The HTC Droid Incredible Review, Clearly Better than the Nexus One
by Anand Lal Shimpi on May 10, 2010 1:27 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Snapdragon
- Droid Incredible
- HTC
- Android
- Mobile
Battery Life
The HTC Incredible gave me a strange mix of great and terrible battery life in my tests. While 3G talk time was nearly 6 hours (HTC’s specs were actually very accurate here), its 3G web browsing battery life was abysmal. WiFi battery life was considerably better but still not on par with the iPhone 3GS.
The 3G data battery life is a bit perplexing and I’m not sure if it’s a side effect of using the Verizon network or simply the reception at my office. I’m not convinced it’s a problem with my location since the 3G talk time was just fine and roughly three hours of intense data use lined up with my experiences outside the office. Either way, don’t expect anything great from the Incredible’s battery life. Although like I said, points for good talk time.
| Battery Life | |||||
| Apple iPhone 3GS | HTC Droid Incredible | Google Nexus One | |||
| Wireless Web Browsing (3G) | 4.82 hours | 2.83 hours | 3.77 hours | ||
| Wireless Web Browsing (WiFi) | 8.83 hours | 5.23 hours | 5.62 hours | ||
| 3G Talk Time | 4.82 hours | 5.82 hours | 4.67 hours | ||
Final Words
I like the Incredible. If you are on Verizon it’s probably the best option you can get for the network. HTC delivers a much more polished and complete feel than Google does with the Nexus One. This is largely due to the improved functionality of the Sense UI and apps/widgets. It’s also a result of the Incredible being ridiculously fast in interacting with the OS thanks to whatever optimizations HTC has done. The camera is nice and is augmented well by HTC’s camera app. I wouldn’t recommend throwing away your point and shoot but it is good enough to be the only camera in your pocket on a vacation if you don’t mind some grain in your shots. The keyboard is like night and day compared to the Nexus One’s solution. It’s just so much better. My device-level complaints are limited to the cheap feeling back cover and poor battery life. HTC has built a good Android smartphone. I wouldn’t say it’s perfect, but it’s good.
The Android v. iPhone dilemma I brought up in the Nexus One review still stands. In this case, it’s perfectly exemplified by the HTC Droid Incredible’s keyboard. On the left you’ve got Android and on the right, the iPhone OS:
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Both will get you from point A to point B, Apple just does it cleaner, Google does it with more flexibility. Choosing between the two really depends on what you want from your smartphone. Apps like Goggles and fully supported tethering are Android only features at this point. Flexibility in where you get your apps from, and how you can customize your OS are as well. The Apple approach is much more focused on a clean user experience. Things like a single switch to silence your phone and delivering a consistent user experience throughout all apps. The functionality is more limited, but the UI isn’t nearly as cluttered.
I honestly doubt if there are many folks who are on the fence between the two. Spending a bit of time with both devices will quickly let you know if you fall into the Google or Apple camp. Both have their issues and limitations. I don’t believe any smartphone platform is perfect at this point, although all players are rushing to get there as quickly as possible (Palm is a viable competitor as well, if HP doesn’t kill it).
What HTC has done is provided the best hardware platform for Android to date so that those users who have to choose between Apple and Google at least have a good representative from the Android camp. With some app consolidation, some additional features (e.g. server side email search for non-Gmail accounts) and a simplified Sense scene I’m confident we could see a HTC phone that even delivers the same clean user experience as an iPhone. Then you wouldn’t even have to choose.
HTC seems to get the importance of marrying the hardware to the software. It makes me wonder if HTC made the wrong move by not buying Palm. Android is a great platform but ultimately Google is trying to be the Microsoft of the smartphone space. And we all know how that worked out for the PC OEMs; they ship a ton of systems and Apple makes all the money.
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Loser - Monday, May 10, 2010 - link
There is something wrong with the weight you have noted there130 g (3.6 oz) 130 g (4.6 oz)
Both 130g? :)
Anand Lal Shimpi - Monday, May 10, 2010 - link
Woops, fixed. Thank you :)puffpio - Monday, May 10, 2010 - link
I was reading your article, and one part that is slightly incorrect:When you use Goggles and look at buildings, but do not actually take the picture...the tags you see at the bottom of the screen are based off your GPS position and compass..it's not doing any image recognition of the scene until you take the pic...
But it's still cool nonetheless
The0ne - Monday, May 10, 2010 - link
"I honestly doubt if there are many folks who are on the fence between the two."Consumers respond very well to marketing and if the comparison of Incredible to iPhone came down to what you've stated,
1. UI
2. Flexibility
3. Apps
Then it's great. However, your review of the iPhone, in comparison to this review, has all the "ooohh.....aahhhh" associated with it. Little as it may seem, not to Apples awesome marketing team mind you, your review will persuade some consumers to go for the iPhone instead of others regardless of the factors listed.
