Verizon Droid Incredible, just friggin' wow!

[jkhonea]

For those that keep up with phones, just picked up the Droid Incredible this morning. I'll tell you this, with the Sense overlay to smooth out the rough Android edges, this phone is finally giving Apple something to be concerned about. This thing is, quite simply, bad ass!

8mp camera that takes beautiful pics. The Google Navigation works like a charm. Speech to text is just stupid accurate. And the 1 gHz processor FLIES. I'm probably going to jump to a larger battery when available, but I'm not going to gauge life for sure until I spend some time with it. I know I'm spending a lot of time setting up and playing with it for an accurate gauge.

If you get a chance, try it. This thing ROCKS!

[BobbyMac]

I got my wife one for Christmas and she absolutely loves hers!

[jkhonea]

I got my wife one for Christmas and she absolutely loves hers!

That one would have been the Motorola Droid. A very good, sturdy phone. The Droid Incredible is the brand new one that just came out today. Faster processor, no physical keyboard, Sense visual overlay. So far I'm floored.

[JSKeezy]

I played with it earlier this week (know the HTC rep) and i must say this phone is unbelievable. Processor, Sense UI, 8GB memory and can take a 32gb sd card...What more can you say......and its on ANDROID...If i get into verizon (as in working there) that is my first phone)

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

That one would have been the Motorola Droid. A very good, sturdy phone. The Droid Incredible is the brand new one that just came out today. Faster processor, no physical keyboard, Sense visual overlay. So far I'm floored.


Can you compare the touchscreen keyboard to, say... a Droid?

[jkhonea]

The keyboard touchscreen on this is actually the HTC touchscreen. MUCH better than the Droid. Bigger keys and the word prediction is amazing. But honestly, I got hold of a copy of Swype and I've been using that input method one helluva lot. Its amazing.

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

Is that the drag, pause, drag method of text input for touchscreens?

[jkhonea]

Certainly is and I can now say that commercial isn't exaggerating about how good it works. It is actually kinda freaky how good it does.

[TroyBoy30]

I got my wife one for Christmas and she absolutely loves hers!

that's impressive since it just came out yesterday! :crackup:

waiting on the htc evo myself!

[SlimDizzleATL]

that's impressive since it just came out yesterday! :crackup:

waiting on the htc evo myself!

Seriously considering leaving ATT this summer for the EVO...Its gonna be a beast.


And JK, its not finally giving Apple something to worry about. Its giving Apple MORE to worry about. Steve Jobs has already been taking jabs at Android. These phones are already iPhone killers in my opinion minus the app store. Steve is gonna have to come out with something close to spectacular to keep up. Especially since multiple phones run Android...only one runs the iPhone OS.

[jkhonea]

Great point. The app marketplace seems to be picking up steam. Hope it keeps going. Competition is a good thing in technology.

[impalanar]

I can't leave AT&T (work) so I am dying for a decent Android phone on AT&T.

[Jared]

I prefer the physical keyboard on the droid.

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

I prefer the physical keyboard on the droid.


I've only had a few hours (cumulatively) to play with various friends' droids, but I found the touchscreen keyboard to be the best out of any phone I've tried so far. It blew away my envTouch, my roommate's G1, the iphones/itouches I play with all the time, a BB storm, it was by faaaaar the nicest touchscreen keyboard I'd ever used. Though I hear that once you get used to the physical keyboard (steeper learning curve?) that it's even quicker than the touchscreen.

[JSKeezy]

I can't leave AT&T (work) so I am dying for a decent Android phone on AT&T.

Get the nexus!!!

[i-man]

Get the nexus!!!

Is that available at ATT?
Isn't the Motorola Backflip a Droid OS?

[JSKeezy]

Is that available at ATT?
Isn't the Motorola Backflip a Droid OS?

Yes it is...the unlocked version....the backflip is Android platform as well...but i think you are picking up another android...Let me get back to you in like 10 minutes on that!!

[SlimDizzleATL]

Get the nexus!!!

