HTC's DROID Incredible for Verizon review

HTC DROID Incredible

HTC DROID Incredible

HTC DROID Incredible

HTC DROID Incredible

The DROID Incredible is Verizon Wireless' latest Android smartphone, and as it stands, is my favorite Android device on the market today. From its large and crisp display to its zippy processor and killer Sense user interface, the phone was a pleasure to use from the moment I opened the box. There are a few issues with it, like its mediocre battery life, that leave me still wanting, but overall it's a device that will please consumers and corporate folks alike.

Physical Aspects

From its race-car inspired rear cover, to its red accents and large 3.7 inch 800 x 480 pixel AMOLED^(INFO) display, the HTC DROID Incredible looks like a premium device in nearly every way. The device felt both comfortable and light in my hand, weighing 130.4g (4.6oz). Its casing is primarily made of plastic, and I would have preferred the sturdier metal unibody design of the HTC Legend. The phone measures 117mm x 58.42mm x 11.9mm (4.63in x 2.3in x 0.47in) and, from across the room, could easily be mistaken for a black iPhone 3G thanks to its black finish, thin form factor, and large display.

The 3.5mm headphone jack and power button are placed conveniently on the top of the phone for easy pocket access. The left-edge volume keys could have offered more feedback, but were conveniently placed in reach of my thumb during a phone call. The DROID Incredible is equipped with a micro-USB charging and data port, even though it looks a bit proprietary on first glance.

Just below the screen, there are four touch sensitive buttons. One is for returning to the home screen, one for accessing the menu. The other two handle back and search. I prefer hardware keys, since I noticed that I accidentally hit the back key a number of times, particularly during web surfing. Otherwise, the touch buttons worked well. Just below them there's an optical pad that can be depressed to make menu selections or snap a photo. It worked fine, but there were some instances where it should have been easier to press, like while taking an image for instance. The optical area also felt a bit small and a bigger surface would have made using it a bit easier.

The active matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) display was incredibly colorful and bright in nearly every instance except direct sunlight. On a beautiful spring day in the park I found it a bit hard to read the screen, but on partly cloudy days I was able to view it just fine. The display appears dim when it's bright out, so to view it best in sunlight, I recommended turning it on to full brightness. Some have reported that the reds and oranges on the display appear over saturated, but the colors didn't bother me very much and I actually appreciated the way those colors popped off of the display.

HTC DROID Incredible

HTC DROID Incredible

HTC DROID Incredible

The red speaker grill above the phone nicely complemented the metal red finish circling around the camera lens on the back of the device. The rear cover has three level ridges on it that HTC says it borrowed from the contours of a sports car. To me, they look more like the lines of a topographical map, but it's still unique nonetheless. The entire inside of the device, under the battery cover, is bright red in color. It's a cool feature, but again, pretty useless unless you like showing off your cherry red battery while changing out a microSD card.

elmoreno429 @ 2:48:29PM EDT on Tuesday April 20, 2010

Is HTC and Samsung the same company. It evens says HTC on the back of the phone . . .lol!!!

Mike @ 2:53:23PM EDT on Tuesday April 20, 2010

Ya got 'Samsung Incredible' in the beginning there listed. Not a Samsung device of course, but HTC.

Michael Oryl @ 3:04:24PM EDT on Tuesday April 20, 2010

Wow, no idea how we both missed that slip of the keyboard. Thanks for pointing it out.

Dror @ 5:24:46PM EDT on Tuesday April 20, 2010

"One issue with Android is that you can't create folders inside the main menu either, so the more applications you have, the more scrolling you'll be doing to find what you want."

I'm not sure what you mean by the main menu, but there is a way to create folders on the android. On the home screen press your finger and keep it till a menu pops up. You can them create a folder. To add items to the folder, just open it, and then add items to the home screen as you would normally do. Finally, to rename the folder, open it and long press the top bar.
Took me a while to figure all the above, but I have my apps organized in different folders.

Larry Romestant @ 10:53:55PM EDT on Wednesday April 21, 2010

Hi, does the Incredible support Bluetooth Voice Dialing Profile? Please say it does!

larry

chuckmxr @ 2:03:25PM EDT on Tuesday May 18, 2010

your both right, samsung makes the display, HTC (who made devices for alot of other people) makes the actual device.....