Please do a respectable tech review and leave your personal opinions and comments for a section dedicated to that purpose. Judging by this review I say the phone stinks mainly because there's not cheering from you. We do respect you, I've followed you since you started the site. I don't like the bias "ohh...ahhs" that comes with the reviews.
Anand Lal Shimpi - Monday, May 10, 2010 - link
A lot of my excitement over the original iPhone has to do with the fact that it was first to deliver the things that made me go ooh and ahh. I'd argue the same is true about Android with features like Goggles. Only Palm has really impressed me in the same manner since then.What I was trying to say with that statement is that if a user plays with both devices they'll quickly figure out which type of person they. The two platforms are very polarizing it seems. As I mentioned in the Nexus One Review, there are folks who are totally unimpressed by the iPhone and others who are very disappointed by Android. It largely has to do with the differing approaches to UI design and role the smartphone plays in their respective corporate strategies.
I stand by my original statement. I believe those who like the iPhone won't find any Android device a suitable replacement. While those who are frustrated by the iPhone's limitations wouldn't dream of anything other than an Android.
Take care,
Anand
teohhanhui - Monday, May 10, 2010 - link
"While those who are frustrated by the iPhone's limitations wouldn't dream of anything other than an Android."There are those who are looking forward to MeeGo...
Anand Lal Shimpi - Monday, May 10, 2010 - link
I'm holding back excitement on that one until we see the right combination of hardware/software. But yes, MeeGo could be very good (not to mention forthcoming Palm/HP stuff).Take care,
Anand
T2k - Thursday, May 13, 2010 - link
MeeGooo? Pleahhhhse.Nokia so far managed to blew everything it's got including the super-widespread, #1 OS of the world Symbian - years after years of clueless mismanagement and still nothing from Nokia.
Nokia is a mess, they just started the third reorganization in 12 months or so... completely clueless MESS and their main dev head just left them recently.
It's Android, people, nothing else - Symbian is waaay behind especially if you consider the breakneck speed Google is developing Android, iPhone and Apple in general is rapidly becoming completely irrelevant especially when Flash won't even work in it.
The only question is WebOS - now that HP is behind Palm we might get some surprise competition for Android: real innovation instead of fake re-badging efforts at ripoff prices a' la Apple.
The0ne - Monday, May 10, 2010 - link
Well said.sebmel - Tuesday, May 11, 2010 - link
Hi Anand, thanks for a great review and contrary to the opinion of 'TheOne' please feel free to express your feelings regarding products. I have read your site for many years, just like 'TheOne' but unlike him I have come to recognise you as someone with intelligence and a good eye for design flair who understands that sometimes the best expression of recognition of design excellence is exactly an ooh or ah.I'm a fan of TopGear, the UK car program. I can just imagine the Soviet dullness that would ensue were 'TheOne' to exercise an editorial veto. The show would flounder in a morass of directives on equal time, exactly duplicated lighting and monotone intonation of spec sheets. I also found his request that you do a 'respectable' review an uncalled for snipe.
It was obvious to any reader that you were enthused about the iPhone because it pushed forward mobile phone OS design significantly. It is also obvious that AnandTech has a number of readers that have difficulty coming to terms with a revitalised Apple corporation and respond to any positive comment with partisan angst. The DailyTech news site you link to unfortunately still thinks its 1990 and regularly trolls for clicks with headlines designed to bait flaming. The result is all to obvious in the ensuing comments.
So, please don't make your reviews lifelessly unemotional. Express pleasure... express surprise. It means something to your readers that someone who spends so much time using the latest products is occasionally moved to pleasure by the competence of designers or developers. Product designers are not driven to greatness by spec. sheet competition. They only achieve it when they attempt to delight. Jonathan Ive, Apple's designer, regularly repeats that he is as proud of what he leaves out of products as what he has included. It is something that you, Anand, obviously understand. I suspect Ive repeats it as often as he does because there are still so many, raised in the Windows 'just add a buggy new feature, break the old format, and call it a new version' years who do not.
We are in a new era in which design excellence and not the politics and skulduggery of format wars is becoming essential. Reviews expressing sincere pleasure or disappointment are entirely appropriate to such a market and provide the kind of feedback that manufacturers and developers need in recognition of their efforts. How on earth can one quantify elegance in terms of grams or bytes? I felt the need to confirm to you that you do have readers who understand your emoting such things.
Keep up the good work.