+1. Its pretty awesome

[i-man]

Yes it is...the unlocked version....the backflip is Android platform as well...but i think you are picking up another android...Let me get back to you in like 10 minutes on that!!
Sweet.

[impalanar]

Get the nexus!!!

From what I have seen, Google is getting out of the phone business. I am looking for a next generation Android phone, backflip is still bit behind.

[SlimDizzleATL]

From what I have seen, Google is getting out of the phone business. I am looking for a next generation Android phone, backflip is still bit behind.

Since when?

[impalanar]

Since when?

Of course, it is all speculation but... LINKY (http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/04/27/google.nexus.one/)


Google has also said that it is no longer working on "further engineering improvements" to the 3G reception on its Nexus. Some people are taking that as a sign that the search company might not be in the handset business for the long haul.

In Silicon Valley, Nexus Ones are remarkably easy to get hold of, thanks to a generous developer program, liberal press review program and other handouts. Google is literally giving them away, which is never a sign of a hot product.

[TroyBoy30]

Of course, it is all speculation but... LINKY (http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/04/27/google.nexus.one/)

or.........

Google updates Nexus One page, tells Verizon customers to get a Droid Incredible instead (update: the Verizon Nexus One is dead)

http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/26/google-updates-nexus-one-page-tells-verizon-customers-to-get-a/

[SlimDizzleATL]

Oh well. I'll keep it until updates stop rolling out...by then, there will be another Android phone that catches my eye...Shoot, theres one now. lol

[jkhonea]

I'll tell you what, aside from tweaking settings for optimizing battery life, this Incredible has blown me away. The HTC screen keyboard is awesome, but honesty, I'm using Swype a good 95% of the time. I think Google is finding out their market tactics for selling the Nexus One were far from good. There is a very small margin of people on comparison to the whole willing to pay full price for a phone compared to a subsidized. Plus, the service on the Nexus kept hitting hiccups in the form of gray areas of coverage.

Also, I liked the Droid but the bare interface, while good, no excellent, from the tech and geek side, was great, it hurt it going mainstream, I believe. The Sense UI REALLY cleaned up the operations and made this phone "feel" like it was on common ground with the iPhone. I know online Verizon is sold out of it till May 7th and stores are sold out all over. I can't wait to see the initial sales numbers. All on a phone that had basically NO advertising.

[TroyBoy30]

HTC Incredible suffering random reboots for Tar Heel fans and Duke devotees?


http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/01/htc-incredible-suffering-random-reboots-for-tar-heel-fans-and-du/

[TroyBoy30]

Droid Incredible's mysterious OTA update actually fixes Exchange bug


http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/03/droid-incredibles-mysterious-ota-update-actually-fixes-exchange/

[jkhonea]

This is a good sign on support for this phone. I think Verizon is going to stay all over updates for it since its their new flagship. I hope I'm right.

[JSKeezy]

This is a good sign on support for this phone. I think Verizon is going to stay all over updates for it since its their new flagship. I hope I'm right.

Most likely....They saw how big android was in the T-Mobile market and just took it to another level!!

[wbeck257]

how is your battery life?

[jkhonea]

Still settling down with the battery life. Definitely less than what I had with my Imagio but that's by virtue of it always monitoring Google for calendar and e-mail changes. I just keep a charger in the truck. I think I'm done fiddling with sync settings and all for now, so hope to have a better gauge over the day. It's definitely on the higher power usage side but I expected that with a faster processor. Some of us are doing tests to see about improving battery life. Once tactic is to cut down background data so it isn't constantly trying to talk with Google. I haven't done that one yet.

Also going to be getting a slightly higher capacity battery. It came with a 1350 which I honestly think is too small out of the gate. I know there is at least a 1750 that will fit behind the stock cover. HTC is also releasing a 2100 that I'm more interested in, but not at the cost of greater bulk.

Overall, with how well it performs and how strong of a phone its been, I'll deal with having to plug it in while in the car or truck and have a little more to keep up with on that aspect. Well worth it. One of the fastest phones I've seen about operations and program management.

