 4

The Droid 4 is going to be a solid phone in the spec department and it’s likely going to be the phone that physical keyboard enthusiasts have at the top of their wish lists.

We don’t blame them.

Release Date

While the specifications for the Droid 4 are all but confirmed, the Droid 4 release date is still a complete mystery. Originally, we had thought that the device would be launching alongside the Samsung Galaxy Nexus on December 8th. It’s now December 13th so, obviously, that didn’t happen.

Since then, the Galaxy Nexus has been rumored to be coming out on December 15th but there hasn’t been any mention of the Droid 4. It’s still very possible that it could launch on the 15th as well but without any physical evidence alluding to that, we can’t be too sure.

Still, we’re pretty sure it’s going to arrive soon.

We’ve seen it appear in official documents. We’ve seen a device we think is the Droid 4 pass through the FCC. We’ve seen official press images. We’ve seen it appear in a number of photos.  Heck, Verizon even showed it off to the press.

It’s coming and we have a feeling that Verizon will, at the very least, get it out before CES.

Pricing

We haven’t seen anything leak in regards to the pricing of the Motorola Droid 4 just yet. That doesn’t mean we can’t make a few educated guesses though.

The Droid 4 is a 4G LTE smartphone. Verizon is currently charging premiums for LTE smartphones like the HTC Rezound and Motorola Droid RAZR. $299 with the signing of a new two-year contract to be exact. Even though we don’t agree with it, we think it’s likely that the carrier will charge the same for the Droid 4.

If that proves to be true, then we fully expect the carrier to charge $650 for the Droid 4 off-contract, just like it does for its other new 4G LTE smartphones.

Should Verizon put the pricing into our hands, we’d charge $199 on-contract for the Droid 4. We think that seems a bit more reasonable for a phone that is essentially a Droid 3 in disguise.

Software

Unfortunately, it appears that Motorola and Verizon won’t be outfitting the Droid 4 with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.  Instead, it will arrive with Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread and, very likely, a guarantee from both carrier and manufacturer that the phone will be getting an upgrade to Android 4.0 in the not-so-distant  future.

Droid 4

If you want a good idea of what to expect from the software on the Droid 4, check out our review of the Droid 3.

22 Comments

22 Comments

  1. Michael Anderson

    12/13/2011 at 4:16 pm

    Love the look of this one as a keyboard fan … can’t come soon enough!

    • Humus

      12/14/2011 at 11:19 am

      i know right. freakin a let us have it already haha.

  2. Bob

    12/13/2011 at 6:28 pm

    I hope it comes out in like 2 days because i am looking to get it and it better have the $199 price!!! :)

  3. Borky Bork

    12/13/2011 at 10:39 pm

    You forget to mention a major feature that sets it apart from all other phones: It is VZW’s first LTE + GSM (world) phone.

    • Jannis1999

      12/14/2011 at 4:07 am

      Will you have to pay for global service once it comes?

    • WaltG

      12/15/2011 at 12:10 pm

      What makes you so sure it is a world GSM phone. I have seen specs that show GSM and others that say it is not GSM. I hope you are coreect as GSM is more important to me than LTE as I travel overseas a lot

  4. Jannis

    12/14/2011 at 4:05 am

    Yeeessss!!!! I almost wanted to get the droid 3, but now I am waiting for this one to come out! I hope tomarrow, 12-15-11 is the day!

  5. Luke

    12/15/2011 at 12:06 am

    I am excited, but I also want an extended battery. If the battey is non-removable then I want a super battery preinstalled with at least 2400 mAh. HTC and Droid Bionic both have that and more. The advertized 1780 mAh is not enough juice for 4G……Luke

    • Jannis

      12/15/2011 at 4:33 am

      I didn’t really think of that
      How long do you think the battery will hold with what it comes with

      I dont’t think it’s coming out today, december 15

  6. Me Mike

    12/15/2011 at 5:48 am

    Non-removable battery is the deal breaker for me. My Droid 2 has 3 batteries, one that came with the phone, an extra one I bought, then an extended 1850 mAh one I bought. If this new Droid 4 has 4G LTE it’s going to need an extended battery. Come on Motorola! I buy these phones for the following reasons: Android (root ability), physical keyboard, removable battery, removable storage (micoSDHC card), free tethering and overclocking. Us techno geeks are harder to please then the standard sheeple.   ;-)      

    • Noone

      12/15/2011 at 6:42 am

      You do know that free teethering is against your contract. Also you are doing something wrong if you need 3 batteries.

      • A7

        12/15/2011 at 7:03 am

        You are doing something wrong if you don’t have a spare battery. Not everyone is near an outlet when their phone runs low on juice. I always carry a spare battery. My friends with iPhones are always asking to borrow my droid3 because their phone ran out of battery.

        • Me Mike

          12/15/2011 at 8:29 am

          Same here. My friend with his iPhone 4 is always asking to use my Droid 2 when his battery is low. I also travel a lot in my line of work, so it’s nice to be able to replace my battery when I need power fast. @ Noone, I could care less about violating my “contract.” I’ve had Verizon since it was Bell Atlantic mobile. Been using free tethering and free mobile hotspot since 2009, so blame me for your new tier pricing and slow network speeds. I could care less about it because I still have unlimited data usage for both phone and tether. :D     

    • Keevil

      12/15/2011 at 4:37 pm

      I agree the non-removable battery might be an issue for me as well. I use this phone for roughly 10 hours on an average day, and yes I have to charge it three times a day. Ill give the D4 a whirl, what do we have 14-30 days to try it out? If it doesn’t cut it, then back to the D3 till next month when the D5 is available or at least slated for release.

  7. Keevil

    12/15/2011 at 4:25 pm

    I have had both the original DROID 1 (skipped the 2) and now the 3, I love these phones. I cannot wait till I can put my hands on a DROID 4. I checked daily on the release of the bionic and was fraught with suspense till I put my hands on it, it was in that moment I deemed it a light weight piece of ****.

    Also in the artical I believe it suggested that the DROID 3 isn’t equipped with a dual core processor but it is, well at least the one im holding in my hand to type this is.

    • Www Blah

      12/15/2011 at 7:23 pm

      When is this device coming out I need it asap?  Is it coming out this year…. does anyone know?

      • Michael Anderson

        12/15/2011 at 7:34 pm

        There was rumor it would arrive today alongside the Nexus … obviously THAT wasn’t the case.

        • Www Blah

          12/15/2011 at 8:15 pm

          I heard it was the 22nd it was supposed to come out can anyone back that up?

    • Jannis

      12/16/2011 at 1:17 pm

      Will the LTE and better design be worth the extra $100 and the non-removable cover?
      It might make more sense to get the 3… Before itz too late

  8. Rob

    12/26/2011 at 7:32 am

    Hopefully the delay to a Feb release (another rumor/speculation) will mean it has ICS already on it.  $299 is a little steep, but I’ll likely make the purchase.  I’m looking forward to going back to a physical keyboard after years on the HTC Incredible.  Great phone, just tired of touch keyboards for hammering out emails, etc.  

    • Michael Anderson

      12/26/2011 at 2:08 pm

      I would love that to be true … but somehow I doubt it …

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