About HTC Droid Incredible smartphone (Verizon wireless)

The HTC Droid Incredible smartphone offers a 3.7-inch, 480x800 AMOLED capacitive touch screen, a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, Android 2.1 with the HTC Sense UI, an optical joystick, an eight megapixel camera with dual LED flash, and the usual Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and 3.5mm headphone jack.

Design

HTC Droid Incredible smartphone officially measures in at 4.63 inches tall by 2.3 inches wide by 0.47 inch thick and 4.59 ounces. It does feel a bit plasticky compared with the Nexus One, but it also finally gives Verizon customers (well, those who can live without a physical keyboard) a viable alternative to the Motorola Droid, as it still offers some of the higher-end features, such as the Snapdragon processor and high-resolution display, that are missing on the carrier's other Android device, the Droid Eris.

HTC Droid Incredible has the capacitive touch screen measures 3.7 inches diagonally and has a WVGA resolution (480x800) just like the Nexus One, but in a side-by-side comparison, the Incredible's display appears smoother and more vibrant than that of the Nexus One.

In addition, it felt more responsive, registering every touch right away and providing a smooth scrolling experience. The built-in accelerometer was quick to change screen orientation, and the proximity sensor kicks in as soon as you hold the phone up to your ear to take a phone call. Our only complaint about the screen would be that it's pretty hard to read in bright sunlight and like many others, the touch screen is an absolute magnet for fingerprints and smudges, so we'd recommend keeping a screen wipe close by at all times. The onscreen keyboard is HTC's own rather than the standard Android keyboard, which is fine by us since the buttons are slightly bigger for easier typing, especially in portrait mode.

Below the display, you have four touch-sensitive shortcut keys--home, menu, back, and search--and below them is a new optical joystick. Much like the ones found on the HTC Legend and theHTC Desire, it replaces the trackball navigator found on previous devices and operates much like a trackpad; you simply move your thumb over the control in the direction you want to move and you can even press down to select an item. Overall, it works as advertised, but the smaller size of the button makes it a bit awkward at first. In general, we used it mostly to scroll and select a smaller item on a Web site, such as a link, and used the touch screen for everything else.

There are very few other physical buttons on the Droid Incredible. On the left side, there's a volume rocker and a Mini-USB port and on top of the device, you'll find a power button and 3.5mm headphone jack. As with most all handsets, the camera and in this case, the dual LED flash, are housed in the back but what's unusual about the Droid Incredible is the back's topographic design and the phone's innards. Instead of a smooth surface, the battery door has bumps and ridges, and it's only after you pop it off that you realize it actually follows the lines of the internal parts of the phone. Verizon packages the Droid Incredible with just the bare minimum: an AC adapter, a USB cable, and reference material.