Its best android phone in VZ April 29, 2010

Reviewer:  Z. Shaikh "zahid-java"  (Timonium, md) -

Cons:
It does not have front camera(eg video chat) or HDMI port or inbuilt wifirouter(mobile broadband)
as compared to upcoming sprint HTC EVO phone. (but verizon supposedly suppports tethering at around 15$ to 30$ per month . However some one suggested in the comments to try pdanet)

I does not have hardware keyboard - unlike motorolla droid.(but that would have made it bulkier )

I beleive there is no automatic blue tooth dialing- per earlier reviews.(though it has support
for blue tooth itself)

Camcorder voice quality is bad(video is ok).

Its easy for thumb nails/dust to sticks easily on to screen(hence screen protector is highly recommended)
There is No lens cover for camera. (so you may have to buy holder etc)

It does not have good battery life .(But since its removable - you can buy extra)

PROS:
It has fastest processor(for mobile) yet.. (but just like in netbooks vs laptop
it may mean good response time vs battery time)

It uses the latest android version 2.1( hopefully they should update it to upcoming 2.2
which would give it better battery life due to JIT compiler)..

It has inbuilt beta GPS(works even when you talk), FM Radio, awesome camera,
decent camcorder and removable battery!

It can be plugged to TV - per some youtube previews(I could not find that USB to composite video accessory
- but since it has only 1 USB output- you will not be able to charge it while viewing the video)

Android has cool voice search facility.(though not accurate - but works for common words)

The Phone/Voice quality is decent/good. (as compared with mortorolla droid)

The size and weight is perfect for putting in shirt pocket.

The screen is awesome - and I enjoyed watching youtube videos on it..(but it may be hard to see in daylight)

Conclusion: I was impressed with the screen clearity- and I understand that newer phones will have better
specs.. But its currently the best phone (for any carrier) . I would have liked removable hardware
keyboard.

PS: I had done pre-order - and hence I had to pay 200$ - but I did not have to pay activation fee ..
(I however got some extra SD cards)

The battery life isn't bad January 11, 2011

Reviewer:  C. Helm "THROW?"  (USA) -

The first day I had it, I freaked out.
I didn't get to use it much and it lost 100% of the battery in about 14 hours.
However, I had data and wifi on the whole time. I wasn't using it, but it was on.
Then, I added toggle buttons on the home screen for data and wifi. I leave them off except when I need them.
Now, it lasts about 3 days for average use.

The other aspects are just like other reviewers say. It is quick, responsive, and android OS.

A Masterpiece by Android & HTC December 22, 2010

Reviewer:  Viral R. Patel  (Odenton, MD United States) -

I have had an iPod touch for years (hoping to have an iPhone later), and wanted to move on to a smart phone thats easy to use, and provider great network. This one has both. I have had a windows mobile phone earlier as well, here is what I think.

Things I like
(Paid ZERO for the phone from BEST BUY)
#1. Easy to navigate system, really intuitive
#2. Screen resolution is great, very pleasing.
#3. Multiple home screen (Click twice on Home to get 7 screens)
#4. Sync emails/calendar/Contacts with Gmail. There is absolutely nothing better than this.
#5. Alert screen (dragged from top) is very useful.
#6. Quick response by OS
#7. Quick download, 3G seems faster than Wi-Fi

Things I dont like
#1. In "All Apps" screen, the list is sorted by name. So if you downloaded Zillow app recently, you will have to scroll down all the way at the bottom to see that.
#2. Gmail App has too large fonts, does not support labs (for example, superstars)
#3. Google Maps Navigation is not FREE with Verizon (costs additional $9.99/month)
#4. Battery life is acceptable. I can run 3-4 hour easily with extreme use. Full day with normal use. Need to charge daily though.

Features better than iPhone
#1. No iTunes, easy to transfer songs, pictures
#2. Better Camera
#3. Simple connectivity with all Google products

Feature missing compared to iPhone
#1. No NETFLIX app(as of December 2010)

In summary, Android OS is a mature OS, and "Androd Market" has almost everything "App Store" has (of course, no NETFLIX as of December 2010). I would highly recommend Incredible and other Android/HTC phones. Incredible lives upto its name.

Awesome phone November 6, 2010

Reviewer:  Icepuck72 

I love this phone....and I love the Android OS. It blows Apple iOS out of the water, period.

This phone is a monster....even though it has been out since May, it is still has the specs of the new phones coming out. Highly recommend this. My wife just got one too. I've had mine since May.

Love it.

Great phone, battery life my only complaint. October 20, 2010

Reviewer:  S. Lombard 

I've had this phone since it came out. While this is my first smartphone, and I don't have anything else to compare it to, I've been extremely happy with it. The only downside is the battery life. There really isn't much. You have to do a lot of management with this phone to get the most out of the battery. A lot of what I have done includes modding the phone - there are plenty of resources on that in the forums at xda-developers.com. There has been a pretty fast and steady growth of homemade roms that REALLY get the most out of the hardware and work towards getting better battery life. A word of warning though - making any kind of changes to your phone will void your warranty. Also, even though the process of unlocking phones and using custom roms has gotten much easier, be warned that there is a bit of a learning curve.

But back to the phone - I'm a little over 5 months in and am extremely happy with my purchase.

Love it!!!! August 15, 2010

Reviewer:  Jasper Iga  (USA) -

I absolutely love this phone. Others have mentioned the hardware and software and how they kill the iPhone. I also want to note that I am getting over 2Mbps on *average* on this phone (Verizon) compared with the 500kbps I was getting on ATT!

Excellent android smartphone; terrible battery life July 30, 2010

Reviewer:  Wrecksdart 

Coming as I was from an old Sony Ericsson, entering the world of smartphones is a little akin to leaving the stone age for the 20th century, all in one step. The Droid Incredible (DI) is an excellent phone with all the necessary bells and whistles one might expect. Scheduling, email, SMS, MMS, camera, etc works like a charm. Build quality of the phone is also excellent, as it fits nicely in my hand and is just the right size for my pocket.
Gripes? I have three. First is minor. When dialing the phone, or using the numeric keypad to enter a number, the haptic feedback (the buzz) still works even though I have "haptic feedback" turned off in the settings. This must be a bug that will probably be fixed in the next update cycle. Second, waking up the phone is accomplished only by hitting the power button. Why can't I hit a side/volume button and have the screen wake (but stay very dim) to show me the date, the time, who called, etc? I don't like the one-button-wake system that's currently installed. Third, and final, and most of all--battery life. Be prepared to become a battery hawk like me. Download some sort of task killer/task manager system, because apps do not always play nicely and shut down when you're done using the app. Battery life is short--get used to it. I have yet to get the 1750 maH battery, but I plan to do so very soon. Last night, I went to bed with just under half the battery left. The alarm was set to wake me up for work, but when I woke up (in time, fortunately) the phone had shut down for lack of power. That's not good. Application power management is a serious concern with this phone, but other than that, I'm very happy with my DI and I'd get the same phone if I had to do it all over again.

Almost perfect but not quite July 7, 2010

Reviewer:  Glen Neal  (Sayre, Oklahoma) -

This is my first cell phone, and it really is an amazing device. More pocket computer than phone, it has amazed me everyday for the month I've had it. I guess you've heard by now the only drawbacks are the screen which is impossible to see in sunlight, but looks great indoors, and the very short battery life (leave it plugged into the charger when possible). Also the camera may not quite live up to it's 8 megapixel name, but it's very good nonetheless. I love everything else about this computer - excuse me - phone - and do not regret my purchase one bit. I would give it five stars if not for the display/battery problem.

Great Phone June 30, 2010

Reviewer:  YouWinExtraMrDo 

This is my first Droid phone and I am now a fan. I previously owned an iPhone 3g. I changed providers due to poor reception and dropped calls with AT&T. The HTC Incredible is very fast and reception is great. At times the signal strength shows only 1 or 2 bars, yet I have had no call problems and web browsing is very quick. I have yet to drop a call (a daily occurrence on the iPhone)

HTC sense is fantastic software. Voice to text is also excellent. The phone is sleek and similar in size to the new iPhone 4. I carry the phone in my pocket and it fits well even with a case.

While the phone experience is indeed incredible I cannot say the same for the battery life. With moderate use I can make it through the day but with heavy use I require a charge. I recently purchased the slim Seidio 1750 mAH battery and so far it seems to have helped make it through the day on one charge with heavy use.

The Android app store is growing but it still cannot hold a candle to that of the iPhone. I hope that soon changes.

While the battery life and app store are not best in class I still believe I have found my new favorite phone.

Works for me! May 21, 2010

Reviewer:  Brandon W. Burns "Chavalche"  (Indiana) -

I like it quite a bit. Much snazzier than my roommates iPhones and I've almost got both of them interested in getting one once their contracts with ATT are up. Nothing beats listening to Pandora in the car with Google turn-by-turn navigation making sure I don't get lost. GPS + cardio apps make running actually a fun thing. Multi-tasking, backgrounds, not locked into proprietary Apple crap like iTunes, Skype mobile so I can talk to my friends in Spain while I'm not near a computer... While there are some really good apps that the iPhone has that Android doesn't yet have, the Incredible has functionality that the iPhone does not.

Ok, lets get something straight... May 21, 2010

Reviewer:  J. fox 

The battery life could definitely be better. However, its not horrible. I get between 30-36 hours of total awake time. That includes over six hours of moderate use. Its true that some apps, and programs suck more juice, but that should be common sense. If you learn what apps and programs to turn off this phone gets good battery life for a smartphone. But thats just it. Its not a smartphone per se. Its more of a computer. Think about it. A 1 ghz processor is what the Ipad has. 512 mb of RAM and ROM is what an average PC has these days. And an 8 megapixel camera!?? Unheard of for these phones (not to mention dual LED flash).
As for signal strength is the same as my other verizon phones. The issue is that the bars don't match up with your true strength. They are usually one sometimes two steps off. But I've never had a dropped call and I get VERY poor reception at home 90-100 db.
Overall this phone is amazing! My iphone friends were truly amazed by its capabilities. Please if you are thinking about getting a new phone from Verizon DO NOT HESITATE.

UPDATE I am now getting 36 hours plus of battery life per charge.

Great Phone! Bring a charger! May 19, 2010

Reviewer:  AmazingUser1234 "REVIEWER1234" 

I have held off on buying a Smartphone for Verizon wireless for a few years now. They just didn't have anything close to the iPhone. There were a lot of "wannabes"; even the LG Dare was once thought to be the next iPhone killer, ha-ha.
Having said that, I think the HTC Droid Incredible is the best smart phone you can buy for Verizon.
The Droid Incredible is very advanced and does amazing things. For instance, it can scan barcodes and turn a taken photo of a business card into a contact. Also, it has Google maps, which I can't wait to use. Live backgrounds are amazing as well. This is a very nice alternative to the iPhone and I'm happy I got it.
I use to hate the keyboard and it was also confusing getting all the settings adjusted to my specifications. Fortunately now I have adjusted to be okay with the keyboard. Also, I fixed all the settings to my liking.
This phone is 'finicky' sometimes. Today, for instance, the buttons were pressing on there own. I had to take out the battery in order for it to stop, as powering it down didn't work. It also didn't get reception in the back of a department store I was in, something I never noticed on my previous phone.(lg dare)

