HTC Incredible January 7, 2011

Reviewer:  Ryan G 

Ear piece is good and so is the microphone. The outside speaker can play ringtones very loud and clear and vibrate mode works excellent too. If you've been looking for a phone where you can use MP3s for ringtones, this is it! It has been a lot of fun, and I don't have to pay for ringtones anymore.

This phone can do almost anything, and it can do it really fast. It is one of the fastest, if not THE fastest phone out there. This is due to its snapdragon processor. HTC Sense rocks IMHO, and I am very impressed with the camera. It takes excellent pictures, but the flash can wash out the picture if you are too close. Battery life has been fine for me. Be sure to get an appkiller application from the market, and use it. It helps with battery life! I also turn off 3G, WiFi, and/or bluetooth from time to time and that helps too. Yes it has an onscreen keyboard, but it is a good onscreen keyboard with tactile feedback. I got used to it pretty quickly.

It has a glass screen and I have had it for a few months and not put any scratches on it whatsoever. I bought the verizon hard silicone "glossy" case. It is the best one I've seen and I am thrilled with it.

Battery hog is a lot of fun! November 29, 2010

Reviewer:  G. E. Williams "Nunah"  (California) -

The title about says it all. Battery consumption is crazy, (especially if you work like I do in a high interference area where phones are often looking for signal)but that is largely because there is so much to do with this cool phone that it is hard to leave it on stand by waiting for of all things a phone call.

There are tons of free applications to keep you busy, as well as 3G connection to get internet and fairly large screen to see the net on. You can use any song in your library as a ringer and there are free apps to help you edit those ringers. It took me a few days to figure out how to use all the features of the phone, but you may be smarter than me and not have the issues. My only gripe other than the battery life (which I fixed by buying an after market extended life battery) is the virtual key board is hard to work with my old hands, but younger folks will probably be perfectly happy with at least the horizontal keyboard which is pretty big.

By the way the camera is amazing!

Does EXACTLY what I need and more November 26, 2010

Reviewer:  Joseph A. Dispenza 

I'm a Financial Planner and I'm out of the office frequently. I needed a device that would be able to access all my cloud-based applications (hosted exchange, some other web-based items) seamlessly. This phone does that easily.

I like the Verizon network, and was going to wait for the iPhone to come to Verizon. I can honestly say the Incredible has met or exceeded every expectation I've had for the phone. I've used other peoples' iPhones as well, and this phone is every bit as good. If you're holding off on buying this phone because you're waiting for the iPhone, don't waste your time. Get this phone.

Pros:
Beautiful screen. PLENTY of apps in the Android Marketplace. Plays Flash videos (iPhone doesn't). Good speaker phone. Fits well in the hand, good dimensions. Good camera. Lightning fast (faster than my laptop, but that's 6 years old). Overall, a very good device.

Cons:
Battery life could be better, but it's not killing me. I can use it all day, but need to charge it EVERY night without exception.

Good device. Should have bought it sooner.

Great Product... fast shipping October 3, 2010

Reviewer:  Delguito 

I returned the Droid II and got the incredible... I love the incredible and have no regrets. Exchanging the phone through amazone wireless was a breeze. I will likely buy my phones off amazon wireless from now on.

Best Phone I Have Ever Owned August 9, 2010

Reviewer:  John Grove 

I really dig this phone. The widgets are cool and you can customize the phone the way you want. Be wary of the FaceBook widget as this does kill memory and battery life big time.

Cons:
1. Battery life sucks (I mean big time) A few minutes of play will take the battery down a bar. Seriously.
2. I live in a strange place between two mountains where in this rare instance ATT is better then Verizon. I had to buy a booster box to enhance the signal. (This is a con for me personally not everyone)
3. When I download a ringtone to a specific user, it is then hard to re-use for an alarm or another user. I haven't totally figured this out yet but it is far less intuitive then say the Palm Pre. You cannot set the ringtone from editing the user. It should let you browse to any ringtone, but it only brings up the ones that came with the phone.
4. No Swype? Not sure why not..I tried installing it, no success.
5. The weather widget in my area is rarely accurate. It always thinks I am in Beverly Hills when I am near Malibu.
6. Couldn't sync up my yahoo account.

