The HTC Droid DNA for Verizon Review

Hey guys, this is Austin and today I’m here with a review of the HTC DroidDNA for Verizon.

With a 1080p screen, quad core processor, and Android 4.1, let's take a look at what this phone has to offer.

The Droid DNA brings along the familiar Verizon red and black color scheme, which gives a bit of pop to the design. The front is fairly clean with a single piece of glass that houses the Verizon logo up top and the capacitive Android keys below. Along the sides are red accents which give a bit of texture to the phone, while around back you'll see that the DNA is entirely coated in soft touch plastic.

Generally, these surfaces pick up dust and fingerprints easily, but it really wasn't a huge issue. At 9.7mm thick, it's on the chunkier side, but thanks to the heavily tapered edges, it feels like a much thinner phone in the hand. The 8 megapixel camera is found along with the speaker with Beats Audio branding.

It's not particularly noteworthy and, in fact, it's a bit too easy to cover with a single misplaced finger. Along the top, you'll see the 2.1 megapixel front-facing camera and red speaker grille, while below are your capacitive back, home, and multitasking buttons. There's also an notification LED hidden in the grille of the phone as well as on the back, which is a really useful feature.

The rest of the ergonomics are less than spectacular, however. Unlike most smartphones, the volume rocker is over on the right side, and worse still, it's narrow and blends in. HTC has opted to load the top with your MicroSIM slot, sleep button, and headphone jack. Having the sleep button centered up top is awkward, as it forces you to hold the DNA differently compared to almost every other large phone out there.

Finally, on bottom is your MicroUSB port which is weirdly covered by a flap. MicroUSB is plenty robust to handle being uncovered, so it's beyond me why HTC and Verizon chose to cover it up here. This wasn't cool on the Palm Pixi, and it definitely isn't cool for a flagship phone at the end of 2012.

It is compatible with the Qi wireless charging standard, so your best bet is to buy a wireless charger and ignore the fiddly little MicroUSB port altogether. The screen on the other hand is absolutely fantastic. It's a 5-inch IPS panel with a resolution of 1920x1080 and with 440 pixels per inch, this absolutely destroys every other smartphone available right now.

Powering the HTC Droid DNA is a Snapdragon S4 quad-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz paired with 2GB of RAM and Adreno320 graphics. This is the same combo you'll find in the Nexus 4 and delivers some of the best performance in any smartphone available right now.

It has plenty of power to push around all the pixels on that 1080p screen, however, some games aren't updated to work on the DNA just yet. You'll also find 16GB of storage built-in, which is about average, but the lack of a MicroSD card slot is a bit disappointing.

Call quality on the Verizon network is top-notch, rivaling Motorola phones like the Droid RAZR HD. You'll also get solid LTE data speeds topping 30Mbps at times and even pulling in over 10Mbps in my office where most Verizon phones struggle.

With a 5-inch 1080p screen and quad-core processor running off a 2020mAh battery, I was skeptical of the battery life but in my testing, I found I was easily able to make it through a full day of use and then some.

The HTC Droid DNA has some faults. The hardware is well built but a few design choices hold the phone back. It's great to see Android 4.1 on board but Sense is really in need of a redesign.

That said, you're getting the best display on any phone out there and top-notch specs all for a reasonable price. If you're looking to pick up a new phone on Verizon, the Droid DNA is absolutely worth a look. You can check out more videos on the DroidDNA here and don't forget to hit up that Like button and Subscribe for more!

