HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE Review

Introduction:

Two years ago when the original HTC DROID Incredible was released by Verizon, it was considered a high-end Android Smartphone, and was followed-up a year later by the HTC DROID Incredible 2. But since then, the Android landscape has changed, with consumers wanting more features and larger displays, which manifested in the form of the Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX and the Samsung Galaxy S III. Now with the release of the HTC DROID Incredible 4G LTE, Verizon is hoping to capitalize on the two earlier model’s success and have customers upgrade to the newest version – which adds 4G LTE connectivity, a higher resolution display, and faster processor.

Included in the retail box is the HTC DROID Incredible 4G LTE phone (ADR6410LVW), 1700 mAh battery, wall charger with microUSB cable, and user guides.

Design:

The overall design of the HTC DROID Incredible 4G LTE is reminiscent of the two previous models. The back of the device is a black soft-touch plastic with groves in the center, which allows for a nice firm grip. Since the size of the device is smaller than most other high-end Android smartphones, it fits well in the hand or in the pocket, without feeling too big.




The main reason for its compact size is due it using a 4” display instead of a 4.3” or larger. While having a large display is nice, especially when viewing web pages or videos, some people don’t want the extra bulk that it can create, so the one on the HTC DROID Incredible 4G LTE is a nice compromise. Unlike last year’s model that was limited to a WVGA resolution display of 480x800 pixels, the display on the DROID Incredible 4G LTE is now qHD resolution with 540x960 pixels (275 ppi), and is also Super LCD. Simply put, the screen on the DROID Incredible 4G LTE looks quite good, with sharp text and nice saturated colors. Our only complaint about the screen is the poor viewing angles and that is it difficult to see in direct sunlight.

Even though the HTC DROID Incredible 4G LTE is running Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich, it still comes with three capacitive buttons under the screen for back, home, and recent apps. We believe this is a good idea, since the screen size is limited to only 4 inches. Up on top is a VGA (640x480) camera that can be used for self-portraits or video chat, while the main camera on the back comes in at 8MP. Located on the sides of the phone are the power/lock button, volume rocker, microUSB port, and 3.5mm headset jack. Removing the back cover will allow access to the 1700 mAh battery, 4G microSIM card slot, and the microSD memory card slot. Keep in mind that the phone does not come with a memory card, due to the 8GB of total internal memory, but we were able to use a 32GB microSDHC card without any problems.

Interface:

HTC is known for their functional, yet simplistic user interface, and the DROID Incredible 4G LTE does not disappoint. Layered on top of the Android 4.0.3 ICS operating system is the HTC Sense 4 UI, and is similar to what we’ve seen recently on the HTC One X and EVO 4G LTE. This latest version of the OS bears tons of improvements in almost every aspect of the system, including the UI, the browser, core apps, performance and so on. Still, you won't get to see anything of the stock ICS interface, because HTC has personalized it heavily with its new Sense 4 UI.


Functionality:

The main goal for HTC in terms of the interface has been to simplify it. Indeed, previous versions of the UI had so many options and personalizations, that it could easily throw an inexperienced users into confusion. Indeed, we do find Sense 4 to be significantly streamlined. You will still get the characteristic weather clock and big calendar widgets, taking up a whole homescreen page, but HTC wanted to remain recognizable among the ocean of Android handsets on the market. However, gone is much of the eye-candy that was present in the previous version of the software. For example, you no longer get the spinning carousel when you energetically scroll between homescreens.



The main menu is also different now, as the apps are arranged in a 4x5 icon grid page, which are scrolled horizontally, instead of vertically as in previous versions of Sense. The new experience is probably simpler this way. The good thing for us is that the handset is moving pretty swift, with no hint of lag or choppy animations. We're not sure how much of this is to be attributed to the optimizations done to the interface, or the dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, but the result is a perfectly smooth UI experience. We won’t go into all the details here, but if you’re curious, you can read more about Sense 4 in our review of the international HTC One X.



Even though the HTC DROID Incredible 4G LTE has a 4” display, it is still easy to use when it comes to typing messages with its on-screen QWERTY keyboard – though, its set of directional keys seem to clutter things up. Of course, we’ve always been fond of the Sense keyboard, seeing it provides us with some numbers and punctuations directly from the main layout by performing a long press. Consistently typing at a fast pace isn’t a problem, but we sorely wish for those directional keys to disappear entirely, so that the QWERTY layout can be spaced-out more on the screen.



Of course, every way of using E-Mail is available on the device. In addition to custom POP3 and IMAP accounts, you can also easily set-up Verizon.net, Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, AOL, Yahoo! Mail, Windows Live Hotmail, and Gmail.



Processor and Memory:

The HTC Incredible 4G LTE is powered by a Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor operating at 1.2GHz, and also comes with 1GB of RAM on board. We believe this is plenty enough horsepower for this device, as everything ran smoothly, but it still would have been nice the processor was operating at 1.5GHz, like on the HTC EVO 4G LTE and Samsung Galaxy S III.

