HTC Droid DNA review

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dlock13

Platinum Member
Oct 24, 2006
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Not sure. I have no plans to root the phone myself. Why do you want to root it anyway?

I want to use Titanium Backup, Ad blockers, Root Explorer, and just a few applications that actually need root. Oh... One huge one is I want to remove the Verizon apps instead of just disabling/hiding them. They need to go.
 

Face2Face

Diamond Member
Jun 6, 2001
4,100
215
106
I want to use Titanium Backup, Ad blockers, Root Explorer, and just a few applications that actually need root. Oh... One huge one is I want to remove the Verizon apps instead of just disabling/hiding them. They need to go.

Okay, that makes sense. Removing the verizon apps alone is worth it :)
 
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dlock13

Platinum Member
Oct 24, 2006
2,806
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Okay, that makes sense. Removing the verizon apps along is worth it :)

Honestly, the phone is fast enough for me, and I like what HTC did with a few things. It doesn't feel like they removed many features if any from JB. The only thing I'd do is toss on a custom launcher and go that route when I feel the urge to customize. I just want to be able to control the apps on my phone.

Gah. This is killing me. I wish someone would do a video walkthrough from step 1 to step 101001010. :p
 

Zink

Senior member
Sep 24, 2009
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Come one guys, it's only been three weeks since he said he was close to being done...

He talks all day on twitter about cellular carriers, I don't know how he could just go on holiday without putting the review up. It's been two weeks since his last AT post.
 

jacar

Junior Member
Dec 25, 2012
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Had HTC never released the maH spec of the battery... There would be little discussion about battery life with this device.

Hell, if they lied and said it was 2600maH, people would probably be praising the battery.
This pretty much says everything there is to say about battery life.

Everyone is "worried" about battery capacity, but what you should really be interested in is battery life. And it's great! I've had it for a month now, don't have to alter my usage patterns, whatsoever. SGS3 actually had worse battery life than DNA. I suggest trying it yourself.

And DNA reviews like the one at theVerge are the bottom of the barrel, half assed, absolute travesty. If someone told Dan Seifert that DNA had a massive battery mAh, he would've given it 9/10. He doesn't test, he reports. That guy is a tool.
 

dguy6789

Diamond Member
Dec 9, 2002
8,558
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Lots of big name reviewers say the battery life is terrible. It isn't exclusively a matter of looking at the mah numbers and people forming their opinions. Although things like knowing how much battery life devices with similar or identical internals get with an X mah battery gives a very good guess on what another device with those internals would get with a Y mah battery; lots of people predicted the DNA batter life would be poor before the device launched and they were all right.
 

jacar

Junior Member
Dec 25, 2012
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lots of people predicted the DNA batter life would be poor before the device launched and they were all right.
Have you been using DNA at all, or you're also one of those that predict things?
I suggest trying it yourself before you throw blank statements like that...
 

Skurge

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2009
5,195
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The battery life may be fine, but it could be better. The One X is thinner, shorter, lighter and narrower and has a larger battery? How does that make any sense? That would be akin to Samsung putting a smaller battery in the SGS3 than the SGS2 and saying it's cause the display is higher res.

Every other phone manufacturer manages to put larger batteries in their new phones than their old phones.

Now, I'm sure it lasts fine on a charge, but it feels like a missed opportunity to me. You can bet the next Galaxy or Razr or Optimus will have a 1080p display and a larger battery, much larger battery and if they have similar power use to todays phones than they will last much longer than the DNA/butterfly.
 

jacar

Junior Member
Dec 25, 2012
7
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The battery life may be fine, but it could be better. The One X is thinner, shorter, lighter and narrower and has a larger battery? How does that make any sense?
One X = 1800mAh
DNA = 2020mAh

Point is battery life was great on One X, and it's even better on DNA. I get that you're upset that mAh is not higher, but Sense is definitely doing something right with standby time as I'm connecting two work days on a single charge if needed.
 
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jacar

Junior Member
Dec 25, 2012
7
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Forgot to add, after almost 6 weeks this is what I'm seeing on cellular:

BgApJl.png


Whatever HTC is doing with Sense and standby time, it's exceptional.
 

ncroadster

Junior Member
Jan 25, 2013
19
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It really is all about compromise.

I just came back to Verizon, and the DNA was the best match for me.

The Maxx HD looks cool with its large battery and SD slot, but the pentile AMOLED looks terrible to me. It also has 1GB of ram, which isn't ideal.

That leaves the Note 2 or the DNA. I've had the Note 2 on TMobile, and while it is an excellent device, I'm also not a fan of the AMOLED's oversaturated colors.

The DNA is the most balanced Android phone in Verizon's lineup.
 

s44

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 2006
9,427
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Whatever HTC is doing with Sense and standby time, it's exceptional.
They're killing multitasking...

I've had the Note 2 on TMobile, and while it is an excellent device, I'm also not a fan of the AMOLED's oversaturated colors.
Erm, you did notice the various saturation level options, right? It's on dynamic by default, but there are natural and washed-out levels too.
 

ncroadster

Junior Member
Jan 25, 2013
19
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They're killing multitasking...

Erm, you did notice the various saturation level options, right? It's on dynamic by default, but there are natural and washed-out levels too.

Sure did. IMO it still doesn't compare to the iPhone 5 or the DNA.
 

Red Storm

Lifer
Oct 2, 2005
14,233
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While we continue to wait for reviews on flagship devices like the DNA, Note 2, and Maxx HD, we instead get reviews for things like a $140 iPhone case that Brian actually recommends.

Seriously AT? :|
 

Face2Face

Diamond Member
Jun 6, 2001
4,100
215
106
I sent Brian two emails and haven't heard back from him. Really want to see his DNA review. I don't understand whats going on?
 

s44

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 2006
9,427
16
81
I sent Brian two emails and haven't heard back from him. Really want to see his DNA review. I don't understand whats going on?
Maybe there's a hangup with the new radio tower simulator. But he should really release the rest of the stuff first if that's the issue and then a big radio result roundup (including previous devices) later.
 

Zink

Senior member
Sep 24, 2009
209
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Yet we get 2 reviews of PC cases that we don't care about.
I don't think that's fair because AT is still a "computer" hardware review site and the number of people reading the PC sections of these forums is usually at least 10x as many as the mobile section. There are also specific editors for different technologies and so you can't criticize the people who are getting articles out just because Brian is slow. If Brian doesn't do phone reviews for whatever reason I think they should try to get someone else to do it, they need the data to give context to the results from the bigger 2013 devices and SOCs. I'd rather have Brain contributing stuff like he did for CES, the podcast, and his lower level hardware articles than leave AT because of constant nagging about a new Android phone review every month.