Verizon's second 4G LTE phone is the charging forward. Read our complete Samsung Droid Charge review here.
Samsung Droid Charge Report
Verizon's second 4G LTE phone is Charging out of the starting gates, only to lead a formidable force of speedy devices to follow in its footsteps. Second in command to the HTC Thunderbolt, the Samsung Droid Charge is ideal for those who are quite fond of the Samsung Galaxy S experience. In fact, the Droid Charge features very similar specifications to its Galaxy S siblings with a 1GHz Hummingbird processor, Android 2.2 OS (Gingerbread update around the corner), Super AMOLED+ screen, 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, and unique camera interface. Compared to the Thunderbolt, we longed for HTC Sense over the Charge's TouchWiz interface, but Samsung's Super AMOLED+ screen saved the day when it came to advanced gaming and multimedia. Aside from its chevron-inspired styling and 1600mAh battery, the Samsung Droid Charge (specs) could very well have been deemed the Samsung Galaxy S 4G—but wait, T-Mobile stole that moniker. Okay, the Charge will do, so let's take a further look at Verizon's sophomore attempt.
Design
The Droid Charge's styling is certainly one of its distinguishing factors. Its body is shield-like and the 8-megapixel camera in back resembles the eye of a robot. This is a wide phone—it looks like it has extra junk in the truck. Next to an iPhone 4, the Droid Charge looks like the Jolly Green Giant. Part of that can be attributed to the phone's 4.3-inch 800 x 480-pixel Super AMOLED+ screen with 16 million colors. This is one of the premiere displays on the market, and also a glaring clue that the Droid Charge is internally tuned as a top-notch entertainment device.
And here's another clue, gumshoes. In addition to its 2GB internal memory, the phone ships with a 32GB MicroSD card. Shazam! That's 34GB of storage out of the box, which resides at the higher end of the spectrum in this day and age. And yet another piece of evidence comes in the form of a 1600 mAh battery, which aims to aid the 4G LTE connection. Lastly, add in the HDMI terminal, and the Droid Charge is out to attack the EVO 4G, Thunderbolt, and Droid X.
However, Samsung should have added a kickstand, which would have been nice for watching movies on the train. The phone does offer a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video chat, along with a video chat microphone. We were fond of the tangible Menu, Home, Back, and Search buttons, as haptic feedback controls get old after a while. The rest of the phone gave us a standard showing, consisting of a 3.5mm audio jack, Volume control, Power/Lock button, and open USB terminal. What would we like to see? How about a kickstand, even larger battery, and Camera button? Other than that, the Droid Charge is solid.
Software and Interface
The Droid Charge is supercharged with a 1GHz Hummingbird processor, 512MB of RAM, Android 2.2, and TouchWiz for an interface. Keep in mind that an Android 2.3 Gingerbread upgrade will be available down the road. It's worth noting that we weren't as fond of the Charge's interface as we were with the Thunderbolt's interface. The smartphone has Wi-Fi, GPS, stereo Bluetooth, accelerometer and gyroscope for 3D gaming and applications, and of course connectivity with Verizon's 4G LTE network.
Like any other Galaxy S phone we've seen within the past year, including the Samsung Fascinate, the Samsung Droid Charge offers 7 Home screens with the ability to add Widgets, Shortcuts, Folders, etc. by pressing and hold down on a screen to summon the menu. The Droid Charge also features a copy of HTC's Leap, which allowed us to pinch and zoom on any Home screen to minimize all 7 into one screen so we could tap whichever one we wanted to go to.
One thing that's important to mention at this point is that the Droid Charge was not as quick as we hoped. There was some slight lagging transpiring that would have been acceptable in the pre-dual processor era. We were still able to attain a speedy overall performance from the phone, but we have seen quicker devices.
Internet
Thanks to Android 2.2, the Droid Charge supports Flash 10.1 content, which means we had the ability to watch out YouTube reviews right from within the browser. The Charge gave us pinch-to-zoom, double-tap-to-zoom, windows, and had a great highlighting system for copying or sharing text and images. The browser was a bit jumpy and lagged at times, especially with complex pages, so that's something to consider. Also, we had a better browsing experience with HTC Sense—it was just more polished. With the Droid Charge, we really felt like we were using a phone to browse the internet rather than using the internet on a phone. Luckily, the phone's Super AMOLED+ screen came to the rescue when it came to reading text and viewing images online, and that's one area that the Droid Charge excelled in.
Multimedia and Productivity
Obviously, the aforementioned Super AMOLED+ screen did the trick when it came to watching videos, images, and playing games. With the Android Market readily available, we downloaded a cluster of 3D games that we knew would make the processor sweat, and the Charge handled them exceedingly well. Whether it was Dante's Inferno, Speedx, or Light Racer 3D, the Droid Charge proved itself as more than capable. The Charge also comes with Let's Golf 2 and Rock Band, but they are only demo versions, and we think the full versions should have been available, like T-Mobile and Need For Speed Shift. In addition to the Android Market, the Droid Charge gave us Samsung's Media Hub for movies and TV shows, Bitbop for TV, and Verizon's V CAST Media.
On the productivity end of the spectrum, the Droid Charge came equipped with Thinkfree Office for managing all of our Microsoft Office documents, and the phone also excelled when it came to social networking. The Droid Charge offered the Buddies Now widget, which was a fully customizable rolodex of our favorite contacts. We also had feeds and updates that linked up with our Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace accounts, and the front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera gave us video chat
Call Quality/Battery Life
The middle of the road is what we experienced when it came to battery life. We recommend using the Task Manager and making sure large, memory-sucking applications are closed, and make sure to keep the 4G LTE connection off when not needed. For voice quality, our Samsung Droid Charge review unit produced a decent performance, and we had no complaints.
Camera
It appears that we are in an era where phone cameras have improved to the point of threatening point-and-shoot cameras, and the Droid Charge is an example of that. The Charge's 8-megapixel 720p HD video-capable snapper delivered the goods in bright light, rivaling a few digital camera models that will go unnamed for the sake of embarrassment. From Macros to Landscapes to Portaits, the smartphone succeeded in bringing quality to the world of phone cameras. Unfortunately, like nearly every phone out there, low light was rough as the Charge's sensitivity was poor. We did get touch focus, Scene Modes, Effects, and a good deal of manual controls, so the Droid Charge is stocked when it comes to shooting.
Unfortunately, we can't use the touch focus or toggle the video light on or off while recording. At this stage in the game, that's a necessity, and every phone should be capable of those tasks. Video quality was very good as well, though the slower framerate held motion back and low light sensitivity was even less than in still image mode. Although the Droid Charge's camera ranks among the top smartphone cameras, we have seen a few that beat it, like the T-Mobile G2x.
The choice should seem obvious at this point. We have two phones diverged in a wood—the HTC Thunderbolt and the Droid Charge. The Thunderbolt has the better Sense interface, more out-of-box storage, and a kickstand. The Charge has its Super AMOLED+ screen, and that's about it. Our vote is for the Thunderbolt because it's a better-equipped device, but if you're used to the Galaxy S experience, then the Droid Charge is worth taking a gander at. However, we feel as though Samsung had an opportunity to take down HTC with its first 4G LTE phone, but blew it at the end of the day. Maybe we'll see a 4G LTE Galaxy S powerhouse in the near future, but for now, the Samsung Droid Charge does not have enough volts to tango with a Thunderbolt.
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