Last April, when we reviewed the original Droid Incredible, we said, “the Droid Incredible is HTC’s best-specified Android handset on the market”. At that time, it was a flagship. The Incredible 2, while a very nice phone, is now more of a mid-level device. It has a great camera, takes decent video, and a nice size 4 inch screen. It also has very good battery life, lasting all day with some to spare. Keep reading for all the details, speed tests and benchmarks.
The shape and size of the Incredible 2 is similar to the HTC Incredible S, now on sale in Europe. It has the same molded plastic chassis as the Incredible S, and the original Incredible.
The construction feels solid and high quality, the display looks lovely and bright.
This Droid also has a 1GHz single-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, though it is the newer MSM8255 model. It has 1GB of ROM space, and RAM is 768MB. The GPU is the Adreno 205. The four inch touchscreen is a WVGA, Super LCD. The main camera is 8 megapixels with dual-LED flash and autofocus, along with 720p HD video recording capability. There is also a front-facing camera for video chat, but it is only 1.3 megapixels and is fixed-focus. It will do the job it’s intended to do, but not more. This phone is labelled a World Phone, with both CDMA and EVDO Rev.A connectivity for North America, and HSPA connectivity for use abroad.
This phone does not have the optical joystick seen on the Incredible, here you’re relying on all touch-screen controls and the four Android capacitive buttons below the display. The standard four buttons are HTC’s trick rotating buttons, which turn 90-degrees when the phone is turned – a cool feature. The tapered sides on the phone make it feel a bit thinner than it actually is, and in my opinion anyway, make it very comfortable to hold.
Software and Performance
We really would have liked to see Gingerbread on this phone, but as of now we are looking at Froyo out of the box. However, there is likely to be a software update coming down the pike. HTC Sense keeps things running nicely, feeling fresh, and keeps us from being too disappointed.
The single-core Snapdragon processor means this phone is not a dual-core beast like the Motorola Atrix or LG G2X, but it does well enough. Unless you are planning to run dual-core intensive apps or games, the Snapdragon will keep things cooking along nicely. Included also is 3G Mobile Hotspot functionality, Flash Player 10.2 support, and SRS WOWHD pseudo-surround sound processing, which adds some extra depth to audio, but isn’t exactly Dolby.
Benchmarks and Speed Tests
Benchmark-wise, in Quadrant the Incredible 2 scored 1509.
SunSpider – the test of JavaScript performance in the browser – came in at 5982.5ms.
Camera
The DROID Incredible 2′s main 8mp camera is quite solid. Stills are clear and crisp, at least in daylight conditions. There are also some cool features in HTC’s camera UI, like Distortion, Vignette (focuses on the foreground), Vintage, Grayscale, Sepia, Solarize, and Posterize. Below are some examples taken with the phone:
The color accuracy is good, and the flash is strong, giving a decent picture even in low light.
The front facing camera is just adequate, but it does the job it’s intended to do. Here’s a quick shot taken with it, you can see the quality difference:
The 720p HD video looks good, adjusting well in low-light situations and looking smooth and jag-free (unless you pan quickly, then you get blur and tearing). 1080p would be nice, but that isn’t realistic with the single core Snapdragon. Here is a quick video taken with the camera, my daughter filling you in on the important subject of “skunk safety”. She is an excellent test subject, because she never stands still.
Phone and Battery
Call quality was good, I didn’t have any problems hearing callers or vice versa, even in windy conditions. No doubt the integrated noise-cancellation system helped. Of course, you do not have the 4G LTE connectivity that you would get with the HTC Thunderbolt and the DROID Charge.
The DROID Incredible 2 gives you a full day’s use on a single charge. That’s pretty much average for a current-gen smartphone, and of course you can extend runtimes by turning off some of the social networking integration or cutting back on how frequently they check for updates.
Wrap-Up
Priced from $99 (on Amazon) for a new, two-year agreement, and going up to $199 (for exisiting customers on contract), the DROID Incredible 2 by HTC is a cheaper option than Verizon’s 4G LTE smartphone collection thus far. The technology it’s based on, a single-core processor with 3G along with Froyo, is on the way out, so this phone may begin to feel dated fairly quickly – especially as devices like the Samsung Galaxy S II come out and demonstrate that a dual-core processor doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice battery life.
As a mid-range handset, the Droid Incredible 2 is a solid choice. HTC Sense running on top of Android 2.2 Froyo makes the OS feel fresh regardless of the fact that it’s not the most current look at Android. The Incredible 2 may no longer be the flagship phone the original Incredible was, but for the price it is a good, mainstream handset with a fast-enough processor and decent battery life. The 8mp camera is a major plus as well. Overall, this phone will have everything you’re looking for in a mid-range smartphone. If that is what you are looking for, the Droid Incredible will not disappoint.
