Review: Droid Incredible(Verizon) aka HTC Incredible Review of Reviews

DroidIncredible.JPGDroid Incredible Rated 4.25 out of 5 by Wireless and Mobile News

Reviewers used all kinds positive rave terms for the Droid Incredible, top, best, amazing, powerful, and incredible. The Droid Incredible, formerly know as the HTC Incredible, is Verizon's latest Android 2.1 smartphone with the full bells and whistles of an 8 megapixel camera (with LED flash), 8 Gigabytes of onboard storage, 3.7" OLED touchscreen, GPS, social-sync, FM radio and Bluetooth.

Reviews reveal that the super-fast 1 GHz Snapdragon processor makes the speed of the Droid Incredible smooth, fast and snappy. The Droid Incredible can multitask six apps at once without a snag.  The sculpted design was called gorgeous by one reviewer and the auto-brightness touchscreen display is called beautiful by another reviewer. The browser was shown to be fast with pinch to zoom.

All the reviews praised the HTC Sense user-interface add-on to Android
2.1 that integrates social networking updates (although you can only get
hourly Facebook updates and Twitter every 5 minutes). HTC Sense offers quick
"Leap" to access widgets, puts text messages in a list, gathers contacts
and puts friends into a "cool" Friend Stream.  The HTC onscreen keyboard
is bigger and easier than the standard Android keyboard.

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Call quality was mostly good, and the camera well-rated, working best in sunlight with excellent video demonstrations. The media player was good but not as snazzy as the lastest iPhone style media players. The Droid Incredible's only fault is that you can't talk and use 3G data at the same time, which is true of all smartphones on the Verizon network. You can, however, use voice and Wi-Fi simultaneously.

Android 2.1 itself has some incredible features, voice navigation on Google Maps, voice to text form filling and animated wallpaper. All the reviewers agreed that the Droid Incredible is the best and fastest Verizon smartphone now. It is definitely worth a test drive if you need all the bells and whistles along with and added HTC Sense that makes a lot of sense. 

Update 11/19/10 -The new Amazon Wireless Beta is now offering the Droid Incredible with this coupon-link for one cent for new Verizon customers.  Wirefly is offering free Verizon Wireless activation until 11/ 29 with a lower-priced Droid Incredible by HTC for new and renewing customers with a contract.

The Droid Incredible goes went sale on April 29, Verizon is
already taking preorders online.
Pricing was lowered to  $149.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate
with a new two-year customer agreement. Don't forget to use the Instant
Phone Rebate Only Available with Online Purchase
coupon-link to
avoid waiting for a rebate.  It now qualifies for buy one get up-to-3 select phones deal.

An added bonus of theDroid Incredible
is that it works with Verizon's free 
NFL

Mobile and Skype

mobile.

The Droid Incredible was
formerly called the HTC Incredible.

Bonnie Cha at CNET rated the Droid Incredible 4 out of 5 for fast 3G, HTC Sense, 8 megapixeil camera, 8 gigabytes of memory, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS.  She doesn't like that on the Verizon doesn't allow for data and voice access at the same time and the multimedia capabilities.  She called the Droid Incredible Verizon's top smartphone that lives up to its name. The 3.7 inch WVGA touchscreen (480x800) is beautiful and responsive but hard to read in direct sunlight.  The HTC onscreen keyboard was easy to use and larger than the standard Android keyboard.  The optical joystick, works like a trackpad, due to its small size can be awkward. The HTC Sense UI improves on Android functions and integrates social networking, email,  calendar and allows for groups. The Droid Incredible comes loaded with a Peep Twitter app and Footprints for geotagging photo. The WebKit browser has Flash Lite. The 8 mp camera with flash takes great photos. Call quality was good. Over all general performance was great making the Droid Incredible the fastest smartphone tested to date even with 6 apps open at the same time.

Sascha Segan at PCMag rated the Droid Incredible 4.5 out of 5. He  called it amazing and the most powerful smartphone on the market today, and named it Edtor's Choice. He liked the design with a sculpted back and red, but would have liked a dedicated camera button. The fast 1 GHz Snapdragon processor makes it fast and smooth.  It had good voice reception. He loved HTC Sense that improves everything Android, homescreen, contacts, email and social networking.  The HTC Sense address book is better than standard Android. Gmail and MS Exchange push to the phone, but he was frustrated by Twitter which could only be updated every 5 minutes and Facebook had only hourly updates. Music and FM radio sounded clear. The camera worked best in daylight while video recording was impressive. He called the Droid Incredible the best Verizon smartphone and second best smartphone in America(Nexus One.)

Marc Flores at LaptopMag rated the Droid Incredible 4 out of 5. He calls the Droid Incredible the Verizon's best Android smartphone, light, sweet and gorgeous. The optical joystick worked well, but was awkward for some gestures that didn't register. He found the auto-brightness on the display adjusted to light well except for direct sunlight. The touchscreen is responsive. The onscreen keyboard was flew quickly. He liked the "Leap" feature to leap through screens and decks.  Friends Stream is "cool." The processor was fast with no lags. Web browsing was fast and smooth, you can pinch to zoom and double tap to zoom. Text messages and voice mail can be viewed in list. Google maps is integrated and voice search/navigation worked well. The camera and video quality was impressive. There were some problems with voice quality.

HTC Incredible Specifications:
(Specs)

CPU speed 1 GHz
PlatformAndroid 2.1
(Éclair) with HTC Sense
Memory ROM: 512 MBRAM: 576 MB
Dimensions
(LxWxT) 4.63 x 2.30 x 0.47 inches (117.5 x 58.5 x 11.9 mm)
Weight 4.6
ounces (130 grams) with battery
Display 3.7-inch AMOLED
touch-sensitive screen with 480 X 800 WVGA resolution
NetworkDual-band
(800 and 1900 MHz)
CDMA2000 1xRTT/1xEVDO/1xEVDO rev. A and IS-95A/B
voice or data with up to 1.8 Mbps uplink and 3.1 Mbps downlink speeds
(Band
frequency and data speed are operator dependent.)
Onscreen
navigation
Optical joystick
GPS-  Internal GPS antenna
Sensors-
G-Sensor, Digital compass, Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor.
Connectivity
Bluetooth®
2.1 with FTP/OPP for file transfer, A2DP for wireless stereo headsets,
and PBAP for phonebook access from the car kit
Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11
b/g/n
3.5 mm stereo audio jack
micro-USB (12-pin micro-USB 2.0)
Camera
8
megapixel color camera with auto focus and flash
Audio supported
formats: Playback: .aac, .amr, .ogg, .m4a, .mid, .mp3, .wav, .wma
Recording:
.amr
Video supported formats: Playback: .3gp, .3g2, .mp4, .wmv,
Recording: .3gp
Battery: Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery, Capacity:
1300 mAh, Talk time: Up to 313 minutes
Standby time: Up to 146 hours,

(The above are subject to network and phone usage.)
Expansion
slot: microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
AC adapter: Voltage
range/frequency: 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60 Hz
DC output: 5V and 1A
Special
features: Friend Stream

Specifications are subject to change
without prior notice