Hands-On: Incredible 2, A Phone That Lives Up To Its Name

I scoffed when HTC initial expelled the Incredible 2. Not indispensably at its hardware or features, but rsther than for its haughty name.

But after spending a few time with the device itself, we can safely say the phone's pretension is no inapplicable designation (if not a small overconfident).

The phone bucks the direction of the huge, power-hungry phones we're saying entrance in today's mobile market.At 4.75 by 2.5 inches and reduction than a half-inch thick, the phone's size felt similar to the third bear's bed from Goldilocks' perspective: not as well big, not as well small, but only right.

It fit absolutely in hand, and the matte creosote complete on its unibody pattern felt sufficient nicer to the hold than the glossier cosmetic we've seen on other phones.

Moving on to the specs: Unfortunately, the Incredible 2 lacks access to Verizon's 4G network. But deliberation the phone's comparatively condensed size, it seems similar to reduction of a media-consumption device - like, say, HTC's Thunderbolt - and more of a phone focused on creation calls, so you might not need the high information speeds.

The phone's leading draw, for example, is focused primarily on globetrotters: The Incredible 2 is a supposed "world phone," working on both CDMA and GSM frequencies. So whilst you won't be able to access Verizon's 4G speeds, at least you can talk up your pals whilst you're abroad.

That's not to say that the Incredible 2 isn't able of display off media. The phone's 4-inch shade displayed images in clear clarity, and notwithstanding a insufficient of 4G, YouTube videos played well running on Verizon's 3G network. And with DLNA capability, you can river video and audio to kind marginal devices, similar to your large screen. There isn't, however, any HDMI outlay on the phone, tying your media-out capabilities somewhat.

There's moreover a number of pointed under-the-hood upgrades from the formerly generation. For one, the Incredible 2 comes with an competent 768 MB of RAM, compared to the Incredible 1's 512 MB. Not a outrageous boost, but joined with a 1-GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, it seemed similar to enough to keep apps running smoothly.

Although the initial Incredible moreover used a 1-GHz Snapdragon, the Incredible 2 features the second era of the processor, that is made using Qualcomm's 45-nanometer technology. Essentially, that means increases in both opening and battery life.

The Incredible 2 moreover has a 1.3-megapixel, front-facing camera for video chat, that the initial Incredible didn't have. The compulsory back-facing 8-megapixel camera is able of 720p video capture, and handles photos only similar to any other current smartphone.

One cold cultured in addition to - the alignment of the 4 home keys rotates as you switch between mural and landscape mode. A teenager tweak, but concern to sum similar to this are what obtain Android users excited.

The greatest detractions for my ambience - first, it's not shipping with Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread), but rsther than 2.2 (Froyo). Nearly every phone I've tested this year (save the Xperia Play ) has shipped with the final era of Android on it, and frankly, it's annoying. On event we're betrothed future device updates, but we never see expect dates. Hopefully Android's new cross-company partnership will keep future phones up to date.

The other uncertainty is the user interface. For the life of me, we can't obtain past the law skin HTC includes on its phones. Call me a purist, but I'm prejudiced to batch Android, no frills. HTC's Sense interface brings with it a brood of cluttered menu screens, all filled with HTC's take on periodic Android phone apps (Twitter, for example, becomes "Peep" on a Sense-skinned phone). It's primarily for HTC to tell apart its phones from the bolt of other Android offerings out there.

But these aren't flagrant issues. If you do not thoughts a skinned phone, they won't start usability in any leading way.

Overall, I'd suggest the Incredible 2 to the who wish a phone first, and a media player second, and especially if you wish to stay related whilst you go abroad.