Pros:
1. Fast phone
2. Once the interface is understood (takes some time), it is very powerful.
3. Predictive text. Which is one of the reasons I left the Palm Pre. Also, I hated the Palm's keyboard.
4. Good app catalog. Granted not as large as iPhone, but it is getting impressive.
5. Google sky is awesome. Imagine this in an Astronomy class!
6. once in a good zone, internet is quite fast.

HTC Incredible August 6, 2010

Reviewer:  Debbie 

Amazon stated they would deliver this phone faster than I could get it thru Verizon store.
They did, and got it in time for vacation. This is my first smart phone and it was so easy to learn how to use it. Recommend this phone to everyone!! My kids were impressed when they saw the apps and what it can do. For once I have out done my kids. Used the Google map feature on vacation (a lot). My husband got where he would not even look at his map. He would just ask 'where am I? and where do I need to go?' when he got lost. The internet access, facebook, weather...what can I say...I love it all!!! Would not take a trip without it now. Would recommend new HTC smart phone users to go on the internet and watch the videos on the phone. That is the best way to learn what apps you want to use. Would only load the apps that you really need.

Great Smartphone July 9, 2010

Reviewer:  Andrew Price 

This phone is great. I've had it for a month now and love it. The Android operating system is great. I love how you can sync your google contacts and the amount of apps available for the phone. The speed is amazing! Very few application have any "loading" period and there is never any lag. It does get hot when charging sometimes, but it doesnt really matter to me. I am officially sold on DROID Incredible

A must Buy July 4, 2010

Reviewer:  Joel 

This is the best phone by far. I love how its set up. There are so many apps just like the Iphone but better, plus the signal coverage is tremendous. The battery could be better but with the battery saver app it gives me 2 extra hours of battery. The 8 megapixel camera takes amazing photos and lets you upload them straight to your favorite website. The calling feature, in my opinion, could be better but is not bad. Messaging is a blast! the qwerety touch keyboard is easy to use, has word prediction, spell check, and the calabration tool makes it even easier for my giant fingers. If youre thinking about buying it DO IT! you will not regret it!

Best gadget I ever owned ! June 28, 2010

Reviewer:  S. Nair "santhosh"  (SFO Bay Area, CA) -

This is arguable with the best gadget I ever bought. Completely changed my life style.This phone is a mini-computer, camcoder, phone ,music player and offcourse wireless phone packed in a tiny capsule. HTC Sense UI on top of Android is far better than the one comes with latest iPhone4 . The sad part is , poor apple fan boys don't know that yet. Apart from the UI & usability, the feature I like most is speech recognition . This works amazingly accurate and is much faster than typing.
I wish the battery life is bit longer. I have to charge the phone everyday.

Fantastic, exceeds expectations June 24, 2010

Reviewer:  Adam Edith  (New Jersey) -

I was torn between the Incredible, a new Blackberry Tour or Bold, and the iPhone 4g. After lots of research I landed on the Incredible and am very happy I did. I had the Eris prior to this and while it did show potential, it was slow and couldn't seem to handle all the music I loaded onto it. The Incredible handles everything I throw at it extremely well - it's ridiculously fast and smooth. The Market is constantly growing and I personally like it's future much more than Apple's app store. There are a ton of great apps that are completely free. Within a day of getting it I'm already using my Incredible as a GPS, iPod, phone, great camera, calendar device, game console, golf course yardage tool, and more. I paid nearly full retail but believe this phone is worth it. I was also able to cancel my $60/month backup internet service and tether with this phone instead! Just a great device - no problems to report yet (although like I said, haven't used it long).