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enHey guys, this is Austin and today I’m herewith a review of the HTC DroidDNA for Verizon.With a 1080p screen, quad core processor andAndroid 4.1let’s take a look.The DNA brings along the familiar Verizonred and blackcolor scheme which gives a bit of pop to thedesign.The front is fairly cleanwith a single piece of glass with a Verizonlogo up top and the capacitiveAndroid keys below.Along the sides are red accents which givea bit oftexture to the phone and around back you’llsee the DNA is entirely coated ina soft touch plastic.Generally these surfaces pick up dust andfingerprintseasily but it really wasn’t a huge issue.At 9.7mm thick it’s on the chunkierside but thanks to the heavily tapered edgesit feels like a much thinnerphone in the hand.Here is where the 8 megapixel camera is foundalong withthe speaker with Beats Audio branding.It’s not particularly noteworthy and infact it’s a bit too easy to cover with asingle misplaced finger.Along the topyou’ll see the 2.1 megapixel front facingcamera and red speaker grille andbelow are your capacitive back, home and multitaskingbuttons.There’s anotification LED hidden in the grille of thephone as well as on the back whichis a really useful feature.The rest of the ergonomics are less than spectacularhowever.Unlike most smartphones the volume rockeris over on the rightside and worse still it’s narrow and blendsin.HTC has opted to load the topup with your MicroSIM slot, sleep button andheadphone jack.Having thesleep button centered up top is awkward asit forces you to hold the DNAdifferently compared to almost every otherlarge phone out there.Finally onbottom is your MicroUSB port which is weirdlycovered by a flap.MicroUSB isplenty robust to handle being uncovered soit’s beyond me why HTC andVerizon chose to cover it up here.This wasn’t cool on the Palm Pixi and itdefinitely isn’t cool for a flagship phoneat the end of 2012.It is compatiblewith the Qi wireless charging standard soyour best bet is to buy a wirelesscharger and ignore the fiddly little MicroUSBport altogether.The screen onthe other hand is absolutely fantastic.It’s a 5 inch IPS panel with a resolutionof 1920x1080 and with 440 pixels per inchthis absolutely destroys every othersmartphone out there right now.Even when viewing the screen much closerthan you ever would normally there’s stillan incredible amount of detail.Notonly is it high resolution but it’s alsoamong the most vibrant screens I’ve everseen with top notch viewing angles.I have zero complaints at all here: it’snoticeably better than any other phone screenperiod.The Droid DNA isrunning Android 4.1 Jellybean with the HTCSense 4+ skin.I’ve never been abig fan of Sense and this latest iterationdoesn’t do anything to change mymind.The overall UI design is very different thanstock Android and a lotseems to be change for change’s sake ratherthan making things faster orbetter.There’s a lot of chrome all over the phonewhich really doesn’t hurtanything but it’s not as sleek of a lookas even TouchWiz on the Galaxy Note 2.On the whole of it the DNA is certainly afast phone thanks to the powerfulinternals and Android 4.1 but it’s not assmooth as it could be with animationsfrequently losing frames.Most apps work just fine on the 1080p screenalthough it is easy to spot graphics madefor 720p or lower resolution devices.As with most recent Verizon phones there’sa notification for Wi-Fi whichnever goes away which is a minor annoyanceand there’s a good deal ofbloatware installed which gets it’s owncategory in the app drawer.Unwantedapps are fairly easy to hide however so itisn’t a huge problem.Overall thesoftware could be better but load up a customlauncher, hide the bloatwareand you’re good to go.The 8 megapixel camera is quite good overall.Saturation is solid and there’s a good amountof detail to work with.Thewhite balance gets tripped up sometimes butyou can adjust it manually ifyou need.Low light performance is right on par withmost smartphones,salvageable for a quick shot but it palesin comparison to the Nokia Lumia 920.Video on the other hand really is not theDroid DNA’s strong suit.So in reallynice lighting as you guys can see here it’snot so bad but a lot of highlights onhis face you can see are just getting totallyblown out and the audio just reallydoes not sound particularly good.The camera software is generally quitegood.It’s not as intuitive as Android 4.2 howeveryou have quite a fewmanual options for ISO, exposure and more.There also some effects you canchoose from including a fun little distortioneffect which you can play aroundwith, dots which renders the image in a seriesof interesting looking dots andfinally your standard depth of field, vignetteand Instagram like filters.Powering the HTC Droid DNA is a SnapdragonS4 quad core processor clockedat 1.5GHz paired with 2GB of RAM and Adreno320 graphics.This is the samecombo you’ll find in the Nexus 4 and itdelivers some of the best performancein any smartphone available right now.It has plenty of power to push aroundall the pixels on that 1080p screen howeversome games aren’t updated towork on the DNA just yet.You’ll also find 16GB of storage built-inwhich isabout average however the lack of a MicroSDcard slot is a bit disappointing.Call quality on the Verizon network is topnotch, rivaling Motorola phoneslike the Droid RAZR HD.You’ll also get solid LTE data speeds topping30Mbpsat times and even pulling in over 10Mbps inmy office where most Verizonphones struggle.With a 5 inch 1080p screen and quad core processorrunningoff a 2020mAh battery I was skeptical of thebattery life but in my testing Ifound I was easily able to make it througha full day of use and then some.The HTC Droid DNA has some faults.The hardware is well built but a fewdesign choices hold the phone back.It’s great to see Android 4.1 on board butSense is really in need of a redesign.That said, you’re getting the best displayon any phone out there and top notch specsall for a reasonable price.Ifyou’re looking to pick up a new phone onVerizon the Droid DNA is absolutelyworth a look.You can check out more videos on the DroidDNA here and don’tforget to hit up that Like button and Subscribefor more!Anyway I’ll catch youguys in the next one!