Smartphone and tablet market was too busy in past few months. All the major manufactures were plaiying their best trump for upcoming shopping season. Apple introduced iPhone 5, 4th generation iPad and brand new iPad Mini. Google released their new Nexus line especially with the brand new Nexus 10 tablet.
The show is not over yet. HTC came out with another amazing addition to their handset family. It’s HTC Droid DNA, a weird name but amazing specs. Today it’s under NOG spotlight.
Insight for HTC Droid DNA
Design
Dimensions: 141 x 70.5 x 9.7mm
Wight: 138g
According to HTC this design is inspired by a super car. The black and red color combination confirms it. It’s a clean single block design with average weight and thickness. Back panel is slightly carved, so you might wobble when you use it on a table top.
I believe its a good time for some manufacture to come up with a different Smartphone design with a major paradigm shift, like Apple did back in 2007. Now they are getting boring and they all look the same for me.
Display
Size: 5.0 inches
Protection: Gorilla Glass 2
Technology: Super LCD 3
Resolution: 1080x1920px
Sharpness: 441ppi
Size of display is going beyond a standard Smartphone and reaching a Phablet. But it’s not only about size, it has bigger resolution as well. It’s a 1080p full HD display with ultra high pixel density. It could give you a great platform from gaming, HD video playback as well as web browsing with sharp text.
The new Samsung Galaxy Note II has a massive 5.5 inches display, but resolution is not improved. It’s still same as previous Galaxy Note and it will dilute the pixel density. HTC Droid DNA solves this problem for good. Hats off for that!
Processor and Storage
Chipset: Snapdragon S4 Pro (APQ8064)
CPU: 1.5GHz Quad Core Krait
GPU: Adreno 320
RAM: 2GB
Internal Storage: 16GB
Sensors: Accelerometer, Gyro Scope, Proximity Sensor, Digital Compass
I have been talking a lot about Snapdragon S4 Platform and how it’s dominating Smartphone market over NVidia Tegra 3. Here we have another example. This configuration will definitely make this a powerhouse second to none.
2GB RAM is a good improvement. The Snapdragon S4 platform support dual channel 533MHz RAM up to 8.5GB/s. So with this huge RAM, HTC Droid DNA will do magic. Internal storage is pretty much standard. Unfortunately it’s none expandable.
Software
OS: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
UI: HTC Sense 4+
It originally comes with Android 4.1 and down the time you will be able to upgrade it to 4.2. The UI is themed with HTC Sense 4+, an upgrade to previous version. I’m not a big fan of this kind of UI tweaks on top of Android and if you are planning to buy one, don’t have much hope on timely future updates.
Camera
Primary: 8MP, 1080p@30fps
Front Facing: 2.1MP, 1080p@30fps
The camera is pretty much standard for most of the Smartphone you can find today. One cool feature, this can take snap shots while you are recording videos. Front facing camera is majorly improved and it can shoot same quality video as primary shooter.
Connectivity
2G Network: GSM Quad Band
3G Network: HSDPA
4G Network: LTE
Wi-Fi: 802.11 a/b/g/n
GPS: Yes, A-GPS support
NFC: Yes
Bluetooth: Yes, 4.0
USB: microUSB 2.0
It’s a complete list of connectivity options. You have nothing else to ask for. Depending on your carrier you will be able to enjoy lighting speed LTE connectivity as well.
Battery
Capacity: 2020 mAh, Li-Ion
Wireless Charging: Yes
Battery Life: To be confirmed
The capacity of battery here is disappointing. I was expecting at least 2750mAh battery. This has a full HD display and quad core processor. With all these, it won’t be able to survive at least one day with this battery, unless it has some special power management features.
Warping Up
The hardware spec is amazing but not really unique. If you take a look at Nexus 4, LG Optimus G and Asus Padfone 2 you will be able to find pretty similar internals. But full HD display is the hook here. It easily kick off all the above from competition.
But if you take a look at Oppo Find 5, it has almost similar configuration, even the display. But unfortunately it’s not available in international market.
HTC Droid DNA is going to make a unique mark in HTC product line for sure. This will be ideal for mobile gaming and multimedia applications. You will be able to enjoy ultimate level of details in 1080p display. The physical size is also in its sweet point.
This is a great device to settle for next 2 years. But the only thing you have to consider is its battery life. I’ll keep you posted once I get more accurate data.
Tags: #Android #HTC #Qualcomm #Smartphone