Review: HTC Incredible is just that

When it comes to my phone, I don’t care so much about mHz, screen resolution or the number of ringtones the phone can handle. I am a mom. I want a device that gets my calls through, has a good battery life, can stand up to life in my purse and a little baby slobber and has lots of apps to help me stay organized and on track. The HTC Incredible from Verizon does just that.

This sleek, touch-screen phone bring all of the bells and whistles. From a camera with a flash, a video camera and intergration with Facebook, Twitter and Flickr, along with the many, many, many apps available at the touch of a finger to all Android phones, the Incredible had it all.

The phone is a little larger than my iPod Touch and a little heavier, but it obviously does more. It’s a good shape and size for making calls, browsing the web or checking items off of your grocery list. The phone is all black with red accents, ala Verizon’s trademark. The back has a unique design that might be important to some, but didn’t make one bit of difference to me because if I had it, I’d be covering that puppy up with a cover to make sure it didn’t get scratch or worn, especially when hanging out in my purse.

And on to that. I put that phone in my purse throughout the week-and-a-half that I had it. It stood up well and had no signs of injury in the end. The big, bright screen make it easy to find when it’s ringing in my bag and doubles as a decent flashlight when you are trying to find your way through your purse in the movie theatre.

The one gripe I had about the phone, and maybe a cover would solve this, is that it seemed to get quite warm with use. I didn’t carry on a long conversation to see how it felt on my face, but I have to say- hot phone + make up smearing onto my touch screen does not a happy mama make.

The touch screen is something some people have a hard time adjusting to. I was used to the concept because I have an iPod Touch and the little sister to this phone, the HTC Eris.  But I have to say, the real estate on this phone made typing in either portrait or landscape mode was easy and Android’s word suggestions helped me out when it wasn’t. I was easily able to tweet and blog from the hand set and the vibration feedback made it feel like I was actually touching a key pad.

I realize that a phone isn’t going to replace my digital camera–at least not right now, but this phone was great for capturing a few quick shots of my children and directly uploading them to Facebook. The video, too, was easy to take and easy to upload.

The phone does come with an onboard flash, but like with any camera phone, the flash quality was subpar and made the images look blueish.

The operating system offers an immediate menu system for the user to share the photo via e-mail, MMS, Facebook, Twitter and other applications that you install. It makes it quick and easy, just the way moms need things.

The new Android operating system links seemlessly to Google so for those moms with Gmail, it’s easy to get your e-mail, upload your contacts, sync your calendar and view your Google Docs. In addition, the phone runs simultaneous applications so you can read your e-mail while using Google Talk to chat with your best friend.

For me, having the mobile web at my fingertips in important. Don’t give me a scaled down version of the web or a choppy and slow loading site. I want to see it like I do on my computer. What? Am I asking too much? Not with the Incredible. I type in a URL and the phone, on Verizon’s 3G network, goes there. Using a few finger flicks, I can see the entire page or zoom into sections that are of interest to me. The web is the web on this phone.

For those who like the techy specs, here is what this powerful phone has to offer:

The Incredible, priced at $299.99.