Productive phone June 22, 2010

Reviewer:  Pat  (Show Low, AZ, United States) -

No idea how I survived without this amazing tool. Granted about 90% of its usefulness is the apps, but they wouldn't exist without the phone.

On an important note, Verizon has done an excellent job establishing its online customer service features. Not to mention their phone-in customer service is incredible. Not only do they keep asking what else they can fix, but everybody who answers the CS line knows how to solve mostly anything.

Holy ****! May 23, 2010

Reviewer:  Who Cares?  (Lost in my own little world.) -

I was a die-hard BlackBerry fanboy for a long time so suffice it to say, it was difficult for me to make the move to a non-BB device. But, since doing so, I have been so much happier. My biggest complaint about BB's was the speed. I've always been picky about having an actual keyboard and such but since getting the Incredible, I've not had one problem making the transition.

This phone smokes the competition. I can't comment for the iPhone but I do have the iPod Touch and this thing is much more friendly than the iPod and the browsing speed is much faster and reliable. I know there are going to be die-hard Apple folks out there who don't want to read anything about their beloved iPhone's getting some competition but it is here and in the form of the Incredible!

There aren't as many apps as there are through iTunes but most of the popular ones are available for this phone. I had AT&T and after they screwed me over one too many times I switched to VZW and haven't looked back. I can't say enough good things about this phone.

Cons: Battery life. That's it! However, I knew about the battery life before I bought it so I knew what I was getting into. For those out there who are going to bash this device for the battery life alone, well, do your research first. If you know about it ahead of time, you're better prepared for it when you notice you have to charge it with moderate to heavy use during the day. I recommend installing Advanced Task Killer if you buy this phone. It's free through the Droid Market.

Battery life aside, this is a great phone! Fast and full of features.

The incredible IS incredible May 10, 2010

Reviewer:  Howard E. Hirsch "Bluzman"  (Los Angeles, CA) -

Just got my Verizon Incredible last week and it certainly lives up to it's namesake. Coming from a Motorola Razr this is like going from the model "T" to a jet car. Lot's to learn but it does DO lots. I never had an iPhone so I can't compare the two but most who have both clearly prefer the Incredible. The only negative I've found so far is the battery but, of course, what else is new. My 1750mAh should be deliverered tomorrow. End of problem. I'd recommend this phone without reservation. Period. I just love it.

Great Phone May 4, 2010

Reviewer:  ZZ Pen Name "ZZ"  (VA) -

Phone is awesome. Display is good, calling is good. The battery life is pretty standard for smart phones. Mine lasts the whole day and I use a lot of internet and other applications. Good news is if the battery life isn't what you want you can get a bigger battery from seidio but I haven't decided to do that yet. The thing I like best about the phone is the voice recognition. I spoke a whole email and didn't have type one word, I thought that was pretty awesome. You can use the voice recognition in almost all the areas were you can input text.

. . . just get a different battery for crying out loud! January 8, 2011

Reviewer:  Craig Hartley "hotdog"  (Houston, TX USA) -

I got a free Droid Incredible at the "Buy More" by renewing my two-year Verizon contract. I've never owned a smart phone before, and the first thing I noticed was that the Droid Incredible is a terrific little computer with tons of amazing apps. The second thing I noticed was that I drained the battery in a single afternoon.

Okay. As other reviewers have stated, the standard battery is inadequate. Think of this as a tiny laptop computer, not a cell phone.

I bought the Seidio 3500 mAh battery. Problem solved. Don't drive yourself crazy crippling the Incredible's functions by killing apps and WiFi and sync and GPS. Just get a bigger battery.

I would have preferred a larger screen since I also use it as an e-reader, to watch movies, mp3 player and a terrific free GPS. And be warned, the phone controls are feather touch and the software makes it awkward to add/edit new contacts. I accidentally called people several times just barely brushing the screen until I added the free "Call Confirm" app. As a pure phone, meh.

Otherwise, it is the best thing I never bought!