[wbeck257]

so, it won't last 16 hours w/o having to plug it in?

[jkhonea]

so, it won't last 16 hours w/o having to plug it in?

Not sure yet. I'll know more after today. This will be my actual first day leaving it completely alone. My prediction, with the background data turned on, at this point is about 12 hours. But will have to see.

Definitely is going to take stronger battery. Just too much going on with the functions of the phone to avoid it. Its honestly something they should have thought about. I suspect this is the exact reason they were thinking about throttling it back from 1gHz to 768 initially.

I also won't be surprised to see an updated code sent down from Verizon addressing battery management before its all over with, also. Believe there are several tweaks to the software itself that can be made to get better use out of it. My personal thought is allowing the background data to have times set by the user for different amounts, such as 15, 30 minutes, 1 hour, two hours and such, rather than always on, would make a huge difference.

[Solace]

I also won't be surprised to see an updated code sent down from Verizon addressing battery management before its all over with, also. Believe there are several tweaks to the software itself that can be made to get better use out of it.

Which is probably what they're off doing instead of spinning Android 2.X for the Eris. I talked to HTC today and it's still in the plan, but they don't know when.

[jkhonea]

I suspect you're right. I've heard many, many rumors there is a 2.2 coming right around the corner. Not sure how much of the energy tweaking on this would be done by Google compared to HTC as far as the battery life. Not sure how it would come over.

I will tell you this. It is COMPLETELY worth having to learn working around the battery. The operation of this phone is great. Got my ToDo List program selected (for free from the Marketplace) the other night. I've found everything from light To Do Lists to those that will e-mail and shoot you calendar reminders to full on project management lists that enables you to sign on team members and when anything is done to the project, it e-mails everyone involved. All free. Having a blast picking and choosing which programs to go with. So nice to have so many to chose from without having to spend a dime.

[chris]

My wife and I both got our HTC Incredible phones yesterday. So far I love it, coming from a non-smartphone there is so much I didn't know I was missing. My review will come shortly.

Oh and no more Sprint! I hope Verizon lives up to the hype. :)

[TroyBoy30]

Droid Incredible torn down to its constituent elements, reassembled in a flash (video)


http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/05/droid-incredible-torn-down-to-its-constituent-elements-reassemb/

<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/eF-Nztd24eI&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_GB&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/eF-Nztd24eI&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_GB&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

[TroyBoy30]

seems htc's camera tech is still lacking

Droid Incredible versus Nexus One: cameraphone showdown


http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/05/droid-incredible-versus-nexus-one-cameraphone-showdown/

[Barton72]

Ordered one yesterday. No store in the South East region has them. $150.00 new every two and online discount. Not too bad. Just don't know how long I'll have to wait for it to be delivered. Still loving yours John?

[TroyBoy30]

you shoulda waited. droid 2 will be out soon

[Barton72]

Something better than that will be out right around the corner. Hopefully for my purposes it will do just fine.

[Barton72]

Here are some pics of the new Droid phones coming out soon. Droid X and Droid 2

http://www.engadget.com/photos/motorola-droid-x/#3080656

http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/21/motorola-droid-2-stars-in-its-first-video-touts-1ghz-cpu-and-51/

I think the X is cool looking, but almost gets too large. The HD is something that I definitely don't need on a phone so I don't regret ordering the incredible. It should suit me fine. The 2 has the slide open keypad. That is something that I don't want on my phone so again I will keep the order in for the incredible. Who knows how long it will take to get though.

[Barton72]

Well just one more day. The Incredible shipped today. Should get it tomorrow. I looked long and hard at the DroidX, but at 127.5 x 65.5 x 9.9 mm:eek: it's literally the size of a damn remote control. I took a ruler and paper and drew those dimensions out. It would barely fit in your pocket without a protective case. With a case, forget it.

The Incredible originally came with the AMOLED screen, but due to Samsung not being able to supply them to HTC quick enough they switched to an HD screen which I believe is LCD. Hope that doesn't change the viewing experience or already suspect battery life.

