Motorola set the standard for Android-based QWERTY sliders when it launched the original Droid last year. An aggressive advertising campaign, excellent specs, and an appealing form factor propelled the Droid to the top of the charts and made it one of the best-selling Android smartphones. Motorola is sticking to its winning formula for the product's sequel, the Droid 2, which recently launched on Verizon's network.

Like its predecessor, the Droid 2 has a solid QWERTY keyboard and a 3.7-inch LCD. The form factor is largely unchanged, but Motorola has boosted the specs to make the device more competitive relative to the latest Android offerings from other handset makers. The Droid 2 has a 1GHz OMAP 3630 processor, 512MB of RAM, and 8GB of internal storage.

Droid 2 ships with Android 2.2, the latest version of Google's mobile operating system. Motorola has added its own software layer to the Android stack, which includes a custom home screen implementation, additional widgets, and several applications. These customizations are practically identical to the ones that Motorola added to the Droid X. As we explained in our review of the Droid X last month, the custom widgets still need some work, but Motorola's sophisticated messaging application is extremely impressive.

The build quality is good—arguably a slight step up from the Droid X. The phone feels absolutely solid in the hand, though the keyboard makes it a bit chunky. The simple aesthetic improvement to the exterior compared to the original Droid is pleasant. Motorola managed to retain the highly functional appearance of the original, but they have polished it a bit for a more modern look.

The raised keys are a modest improvement over the original keyboard. Typing on the Droid 2 is comfortable and relatively effortless. Despite the improvements, the Droid 2 keyboard still doesn't rival that of HTC's Touch Pro 2, a device that I still regard as the QWERTY king.

The 3.7-inch screen, with a resolution of 854x480, is adequate and easy to read. I like it more than the massive 4.3" display of the Droid X, but I think it could still be better. It falls short compared to the outstanding 4-inch Super AMOLED on the Samsung Galaxy S, which couples the perfect size with outstanding brightness and color quality.

Just like the Droid X, Droid 2 comes with Motorola's custom power management framework, which extends the device's battery life. During the first few days of use, phone calls depleted the battery much faster than expected, but that leveled out after one full recharge cycle. It now delivers all-day battery life under a relatively heavy load.

The only thing about the Droid 2 that we really feel compelled to complain about is the phone's default ringtone. It seems petty to whine about something like that (especially since it's very easy to change), but you have to hear it for yourself to truly appreciate its stomach-churning awfulness. It sounds like a DJ remixing a recording of R2-D2 being eaten by a Bantha.

My father, who picked up a Droid 2 the day after launch, mistakenly thought that the phone's speaker was broken the first time he heard the ringtone, because it was inconceivable to him that a properly-functioning device would emit such a horrifying cacophony. There are times when I wonder if Verizon and Motorola have perhaps taken the Droid branding a bit too far.

There's not much else to say about the Droid 2 because the basic hardware is so similar to its predecessor and the software experience is identical to the Droid X. There is nothing especially novel or ambitious about the phone, but it's a good update to a high-quality classic. It will give Verizon a tried-and-true winner to pit against Sprint's formidable Epic 4G. The pairing of a solid QWERTY with a great messaging application will also make the Droid 2 an excellent choice for mobile productivity junkies.