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Powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor backed by 1 GB of LP DDR2 RAM, the Motorola Droid 4 is plenty responsive. Even with complicated animations, the OS runs smoothly, and we didn't experience any hiccups. But if you're looking to dig into an Ice Cream Sandwich, keep on looking.
Motorola's Droid 4 runs a customized, skinned version of Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread. Motorola helpfully (or perhaps mockingly) assures potential customers via its website that the Droid 4 is "Ice Cream Sandwich upgradeable," but clearly they forget that no one likes waiting for ice cream. We want it now!
In its current Gingerbread-based incarnation, the Droid 4 runs a custom Motorola overlay. There are five home screens worth of real estate, for shortcuts and widgets, and Verizon pre-loads the device with tons of third-party bloatware (or useful apps, depending on how you feel about each of the additions).
The usual suspects are there, including the VCast App Store and VZW Navigator, as well as MOG music streaming, Amazon's Kindle app, Slacker, Blockbuster, Slingbox, Netflix, NFL Mobile, and many others.
As it is, the Droid 4 feels a bit packed even fresh out of the box. We could deal with a little less "extra," but we're fond of the smooth user interface.