	Quadrant Standard	AnTuTu	NenaMark 2
HTC DROID Incredible 4G LTE	4383	5974	58,8
Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX (Verizon)	2895	6178	36,7
HTC EVO 4G (Sprint)	5099	6995	58,6
Samsung Galaxy S III (AT&T)	4520	6111	59,4

The HTC DROID Incredible 4G LTE comes with 8GB of internal storage. Of that, 1GB is dedicated for app storage, 3GB is dedicated to the OS, which leaves about 4GB for the user to store pictures, videos, music, etc. But there is an empty microSD memory card slot to allow up to 32GB of extra storage (though you may unofficially be able to use 64GB microSDXC cards).

Internet and Connectivity:

The included browser is fast to use, yet we don’t care much for the layout. Specifically, the top and bottom menu bars containing the back button, address bar, “Add to”, “Bookmarks”, “Saved for later”, and “Tabs” all seem to disappear and reappear at random. Thankfully, you can download other browsers, such as Dolphin or Chrome, if you like one of those more.



Regardless, using the Verizon 4G LTE data network, we were able to fully load our PhoneArena.com site (including Flash content) in about 25 seconds. When running the SpeedTest.net app, we were able to get downloads of 10.46 Mbps and uploads of 5.66 Mbps, which is about average for our area, though it can become slower during peak data usage hours.

Naturally, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4GHz & 5GHz) is on-board, along with NFC and Bluetooth 4.0.

Camera:

The HTC DROID Incredible 4G LTE packs an 8-megapixel camera. There is a lot of technology packed into the tiny sensor, including back side illumination (BSI), an f/2.2 aperture with a 28mm wide angle lens, and a smart LED flash that adjusts to lighting conditions. All of this means it is a good camera, and at times even a very good camera, but it is certainly not a great camera. Colors are a bit oversaturated and there is a tendency for some outside images to be over exposed, which can cause a loss of detail. In low-light conditions, grain appears quite heavily (as the image detail shows ISO above 1200), details can get blurry, and the overall picture quality suffers greatly. This is nothing new for cell phones, but at this point we were hoping for more from HTC.


Just like the HTC One X/EVO 4G LTE, the HTC DROID Incredible 4G LTE is capable of recording 1080p videos at 29 fps. Colors have a “pop” to them, and detail is good, but no matter how steady you hold the phone with two hands, it picks up on every minor movement, thus transferring it to the videos – causing it to look jerky at times. It also lacks continuous autofocus, which means you have to tap the screen for it to focus on a new subject. Overall, the video recording quality is good for HD, but still not great.


HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE Sample Video:

Multimedia:

As with most new HTC smartphones, the DROID Incredible 4G LTE comes with Beats Audio integration. Missing are the iBeats headphones that come included with the HTC Rezound, though you can use any headphones and still get the same effect. When a pair is connected, you can toggle the Beats Audio on and off, and can clearly hear a difference, as audio sounds fuller, voices are clearer, and there is more pronounced bass. The new HTC Music app is easy to use and lets you add shortcuts to other music apps, such as Google Play Music, or Pandora, Slacker, Amazon MP3, and TuneIn Radio.



Watching videos on the 4” display may not be awe-inspiring as on a phone with a 4.7” screen, but they still look good none the less. The device was able to handle all of the different types of files we threw at it (DivX, XviD, H.264 and MPEG-4) in varying resolutions. The stock video player has some tricks up its sleeve, like the aforementioned image capture, and the HTC Movie Editor app lets you edit your video clips on the go.


Missing is a separate HDMI output, so you have to use an optional MHL adapter for connecting it to your HDTV.

Software:

Since this phone is sold by Verizon, it should come as no surprise that Verizon will through-in a bunch of apps (bloatware) on the device. Included are Amazon Kindle, Amazon MP3, Verizon Apps store, Let’s Golf 3 HD, Mobile HotSpot, My Verizon Mobile, NFL Mobile, Real Racing 2, Slacker Radio, Slingbox, VCast Tones, Verizon Video, Visual Voice Mail, and VZ Navigator. Thankfully, both the Let’s Golf 3HD and Real Racing 2 are just app icons (not fully installed), which means you have to download and install them if you want them.

Call Quality and Battery:

The HTC DROID Incredible 4G LTE has exceptional call quality, similar to what we experienced with the HTC Rezound. Calls on our end exhibited clear and full sounding voices through the earpiece, though using the rear speakerphone can cause a bit of distortion if set too loud. People that we talked to said we sounded good on their end and some thought we were using a standard land-line phone.

Reception was also good, as no calls were dropped. But like most other Verizon 4G LTE smartphones, it maintains good 4G reception for data when outside, but does suffer when inside a house or building, thus reverting back to 3G EVDO at times.

The included 1700 mAh battery is a bit less than we’d like (around 2000 mAh), but thankfully it’s more than the 1620 mAh battery that came with the HTC Rezound. This allowed us up to 5 hours of talk time on a full charge, or about 12-14 hours of mixed usage.

Conclusion:

When looking at the current landscape of Android smartphones, the HTC DROID Incredible 4G LTE is a nice addition, but simply does not stand out from the competition as there really isn’t anything remarkable about it. Its key feature is its smaller physical size, making it usable with a single hand. It also has some nice features, such as Android ICS with HTC Sense 4 UI, good call quality, and a nice camera – all of which make the HTC DROID Incredible 4G LTE a good phone, although lacking any “wow” factor.

Software on tested phone:
Android 4.0.3
HTC Sense 4.0
Build Number 1.43.605.3

HTC DROID Incredible 4G LTE Video Review: