HTC Droid Incredible on Verizon: The Death of iPhone Envy

By Dennis Kornbluh

Since the Apple iPhone came out in 2007, I have envied it from afar. I was disappointed that it was only available on the AT&T network, which, from personal observation, doesn't serve Lincoln nearly as effectively as the Verizon network. In addition, considering the free Verizon-to-Verizon calls, the "Friends and Family" plan (choose ten numbers you can call for free), and my two year sentence, er, contract, it didn't make dollars and sense to switch. So I restrained my impulse to jump on the iPhone bandwagon.

It's been difficult for me to sit on the sidelines and venture furtive glances at trendy iPhoners.  I have admired their ability to surf the web, check email, and run their fancy-schmancy apps from pretty much anywhere.  Their finger gestures, which make the apps run, scroll, and zoom, seem like a secret code to which mere mortals are not privy. It sucks to be a technology outsider.

And then, along came the Droid HTC Incredible. For the past three weeks, I've had the opportunity to take one for a test spin, courtesy of Verizon.  Initially, I doubted whether any gadget company would be able to produce a device that could hold a candle to the iPhone.  Quite a few companies have tried in recent years, but none have really approached the iPhone's polish and appeal.  I think that's all about to change.

Skeptical? That would be a healthy attitude, given Apple's impressive track record creating new markets (as they did with the iPod and iPad) and dominating the high end of existing markets (as with the iPhone and Mac computers).  Who could possibly challenge Steve Jobs and his entourage of wizards?

Enter Google, Silicon Valley's other technological 800 lb. gorilla.  From search technology to email, to online office applications, to their Chrome browser (and OS), to their Android mobile device operating system, Google seems to have their fingers in almost every aspect of computing these days.  To popularize their inventions, they use a Field-of-Dreams strategy: Make something really, really cool, give it away for free, and they will come.

To the folks at HTC, a Taiwanese-based manufacturer of smartphones, the availability of a free mobile device operating system from Google was too interesting to ignore.  In fact, HTC apparently found Android to be so compelling that they abandoned their Microsoft Windows mobile software strategy in 2009, and now use the Android OS in all of their new smartphones.  The Incredible is from the company's latest generation of smartphones, which are all based on Android version 2.1.

So what's so great about the Droid?  

• It's slim and lightweight, with a big (3.7" WVGA capacitive OLED) and bright touchscreen. 
  
• The internal 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset is one of the fastest available for smartphones.  It contains a gigabyte of RAM and a 768MB ROM, as well as 8GB of flash memory.
  
• The built-in 8 megapixel camera can take stills and video. (The new iPhone 4, which comes out later this month, only has a 5 megapixel camera.)
  
• The microSD card expansion slot is great for transferring photos and video via the "sneaker net" (i.e. you can pull the card out of the phone and plug it into your PC, presuming that your PC has an SD card adapter).
  
• In addition to the phone network, the Droid can connect to the web via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
  
• Of course, it has GPS support.
  
• It also has stereo audio support.
  
• Built-in FM radio.

It even makes phone calls. All kidding aside, it's got a nice, loud speakerphone, which is an essential feature for me.  One drawback: the Incredible only connects to CDMA networks and not to GSM, so you can't use it on your trip to Europe.  However, it will allow you to make calls in Canada and Mexico, in addition to the U.S.A.

One feature that clearly sets the Droid apart from the iPhone is Flash support (the technology that enables animation and video to work on the web -- owned by Adobe).  The Android web browser supports Flash, whereas Apple has decided that the iPhone's Safari browser will not. According to Steve Jobs, Apple will address animation and video using HTML 5, a new variant of the language that is used to represent web pages. However, it will be a very long time before that standard becomes pervasive, and users will only get the benefit when they adopt web browsers that support it. In the interim, Apple will deny users the convenience of Flash support, which, incidentally, means no YouTube on the iPhone. Perhaps that suits Apple just fine. However, for those who want Flash (that would be most users), Droid Does support it.

Perhaps the best thing about the Droid Incredible is that, with all of its features, it's still pretty simple to use. There are only three mechanical buttons (on/off, volume rocker, camera shoot), and four navigation-related "touch" buttons (home, menu, back and search).  I found the touchscreen, gesture-based user interface to be seamless and intuitive.  Like the iPhone, it incorporates "inertia scrolling," which simulates the feel of spinning a wheel. It takes a small amount of experience to get the hang of how things work, but I only resorted to the built-in tutorial on "Touch Input" once, and frankly, I wasn't even looking for it. Nevertheless, I did pick up a few tips ("tap and hold" to access symbols, for example).

Then there are the Apps. I found lots of claims on the web about the number of iPhone apps vs. the number of Android apps, and the iPhone clearly has more.  This should surprise nobody, given how much of a head-start the iPhone has had.  Still, there are certainly tens of thousands of Android apps available (both free and paid).  Of course, many more are on the way, given that Android and mobile apps are the "Next Big Thing."

