HTC Droid Incredible Review

Here's a quick rundown of the Droid Incredible's features - quite robust, I must say!

• Android 2.1 with HTC Sense
• 1GHZ Qualcomm Snapdragon processor (same as in Nexus One)
• 748mb of ROM
• 8gb of internal storage & up to 32gb additional storage w/ microSD card (not included)
• 3.7 inch 480x800 WVGA AMOLED capacitive touch screen
• Optical 'joystick'
• Wi-fi 802.11 b/g
• FM radio
• GPS, proximity sensor, light sensor, and compass
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• 8mp camera with dual LED flash

Unboxing

Surprisingly there is nothing special about the packaging here. Even the Droid Eris has a pretty flashy box. The Droid Incredible comes in a standard white box with quick start guide and charger. It's become obvious that when Verizon spends money on marketing of a phone, like the first couple Droid phones, they like to also spend money on the first impression. I've noticed an absence in marketing for the Droid Incredible.

Cosmetic

The Droid Incredible is a very sleek phone. This is the thinest feature phone I've ever held. The styling of the phone is fantastic. The curves of the rubberized backing adds a nice touch, and the red anodized bezel of the camera lens fits very well. I should point out that the bezel protrudes and is not flush with the back.

The little hole on the right is for the exceptional external speaker (this is probably why the camera bezel protrudes, so the speaker can be heard if on a flat surface).

On the left side we have the uncovered microUSB port, and volume controls. I'm so glad to see a microUSB port on an HTC phone. It seems they're finally moving away from their ExtUSB port (which a miniUSB plug fits into)

On the right side there is nothing - no dedicated camera button here!

On the bottom there is also nothing besides the microphone:

On the top we have the power/lock button and the 3.5mm headphone jack:

Under the back cover you'll find the (red) battery and slot for the microSD card:

Screen

The screen is fantastic! It's super bright, responsive, and has just the right amount of haptic feedback. The AMOLED design of the screen definitely helps with the brightness and contrast. The Motorola Droid also has a 3.7 inch screen (which is a TFT design), but the Incredible's screen is actually 54 pixels less in length (480x800). When comparing the two, the Incredible definitely looks more vibrant:

Keyboard

I should say that I'm used to a physical QWERTY keyboard, and I had no problem adapting to this. I found the on screen keyboard easy to use and super responsive when typing fast. This is mostly because the screen is large, the hardware on the phone is physically fast, and HTC spruced up the stock Android keyboard a bit.

I really like how you can hold down a key to get the 'shift' row. I also like how they fit a comma and return key in place of a dedicated smiley face button. Not to mention on Android 2.1 you have the built in voice input on any text field.

Battery

The battery is red (see above), 1300mAh, and could be better, especially for a feature packed phone that you're likely to spend a lot of time using the web browser and updating your status. There's definitely nothing wrong with the battery, but unlike the phone's other features, it's not exceptional. However, when you consider that amount of hardware that the battery is running, the battery is great.

The Incredible's battery is rated at 5.21 hours of talk time and 146 hours of standby time. This equals about an hour less talk time than the Motorola Droid's 1400mAh battery.

Software

I'm really loving the updated HTC Sense UI. It definitely ads a polish to the already great Android 2.1. Sense gives Android a more sophisticated look and feel, and it carries over to the overall appeal of the phone. The music, video, and photo album applications are all wonderful. For once I feel like I could replace my iPod with this phone.

The Droid Incredible can definitely compete with usability along side the iPhone, if not beat it. HTC did a wonderful job on the Sense UI - I can't stress this enough!

Here's a couple things to note about the Sense UI:

• It works great with the phones hardware - no pauses, and scrolling is easy and quick
• There are seven home screens
• You can pinch the home screen to view "cards" of all the home screens at once
• HTC Widgets are included in addition to the Google ones (like bookmarks, footprints, clocks, friend system, weather, etc.)
• Music, video, and photo browsing programs are all improved
• Flickr is included and can be synced with your album on the phone (replaced Picasa?)
• More friendly calendar layout complete with home screen widget
• Better keyboard (see above)
• Copy/paste improved
• Flash lite is included with the browser
• Improved messaging screens - Visual voicemail is part of messaging
• Integrated Twitter app

Browser

I found the browser to be wonderful to use and fast to render pages. Like stated above you get Flash lite, but not the full version of flash. So, until Android 2.2 comes out, don't expect every flash page you visit to work properly.

Regardless, I really like how easy everything is to use. You can pinch-zoom in as far as you want (literally, really really far - HTC calls this "text flow"). You get a nice screen shot of bookmarked pages. Changing windows is easy via the menu. Pages can be viewed in landscape or vertical configurations.

Camera

Did I mention that the camera is 8mp and has two LED flashes? Holy crap! Megapixel ratings don't mean everything though. I'd be happier with a 2mp camera if it takes better pics. Well, I'm glad to report that not only does it take great pics, it does it with an improved, fast, interface!

Pictures are super sharp and full of contrast. Pictures are taken via the track pad button, or by pressing the screen. There's really no need for a dedicated camera button like with the Motorola Droid.

I really appreciate how easily you can zoom and turn off the flash with the dedicated on-screen icons. I also really like the options available for adjusting pics, like brightness, contrast, saturation, sharpness, different color effects, and wide variety of different settings (even ISO!). At the highest resolution pics are 3264x1952 and about 1gb!

Here's a quick pic I took with the Incredible:

You can also take video with the Incredible (up to 800 x 480 in resolution). The quality is quite good, but not as good as a stand alone camcorder, of course.

Compared to the Motorola Droid:

Conclusion

The HTC Droid Incredible is a fantastic phone. You won't find much to complain about with the Incredible in your pocket. It's fast, looks great, and can do anything you want it to with the help of the Android Market.

If you considered getting a new phone from Verizon with all the features - get this phone now. If you really want a hardware QWERTY, can do without some ease of use, and don't mind a slow camera, get the Motorola Droid (it's cheaper now too).

Bottom line - this phone beats the crap out of anything out there right now. Verizon users finally don't have a reason to need or want an iPhone. If the iPhone ever does come to Verizon, phones like this will make it less climactic.