Played with the Incredible Tonight

[jgurnett]

Start drooling!

Got the chance to play with the Droid Incredible tonight and let me tell ya, it's better than everything being posted. My observations are as follows:

First thing I noticed was how nice the form factor was. Very compact, slim...and lightweight although heavy enough to know it's in your hand or pocket.

This thing flies...so fast. The screen transitions are phenomenal...they scream! The new Sense UI that allows you to see a snapshot of all 7 home screens is great. No more need to scroll 2-3 times left or right to get where you want to go. Not to mention the fact that you can set up multiple profiles, giving you almost limitless customization.

The screen is brilliant, close if not better than that of the Droid (original...so many I know). Very bright, vibrant...HD looking.

Camera is very fast as well...and smooth. The sample pics I took were indoors and the flash was very useful. Can't speak to how great the pics come out but they are better than that of the Moto Droid (name a phone that isn't though)

From what my buddy who had the phone said, the battery life hasn't been all that great but he's been on it non stop all day so it's tough to say how good/bad it really is. Most likely that extended battery that's been rumored will be needed for heavy users (read: us Androidcentral nerds)

In keeping this short, I was very excited with the overall look and feel of the unit. The optical trackpad is great and you hardly notice it...keyboard is iPhone like and very intuitive. I have the Moto Droid right now and use it all the time...especially for work and/or play...and I can confidently say this phone is my replacement. That said, this is my preference as I like smaller form factors that fit my lifestyle.

If you want the slide out keyboard, stick with the Moto Droid...if you want an iPhone like experience with the Android OS...then I think we have a winner.

I hope this is helpful.

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

Nice. I vote sticky for the next 14 days, you're bound to get a million questions!

Did you notice any new HTC widgets?

 

[jgurnett]

Nice. I vote sticky for the next 14 days, you're bound to get a million questions!

Did you notice any new HTC widgets?

I did not..but I only had about 10 minutes to play with the device...my head was spinning trying to think of what to use it for next.

I will say this though, the red accents aren't obnoxious at all...they are really nice looking actually. I'm starting to drool all over again!!!

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

I hear ya. I can't wait to get to play with one. I'm a sense fan and I wanna see it running natively on a "superphone" that it was made for vs. hacked on. I'm not even a VZW subscriber and I've considered buying it outright and making a sip-droid/wifi phone out of it lol.

 

[thecodeman25]

was the phone entirely black? front and back? thanks

 

[jgurnett]

was the phone entirely black? front and back? thanks

Phone was all black, front and back with red accents on the earpiece mesh and around the camera lense.

But that's my taste...it's not out of place at all.

 

[Cory Streater]

Thanks for sharing this with us. I can't wait to get my hands on it.

 

[jgurnett]

My pleasure Cory. I have been lucky enough to play with both the Droid and now the Droid Incredible weeks before their launch. It pays to know the right people sometimes...but apparently I don't know the best people cuz if I did...I'd have my own Incredible in my hands!

Any other questions I will try to answer...despite the fact I only had about 10 minutes to play with the device.

 

[thecodeman25]

was the background live?

 

[jgurnett]

The background that I saw was not live...and I don't know if you can use them or not. I'm assuming so but can't really comment on the validity of that.

 

[jgurnett]

Thanks for the sticky...I'll make sure to answer whatever I can.

 

[twinturbostang]

What was your opinion on the strange styling lines on the back of the phone? That's about my only gripe with the look of it. Still can't figure out why they didn't make a smoother transitioning rear case. I also wonder if that could be "fixed" with an aftermarket rear case. I think the whole back cover pops off for changing the battery, yes? If so, someone could design a replacement that looks a little better.

 

[Elliot825]

Can someone please tell me what is a trackball/pad used for if the incredible has a touch screen? My droid doesn't have a trackball/pad.

 

[thebizz]

It used for navigating the OS or courser placement.

 

[jgurnett]

What was your opinion on the strange styling lines on the back of the phone? That's about my only gripe with the look of it. Still can't figure out why they didn't make a smoother transitioning rear case. I also wonder if that could be "fixed" with an aftermarket rear case. I think the whole back cover pops off for changing the battery, yes? If so, someone could design a replacement that looks a little better.

I, like you, was a little disappointed at the renders online of the contouring of the back cover. However, now that I've seen the device up close and personal, I can honestly say they blend well and you hardly notice them.

The back cover does pop of, I'm sure some will design a new backing. I will say that the phone, despite the curves on the back, is very thin!

 

[Elliot825]

It used for navigating the OS or courser placement.

But you can still use the touchscreen?

 

[jgurnett]

Can someone please tell me what is a trackball/pad used for if the incredible has a touch screen? My droid doesn't have a trackball/pad.

The optical track pad is nicely positioned and simple to use. In fact, I used it as the shutter button for the camera when I used it, very responsive!

And you're Droid does have a trackpad, it's the gaudy gold button that you see when you slide that puppy open. All Android OS phones are required (at least to my knowledge) to have some sort of navigational tool.

 

[Elliot825]

The optical track pad is nicely positioned and simple to use. In fact, I used it as the shutter button for the camera when I used it, very responsive!

And you're Droid does have a trackpad, it's the gaudy gold button that you see when you slide that puppy open. All Android OS phones are required (at least to my knowledge) to have some sort of navigational tool.

Funny, I've never used that gold button.

Here's another question is the HTC Incredible that much better than the Motorola Droid? I am finding that my droid has been running a lot slower since the update to 2.1.

 

[jgurnett]

Funny, I've never used that gold button.

Here's another question is the HTC Incredible that much better than the Motorola Droid? I am finding that my droid has been running a lot slower since the update to 2.1.

It's tough to say if the Incredible is better than the Droid as I'm not sure what you are looking for. If it's speed and efficiency...the Incredible is a lot snappier...screen transitions flew w/ mulitple programs running. Normally on my Droid, if I have a lot of things happening in the background, screen transitions are laggy...so yeah...I like the Incredible better thus far and will be getting one.

 

[rew001]

For reference, I see you're coming off a Moto Droid. Did you also recently own an iPhone? I ask because you compared the keyboard to an iPhone.