This is why there is variety when it comes to smart phones, and even a single phone can come in a variety of flavors. This is the case with the Motorola Milestone. Many of you may remember this handset as one of the most elusive Android devices to ever be released. It was; the phone as first announced as the DROID in the US where it would be released exclusively under mobile carrier Verizon. It was not until a later announcement that the device would indeed be available in the UK and under a different name did Android fans finally get to rejoice.

One of the reasons why the Milestone was such an anticipated handset was that it bought together several important elements: the (then) new Android 2.0 Éclair, a slide out QWERTY keyboard and a big touch screen display. The 600MHz CPU is hardly anywhere near the Snapdragon chips used in today’s smart phones, but it did keep the price of the handset lower.

Now, Motorola is trying a new approach to the Milestone, dropping the keyboard and slimming down the handset. The new XT 720 Milestone smart phone is now a media based handset with an 8 mega pixel camera, 720p video recording and even an HDMI output port for video playback.

The new device moves away from the usual tech crowd to the more media centric Android fans. As fun as a full QWERTY keyboard can be, not all smart phone users are heavy typists; this makes the shift from typing to media playback a pretty good choice.

Now, a new Motorola handset is announced to be carrying the DROID name, the XT 720. While the new device still carries the old DROID moniker, it loses the slide out QWERTY keyboard and gets a sleeker, lighter form factor. Of course, keyboard fans will be disappointed at the loss of the slide out attachment, but it is certainly a great way to get the DROID marketed to the general smart phone community –after all, there are plenty of people who prefer to have a much lighter phone.

As expected, the UK version of this handset will be labeled as the XT 720 Milestone (also Motoroi), and at the weight of 160 grams, the weight difference between the two phones is not exactly far apart (the older Milestone weighed in at 165 grams). Instead, the new phone trades off the older 5 mega pixel camera (with D1 video recording) and replaces it with an 8 mega pixel snapper (with 720p video recording) while the phone itself gets an additional HDMI port.

Overall, the tradeoff between the two phones is more about personal preference than actual device performance. With both handsets using an ARM Cortex A8 CPU (clocked at 600 MHz), 3.7 inch capacitive touch screens and mostly similar hardware specs, the end decision boils down to choosing a more text-centered device with a QWERTY keyboard, or a handset that focuses more on media with its better camera and HDMI output support.