Otterbox advertises a case for this phone coming soon also. I'm definitely ordering that. It was a long wait and I sent many frustrated e-mails over the screen change. Hopefully it was worth the wait. We'll see tomorrow.

[jkhonea]

Glad yours is finally making it in. It will take a little time for the battery to come up to speed. There is also supposed to be an OTA coming down that will fix the charging issue. With the timeline on yours being sent out, I would bet yours will be the original AMOLED screen, which I believe you will like.

Don't be scared by how fast the battery goes down initially. It will get better and there are adjustments you can make to the sync settings to improve it a lot. If the Otterbox seems to drag along, look at the Seidio ActiveCase. I believe you would like that one, also.

If you have any questions or anything when you get it, let me know and I'll help you where I can. I will say this. Make sure to have a car charger for it. Its good insurance to throw it on the charger in the car while going from one place to another to buffer your battery life.

[Barton72]

Thanks John. I will definitely contact you if I have questions. I hope it still has the LED screen, but if not I doubt it will be a bad experience. I've been reading about the battery and some folks don't have the problems that others are. I guess it depends on how much stuff you have running and how much you are browsing. Based on your experience, it sounds like it keeps getting better with time. I read a few tips online.... http://www.droid-life.com/2010/07/03/quick-tip-extend-your-droid-incredible-battery-life/ Maybe they will help.

I did order the car charger, clear case and screen protectors. I should be pretty set until Otterbox comes along. I will take a look at Seidio also. Thanks John.

I'll be standing by the door tomorrow waiting for my shipment.

[JSKeezy]

I just played with the new Samsung Galaxy aka Vibrant....lacking the 8mp and flash...the phone is flawless..dual core processor...I might be looking into it....

[Barton72]

Finally got it. Typing on it now. Love how smooth it is. One thing I don't like is the ear speaker. Sounds a little buzzy. Will keep playing with it to get accustomed.

[TurboTech]

Got the droid X yesterday, very cool...The screen is beautiful.

[ramm]

Isn't it a little too big? It's bigger than the iphone 4, no?

[Barton72]

Isn't it a little too big? It's bigger than the iphone 4, no?
Yeah, it's freakin huge. Only reason I didn't get it. I don't want a phone that big. Plus it didn't do that much more than the Incredible anyways. I'm happy with it overall.

[ramm]

Yeah, that's my gripe about new phones coming out. They're getting bigger, remember when smaller was better? (non sexual way, b/c we all know that was never true)

[impalanar]

Got the droid X yesterday, very cool...The screen is beautiful.

Careful if you try to hack it.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/16/motorola-responds-to-droid-x-bootloader-controversy-says-efuse/

[TurboTech]

No hacking for me, I can barley figure out all the stuff it can do stock....Its not that big if you're a big person Like me..It fits my hand, proportion wise perfect..

[patri0t]

Just got my Droid X! It is bigger, but WOW! It blows my old phone out of the water. This is my first smartphone so I can't really compare it to any others.

[TarzanMan]

I just played with the new Samsung Galaxy aka Vibrant....lacking the 8mp and flash...the phone is flawless..dual core processor...I might be looking into it....

Mmm the hummingird processor is not a dual core processor. Its an ARM8 with a powerVR chipset (for graphics).

8MPixels on a cell phone is ridiculous (overkill, and won't improve image quality), but the lack of an LED flash is really surprising since it would have probably added ~$5 to the cost of the device.

I haven't played with one yet, but the design absolutely screams 'iphone 3G'. I will probably take a pass on it.

[Dono2454]

I want this phone so bad but the 200 dollar price tag is too much for me

[JSKeezy]

Mmm the hummingird processor is not a dual core processor. Its an ARM8 with a powerVR chipset (for graphics).

8MPixels on a cell phone is ridiculous (overkill, and won't improve image quality), but the lack of an LED flash is really surprising since it would have probably added ~$5 to the cost of the device.

I haven't played with one yet, but the design absolutely screams 'iphone 3G'. I will probably take a pass on it.