Thunderbolt isn’t duel core either
Pretty much same specs as the TB, but with more features. 4g for Verizon wont be in full effect until 2013….yet we call this a mid range phone?????
This is a great phone and great price……4g is hype right now!!!!!!!!!!!
weird
weird
Nice smartphone, bui I still would like to see how will it stand against Samsung Galaxy S2. Compare those 2 at http://wikidi.com/compare/htc-droid-incredible-2,samsung-i9100-galaxy-s-ii
This mid range phone, as you describe it, is far better than the white iPhone (or the black one for that matter).
Not hardly. Not in build quality, speed, or battery life.
Much better, as I’ve played with both phones. It’s okay, just admit you’re an Apple addict who would never talk an iPhone down, even though you’re lying through your teeth.
I have looked at the original Droid but this is my first time looking at the Incredible 2. What really got me interested was comparing Verizon’s Flex TV to my DISH employee Sling adapter TV Everywhere. When I found out I have to get a Verizon phone to use their mobile TV I was very disappointed. I was especially disappointed to find out they only have 2 out of 6 phones with Android OS and most of their content has to be purchased. My Sling adapter gives me all of my TV content on all Apple or Android devices live or DVR events plus I can use dishonline.com on any Flash enabled device. More options with DISH are what I like, and the content is free.
There’s another good review of the Incredible here: http://cellphoneforums.net/cell-phone-reviews/t327188-htc-droid-incredible-2-review.html
Nice phone, but seriously? Froyo?
I have the incredible S (same phone) and I have Gingerbread already (updated a week ago). I live in Amsterdam.
It is running smooth and fast.
I upgraded to the Incredible 2 from the LG Env Touch, so this is my
first fully touch screen phone and my first Android. Overall, I’m
pretty happy with it, but I docked a star as it’s not the most
intuitive device and the apps can be a little frustrating for
beginners.
I tried several phones in the Verizon store and aside from
streaming video (which I never do) I thought this phone was about as
zippy as the Thunderbolt or Charge. I like the layout of this
particular phone, the 4″ screen is clear and bright and the size is a
nice upgrade from the LG Env but not so bulky as the new 4.3″ LTE
phones. I like the LED notification that blinks when you have a
voicemail/mail/text (and you can customize what will trigger the
notification). The notification is well designed, you’ll notice it but
it’s not so big/bright that it will be distracting to others.
Lots of good free or cheap apps which make it very useful right out
of the box. On the downside (for Android in general I guess), a lot of
apps do not have an exit/close option in their menu which bugs me. Some
will exit automatically when you clear them from the screen but others
linger in the background. I use task killer which is simple enough, but
I think it’s a flaw in the Android platform that such an application is
necessary at all. Every Windows/Linux application has an Exit option,
why not Android apps?
Battery life:
Full load= 4 hours. The day after I got the android we drove to the
coast, which took about four hours, and we kept the Android humming the
whole time with GPS/WiFi, etc. and had mapping/traffic/Internet
programs up on the screen for most of the trip. I would consider this a
pretty heavy load and it died just before we arrived. The navigation
apps took a little while to figure out (again, not always intuitive)
but were useful enough that a cheap car charger is worth it (there’s
one on Amazon for $4).
Light load= all day. Today was a typical weekday load for the phone
and I did not charge it at work. GPS/Wifi/bluetooth were turned off.
Between 7am and 6pm I listened to MP3s and played Angry Birds for 40
minutes on the bus to work, sent a few texts and downloaded a couple of
apps while at work, played music and birds again for 30 minutes going
home, talked on the phone for about a half hour, and had 60% of battery
left. I thought this was pretty decent.
i just got the droid incredible 2 and i love it!!!! i would definetly suggest it to a friend. but the battery life could be better. THis is my first smart phone and when u first start learning how to use it, it can get confusing. But now that im getting better with it I LOVE IT:))
do you recieve texts and pic mail okay?
I agree about the battery…it is my 1st one too. I have set up some numbers with speed dial but can’t figure out how to use them….can anyone help me
i’ve had my droid incredible 2 since Nov. 28th… and I have had so many issues with it… anything from freezing, a factory reset needed atleast once a month, and now I have to charge my batter atleast 2-3 times a day… and I barely touch it sometimes. I didnt start having issues until my 30 day trade back warantee was up… but thankfully I called verizon today, and they are sending me an HTC Rhyme for free to replace this p.o.s!