Incredible.
Few words so readily invite one to imagine something uncompromising and exceptional. Man’s voyage to the moon or the scope of the Roman Empire, after all, has been described in lesser terms. Whatever the measure, such a lofty title heightens our skepticism and challenges us to consider HTC’s device not on its individual merits, but as the very model of its kind.
This is no mere phone, we are lead to believe, but an incredible one–is it?
Accessories
The Droid Incredible ships with a basic set of accessories: a microUSB cable, a USB-to-AC adapter and, for a limited time, a pre-installed 2GB microSD card.
The Incredible does not, however, include earbuds. In fact, none of Verizon’s Droid-class devices do. The omission is by no means a deal-breaker, but it’s a shame that HTC and Verizon didn’t include a $4 accessory that is required to make use of the Incredible’s FM radio.
Design
In many respects, the Incredible is the Goldilocks of Verizon’s Droid family. Whereas the Droid might have been too aggressive for some, and the Eris too conservative, the Incredible takes visual cues from both in a design that’s just right.
The unassuming and polished fascia, for example, is given just a touch of Droid with the red earpiece. The camera follows suit with a red accent. And The Eris-like silhouette is countered with an eclectic battery cover, which HTC says is intended to evoke thoughts of a racecar. But the Incredible isn’t all copycat, however. Lurking beneath that quirky cover is a battery and a chassis that’s fire engine red from stem to stern.
Many users will also find that the various pictures they have seen betray the true size of the Incredible. At 2.3″ wide, it’s probably smaller than previously imagined. The Incredible also boasts a sleek side profile of just 0.47″, which is thinner than both the iPhone and the Motorola Droid. The thinness is particularly impressive when you consider that the Incredible has substantially better internal hardware than either of these devices. When it comes to height, however, the Incredible can merely be considered average; at 4.63″, it’s touch taller than the iPhone or the Droid, but shorter than the Nexus One.
To conclude the Incredible’s design, HTC chose to provide only the essential ports and controls. The power/lock button sits adjacent to the headphone jack on the top edge; a volume rocker sits above an oddly-shaped (but quite standard) microUSB port edge left; and a mechanical button masquerading as an optical trackpad sits below a familiar array of touch-sensitive interface controls.
Considering the Incredible as a whole, it offers a mix of business and attitude that is likely to appeal to a broad number of potential buyers. Though I would have preferred to see dedicated camera and mute buttons on the empty right edge, this concern doesn’t particularly sabotage an otherwise attractive design.
Hardware
Put simply, the HTC Incredible is the industry’s most well appointed phone until Sprint introduces the HTC EVO 4G this June. Packing a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon (QSD8650) and 512MB RAM, the Incredible was built to fly, and fly it does: scrolling could not be smoother, the interface is extraordinarily responsive and applications are ready to roll in a hot second.
Buyers will also delight over the 1 gigabyte of onboard ROM. Offering a whopping 748 megabytes to users for their applications, the Incredible more than triples the Motorola Droid or the Nexus One. At 8 gigabytes, the Incredible also offers users 16 times the storage of the Droid or the Nexus one when it comes to pictures, movies, music and other multimedia. Verizon will even bump that figure up to 10 gigabytes with a 2 gigabyte microSD card, free for a limited time.
Customers will also find themselves drawn to the Incredible’s vibrant and razor-sharp 480×800-pixel AMOLED display. Though I observed discouraging issues with the panel that may dissuade some buyers, those coming from lesser devices are likely to come away impressed.
Completing the Incredible’s appointments, HTC has kitted the device with support for wireless networks; Bluetooth connectivity; an FM radio; GPS; and an 8-megapixel camera, which features a dual-LED flash and auto-focus.
Display
Using a newer display technology known as AMOLED (active-matrix organic light emitting diode), the Incredible’s 800×480-pixel display holds the promise of better contrast, more vibrant colors and greater battery conservation. Many users will find it one of the most gorgeous displays they’ve ever seen, but I strongly consider it to be one of the most controversial aspects of this phone.
The controversy lies in HTC’s decision to use an AMOLED panel that employs the PenTile Matrix. The PenTile Matrix is a patented technology that defines a specific arrangement of the red, green and blue subpixels in each of the Incredible’s 384,000 pixels. Whereas the LCDs found in a monitor, TV or other smartphones use red, green and blue for every pixel, the PenTile Matrix outfits every pixel with green, and a double-sized red or blue.
Thinking back to early science lessons, you probably learned that the primary colors of red, green and blue can make any color we might imagine. You might be wondering, then, how the Incredible can make proper colors when every pixel is missing red or blue.
For some, the red dots on the border of these black fonts will still be visible at a reasonable viewing distance. (Credit: "Gatorbait," Droidforums.net)
To compensate for this obvious shortcoming, the PenTile Matrix also specifies numerous filtering, processing and imaging techniques designed to trick the eye into perceiving accurate colors in the display. Anyone who has played with optical illusions knows that tricking human perception isn’t that difficult.
Some will find, however, that these psychovisual tricks are not enough to fool the eye. These buyers will notice that the Incredible’s AMOLED display suffers from several flaws:
- High-contrast borders frequently exhibit a fringe of inaccurate color. Black fonts on a white background, for example, exhibit a halo of red pixels. This effect is exacerbated with white fonts on a black background.
- Whites take on a strong blue tint.
- Reds and oranges are over-saturated or “blown out.”
- The entire screen exhibits a dithering effect, not unlike the bottom right box in this illustration of dithered colors.
A complicated and fascinating range of circumstances are behind these issues, but they fall outside the scope of this review. Suffice it to say, I have couched my explanation of the Incredible’s display in cautious language for a reason: not everyone will notice them.
Those accustomed to inferior phones with 320×480 displays will probably be quite taken with the Incredible’s display–it’s leagues better. Despite the potential issues with text reproduction, the Incredible also performs rather well when images are concerned. Finally, many users will love how efficient AMOLED is with the battery compared to LCD.
Given the sheer range of possible impressions, I simply advise anyone considering an Incredible to visit a Verizon store for a side-by-side comparison with the Motorola Droid before buying. Make sure their respective displays are tuned to maximum brightness, and then focus on the clarity of edges and fonts, as well as the accuracy of their colors.
Some will drive home with an Incredible in tow, and some may walk away disappointed. Whatever your personal impressions, beware the outdoors: AMOLEDs are virtually unreadable in sunlight.
Experience
One of the biggest joys of using the Incredible lies in using the Android OS itself, which HTC has masterfully revamped with a new user interface the company calls Sense.
The Sense UI is most felt on the home screen, where HTC has revamped the default Android launcher to simplify the process of calling and adding apps or widgets. Whereas the standard Android interface uses icons or touch gestures for these tasks, Sense puts one-touch buttons right at your fingertips.
Another perk of the Sense UI appears when it comes time to manage Android’s multiple desktops. Using a new feature called Leap, users can pinch the Incredible’s screen to zoom out and reveal every running desktop. Touching one of the cards zooms into that particular desktop, while pressing the Incredible’s home key takes you back to the main screen. This gesture makes desktop management very quick for a device that has seven desktops, an increase from Android’s standard five.
The Incredible continues to delight with the serious attention HTC has paid to the quality and usefulness of the Sense-specific widgets. From time and weather (shown right) to Facebook and Twitter, each of the Sense UI’s native widgets are functional, beautiful and available in multiple sizes to suit virtually any available real estate.
Sense, too, revamps Android’s virtual keyboard with a better key layout, better word prediction and more accurate typing. A world of difference exists between the Incredible and a standard Android phone when it’s time to take notes or text. The difference is so pronounced that I will never again consider an Android touchscreen that doesn’t offer Sense.
One could go on and on about the many features Sense offers that the default Android interface does not, but it’s best to simply say that HTC has taken Android to a level that it cannot achieve alone. Sense-powered handsets really feel a cut above standard Android devices like the Nexus One, a phone that is otherwise identical in practically every significant way.
Through tight integration, a gleaming polish and expert execution, I can say with confidence that the Incredible’s user experience decisively rivals the efforts of Palm and Apple. Along with the HTC EVO 4G and the HTC Desire (notice a trend?) the Incredible is truly in a league of its own amongst Android devices.
Call quality
I have previously lauded the Motorola Droid for its exceptional call quality, and I was pleased to discover that the Incredible is every bit the contender. Backed by Verizon’s excellent network, the Incredible’s quality earpiece had some of the best voice reproduction I’ve seen in a phone; callers were loud, clear, undistorted and free of the “tinny” tones that drag down the call quality in other phones.
Multimedia buffs and conference callers alike will also be pleased to know that all of this praise applies to the Incredible’s external speaker as well.
Battery life
The Incredible’s battery life is neither great nor poor. I never ran close to depleting it in a full day of use, but the Incredible is definitely one of those devices you’ll need to charge at the end of the day.
When one also considers that this level of battery performance is typical of devices in this class, the Incredible can hardly be dinged. In short, buyers with reasonable expectations and good charging habits will get along well with this phone.
Final thoughts
When I stand back from the device I have spent two weeks evaluating as an indispensable component of my daily routine, it must be said with a note of regret that I do not believe the Incredible lives up to its name. The Incredible is not a phone so extraordinary in its design that it defies belief–an insensitive trackpad, disappointing screen and a few missing hard buttons make sure of that.
What I do see in the Incredible is the very best phone money can buy. The distinction is subtle, but important: there are improvements to be made, but the Incredible is the very height of today’s smartphone market. Eschewing “megahertz this” and “pixel that”, it quite simply offers such a polished and articulate experience that I am returning it to Verizon believing for the first time that Android can be a platform of the people, not just the obsessed few for whom smartphones are a true and unbridled passion.
In the broader context of the Android ecosystem, the Incredible is the phone Google has needed since the G1. Better than the Droid, better than the Nexus One, I dare to suggest that the Incredible is the iPhone of Android devices. Given the complicated and subjective nature of my concerns, I implore you to visit a Verizon store and evaluate that claim for yourself. If the display works for you in ways it did not for me, then you cannot possibly find a more refined and extensible experience anywhere.
In short: it may not be incredible, but it’s damn close.
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