Review HTC Droid DNA CDMA Dual Band - Variously rumored as the HTC DLX and Butterfly J overseas, the HTC Droid DNA is one of our top smartphones for 2012. It has a slim and elegant design and it's relatively narrow, which makes holding this 5" Android smartphone easier than you might think. It trounces the Note II and every other smartphone on the market with its 1920 x 1080 Super LCD 3 display. That's 440ppi pixel density; significantly higher than the iPhone 5's Retina display and the lovely Nokia Lumia 920 332ppi display. Colors are more balanced and natural compared to Samsung's Super AMOLED HD display and letters and images look painted on the screen, much like the HTC One X and iPhone 5. Gorilla Glass protects the curved glass display.



Performance and Horsepower

But it doesn't stop there; this 5 ounce phone runs on a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU. The "Pro" is important, it indicates that this is the quad core variant of the S4 previously found on the speedy LG Optimus G and Nexus 4. The HTC DNA, running Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean with the HTC Sense UI absolutely flies.


More Specs at a Glance

The phone has a 2020 mAh battery, dual band WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, a GPS and NFC that's not compatible with Google Wallet. As you'd expect from HTC, it has Beats audio that kicks in when you plug in headphones and there's a 2.5v audio preamp inside. The DNA has 3G EV-DO Rev. A and 4G LTE on Verizon and it's a world phone than can handle GSM/HSPA roaming abroad.


Design and Ergonomics

The Droid DNA has a sealed unibody design with a soft touch charcoal black back. It’s a stunner and feels great in hand, though it doesn’t look quite as interesting as the polycarbonate unibody design of the One X. At 0.38” it’s extremely slim for a big phone and we love the metallic red stripes on the side along with the red rear camera lens ring and top power button. The DNA makes the shiny plastic Note II and Galaxy S III look a little cheap: HTC has always been good at premium materials. Where does the Note II pull ahead? For those of you who enjoy the Wacom digital pen, you won’t find that here. You also won’t get the Note II’s neato side-by-side app view or the ability to play video in a floating window on top of any app.


Voice and Data

Call quality is excellent for incoming calls with full audio and good volume, but we found outgoing volume to be average with some occasional digitization of voice. It’s nothing to worry about, but the DNA doesn’t stand out above the crowd of solid smartphones on the market for outgoing voice quality.

Data speeds on Verizon’s LTE 4G network are par for the course, which is to say very good, though Verizon trails AT&T for LTE speeds at the moment in our area. The HTC Droid DNA manages the same speeds as the Motorola Droid RAZR MAXX HD and Galaxy S III according to the Speedtest.net app (13Mbps down and 5.7Mbps up).


Display and Sound

This is undeniably one of the best mobile displays on the planet. At a mind-boggling 440 ppi, you won’t find anything sharper than this, not even the 264ppi iPad with Retina Display. Viewing angles are very wide and colors are rich and more natural than on Super AMOLED displays. The display’s sides have a subtle curve (again like the One X and also like the Nokia Lumia 920) and it looks cool. The full 1080p means you can watch full HD movies without scaling on a phone. Wow. The fused glass on the Super LCD3 display makes images look painted on, much like the HTC One X and iPhone 5. We haven’t had any problems with dust getting stuck in the crevices where the glass meets the phone’s body. The display has good brightness, but it’s not particularly gifted at fighting bright sunlight (the Nokia Lumia 920 and iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 get that honor). Glare and reflections are relatively well controlled on the gloss Gorilla Glass 2 display.



Camera

HTC puts excellent cameras into their high end smartphones, and their Android camera app is top notch for offering myriad shooting options, including HDR and the ability to capture photos while simultaneously shooting video. The rear camera can shoot 1080p video at 30fps, though in low light the frame rate may drop. The rear camera has a BSI sensor and a fast f/2.0 lens to further improve low light photography.


Battery Life

As with other recent HTC unibody phones, the battery is sealed inside, so you can’t swap in a spare as needed on the road. As a consolation, the 2020 mAh Lithium Ion Polymer battery has good stamina despite the big high res display and 4G LTE. Chalk that up to excellent power management and the Qualcomm S4 Pro’s power frugalness.


Websites: www.htc.com/us/, www.verizonwireless.com


Specs:

• Display: 5" capacitive multi-touch Super LCD3 display with Gorilla Glass 2. Resolution: 1920 x 1080, supports both portrait and landscape modes. Has ambient light sensor and accelerometer.
• Battery: Lithium Ion rechargeable. Battery is not user replaceable. 2020 mAh.
• Performance: 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad core CPU with Adreno 320 graphics. 2 gigs RAM, 16 gigs storage with approx. 11 gigs available.
• Size: 5.55 x 2.78 x 0.38 inches. Weight: 5.0 ounces.
• Phone: CDMA dual band digital with 3G EV-DO Rev. A 3G and 4G LTE on Verizon. Also capable of world roaming on GSM networks (quad band 850/900/1800/1900MHz GSM and HSPA+ 3G).
• Camera: 2.1MP front camera and rear 8MP camera with BSI sensor, f/2.0 28mm lens and LED flash.
• Audio: Built in speaker, mic and 3.5mm standard stereo headphone jack. Has Beats audio with 2.5v preamp.
• Networking: Integrated dual band WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and GPS with GLONASS.
• Software: Android OS 4.1.1 Jelly Bean with HTC Sense 4.0+ software.
• Price: $199 with 2 year contract, $599 without contract.