LOVE this phone May 4, 2010

Reviewer:  Caroline 

I've been waiting for this phone for quite a while. The Nexus One was too annoying to buy through Google and the Moto Droid was just too clunky. This is a beautiful piece of machinery. Touchscreen is wonderful and extremely fast (love the 1GHz processor). The battery life is so-so but I guess you have to expect that from a mini computer...downloaded some power saving apps like Sceebl and that helps some. I'm buying the extended battery from Seidio and will update later on that. Some reviews on tech sites mention that it feels "plasticy" or cheap...which I don't really agree with. I think the fact that it's more lightweight than others says a lot about how awesome it is. The touchscreen keyboard is quite easy to use (had a bit of a learning curve for a day or so, but now less than a week later I'm great at it). It's kind of annoying that some apps automatically start (like footprints). The camera is very nice considering how small the lens is. I really wish there was some kind of cover for the lens so it wouldn't be so easy to scratch it, but I cut a circle out of some screen protector material and put it over the lens. Doesn't effect my picture quality at all as far as I can tell. I've never owned a smartphone, so my opinion may be biased...but it's everything I could ever want and more with only a few minor complaints. <3

Great.. with one problem September 28, 2010

Reviewer:  Bill  (San Jose, CA United States) -

The Incredible certainly has great features. I see the two key selling points vs. the iPhone are free turn-by-turn navigation and the ability to function as a mobile hotspot... great for my wifi-only iPad! Also, I was impressed by the performance, customizability, and selection of apps.

But... I just returned the phone because the battery life was horrible. With the extended battery, I was getting 5-7 hours. I found myself worrying throughout the day about where my battery stands and maybe I'm using the phone too much. The task killers, turning off features, uninstalling apps all had little impact. I'll reconsider when the phone solves bigger problems for me than it creates.

Great phone, not so great battery September 16, 2011

Reviewer:  TwistedLogic 

I've had the DINC for six months now. It's my first smartphone and I put a lot of research into it. I'm confident that it was the best phone on the market at the time I got it (obviously, it's outdated already but that's just the way of it). I love the phone. I don't like the huge tablet-esque screen sizes on phones these days so I love the size of this phone. It's small but the screen resolution still looks great. I don't care for the default application launcher on it so I'd recommend you download Launcher Pro or GO Launcher as a faster, more useful replacement.

The major downside is that with such a zippy processor, it goes through battery like it's going out of style. For a while I was only getting 12 hours of charge under moderate use (messaging, email, etc.), even with data use cut way back. My solution: root the phone and install Cyanogen Mod 7. It bumped my battery life up 6 hours without having to but a bulky replacement battery for $60. SetCPU has also helped some with battery life, but not as drastically as CM7. Rooting voids your warranty but I think it's worth it to make the phone more usable. I'd still recommend carrying a charger around with you so you never get caught with a dead phone though.

On that note, this phone is incredibly easy to root using Unrevoked. And Cyanogen Mod 7 is easy to install as well. I tend to mod and tweak everything I own and this phone lends itself to that very well.

TL;DR: I would absolutely buy this phone again, just wish the battery life was longer. But fixed that with a custom ROM called Cyanogen Mod 7.

Droid Incredible March 4, 2011

Reviewer:  G. Sampson  (easton, MD. United States) -

I upgraded to the Droid Incredible about 3 months ago and I have totally enjoyed this phone.
The Iphone my have more apps, but in my opinion the android platform is much better.The only advantage the iphone has is its media player because well they invented the ipod. The Incredible is fast , powerful, fun phone. Some of the apps are amazing the customization of this phone will blow you away. The web browsing is fast and smooth, the 8 mega pix camera is amazing. My only suggesting would be to invest in a extended battery, I purchased a 3500 mah extended battery and now get 2 full days plus on a charge. I highly recommend the Droid Incredible even over the droid x.

The absolute best phone ever, but be prepared to get an extended battery January 6, 2011

Reviewer:  POQbum 

The stock battery *will* last a day and a half if you use it minimally.
However if you like actually using all the features, like listening to music, calling people, checking e-mails, messages, taking photos, etc etc that will eat up a lot of battery; with the stock that may last you 4-7 hours, which falls short of pretty much everyone's day.

Buying an extended battery is the way to go, I can now use it how much as I want without worrying about battery life, and it hasn't affected the size and weight of the phone enough to even slightly bother me.

