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My Droid DNA Review

I also posted this over at XDA but I wanted to share it here with you all as well.

HTC was kind enough to send me a DNA to test over this past weekend. I was coming most recently from the HTC Rezound and a Samsung Galaxy S3. Below are some of my thoughts/experiences with the device so far. It's only been a few days, but I'm in love with this device, and I won't be looking back at my S3.

Specs

Platform: Android™ 4.1 Jelly Bean with HTC Sense™ (also known as Sense 4+)
Processor: Qualcomm
 

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Thanks! How does text look on a site like Phonedog for instance? Is there a lot of zooming required? Is it really clear and bright?

After selecting "Request Desktop Site" in Chrome, nothing changed, so I assume they are using responsive design here. Because of this, there is no zooming at all.

And yes, everything is exceptionally clean and bright.
 
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How close to edge-to-edge is the screen?
Can someone get some shots next to some other phones like S3 and Razr HD?

Here's a pic with my S3 next to it. It's pretty close to the edge of the screen...don't have a ruler so I can't measure it exactly. But you'll see in the pic.
 

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Would have to hold it in my hand, but looks fantastic. Screens are getting ridiculous, but the phone size (thanks to reduced bezel) is staying pretty consistent. I wouldn't mind it being a small amount thicker, especially if they could add a larger batter (3000-4000 mAh), and maybe cut down on the length (my bionic is very comfortable at ~130mm as opposed to 141 for the DNA).

Hopefully, we see something like this for a Motorola Nexus Maxx.
 
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Would have to hold it in my hand, but looks fantastic. Screens are getting ridiculous, but the phone size (thanks to reduced bezel) is staying pretty consistent. I wouldn't mind it being a small amount thicker, especially if they could add a larger batter (3000-4000 mAh), and maybe cut down on the length (my bionic is very comfortable at ~130mm as opposed to 141 for the DNA).

Hopefully, we see something like this for a Motorola Nexus Maxx.

Maxx HD is already thinner than this phone, so if they ever made a nexus one, you would definitely see this sort of thickness or thinner with a 3300mah or larger battery. HTC just isn't so good at putting big batteries in thin packages, though they have come a long way from the rezound which was 13mm thick and had a 1600mah battery or something along those lines. I guarantee if HTC had given this phone even a 3000mah battery, it would easily be 13mm thick again, which would be a problem for many people given that the phone is already at the average consumer limit for width. When you have to wrap your hand around it, thickness adds just as much difficulty as width can.
 
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I am confused as to how people are correlating battery consumption on a phone that nobody other than two people really own that are posting (at least that I see)?

While its easy to jump the ship, the first blush reading indicate that while it is a smaller battery than we are normally used to seeing, it seems to be sized accordingly.

I say we wait for a couple weeks to see if it holds or flops?

Memory was a bit of a slip up; Ill concede that but given how I use a phone its not critical for me.
 
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I am confused as to how people are correlating battery consumption on a phone that nobody other than two people really own that are posting (at least that I see)?

While its easy to jump the ship, the first blush reading indicate that while it is a smaller battery than we are normally used to seeing, it seems to be sized accordingly.

I say we wait for a couple weeks to see if it holds or flops?

Memory was a bit of a slip up; Ill concede that but given how I use a phone its not critical for me.

In this mini review he's stating he expects to get around 3 hours screen on time on a single charge. This is less than my gs3, and without the option of swapping out batteries. I'll wait for the reviews to come in, but it's not promising and will scare more than a few people away given HTC's reputation of having crap battery life.
 
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In this mini review he's stating he expects to get around 3 hours screen on time on a single charge. This is less than my gs3, and without the option of swapping out batteries. I'll wait for the reviews to come in, but it's not promising and will scare more than a few people away given HTC's reputation of having crap battery life.

Yeah, I have read a lot to see a good reason to be gun shy with HTC batteries. I am lucky with a Dinc and never had such issues. I have read the sagas about the TBolt.
 
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I am confused as to how people are correlating battery consumption on a phone that nobody other than two people really own that are posting (at least that I see)?

While its easy to jump the ship, the first blush reading indicate that while it is a smaller battery than we are normally used to seeing, it seems to be sized accordingly.

I say we wait for a couple weeks to see if it holds or flops?

Memory was a bit of a slip up; Ill concede that but given how I use a phone its not critical for me.

I am waiting to see a few battery life reviews, and hoping the SLCD3 screen made a large power consumption difference.
 
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In this mini review he's stating he expects to get around 3 hours screen on time on a single charge. This is less than my gs3, and without the option of swapping out batteries. I'll wait for the reviews to come in, but it's not promising and will scare more than a few people away given HTC's reputation of having crap battery life.







Yeah, I have read a lot to see a good reason to be gun shy with HTC batteries. I am lucky with a Dinc and never had such issues. I have read the sagas about the TBolt.

I think everyone will be pleasantly surprised with the battery on this thing.

I'll be darned but I can't seem to find where it states screen on time??

Am I missing it trooper?
 
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