The HTC Droid Incredible Review, Clearly Better than the Nexus One
by Anand Lal Shimpi on May 10, 2010 1:27 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Snapdragon
- Droid Incredible
- HTC
- Android
- Mobile
Snappier & More Polished than the Nexus One
The HTC Incredible uses similar, but not an identical SoC to what’s in the Nexus One. The Nexus One uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon QSD8250 SoC, while the Incredible uses the QSD8650. The primary difference between the two is the cellular modem. While the 8650 supports both GSM and CDMA based standards, the 8250 is strictly GSM.
Both are built on TSCM’s 65nm process and run the CPU core at 1GHz. They use the same Adreno 200 graphics core and have the same 32-bit LPDDR1 memory interface.At the macro level we’re looking at the fastest non-Apple, ARM based SoC on the market today (at least in terms of CPU performance). The majority of competing solutions are based on the ARM Cortex A8 and run at sub-1GHz speeds. Snapdragon, as you may remember from our Nexus One review, is based on Qualcomm’s Scorpion core. The Scorpion CPU starts with a similar architecture to the Cortex A8, but a much better performer.
| Qualcomm Snapdragon Comparison | ||||
| QSD8250 | QSD8650 | |||
| Used In | Google Nexus One | HTC Incredible, HTC EVO 4G | ||
| Manufacturing Process | TSMC 65nm | TSMC 65nm | ||
| CPU | Qualcomm Scorpion @ 1GHz | Qualcomm Scorpion @ 1GHz | ||
| CPU Architecture | 2-issue in-order | 2-issue in-order | ||
| GPU | Qualcomm Adreno 200 | Qualcomm Adreno 200 | ||
| Memory Bus | 32-bit LPDDR1 | 32-bit LPDDR1 | ||
| On-Package RAM | 512MB | 512MB | ||
| Cellular Modem | GSM, GPRS, EDGE, HSPA | CDMA2000 1x, 1xEV-DORel0/A/B, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, HSPA | ||
The Apple A4 comparison is a difficult one to make without an identical software stack, but it looks to be the only threat to Snapdragon from a CPU performance perspective today.
The QSD8650, like the 8250, ships with 512MB of LPDDR1 on package. That’s more than enough for the current requirements of the Android OS.
No More Choppy Scrolling, Almost
My biggest issue with the Nexus One was its inconsistent performance, particularly with scrolling and animations. I’m happy to say that HTC has fixed most of those issues, but not all, with the Incredible.
Flipping between home screens is iPhone smooth on the Incredible, so long as you’re using the touchscreen. Use the virtual joystick and it’s back to chopfest for some reason. Scrolling is smooth in nearly all applications, the main exception being messages. If you try to scroll through a list of SMSes the Incredible starts flushing frames like they’re drugs and the police are at the door. It’s clearly a software optimization issue but why it exists in a different area from the Nexus One, and while it continues to exist today, perplexes me.
Contributing to the overall smoother feel of the Incredible is the fact that HTC did away with some animations in the UI. The Nexus One goes for a very iPhone like animation whenever you open/exit an app. You see the app getting bigger until it takes up the whole screen, or getting smaller until it’s reduced to an icon. On the iPhone this is smooth. On the Nexus One the animation is dropping frames, which in turn makes your phone feel slower than it actually is. On the HTC Incredible, the animation simply isn’t there. Launching an app takes you from one screen, almost immediately to the next. It’s like using a brand new PC with an SSD. Launch an application and the window just appears.
The Nexus One and HTC Incredible have the same underlying hardware, but the missing animations and smoother scrolling are key to making the Incredible feel faster. If you go to launch the web browser on both of these phones at the same time you’ll find that the Incredible finishes faster simply because it’s not stuck animating the window.
Not all animations are gone however, just most of the sluggish ones.
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rcc - Monday, May 10, 2010 - link
As I read the review, the commercial that came to mind was "it's just like a xerox" from back in the 80s.and then, but not quite as good........
Anyway, I'm looking for a smartphone update, but a clean sync with Outlook is still a requirement. Who does it other than WinMo so far??
xenon2009 - Monday, May 10, 2010 - link
I believe HTC does have an app called HTC Sync which does do Outlook syncing. I am not sure if it is available for the Droid Incredible but it is worth a shot. You should be able to get from HTC's website.cfaalm - Tuesday, May 11, 2010 - link
That works. I was able to sync my Legend with Outlook. You can download the app or even pull it from the SD-card that came with the phone (it should be on there). See website for instructions. It's really easy.gregounech - Monday, May 10, 2010 - link
Hey anand guys!I'm front France and typing this message from.my HTC desire.
I saw It's going to be out this summer only in usa, however it is already out in Europe. It adds HTC sense to the same hardware base of the nexus one and addingvsome other things.
Some websites loved it and I'd love to see you guys review it comparing to those two Android based smartphones.
Please.review it...
Regards, Gregounech a French addict to anandtech!
cgalyon - Monday, May 10, 2010 - link
Not sure if this is what you meant, but you can copy/paste in e-mails using the default mail client. I didn't try from the widget (removed that widget in fact), but if you enter an e-mail, just press and hold and it will highlight. You can move around to extend the highlight and when you release you'll have three context buttons. The first of these allows you to "copy" (later to paste). Also you enter the "expose" view by pressing the home button when on the home screen: at least my optical button doesn't pull it up...GlobleWarmingisbunk - Monday, May 10, 2010 - link
Anand,How Does the HTC Incredible compare to the Eris as far as performance.
I noticed that you did not review Eris, like you did with the Nexus One.
Thanks.
GregANDTCH - Tuesday, May 11, 2010 - link
How well does this one do on App space? Friend of mine had (I believe) the Nexus One and they reached a point where they couldn't put any more Apps on it. They were told you couldn't run them from the msdcard. It was only for Music & Pictures.safcman84 - Tuesday, May 11, 2010 - link
or can we expect a a new HTC phone in Europe as well?Cheers
IKeelU - Tuesday, May 11, 2010 - link
Is there anything stopping the N1 from eventually including the improvements made by HTC? As an N1 owner, I'm a little disapppointed that my device is "almost there" in several key areas, notably the touch screen, keyboard input and overall smoothness. Enough to make me consider hoccing it on ebay and picking up the incredible once it supports GSM in Canada.It seems a lot of what differentiates the inredible from the N1 could technically run on the N1 (besides the improved touchscreen, if there is indeed a hardware difference there).
Impulses - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - link
If you don't mind rooting it and voiding the warranty, you can flash a Sense ROM unto it (visit MoDaCo) which basically gives you all of HTC's software improvements... The touch sensor on the Incredible and Droid are still better than the N1's tho (when it comes to multi-touch anyway, which I don't think has much to do w/any of Anand's issues which he usually described a issues of responsiveness or accuracy).I doubt there's gonna be a GSM Incredible, the Desire would be it's GSM equivalent, basically a Nexus One with Sense, an extra hole for the speakerphone, and a touchpad instead of a trackball.