For the second time this month, we?re reviewing a phone that?s the third in its family line.
Will it live up to its good name or fall flat on its face, or somewhere in between? I?m
Michael Fisher, this is Pocketnow.com, and this ? is the FULL REVIEW of the HTC Droid
Incredible 4G LTE, for ĸVerizon Wireless. Let?s get to it. The Droid Incredible 4G LTE
packs a lot of hardware into its body. And that?s a pretty small body- the device is
much smaller, and more importantly FEELS much smaller than some of the superphones that
flank it on store shelves, like the Galaxy Nexus or Samsung Galaxy S III. Like its predecessors,
the new Incredible isn?t trying to be the biggest on the block, but don?t let the small
size fool you - there?s some very capable hardware here. Taking a little tour around
the device, we?ve got a 4,? 540x960 resolution S-LCD up front, at 275 pixels per inch. Like
the device itself, it?s a tall, narrow display. Down below it, HTC?s three capacitive Android
buttons, and up above, below the red-painted earpiece, a VGA-resolution front facing camera.
There?s also a notification LED hiding behind the glass there. On the right side here is
just the volume rocker, and we can see that the phone isn?t going for the thinnest award,
either - it?s pretty hearty at 11.7mm, but because it?s got such a small footprint, that
thickness actually makes it feel great in the hand. Flipping it around to the back,
we have this wonderful asymmetric styling reminiscent of the first-generation Incredible.
We lost some of that uniqueness in the INcredible 2, so it?s nice to see the boldness come back.
There?s the 8MP camera lens with flash, and the 4GLTE and Beats branding there, as well
as a speakerphone grill. Over on the left side there?s just a MicroUSB port, and up
top, the power button and 3.5mm headphone jack. We wish the lock button was on the side,
as it would make a lot more sense with a device of this size, but obviously that preference
is subjective. In all, the phone really feels great in the hand, and it?s nice to carry
a device that doesn?t have to take up a whole pocket. Also, like we said about the HUawei
Ascend P1, it almost feels more advanced because of its small size. And it IS advanced - The
new Incredible isn?t going to blow anyone away with its specs, but it?s no slouch, either.
This phone is powered by a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 CPU running at 1.2GHz ? that?s
a little on the slow side compared to its contemporaries, but still nothing to sneeze
at. That?s backed up by 1GB of RAM and 8GB of on-board storage, with microSD expansion
available up to an additional 32GB. For radios: WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, DLNA, NFC.On the
network side, the phone does CDMA at 800/1900MHz, and LTE at 700MHz. Powering it all is a battery
rated at 1700mAh. Now, this is an HTC phone, so it?s running a skin. How does it feel to
revisit Sense 4 on Android Ice Cream Sandwich? In all, pretty good! We felt pretty good about
Sense 4 on the HTC One X, which we reviewed several months ago. In fact, we called it
the best version of the skin yet. That still holds true here, though on the smaller screen
you?re going to be dealing with smaller touch targets, which takes some getting used to
if you?re coming from a larger phone. Still, HTC does everything it can to make the experience
smooth, providing convenient features like homescreen widgets, their custom card-based
multitasking view, and a pretty convenient lock screen. It all runs fairly smoothly.
We?ve made our feelings pretty plain about OEMs slapping on custom keyboards, and our
position on that is still the same: the stock ICS keyboard is preferable to most manufacturer
substitutes. That holds true here, but we don?t dislike HTC?s attempt as much as we
do some others. The haptic feedback is inconsistent, and the keys are crowded in portrait view,
but it?s the first time in a while we haven?t wanted to immediately replace a manufacturer
keyboard with the stock one. It won?t work for everyone, and if you?re a fast typer you
won?t like it at all, but it should serve the average user just fine. Overall, Sense?s
impact on Android is noticeable - even though this is the lightest version of Android, it?s
still plenty heavy, and it does slow the experience down slightly. But the lag it introduces is
consistent, predictable, and very minor. And the conveniences Sense brings with it are
worth the tradeoff. Testing the Incredible 4G LTE in the real world was a pleasure. It?s
really nice when a phone strikes the right balance between pocketability and capability.
The new Incredible did that very well. We tested it in and around the Greater Boston
area, from the city to the seashore. Reception was above average, beating out our Galaxy
Nexus for connectivity in some remote areas like a far-off beach. We were able to average
consistently good data speeds over Verizon?s LTE network, averaging about 20Megabits down
and about 10 up. Callers said I sounded loud and clear, even over speakerphone. On my end,
people I spoke to sounded just fine through the earpiece. The speakerphone was tinny,
like they all are, but it was loud. The new Incredible might lack the same hardware as
the One X, but HTC has brought its full set of SOFTWARE camera improvements to this device.
The unified viewfinder, multi-shot, HDR, panorama, and fun filters are all here, and they all
work pretty well. HDR tends to deliver cartoony results that are a too bright, but it?s handy
to have around when you have a backlit subject or a shot with a wide variation in light and
dark. Similarly, panorama is finicky. But, all that aside, if you?re just taking regular
old still shots, the new Incredible?s 8MP camera really does quite a nice job. 1080p
video is sharp, with quick white balance and exposure correction, and the sound it captures
is great. It?s nice to have the option of shooting slow-mo, as well. The device did
just fine in the gaming department, though with a 4? screen and a dual-core 1.2GHz processor,
it?s not going to be any serious gamer?s first choice. Using all these features will cost
you quite a bit of power, but we?re happy to report that the Incredible did pretty well
in this regard. Not exemplary, mind you - it took us only about 7 hours of heavy use to
go from 100% to shut-down - but that?s HEAVY use. Average users should be able to go a
full day. If you can?t make it that long, you can always grab a spare battery - remember,
it?s removable. So, should you get it? Well, if you?re looking for a feature-packed top
of the line jumbo-phone, then obviously no. That?s not what this phone is. BUT if you?re
looking for a mid-sized, attractive, boldly-designed smartphone that doesn?t sacrifice too much
performance for pocketability, this is definitely the way to go. Personally, I still have two
friends carrying the original Incredible, more than two years after its release. And
both of them still love it. That?s a great legacy, and it looks like this newest INcredible
is living up to it. Even at $149.99 on contract, which is a little pricey, if you?re shopping
Verizon for LTE smartphones, I?d rate this one
a ?strong buy.?