When you call your phone the “Incredible” you’d better hope that it lives up to the moniker. In my first post about the HTC Droid Incredible from Verizon, I was a fairly harsh critic of the battery life. Although I stand by my initial impressions, the truth is that the battery life has gotten better after the first week. I think the battery has gotten “conditioned” and is functioning more efficiently, and I learned to work around a bug that didn’t allow the phone to fully charge while powered up (you need to charge to full, unplug, turn off the phone, then charge for another 20 minutes or so). I’ll confess that battery life is serviceable now — not great, by any measure; but not a disqualifying negative either.
In addition, I’ve really come to love the Android 2.1 operating system. Its intuitive, fluid, and fun to use. Operating the OS is more like conducting a symphony than pressing keys on an interface: swipe, pull, tap, pinch, press, flick. The user interface definitely has a nascent Minority Report vibe going on. The HTC Sense UI is extremely well-designed, both in terms of looks and function. The phone’s extensibility through the Android Market is remarkable. Hundreds, if not thousands, of quality applications are available — and the core set of popular apps are all free. And since the Incredible doesn’t skimp on the hardware specs (1Ghz processor, 500 MB RAM), everything runs smooth and quick. Compared to the Blackberry, the Incredible is far more capable, far more customizable, and far more enjoyable to use.
One of Android’s greatest strengths is its tight integration with Google services like Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Voice and the like (which is not surprising considering that Google makes the Android operating system). If you are already a Gmail or Google apps user, you’ll find the Android experience positively refreshing. I use Gmail for my personal account and Google Apps for my work domain, and I was amazed at how dead-simple it was to put these services on the phone from the outset. All my mail, all my contacts,and all my calendar entries were automatically synced to the Incredible just by completing the startup wizard on the phone’s first power-up. Syncing is handled natively by the OS, and its works flawlessly.
The phone does still have its share of flaws. As noted above, the stock battery is barely passable; I’d recommend that users look into a larger capacity battery (e.g., the larger capacity battery used in the HTC Touch Pro 2 fits the Incredible, according to many user reports). Also, the phone still feels a bit on the small side (narrow, in particular). Blackberry users will rightly feel that the email and calendar applications on the Incredible feel slightly less polished and customizable. This is more than offset, in my opinion, by the tight Google integration … but your mileage may vary, especially if your email is served on an Exchange or other non-Gmail platform. Call quality and signal strength are, surprisingly, below average. As compared to my Blackberry Storm, people I talk to on the Incredible comment that they can tell I’m on a cell phone. However, unless you’re in a fringe Verizon service area, I think most people will find this more of a minor annoyance rather than a major issue.
In sum, the Droid Incredible is the best phone in Verizon’s current lineup, and I don’t see superior challenger appearing anytime soon (which, in the tech world, means within the next six months). If the next-gen iPhone materializes this summer, and if some version of it lands on Verizon, then I might need to edit this post to save my credibility. Even then, however, Apple would be merely catching up to (not necessarily surpassing) the capabilities of the Android OS.
To be clear, I’m still very much looking forward to giving the Sprint EVO 4G a test-drive. My pre-order is placed, and the phone drops on June 4. Since the EVO does eveything the Incredible does, plus a lot more, the real question is what kind of Sprint service I experience during my trial period. But its nice to know that if the EVO doesn’t work out, I can go back to a very nice phone.
Incredible Update
When you call your phone the “Incredible” you’d better hope that it lives up to the moniker. In my first post about the HTC Droid Incredible from Verizon, I was a fairly harsh critic of the battery life. Although I stand by my initial impressions, the truth is that the battery life has gotten better after the first week. I think the battery has gotten “conditioned” and is functioning more efficiently, and I learned to work around a bug that didn’t allow the phone to fully charge while powered up (you need to charge to full, unplug, turn off the phone, then charge for another 20 minutes or so). I’ll confess that battery life is serviceable now — not great, by any measure; but not a disqualifying negative either.
In addition, I’ve really come to love the Android 2.1 operating system. Its intuitive, fluid, and fun to use. Operating the OS is more like conducting a symphony than pressing keys on an interface: swipe, pull, tap, pinch, press, flick. The user interface definitely has a nascent
Minority Report vibe going on. The HTC Sense UI is extremely well-designed, both in terms of looks and function. The phone’s extensibility through the Android Market is remarkable. Hundreds, if not thousands, of quality applications are available — and the core set of popular apps are all free. And since the Incredible doesn’t skimp on the hardware specs (1Ghz processor, 500 MB RAM), everything runs smooth and quick. Compared to the Blackberry, the Incredible is far more capable, far more customizable, and far more enjoyable to use.
One of Android’s greatest strengths is its tight integration with Google services like Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Voice and the like (which is not surprising considering that Google makes the Android operating system). If you are already a Gmail or Google apps user, you’ll find the Android experience positively refreshing. I use Gmail for my personal account and Google Apps for my work domain, and I was amazed at how dead-simple it was to put these services on the phone from the outset. All my mail, all my contacts, and all my calendar entries were automatically synced to the Incredible just by completing the startup wizard on the phone’s first power-up. Syncing is handled natively by the OS, and its works flawlessly.
The phone does still have its share of flaws. As noted above, the stock battery is barely passable; I’d recommend that users look into a larger capacity battery (e.g., the larger capacity battery used in the HTC Touch Pro 2 fits the Incredible, according to many user reports). Also, the phone still feels a bit on the small side (narrow, in particular). Blackberry users will rightly feel that the email and calendar applications on the Incredible feel slightly less polished and customizable. This is more than offset, in my opinion, by the tight Google integration … but your mileage may vary, especially if your email is served on an Exchange or other non-Gmail platform. Call quality and signal strength are, surprisingly, below average. As compared to my Blackberry Storm, people I talk to on the Incredible comment that they can tell I’m on a cell phone. However, unless you’re in a fringe Verizon service area, I think most people will find this more of a minor annoyance rather than a major issue.
In sum, the Droid Incredible is the best phone in Verizon’s current lineup, and I don’t see superior challenger appearing anytime soon (which, in the tech world, means within the next six months). If the next-gen iPhone materializes this summer, and if some version of it lands on Verizon, then I might need to edit this post to save my credibility. Even then, however, Apple would be merely catching up to (not necessarily surpassing) the capabilities of the Android OS.
To be clear, I’m still very much looking forward to giving the Sprint EVO 4G a test-drive. My pre-order is placed, and the phone drops on June 4. Since the EVO does eveything the Incredible does, plus a lot more, the real question is what kind of Sprint service I experience during my trial period. But its nice to know that if the EVO doesn’t work out, I can go back to a very nice phone.