Reviewing the iArmBands Armband for the Motorola Droid
A few months ago I set out to search the interwebs for a quality armband for my Motorola Droid. As an avid runner and geek, I loved the idea of being able to run with what is basically a computer strapped to my arm. With Pandora and a run tracker app installed, I had dreams of some sort of 3G runner’s nirvana. Listening to streaming music while my distance, speed, and route are tracked by a running app.
After doing a little Googling, checking some forums, and perusing Amazon, I didn’t really find anything specifically crafted for the Droid. I did however come across the iArmBands Armband for the Nexus One and other Android phones. One of the reviewers stated he used it for the Droid, so I gave it a shot.
Overview
The armband claims to fit arms from 8 inches to 20 inches (very small to large). The pocket dimensions are H – 5″, W – 3″, D – .7″
It’s a decent arm band. It fits my geeky little arm fine, unlike the armband for my old Samsung mp3 player that seemed like it was designed to fit your average steroid abuser. You can see in the image below the location of all the openings in the fabric for earphones, changers and such. Note: For the Droid, you’ll need to remove it from the case to charge it.
Naturally, it’s not as responsive to touch and finder sliding through the clear plastic covering as it is normally. It often takes me a couple swipes or taps to get the action I want on the touch screen, but it’s not too bad.
One thing to be aware of is that it will take some adjusting or even slight modification if you are planning to use it with headphones. (Which I would assume would be most people) The four holes for earphones don’t line up properly with the Droid’s earphone jack. You’ll see in the In the picture below that I’ve simply pushed back a bit of the material so I could cleanly insert my earphones plug.
This is how it looks with the Droid properly inserted into the case. You can kinda see that the hole on the left lines up more with the power button.
Conclusion
To some up this armband in a few words… It’ll work. Clearly not designed specifically for the Droid and is more of a universal armband. If you understand that going in, and really just want something that will hold the Droid on your arm while exercising, this band will do the trick. I picked this up at Amazon.com for a bit under $15, which I thought was a decent price. If the armband was specifically designed for the Droid, I’d probably be willing to pay more.
I’ll give it 3 1/2 out of 5. Some of you won’t like that you need to do a bit of adjusting / modifying to plug in ear phones, but that really didn’t bug me. It is a snug fit for the Droid and on humid days it takes a bit of work to get the phone back out. When it rings, I wouldn’t bank on being able to stop exercising, pull this thing out of the case, and answer the phone in a timely manner.
Interestingly, my iPod Touch fits perfect in this armband. so, if you’ve also got an iPod Touch you’ll definitely be able to get dual use from this armband.
Do you know of a better armband for the Droid? Or, use a different one that you like? Drop me a note in the comments!
Order from Amazon
If you’d like to order from Amazon, or read the reviews of others who purchased on Amazon, here’s product link.
iArmBands ArmBand / Arm Band for Google Nexus One & HTC T-Mobile G1 Android gPhones / google phone
Category: Android