3 Hour Battery Life August 11, 2010

Reviewer:  Tom Long "Author of the Juice of Life" 

I like it better than my iPhone 3GS with one exception, battery life. Buy an extra battery or portable charger because this phone will leave you stranded after three hours of normal use in a strange city or in a business meeting. I run from outlet to outlet. What a pain. I have no idea where HTC came up with their estimates of battery life. For the experiences of actual owners just read the reviews under spare batteries for the Droid Incredible. Other than that it is a fast and powerful Android phone with an awesome display. HTC supports their products well when there is a problem, too.

UPDATE 2011/02/16: Battery performance has markedly improved into the six hour range. I assume due to over-the-air updates to the operating system. Initially I rated it as 3 stars, but I am bumping it up to 4 stars.

HTC Incredible - Its no iPhone 4 July 17, 2010

Reviewer:  BrandonJS  (New York, NY) -

Switched from iPhone 3g last week and now I'm wishing I got the iPhone 4. The Android OS is not as refined as the iOS. If you've never owned an iPhone before this is probably a huge step up but for those of you who have this feels like a step down. Many other reviews compare this to the iPhone 3g and 3gs, which are very similar to the Incredible but it doesn't quite compare to the iPhone 4.

Pros:
-Much faster than the iPhone 3g, as fast as the iPhone 3gs
-Google Maps and Turn by Turn Navigation are fantastic
-Multitasking
-Great camera
-Widgets
-Over the air syncing with Google Mail and Calendar works well
-Uses Verizon network - no more dropped calls with AT&T
-Android Market has most of the big name apps the App Store does so you won't miss too much
-Sync contacts with Facebook
-Voice to Text is amazing (just started using it after owning it for a couple of weeks)

Cons:
-Verizon includes adware that can't be removed, prompts you several times to buy! One of these apps is CityId which tells you what city & state a phone number is from. This is included with the iPhone but you must pay for it on the Incredible.
-Have to pay $3/mo for visual voicemail, its included with the iPhone
-Battery life is extremely poor, it burns through battery even when there is nothing running, so much so I think it may be defective.
-Doesn't have OLED screen, its near impossible to read in direct sunlight.
-No backup utility included, you must purchase one.
-Android apps have crashed a few times already
-No voice dialing over Bluetooth
-No external button to turn off ringer
-Can't turn off Haptic feedback (vibrates when you touch a button) when in Vibrate only mode. It would be nice to setup your own Sound/Ringer profiles.
-Facebook app has fewer features than the iPhone version
-Fewer accessories than the iPhone, but still enough to get by
-Waiting for the Android 2.2 update which has already been released but not for the HTC Incredible, current estimates are by Christmas.

Email Issues:
-Cannot fully zoom out when viewing an email, must constantly scroll left to right.
-Won't display messages sent from outlook 2003 (which is what my company uses).
-Doesn't sync with yahoo contacts and poor syncing with yahoo mail (the email app from yahoo is incomplete, there is no copy & paste). Would really not recommend this phone if using yahoo mail.

The HTC Incredible is a great phone but just isn't as nice as the iPhone 4. Would have given it 2 1/2 stars if I could. Other than the screen (which looks great but is unreadable in sunlight) all of these issues are with the software. Hopefully over the year or so there will be some updates to address them. My suggestion is either to wait and see what updates come or buy an iPhone.

Impressions of my first Smartphone June 14, 2012

Reviewer:  Pchan 

I purchased this phone two years ago (2010) as my first smartphone. I absolutely LOVED it. Here's a quick rundown:

Pros:
1. Small size, large screen. As a person with small hands, I have no desire to own a phone that could double as a tablet. I want to be able to reach all quadrants of the screen with one hand/thumb. This is about the size of an iPhone4 but with a larger screen that is comfortable to read and work with. Pocketable, fits in purse/bag pockets designed for phones.

