HTC Incredible S review

HTC has now officially unveiled its latest Android-powered smartphone HTC Incredible S in India. The device is currently available at a price of Rs. 28,900 at all authorized HTC resellers across India.

The HTC Incredible S features automatic orientation shifting of the virtual home, menu, back and search function keys based on how it is held. It comes equipped with dual mics, noise cancellation, surround sound and HTC Sense.

HTC is without a doubt one of the leading lights that has made Android a success. The trouble with being in front, though, is that everybody is out to get you. You have to keep one eye on the competition, and one eye on making sure what you do constantly raises the stakes. It’s a tricky business.

Oh, the Incredible S is not a turkey. And it does have a couple of neat features. But in essence it feels like a stopgap smartphone, while we wait for the delights of dual core processors (and see if they really add anything) and near field communications to wow us as 2011 proceeds.

The rubberised finish to the back and sides is welcome as it stops the Incredible S slipping about in your hand. The backplate shaping we are not so sure about. It is raised in the middle endowing the Incredible S with a very distinctive look and creating a remarkably thin appearance to the edges. But it does not do a lot to diminish the overall in-hand size. At 135g and 120x64x1.7mm the HTC Incredible S is quite a chunk of phone.

That is inevitable given the 4 inch screen, though, and the screen is one of the main selling points of the HTC Incredible S. Sharp and bright it is great for rendering web pages and watching video. The size is a good compromise between the multimedia unfriendly smaller sizes and the bigger screens which can make smartphones difficult to pocket.

Internally the 1GHz processor is capable and competent, though the mere 1.1GB of internal storage is a bit measly and a potential chink in the HTC Incredible S’s armour. Our review sample was supplied with an 8GB microSD card. That’s welcome as it means there is space for a fair few tunes to play through the pretty good loudspeaker or through headphones.

There’s a wow factor component to the HTC Incredible S in that the touch icons beneath the screen which give access to the Android Home, Menu, Back and Search functions rotate. As you swivel the smartphone in your hand to get to wide screen mode, the icons turn too so that they are the right way up.

It is not rocket science, it doesn’t make any difference to usability, but it does look good and we wonder why nobody has thought of it before. There is one thing we’re prepared to stick our necks out on. It is such an obviously good idea that it will be copied.

<< Previous 1 2 Next>>