HTC Droid Incredible 2 Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on July 3, 2011 11:44 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- HTC
- Verizon
- Droid Incredible 2
- Mobile
Final Words
Using the Incredible 2 brought back memories of the earlier phone that I was so fond of. It's still not perfect but a year's worth of evolution has resulted in a phone that's all around much better. The Incredible 2 is faster and generally has much better battery life than the original. If you own an Incredible and aren't in love with AMOLED, you'll appreciate the upgrade to the Incredible 2. The addition of world-mode support to the Incredible 2 does make it a unique option that will appeal to some business travelers.
In the continuum of Android smartphones, the Incredible 2 is nothing extraordinary. It is a good, well rounded phone that performs well but it doesn't win any awards beyond that. The lack of a dual-core SoC definitely doesn't hurt, but it's also something I don't like recommending if you're going to hold onto your phone for 1 - 2 years.
The fact of the matter is there aren't many dual-core smartphones available on Verizon today. In our upcoming Droid X2 review we look at one option but it's a much larger phone. If you're not ok with the Droid X2's 4.3-inch screen then the Incredible 2 definitely gets the job done, but if you're fine with a larger phone (and Motoblur) there's a better option out there on Verizon.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
47 Comments
View All Comments
poohbear - Monday, July 4, 2011 - link
hey, the majority of Anandtechs new reviews are smartphone or tablet related, and yet there's no smartphone/tablet sub-forum for us to discuss this? when will you create one? seems your reporting is ahead of your site.A5 - Monday, July 4, 2011 - link
What are you talking about?http://forums.anandtech.com/forumdisplay.php?f=37
rs2 - Monday, July 4, 2011 - link
Love all the griping about the phone shipping with Froyo. You'd think that Froyo was the Vista of Android OS's, judging by the tone of the opening paragraphs. Nevermind that fact that Froyo was getting rave reviews on this very site not so long ago.Is it really so terrible that the device ships with Froyo? You can always upgrade, and a good OS doesn't become a crappy OS just because the current version was bumped from 2.2.x to 2.3.x a few months ago. Look at how long people continued running Windows XP.
clarkn0va - Monday, July 4, 2011 - link
I updated my Desire and wife's Galaxy S both from Froyo to CM7 for one simple reason: ingegrated voip. I tried a bunch of voip apps from the market and none of them worked to my satisfaction. In 2.3 it just works.Other than that, I can't name a single difference between Froyo and Gingerbread (accounting for the differences between Sense and CM7, anyway).
strikeback03 - Wednesday, July 6, 2011 - link
If nothing else, the security patches that arrived in later versions of FroYo and in Gingerbread would be nice. Otherwise, it is just the fact that everyone who knows wants the latest version of the OS, and Gingerbread has been available for months.Anubis - Monday, July 4, 2011 - link
I really think everyone who bitches about phones not having LTE are forgetting that LTE coverage currently flat out sucks. a huge number of VZW subscribers don't live anywhere near LTE networks. They currently offer 2 levels of phones. More expensive flagship models that do have LTE for those that want it and then cheaper general 3G models for everyone else.I am in the everyone else category. my next phone will NOT be an LTE phone as i wont see it where i live for years
strikeback03 - Wednesday, July 6, 2011 - link
I forget if they said it would be by the end of 2012 or 2013 that they would have LTE coverage to match their 3G coverage. Either way, assuming they actually pull that off your location might well have LTE before you are ready to replace your next phone.deputc26 - Monday, July 4, 2011 - link
Anand,In your conclusion you state that the Droid X2 is bigger than the inc 2 but on the first page the dimensions for the two appear to be almost identical, only .1mm off.
orizaba - Monday, July 4, 2011 - link
Body is not all plastic, BTW. Front bezel is brushed black aluminum all around which largely makes for the solid feel. Came from a Droid1 since release day and have had this phone a month. Love the speed, stability, form factor. No 4G in my area and the no battery sucking dual core (which isn't necessary for the purpose of this phone). Best 3G phone on the market IMO. Froyo has become a solid reliable OS. Will wait for 2.3 until it is well implemented without issues seen today on many phones.dtomilson - Monday, July 4, 2011 - link
Where are you mentioning the updates of Mango? All I see are the same slow Android phones with no hardware acceleration on a dualcore system where it is still _slow_.Let's hear some real news regarding mobile platforms and how they benefit the user.