By my standards, what is more important than the sheer number of apps is the number that are useful. A few that I enjoyed:

• Google Goggles -- this free app uses the phone's camera to capture objects that you photograph, and finds them on the web. It can identify text, landmarks, places (using GPS), artwork, logos, and more.  Very cool.
  
• Scanner Radio -- a free app that is able to find and connect to weather and police radios all over the world. Since it's Spring in Nebraska, I've been using the weather radio regularly.  Quite useful.
  
• Google Maps Navigation -- a free app that takes you places. Two cool features: 1) You can speak your destination, and 2) it integrates with your Gmail address book, so you can point to a contact and the navigator will take you there.
  
• Barcode Scanner -- a free app that you can use to compare product prices. I tried it out at Russ's and it worked most of the time.

Let's not even get started on the games.  Suffice it to say that there are an endless number of them, including apps that are emulators for old gaming systems.  One of the features I haven't yet mentioned is the built-in motion sensor, which enables the phone to know how it is oriented in space, i.e. whether you are holding it vertically, tilting the phone, or shaking it, etc. This feature is often exploited in games, and it has a vast number of applications. For example, the game "Teeter," in which you roll a ball through a maze and around holes in the surface, operates by holding the phone flat and tilting it in two planes. The effect is very realistic.

Of course, smartphones aren't cheap.  In addition to the cost of the phone and phone service, Verizon charges $29.99 per month per phone for data.  This fee might not be all that hard to swallow when you consider the trade-off: all those gadgets you can do without.  For example, how much were you about to spend on a navigation computer?  How about a weather radio? There are a bunch of useful apps that can potentially replace a piece of hardware, and many of them are free.

For another $30 per month you can use your Droid Incredible to provide your laptop with Internet access. This feature is known as "tethering," and it can come in very handy.  Note that while tethering is in use, you can't make or receive phone calls.  Another surprising discovery that I made: there is a way (though it isn't as simple as installing an app) to convert your Droid to a WiFi hotspot. Now that's cool.

What I find interesting about smartphones in general is how much utility there is in such a small package.  During my test spin, I commonly used the Incredible to make phone calls (no, really?), text, email, watch the stock market, read online newspapers, and navigate.  I Tweeted, I Facebooked, I checked the weather, I played games.  I photographed, shot video, and effortlessly uploaded the resulting files to Flickr.  I even used it to blog. Though I don't particularly enjoy typing on the touchscreen keyboard, I relied heavily on the "speech to text" feature, which worked surprisingly well if there wasn't a huge amount of background noise.

The funny thing that happens when you give out smartphones to people, is that they use the heck out of them.  This can lead to immersion in the virtual world and a disconnect from the physical one. I have witnessed, more than once, a dinner table in which everyone present had a phone in their hands. It would be great if the phone could remind users every now and then that they have friends and family who might enjoy their company in the real world.  Maybe there's an app for that.

Comments

[Gary Kornbluh]

Excellent review Den! I think I know which phone I'll upgrade to next.
Gary

[Richard]

Hi Denny, Interesting review. I'm thinking of changing too. Thanks. How's the Incredible's battery life? I like my Blackberry Tour for its keyboard and battery life - relative to an iPhone or earlier Androids. Have you used a Blackberry for comparison? - Richard

[Dennis Kornbluh]

Hi Richard, During this brief trial I was able to get through the day on a single charge, and my usage was probably average. I expect that intensive users would have to recharge during the day. The Incredible provides a pretty detailed account of battery usage in Settings -> About Phone -> Battery Use, with usage histograms by subsystem, so Android System, Cell standby, Display, Wi-Fi, and Phone idle. Then you can at least know what's draining the battery. Never owned a Blackberry, so I can't compare.
--Denny

[Robert Esquivel]

Fascinating article. I'm far from technologically literate,and not really much of a gamer . . . I don't even like to play cards, but it sounds like quite the contraption. Should I ever find myself in need of the ability to begin "tweeting," Twittering," "SpaceFacing," "padding," or anything beyond just "chattering" on my cell phone, I'll have to look into it! At best it sounds like a nice "All In One" space saver. Thanks for the info! BOB

[Richard]

Battery life according to Verizon: "Usage time up to 312 minutes; standby time up to 146 hours" - sounds good. The verizon htc droid incredible doesn't support 1080p graphics - so I'll wait a little longer to switch from my Blackberry. I want 1080p graphics to replace my full system by connecting to a big display - probably with mini HDMI - combined with bluetooth for keyboard and mouse.

[Ron]

Great review Denny. You've got a future at GizMoDo!

Any recommendations for those of us with time remaining on our sentence - er, contract - at ATT?

[Dennis Kornbluh]

Thanks Ron. AT&T offers a bunch of great Android-based smartphones. Check this out:

http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/cell-phone-sales/promotion/androidComingSoon.jsp

[Larry]

Good points. My Samsung Impact (same as Highlight in USA) fell into the pool. I also fell into the pool but I still function correctly. Maybe I will switch to one of the Androids... and watch my footing in the future.