Gadgets & Gizmos

The handset is really a dual-band EV-DO Rev A (850/1900MHz), quad-band EDGE (850/900/1800/1900MHz), and dual-band HSDPA (900/2100MHz) device with 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi. This time around, the Incredible 2 is a international device, letting you obtain voice and information signal in over 200 countries, 125 of which are at 3G speeds. There’s also a Wi-Fi hotspot mode that lets you use the telephone as a modem for as much as five devices with the suitable extra-cost strategy.
Measuring 4.8 by 2.5 by 0.5 inches (HWD), the 4.8-ounce Droid Incredible 2 has a smoothed-out soft-touch situation. With the rounded edges, it’s now a dead ringer for the iPhone 3GS, albeit with soft touch gray rubber around the sides rather than chrome. The 4-inch, glass capacitive touch screen sports activities 480-by-800-pixel resolution. Typing on HTC’s predictive text-enabled, on-screen keyboards is simple in both landscape and portrait modes. I credit score the uptick in screen size.
For the uninitiated, HTC Sense 2.0 is a stunning UI layer for Android. It will not make power users looking for a stock experience happy, but it consists of plenty of helpful, smooth-running enhancements. You will find 7 home screens you are able to customize and swipe between. The Incredible 2 runs Android 2.2 (Froyo). (HTC guarantees an Android 2.three (Gingerbread) upgrade through the finish of the second quarter.) Some reviewers have dinged the Incredible 2 because of this. But I do not believe Gingerbread is quite as big a offer as Froyo was, so I’m alright with it.
HTC’s lightly modified WebKit browser supports Flash 10.1. For video chat, you get Verizon’s Skype consumer, which offers choppy 3G video chats and somewhat smoother ones over Wi-Fi. While testing the Droid Incredible two, I noticed the occasional error message, but absolutely nothing that brought down the entire program.
The Droid Incredible 2′s camcorder is now Hd able, but its performance was not ideal. Recorded 1280-by-720-pixel videos looked a bit flat and jerky at twenty frames per second, whilst 800-by-480-pixel videos were a bit smoother, averaging 24 frames per second. A bug trashed one 800-by-480-pixel video’s audio track, although, with loud hiss and static ruining the file. Both frame prices had been a few ticks off what the Thunderbolt is capable of, but test pictures looked practically identical between both phones. The Samsung Droid Charge’s camera is exceptional to each, though.
The 8-megapixel rear-facing digital camera includes auto-focus, encounter detection, along with a dual-LED flash. There’s a 1.3-megapixel front facing camera for video chats, but we have yet to see sleek video chats on Android gadgets. My test pictures exhibited typical sharpness and color vibrancy, but still looked good even on the cloudy day outside and in dimmer rooms indoors. Shutter speeds had been quick, but significant color noise intruded on indoor shots. The automated light correction worked quickly, and also the flash was potent enough to assist out as long as there was at least some light.
The standard-size 3.5mm headphone jack on top makes this a music-friendly phone. There’s a microSD card slot beneath the battery cover. HTC throws in a 16GB card, and my 32GB SanDisk card worked great. There is also a generous 1.06GB of totally free internal storage. Audio tracks sounded clear and full via Samsung Modus HM6450 Bluetooth headphones ($99, 4 stars). HTC’s upgraded music player is enjoyable to use, and includes a sleek jukebox-style album cover view in landscape mode.