The new term “droid phone” has suddenly been thrown into the public with little explanation. The name comes from the Android operating system developed by Google that has been used in a few different phones powered exclusively by Verizon. These include the Motorola Droid, which have been heavily advertised under the slogan “Droid Does.” Besides Motorola’s contribution, the other most notable droid phone is the new Droid Incredible by HTC. This phone (originally just called the HTC Incredible), seeks to become a hybrid of the impressive aspects of the Moto Droid and its smoother, curvier smart phone competitors. Available exclusively for Verizon and thus with access to America’s largest 3G network, the Droid Incredible is a worthy adversary to the iPhone, Palm Pre, and other notable smart phones.
Appearance
HTC put special focus on how they wanted the Droid Incredible to look. The first thing they did was go against the tide of smooth backs and create a tiered, robot back which they said was supposed to resemble a sports car. The back seems strange at first (something out of an Ironman movie is the best example), but it actually is shaped usefully for keeping a grip on your phone. The Droid is about the same size as the iPhone and does a bit more than the Moto Droid as far as being more than just a solid block of hardware. HTC added some red highlights around the camera and a few other places to give the phone some flair and allows the screen to basically speak for itself. The display is hyper bright and colorful–a quality that some people actually find annoying. There is such a thing as too vibrant and the Droid Incredible may have crossed that line. Still, the display has to be admired and if bright, oversaturated colors don’t bother you, then you’ll be pleased with what you see.
Features
The first thing to mention is the astounding 8 megapixel camera. As technology keeps progressing, these cameras are jumping rapidly in quality. This camera can take amazing pictures for such a small device. Keep in mind that it is not going to replace your camera, but in the right lighting you will be amazed at the definition of snapshots made by this phone. The phone has a few touch buttons on the front along with a small pad button. Each of these works well as you would expect. The sound quality of the Droid Incredible is very impressive–finally phones are starting to be as much of an iPod as the iPhone itself. What makes the Incredible so incredible, however, is the amazing software and touchscreen effectiveness. With the Verizion network, you get quick internet that is easy to navigate through using the Android 2.1 software. Flash videos remain elusive and troublesome, but hopefully Google will soon be able to fix this. The touchscreen keyboard is as good as the iPhones and lets this device ditch the large keyboards that models like the Moto Droid use.
Overall
Frankly, the Droid Incredible is the best droid phone on the market and a good spokesperson for the new Google software. The screen is amazing, the organizational techniques of the home page are convenient and impressive, and the added power of the Verizon network make it a phone worth considering over the AT&T iPhone. I highly recommend considering it for your next phone.
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_Incredible ; http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/19/droid-incredible-review/
