Call this a review in progress. It’s in progress, because I have only spent a weekend with the hot cell phone of the moment, the one that is supposed to be the latest in a long line of would be iPhone killers. But all those that have come before have just been pretenders. The iPhone hasn’t been seriously challenged, until now.

If you like your reviews short and sweet, then take it from a guy who proudly says that you will get my iPhone when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers, the Motorola Droid is a real contender. (The lawyers would want me to say here that “iPhone” and “Droid” are trademarks of their respective owners, Apple and Motorola, though ironically Moto actually has to license the name “Droid” from LucasFilm, the company that made the “Star Wars” movie franchise.)

In fact, let me be clearer about it: if you are a Verizon Wireless customer and can’t or don’t want to switch networks to get the experience of the iPhone (and no matter what you’ve heard, all reliable signs suggest the iPhone isn’t going to be on that network for some time to come) then you should probably go get a Droid.

Though there is one more option you might want to consider, and I’ll talk more about that in a moment.

Before my job provided me with a Droid to replace a Blackberry that I had been using, my early impressions of the Droid weren’t that favorable. Playing with one in a store for five minutes doesn’t really do it justice. One of the big differences between the iPhone and the Droid is that the iPhone is intuitively easy to use. The Droid isn’t complicated by any means. But it is more complex in terms of its capabilities. In fact, one of the points the Droid is supposed to be superior to the iPhone on, is that the Droid can do more than one thing at one time. In other words, it can multitask.

That is true, but oddly enough the Verizon cell network doesn’t allow you to use the data functions of the phone while you are in the midst of a voice call–on ANY of it’s phones. (A fact that AT&T is now highlighting in one of it’s effective “counter punching” commercials featuring the actor Luke Wilson.) So the multitasking of the Droid is a little limited.

But after some serious exploring by actually using the Droid, I found that the strength of the iPhone’s ease of use can be overshadowed at times by the flexibility of the Droid. If the iPhone is a really elegant and sophisticated pocket knife with a couple of amazingly sharp blades, then the Droid feels more like one of those Swiss Army knife models with an attachment to do everything.

This feeling is mostly because the highly regarded “Android” operating system that the Droid uses is from Google. And give those folks credit, they have realized that much of what makes the iPhone such a breakthrough device is the ability to run different kinds of small application programs on the phone (also known as “apps”.) That, along with being a really innovative cell phone, an anywhere mobile internet device, and a best in class personal media player that allows you to watch movies and TV shows–as well listen to your favorite tunes and podcasts anywhere you might wish.

The Droid actually meets the iPhone on much of those scores–except maybe the last one, because the Droid doesn’t have the equivalent of Apple’s iTunes to work so tightly with it. But that doesn’t take away from the really solid user experience that the Droid provides.

And yes, it has an App for a lot of what you might want to do, just like the iPhone. While there aren’t as many apps on the Android Apps Store (yet), and it does sometimes suffer from some of Apple’s high standards (some would say overly aggressive and oppressive standards) in controlling what makes it into the App Store, there is still the strong sense that you can find an app to due just about anything on the Droid.

The biggest single physical difference between the Droid and the iPhone is the sliding physical keyboard on the Droid. It is solid and does allow for a better typing experience. At least for some people it might. For me, it’s a nice alternative to the pop-up virtual keyboard of the iPhone (which the Droid has as well), but the layout of the physical keyboard is not good for folks with larger fingers (a group with would include yours truly.)

It’s not a deal breaker by ANY means. Just something to be aware of if you become a Droid owner. (Saying the phrase “Droid Owner” immediately triggers the scene in the first Star Wars movie where Obi-Wan shows his young apprentice an early demonstration of “the Force” by intervening on behalf on young Luke Skywalker as a “droid owner” who was looking to evade questions from some inquisitive imperial stormtroopers.

But after a little time, I’ve decided that being a real life “Droid Owner” is the closest thing I can relate to being an iPhone owner. You get a great feeling of empowerment carrying a device such as this. The breadth of what it can do is at times a little overwhelming, which is why it takes a little serious hands-on time with this device before you may fully comprehend what it is really capable of.

It is a smartly designed and well powered portable multimedia and communications device. If you are on Verizon Wireless and just want the best smartphone out there, then you need to get a Droid. And quickly because these things appear to be selling quite well.

Now about that alternative. You can go with the full blown power of a Droid and it’s likely given Verizon’s multi-million dollar ad campaign that most people will do just that. But if you can live without the physical keyboard, then there is one more model to consider that is also called a Droid.

That would be the keyboard-less Droid Eris. The Droid Eris is a unit built by HTC with close cousins on Sprint and T-Mobile. Each also runs the Android operative system, but the Eris (called the Hero on Sprint and the MyTouch3G on T Mobile) is one version behind the latest version of Android software (2.0) that the Droid is running. Biggest difference is the lack of the Google Maps-powered navigation function that is only on the Droid right now.

But the Eris is closer to the iPhone in terms of form and function. The best touchscreen only phone that isn’t an iPhone. But the Moto Droid is just a bit more capable overall.

So what all of this means in simple English, is that there is a new sheriff in town when it comes to really cool smart phones–or at least a very talented deputy that doesn’t act like Barney Fife.

Or as the respected technology gadget blog Gizmodo.com put it so well:

“It’s this simple, if you don’t buy an iPhone, buy a Droid”.
(Their full review is available by clicking here.)

Understand that I’ve had an iPhone for about two and half years. I’ve only had a Droid for about two and a half days.

But so far, I’d absolutely have to agree with their view.