Strange Design Choice on the Droid X

[RichSz]

I'm an iPhone users who wants to get into the land of Android. I've been looking at the EVO and Droid X and seem to be going back and forth between them, but just noticed something on the Droid X which I hope I'm misunderstanding.

I'm a music guy and like to carry tunes with me where ever I go. Just looking at pictures of the Droid X, I noticed something which doesn't make much sense to me.

Let me start by saying I like carrying my phone around in a horizontal belt pouch, so it's accessible yet out of the way (and makes me look like the dork that I am!). On the DX, with the screen facing you, the headphone jack is located on the top left just like the iPhone. The volume controls appear to be on the right hand side of the phone, the opposite of the iPhone. So putting the phone into a pouch, you must put it with the headphone jack up so the headphones don't interfere with the pouch (remember this is a horizontal pouch). The volume controls are now on the bottom and are inaccessible. This seems like a functional design problem.

Is this the end of the world? Nope. It is a curious design decision. It hurts me to say, but it seems Apple thought this through (I feel so dirty now). I think it would be a pain to have to take the phone out of the pouch to adjust the volume between songs. The open holsters would eliminate this but not cover the phone. The EVO is the same way.

I hope I'm just misunderstanding this but I don't think so.

 

[blog]

I have an incredible, and the volume controls are on the opposite side

i find that when holding the phone in landscape mode, it is too easy to accidentally hit them with my thumb (the volume rocker on the incredible is also twice as long as the one on the droidx for some reason though)

so I for one am happy to have the volume on the right side (like the original droid)

 

[skipdividedmalfunction]

i believe they placed the volume buttons on the right side so it woud be easier to use as a camera.

 

[Sabbath]

I carry my phone in my front left pocket with the screen facing me. Right now with my iPhone, I have to use my pinky fingure to the change volume. So being able to use my thumb is a fix IMO.

 

[Vihzel]

I believe they did that because they also act as the zoom buttons for the camera.

 

[kishin14]

I don't think it's that unusual. My LG dare also had the volume rocker on the right. I never even thought about it.

 

[ckochinsky125]

yeah i like it this way especially for use with the camera. if you cant take the phone out of your holster to adjust the volume for 2 sec then yeah it will be a problem for you

 

[paul89]

I carry my phone in my front left pocket with the screen facing me. Right now with my iPhone, I have to use my pinky fingure to the change volume. So being able to use my thumb is a fix IMO.

That is exactly how I carry it too! Know that the phone is bigger that my behold 2, it will finally stop falling over in my pocket from the portrait mode to landscape!

 

[RichSz]

No phone is perfect. I'm researching Android to solve my current problems. I guess the design considers photography over music. It must be an Android thing. I'll just have to keep my current phone and see if I can live with the right side controls. Worth a try!