This phone takes great photos, the Android Market is finally building up a good collection of apps so you have a lot of useful things to addon to your phone to make it awesomely useful in your life.

Some of the things I enjoy using on this phone, most on a daily basis:

> Transmits completely wirelessly to a bluetooth adapter, that transmits and FM station that transmits to my car radio.
I listen to Pandora, Siruis and my own personal music collection.
3G signal is excellent and streams flawlessly, but I'm in a semi-urban area.

> 1+hour of phone call usage, *some* breakups are noticed but actually improved over my other phone and I can still understand the other person clearly as well as what they're saying through the occasional intermittent breakups.

> Games. Who doesn't love games on their phone when they're waiting and bored out of their mind.
Lots of really great and surprising intellectual but fun games in the android market, most are free.

> Text messages - as far as I know there's no set limit on texts. I think I have over 500, the default app that comes with this phone is the best and works best for this phone. Other ones, even the popular text messaging apps do not work as well, even though they may have a few more features I found it wasn't worth the switch.
-- Very easy to text, easier than my other phones full keypad which was surprising. It autocorrects and tries to guess what you just typed in case you messed up a letter (or all of the letters).
Sometimes when I'm not looking at the phone (totally not when I'm driving, that'd just be irresponsible) I just punch around where I think the right letters are. I look down and it looks like a mess, but the phone guesses the correct word, and after I hit the space key, bam- fixed. Perfect, fast texting.

> Camera is quite excellent for a phone, and video is as well. Not something you want to shoot a movie in, but for quick snaps of friends or quick vids it's perfect.

----
Also I would recommend phone owners of this to buy an app that allows you to turn on GPS tracking and track your phone in case it's lost. I have a friend who lost his phone, used the app and it tracked it right to the guys house (actually was a beat down p.o.s. trailer) - police came in, got the phone back (found some other things), problem solved.

All in all, the name of this phone suits it well. It was modeled with the iPhone in mind, sure- but android is taking huge leaps and has surpassed Apple in several ways already, though respectively still a few steps behind in other areas.
For the things that matter, you can't go wrong with getting this phone.

Get a case, screen protector and extended battery.
You'll have one outstanding phone that you can organize your life, capture your life, and live your life.
Best of all, after the extended battery it truely lasts throughout the entire day.

I don't know what I would do without this technology, so many aspects of my life are bundled into it.

Definitely has earned its solid reputation December 20, 2010

Reviewer:  John Broderick "JB"  (Dallas) -

This is a very good smartphone. This is my 5th smartphone and I've had 3 different iPhones. This phone is very fast, has a decent camera and can meet all my needs. I am not thrilled about syncing all my stuff through gmail, but so far so good. The battery life is as bad as reported and yes, I know smartphones use them up. I've acclimated pretty quickly as to how to use it and not deplete the battery too fast. If you use the navigation app, surf the web and use Pandora at the same time, you'll burn it out in under 3 hours, but once you know this, you use what you need when you need it. I can get through a moderate day with a full night charge and then one mid-day charge and I'm okay with that. Speaking of the navigation, just wow. Free turn by turn navigation. I am also syncing my music with iTunes. Didn't know you could do that.

I had to move from my iPhone 4 and AT&T to Verizon for work and I thought it would stink, but I was wrong. I like to tinker and Android suits that just fine. And Verizon customer service is very good as well. Overall, for a free smartphone, I am extremely satisfied. And very surprised. I went through Amazon Wireless and spoke to them before purchase. Everything they said happened. I was able to buy the phone through Amazon and set up the plan I wanted with Verizon. In my area, they offer unlimited mobile to mobile on any network and this was not offered through the Amazon website. Got the phone, called Verizon and had that option put on my plan. If you have questions, call Amazon Wireless - they are pretty solid.

1/11/11 Update
I like the phone even more now. One feature of Froyo (Android 2.2) that no one knows or mentions, is that it will monitor how you use your phone and adjust certain features to maximize your battery. My battery life is now far better than when I first reviewed. I am still stunned at how happy I am with this phone. Is the iPhone 4 better? Yes. But this phone is so close, it doesn't matter to me. And for free? BTW - the processor in this phone is still regarded as one of the best - the 1Ghz Snapdragon. Also, a couple of tech blogs at the end of the year still said this was the best smartphone on Verizon - 7 months after launch.

