The HTC Droid DNA Announced: 5-inch, 1080p, S4 Pro
by Jason Inofuentes on November 13, 2012 6:34 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- HTC
- Mobile
- APQ8064
- droid dna
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You've seen the leaks, but now it's real. HTC and Verizon have just announced the Droid DNA, a 5-inch behemoth sporting an incredible 1080p Super LCD3 display. Powering those pixels is the capable Snapdragon S4 Pro SoC, familiar to us as the APQ8064 with 4 Krait cores running at 1.5GHz and last seen in the Nexus 4. For modem, the Droid DNA is using MDM9615 which makes this HTC's first Qualcomm Fusion 3 based device. The Droid DNA also includes ImageChip and the usual ImageSense features, and brings the 2.1 MP F/2.0 camera we saw on the HTC 8X as well. There's 2 GB of RAM onboard as well.
The style of the phone alludes to its Incredible forebears, but only in the bright red accents. The design is sleeker, with a smooth back and thin profile. On the long edges of the phone are large red grills, though stereo speakers are not in order. What is available to audiophiles, is a 2.55v built-in headphone amp, not a common find in a smartphone but something that will go a long way to improving the listening experience.
Wireless charging is also being introduced to the Droid line for the first time. It's unclear whether this will be on the increasingly common Qi standard, but if Brian's growing enthusiasm for the technology is any indication, this could be a popular feature.
As is the norm, the HTC Droid DNA will be available on-contract for $199, and pre-orders start today with shipments expected by November 21st. We'll be hands-on shortly, and give some impressions of the device.
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KITH - Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - link
Yet your monitor still works just fine for you, I'm sure.If you paid for your monitor what this phone actually costs, you would get the higher resolution too.
Impulses - Wednesday, November 14, 2012 - link
Not really, if you pay $500 for a display you might get a very nice 1920x1200 24" IPS but relative dpi still blows compared to this phone. The problem's twofold tho, little demand for better desktop displays (since the desktop is more of a niche every year: and software needs to be improved and optimized with better dpi scaling in mind.twtech - Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - link
If it had 3k mAh, I'd seriously consider it. With 2k mAh, it looks nice, but half the time you'll be carrying around a paperweight rather than a phone.pukemon1976 - Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - link
with 1080p resolution. lmao at how seriously corporation take it consumers for granted as being stupid and yet the stupid people go ahead and buy this shit.Mugur - Wednesday, November 14, 2012 - link
I agree on principle but not everybody is watching 8GB 1080p mkvs on the phone.Also I suppose that 1080p is the "ultimate" goal for the manufacturers and they will stay a while at that resolution, considered today the de facto standard along with the dreadful 1366 x 768. I wouldn't mind to have all my devices (from 4" to 24") at 1080p, until 4k will be on larger screens...
Mugur - Wednesday, November 14, 2012 - link
I meant the phone manufacturers, of course.Arbie - Thursday, November 15, 2012 - link
No micro-SD card AND an unreplaceable battery means I won't buy it.
Great display, great audio - and then they leave out a key piece of the media interface. Is there some conspiracy of stupidity in the smartphone makers these days? Anything positioned to be more than a basic phone needs a good way to swap files in and out. That's exactly what micro-SD provides.
It's one thing for a company to omit SD precisely because they want to lock you into their media services. But it makes no sense for HTC / Verizon.
And the unreplaceable battery... In my limited experience these things only last about two years. What are you supposed to do then? Throw the phone away? As with the SD, I'd rather pay more and get the essentials. What can these two things add? $50? Gladly.
seapeople - Saturday, November 17, 2012 - link
This phone is going to be worthless in a year when 4k resolutions become mainstream. What's the point of getting a phone like this now when you won't be able to watch Avatar 3D at 4K resolution on it?zappb - Sunday, November 18, 2012 - link
Yea I hear HTC will release a 4k phone in 2 weeks, called the HTC DREAMON, so I'll pass this 1080p fad as well.MichaelEvans - Monday, December 24, 2012 - link
Great review. I'm torn between this phone and the Samsung Galaxy SIII. I'm on contract with AT&T (like the 4GLTE) and my next phone is a toss-up since it seems to have a wide selection. I have a graphics design firm in New York and my smartphone is becoming like a third arm since the data speeds are so good.