2. Large quantity of apps from both Amazon or Google Play (formerly Android App Market).

3. Sturdy design. Let's just say this device took some serious physical abuse and until recently, it just kept ticking.

4. Expandable memory. Need more space? Jam an inexpensive SD card in the slot and you're good to go.

Cons:

1. Recently developed software issues, probably from some of the abuse it suffered on my account. It will not write/read the sd card, photos are previewing fine but will appear corrupted when enlarged. Photos were deleted, it stopped syncing with Google so much of my data was lost. (Cry)

2. Began needing to LOAD the homepages. Started forceclosing EVERYTHING, including 'backbone' programs like Gmail.

3. With regards to app security: if this is your first time owning an android device, you must be aware the security of the app market and amazon are not as good as Apple's. Although it is a self-regulating market (unsound apps are generally removed or will not sell well thanks to dedicated reviewers), you should still be vigilant about your own security. Free apps more than not will ask for permissions the app doesn't necessarily need to run on i.e. full internet access (unless it says it can link to Facebook or something), and 'open network sockets'. You don't want your network sockets open. This usually means the app is obtaining anonymous (not sensitive) information from you for statistical/development purposes. Just be careful.

A NOTE ON MEMORY ISSUES:

I have read several of the reviews here regarding the 'low memory' warning you get. This is a SOFTWARE issue that is easily remedied which concerns the FACEBOOK app. You must CLEAR the CACHE on occasion and then you will stop getting the warning. To do this, go to MENU>SETTINGS>APPLICATIONS>MANAGE APPS>FACEBOOK>CLEAR CACHE. As previously mentioned, I have had this phone for two years, and now due to the software issues I've been having, it's time to move onto a different phone. I have since purchased the HTC Rhyme, as it is also a small phone and doesn't have the bells and whistles of the larger, faster phones but it's what I need. I will be doing a separate review on that phone as I work with it.

Decent for its time April 27, 2012

Reviewer:  Sack Peterson 

I acquired an HTC Incredible in late 2010 as my first smart phone. It was an impressive performer for me over two years, and other people were impressed by it. Even iPhone people were impressed by it. The neat things about it are well described in these reviews. I got a lot of utility out of the Incredible.

There are at least two persistent problems related to this model that would probably stop most shoppers from buying it if they had forehand knowledge.

Biggest problem is that a heavily used Incredible frequently throws a low phone disk space alert. When this alert is active the phone works but gmail, android mail, and facebook apps won't sync. The phone was built with plenty of memory, so it's no doubt a software problem ultimately traceable to Android 2.2. And there's a decent workaround, which is to clear caches and manage apps often. But the whole experience was aggravating over the course of several months. A real upgrade fix within 2.2 or 2.3 was never offered.

Second thing is these handsets have rear speakers that tend to go bad. So common it is that the speaker is abundantly available on the retail market as an inexpensive spare part. The part availability is not a bad thing. But most people won't have the wherewithal to perform that fix when the Incredible breaks down.

Nonetheless, it was a good phone for its time in the smartphone era. Most people got good service from it. Give it a 4.

great phone May 8, 2011

Reviewer:  cvbcbcmv 

I recently got this phone, and even though there are newer htc phones and verizon doesn't sell it anymore, that's good, because it's cheap on ebay, and definitely NOT obsolete. It has the same specs under the hood as the new ones (which is a lot, you can look at those) and I hate phones with a large screen, I'll settle for a 4 inch, like the dinc 2, but I wouldn't replace it with a thunderbolt or a droid x if I could get them for free. And the aftermarket hacks are practically endless, check out xda developers. All of those roms, especially cyanagon mod 7 practically fix battery life. On heavy usage with Cyanagon mod 7 I have about 50% left. And everything like sound quality and pictures are great. People also say it is a drawback it doesn't have sense 2.0, right now there are like 5 custom roms with sense 2.0 for it. This phone is NOT obsolete as you may think, and it is a great phone, and it becomes a droid super incredible if you do custom roms! It's great.