HTC Droid Incredible

Let me get this out of the way first: This phone is significantly better than any other smartphone in its class, including the iPhone 3GS.

Coming from a ROOT-ed Motorola Droid running 2.1, I had a difficult time not being able to remove the crap apps (like City ID, more on that later) on the Incredible (also running 2.1). Also, getting used to the interface changes that the HTC makes is difficult, but once I got used to them I found them great. I like how it can integrate so many things into HTC's Sense UI; Google Contacts, Facebook contacts (and galleries!), Flickr Galleries, Twitter, Company Directory, etc etc. I actually signed up for Verizon's Visual Voice Mail because of the fantastic integration that the HTC Messages app has with it. Some, but not all, of the standard apps are still there, like Calendar. HTC removed some standard Android apps probably to help avoid confusion and redundancy.

The HTC Clock/Weather widget is pure eye-candy, if you don't mind it taking half your home screen. The HTC Widgets are top-notch, for sure, especially the Calendar widget. The Friend Stream widget shows your Facebook, Flickr and Twitter updates as a whole, and not just cut-off messages. But, if you launch the actual app, from the Widget icon, for example, the app itself allows browsing all of the galleries, status updates, etc. in an organized and easy to find fashion. The Add Widget interface has a link to download more HTC widgets such as a Coin flipper, Dice, Notes, "Today In History, and a Tip Calculator/Check Splitter. Note that this device is missing the HTC News widget, but, using EStrongs File Explorer I was able to install the Android 2.1 GenieWidget.apk New Widget from the Nexus One (upon install it gave an error, but actually worked after a reboot).

There are a few others tweaks that people might appreciate. The first thing that someone may notice is the "black glass" theme, with widgets to match. It's fairly well done and reminds me of AdamZ Smoked Glass ROM. Reopening the app drawer takes you back to where you recently left off, instead of having to scroll back down (handy if you have a lot of apps). There is also a feature called Scenes, which allows you to save your device's current customization state (widgets, wallpapers, screens). There are some default ones like Work, Travel, Play. I'm not sure if Scenes integrate with Locale. Of course there are the 7 home screens with screen preview (also possible with Helix or ADW Launcher).

I did not care for the physical keyboard of the Motorola Droid. After finding gesture-based keyboards, I will likely never go back (ShapeWriter, Swype). But, the HTC IME keyboard is fanstatic, too. It's on-par if not better, than the iPhones'. The OLED screen is stunning. Everything looks so much better on it than on the Moto Droid's LCD screen, it's hard to describe. The auto-brightness works great, too. Note that the Incredible's resolution is slightly less at 800x480 versus 854x480 for the Moto Droid, but it's not really a problem or even very noticeable.

Compared to the Motorola Droid, this smartphone feels significantly lighter. I know it's only about a 1.5 ounce difference and about the same thickness, but it feels much thinner and lighter than the numbers suggest. I suppose at this scale, every little bit really does make a large difference. I haven't put the trackball to any use other than having to click it for the camera. I'm not really sure what I would use it for that isn't already easy enough to do on the touch screen.

As for speed, this device is ridiculously fast. This phone has a 1GHz processor and 8GB of internal storage with capacity for up to 32GB more via microSD card. It is a huge improvement over the Motorola Droid, even when it was overclocked to 1Ghz. It's super-stable, too. I haven't had a single Force Close at all. The camera takes photos super fast. The browser loads super fast. The interface and animations are super fast. Everything about this phone is just pure speed. The battery life seems to coincide with the quickness of the phone, with significantly increased drain on the battery compared with my Motorola Droid.

This phone runs on rocket fuel with a ten-gallon tank. It's going to get you where you need, fast, but you'll have to filler-up to continue. I will admit that strangely enough, the battery life has been slowly getting better with each charge (about 10 charges now). It has been difficult pin-point the exact issue with the battery, since the Battery Usage section shows Android System as using nearly 90+% of the battery every time I've checked. The Motorola Droid was more specific (display, WiFi, Android OS, Android System, etc.) Seidio has a 1750mAh battery that is the same size as the original which provides a nice boost without adding bulk to the phone.

Hopefully, the few complaints I have can be addressed with the availability of ROOT for this phone, which is in the works. The ability to under/overclock it should address some of the battery concerns. I suspect that trimming down the OS will help as well, as I'm sure some of those background service apps are taking a toll on battery life.

In conclusion, this is a very fast, beautiful device. It truly lives up to its name.

I'd also like to take a moment to give a big F-U to Verizon for forcing the City ID app on us. A $1.99 monthly subscription app that comes preinstalled as a 15-day trial on the phone and cannot be uninstalled! It is supposed to "display the city and state of an incoming call", but that is false and misleading. It displays the origination of a caller ID number, not where the caller is actually physically calling from. I could have a Los Angeles, CA cell phone number, but be in Las Vegas, NV and it shows up as Los Angeles, CA. Stupid, stupid, stupid. On top of that, some people are reporting that after 15 days are up, it nags you about subscribing each time a phone call is received. I've only had my phone for about a week, but I'm not looking forward to this.