Im going off of what the manager stated to me at the Norcross location...I am out of the telecommunication life now....:lol:

[TarzanMan]

Heh. You should know better than most people that the cell phone reps often have no idea what they are talking about!

The forthcoming dual core HTC smart phone is slated for a holiday release. Even though it will probably be wicked fast... two cores over one is probably going to murder the battery life

[Bond Girl]

hmm got my first disappointment today with my Incredible. I use my phone as a credit card machine as well. I downloaded the merchants app and was having issues with the credit card swiper that I got a few weeks ago. Cards werent being read so i would have to key in the credit card info manually (which equals higher % rates). So i call a tech today to find out why it still wont work. The swipers use bluetooth to connect to the phone. Well after going around in circles with a tech he finally asks me which droid I have. I tell him the HTC Incredible. Well appearnetly, the bluetooth chip that HTC uses in their phones only recognizes voice information and not data. Arg.... so frutrating. Every other droid makers as the multipurpose chip to read voice and data but not htc. So now im stuck. I really like my phone. Its too late to exchange it for another droid. If i keep the phone as the credit card reader I will be charged higher merchant rates for manually keying in cards. If I had a phone to my account just to read credit cards, thats an extra $40 a month. I upgraded from my blackberry back in april. I should have kept so I could accept credit cards but I hated that phone.

[Todd]

hmm got my first disappointment today with my Incredible. I use my phone as a credit card machine as well. I downloaded the merchants app and was having issues with the credit card swiper that I got a few weeks ago. Cards werent being read so i would have to key in the credit card info manually (which equals higher % rates). So i call a tech today to find out why it still wont work. The swipers use bluetooth to connect to the phone. Well after going around in circles with a tech he finally asks me which droid I have. I tell him the HTC Incredible. Well appearnetly, the bluetooth chip that HTC uses in their phones only recognizes voice information and not data. Arg.... so frutrating. Every other droid makers as the multipurpose chip to read voice and data but not htc. So now im stuck. I really like my phone. Its too late to exchange it for another droid. If i keep the phone as the credit card reader I will be charged higher merchant rates for manually keying in cards. If I had a phone to my account just to read credit cards, thats an extra $40 a month. I upgraded from my blackberry back in april. I should have kept so I could accept credit cards but I hated that phone.Youre with Verizon, correct? If so, I got the Droid a couple of months ago. Would be happy to swap even with ya, if you want. I think i'd rather have the incredible. Let me know if youre interested. :up:

[Georgiacbr]

Yeah, that's my gripe about new phones coming out. They're getting bigger, remember when smaller was better? (non sexual way, b/c we all know that was never true)

I don't mind the screen size getting a tad larger it's the res that really sets the tone with me. I like my iphone4 on the res there but the screen is smaller . I also wished apple had a keyboard because I miss that from my last Pda. One of the main issues on touch screen is there like my Gps system on the truck they screw up based on keyboard input being too small.

[Bond Girl]

Youre with Verizon, correct? If so, I got the Droid a couple of months ago. Would be happy to swap even with ya, if you want. I think i'd rather have the incredible. Let me know if youre interested. :up:

Which droid do you have? I will call my cc merchant to make sure if your model will support my credit card swipper. If iit does, then I probably will do the swap.

[jkhonea]

Which droid do you have? I will call my cc merchant to make sure if your model will support my credit card swipper. If iit does, then I probably will do the swap.

Todd has the original Motorola Droid with the slide out keyboard. In case it takes him awhile to get up from his old man nap to answer on here. :D

[Todd]

Todd has the original Motorola Droid with the slide out keyboard. In case it takes him awhile to get up from his old man nap to answer on here. :D:lol: kiss my ass, John. But yea, its the original Motorola Droid. Its still like brand new too, no scratches or nuttin. See what they say, if it works for ya, just let me know. :up:

[jkhonea]

Heh, heh, heh. I notice you aren't denying the nap. :crackup:

Bond Girl, I have seen the phone and it really is in great shape. Todd babies the hell out of it. If it will support bluetooth correctly, you won't go wrong on this phone.