3/27/11 Update
The battery on this is unacceptable. I've made excuses for it, but now I realize it's the weakest aspect of this phone. I unplug the phone from the charger when I leave work and with moderate use (2-3 texts, 2-3 phone calls, 5 minutes websurfing, 10 minutes navigation) I use up 90% of the battery. It's a huge shortfall of this phone. I have to think about it way too much and that's is a definite killer because the phone is ridiculous beyond that.

One of the Best Smartphones in Verizon Wireless December 11, 2010

Reviewer:  Antar  (Pittsburgh, PA, USA) -

This phone was my first smartphone, in my openion if a smartphone can't perform as a good phone, i.e
in making a good phone call then there is no need to get one. I tested many smartphones in the Verizon Wireless store and this
HTC Incredible was one of the few than can make a good clear phone call. Now regarding the smartphone features, the screen is very
responsive to the user, I did wish though the text font size can be changed to make the Text bigger size, however there is no way in
Android or the phone settings to do that, however there are some apps in the Market to do that. The Battery life could be made better
I did purchades the extended 1750 mh Battery and also I did some change in the settings to conserve the Battery:

1- Get an app such as the Juice Defender (Free) to control the Background Update.
2- Turn off the BlueTooth and WiFi, if not using it.
3- Turn Off GPS Services when not in use.
4- Reduce Screen Brigthness in the settings.
5- Turn off Background sync updates in the settings, THIS ONE WILL HAVE A BIG IMPACT ON BATTERY LIFE. And if you need to check somethings
like email or something you can turn it on.

Using the above settings. and when using the phone for 12 hours making phone calls and emails check and some internet use, the Battery will be still left with
about 60 % charge left after 12 hours. Using the battery that came with the phone and with similar use the battery will be 40% charge left.

Couple of points though if this is your first smartphone using Android OS, when setting Gmail the first Gmail acount you setup will be used by the phone and you will not be able to remove or change this email untill you Reset the phone to the factory default state, and also when you setup the first Gmail or any other Gmail
account, it will not be username/password protected, i.e if other person played with your phone he/she can read your Gmail emails, there are 2 ways to protect your
phone using a password:

1- You can set a password in the settings, so when the phone is locked and after unlocking it you have to enter a password, however the nice thing though
if the phone is locked and password protected and you got a phone call, then you need only to unlock the phone without entring a password to answer the phone
call, but you will not be able make a phone call unless you enter the password, you can make an emergency phone call when the phone is password protected.

2- You can protected a selected number of apps installed in the phone, by using an app from the Market, I used the "App Protecter" for 1.99 so if
protect the Gmail app, then when you select the Gmail app then you have to enter a password, any app installed in the phone ca be protected with the same
password, and you can any time remove the protection from a given app.

The phone camera is pretty good compared to other phones I used in the past.

You can connect the phone to a pc and copy files to/from the sd card (2GB) I am planning to get an 8 GB SD card so it can fit all the data files and mp3 files.

I still didn't have time to try all the apps/features for the phone yet, but the phone is a good phone and also HTC Tech support is one of the best tech support
I dealt with, when you call them for help about anything about the phone they really try their best to help you and solve the problem.

Favorite phone November 26, 2010

Reviewer:  Tysonius Maximus  (NJ) -

This is hands down my favorite cell phone I've ever owned. The layout and controls are intuitive, well designed, and easy to use. The digital camera and video recording are superb. The mp3 management and playback are on par with my ipod. The google maps GPS can't be beat. The phone allowed me to ditch my:

Ipod
Flip cam
Garmin GPS
Garmin 305 hand held gps
Digital camera

I had the motodroid for 4 days before returning it for this phone, I make the same recommendation to everyone I talk to. Bravo to HTC.