[Todd]

well, i WANTED to take a nap, but Charlie "Huffdaddy" and family came out to eat burgers and dogs with us this evening, so we were hangin' with them is the reason i havent been on here all afternoon.

On the phone, ive also got the Car Mount along with the media docking station as well. Those were $30/each. And if they wont work with the incredible, then youre welcome to those as well, Bond Girl. :up:

[jkhonea]

I can tell you for sure the media mount doesn't work. Not sure about the car mount, would have to see which model you have.

[JSKeezy]

Heh. You should D know better than most people that the cell phone reps often have no idea what they are talking about!

The forthcoming dual core HTC smart phone is slated for a holiday release. Even though it will probably be wicked fast... two cores over one is probably going to murder the battery life

Right and seeing that i use to woek for those mofos as well...i went to a location with a new manager...he said they carry the startac still :rofl

[TarzanMan]

The StarTac is the bomb-diggity.

I went and played around with a Vibrant at the Roswell T-mobile. Nice screen! The user interface is very iPhone-3G'ish.
• Swype is AWESOME
• The GPS is sloooooow to get a lock (its apparently widespread enough to be an issue with the phone that Samsung is supposed to fix)
• Pinch-to-zoom doesn't work as nicely as on an iPhone
• The screen is absolutely beautiful. They put Avatar (the movie) on the phone for you and the picture was extremely sharp.

Not quite nice enough for me to spend all that $$$ to upgrade to ($200 for 2 years or $500 without contract), but a decent contender.

[Barton72]

Incredible is an awesome phone. I have another one on the way so hopefully my buzzing speaker is just a bad one. I really do hope it is better on the new one. I want to keep this phone.

[jkhonea]

Incredible is an awesome phone. I have another one on the way so hopefully my buzzing speaker is just a bad one. I really do hope it is better on the new one. I want to keep this phone.

The next one should be fine. I've unfortunately seen several reports of bad speakers. On a good front, looks like we're getting the Froyo 2.2 upgrade very possibly end of July beginning of August. This will be adding MANY new features to the phone and also increasing how fast the operating system is overall. Going to be a nice change.

[Barton72]

The next one should be fine. I've unfortunately seen several reports of bad speakers. On a good front, looks like we're getting the Froyo 2.2 upgrade very possibly end of July beginning of August. This will be adding MANY new features to the phone and also increasing how fast the operating system is overall. Going to be a nice change.
I really do hope this one is fine. I searched around and did find the reports. If I am not mistaken there were some on the forum you moderate. I would hate to ditch this completely awesome phone over something as easily fixable as a little tiny speaker, but my LG Dare sounded 10 times better than it does. I will keep you posted when it arrives.

I don't see how the OS could get much faster, but that is great. 2.2 should be awesome.

I navigated in Atl. with it Sat. going to the hotel before 311/Offspring. It worked great. My buddy tried to navigate the cab driver with his Iphone. Kept getting us lost. LOL. It was funny.

[wallypiper]

I navigated in Atl. with it Sat. going to the hotel before 311/Offspring. It worked great. My buddy tried to navigate the cab driver with his Iphone. Kept getting us lost. LOL. It was funny.

LOL. That's funny. But it was so intuitive and easy to use. The interface that everybody copies. It was probably trying to get you to an approved Apple location. Don't resist the borg.

[Mongo]

I'd bet user error, I use google maps on the iphone all over the country and it's been great every time.

[wallypiper]

I don't think he was using Google maps. iphone4 has a built in app called Maps+Compass. I use google maps with GPS on my Nokia flip phone. Works fine. Not the same thing.

[Barton72]

LOL. That's funny. But it was so intuitive and easy to use. The interface that everybody copies. It was probably trying to get you to an approved Apple location. Don't resist the borg.
LOL. Apple does not allow stay at the Marriott Hotel Downtown. Please wait for an update with compatible hotels. If your antenna isn't working, tough.

I'd bet user error, I use google maps on the iphone all over the country and it's been great every time.
Definite possibility.