HTC has continued the tradition of refreshing existing devices with this phone, with a noticeable intention to correct all flaws that have been observed in previous ones. Incredible S is a phone that’s easiest to describe as a somewhat smaller Desire HD with a changed appearance, which means that it’s got to be a high-quality phone by default.
A casual glance is enough to notice that HTC has changed their traditional ways in the design of Incredible S - the single-piece aluminium body in the standard shape of a curved, flattened box now also gets a very interesting relief on the bottom. Some will like it and some won’t, as ever, but it clearly differentiates this phone from other devices in the same category. The battery lid isn’t metal, but plastic, with a matte texture that enables a firm grip and successfully eliminates fingerprints. Below the lid, one can find a battery and a hot-swappable microSD card. However, pay attention that you won’t be able to connect to a mobile network while the lid is absent. On the back, there’s the 8 MP camera lens, a double flash and a speaker. On the top, there’s a 3.5 mm headphone connector and the power button. To the left, you can see the volume regulation button (a very loud one) and a microUSB connector for data transfer purposes. The right edge has no functions or buttons, which is a shame, but as the space could’ve been used for a camera button. The very bottom contains only the microphone. Expectedly, the display occupies most of the front surface of the device, and the room above it contains the front camera, light and distance sensor and the speaker, protected by the mask. Below is the section dedicated to system sensor keys: home, menu, back and search, and the funny thing is that they’re made of tiny LEDs, so that they rotate together with the phone, as well as their perfect visibility under all light conditions, making for a very pleasant effect altogether.
Besides the fact that it’s big and has Gorilla glass protection from impact, the display is excellent. After mild disappointment with Desire HD, we were afraid that the same display quality problems would reoccur on this model as well, but HTC has outsmarted us, making one of the best LCDs that we’ve ever had the chance to see on a phone. Viewing angles, display fidelity, colour vivacity, it’s all thrown in for good measure. As expected, contrast and black colour display aren’t comparable to those seen on AMOLED displays, but they are really, really good nevertheless. As far as the software base is concerned, things were a bit disappointing in that respect, as the OS is somewhat old, and the HTC Sense-era personalisation isn’t too exciting either. This was probably conditioned by the need for the phone to appear on the market as soon as possible, but HTC has announced that the new, 2.3 version of the phone’s OS will be available shortly after the initial release of the device onto the market, which tells us that HTC Sense will be updated the same way as well. If any other company were in question, we would’ve been sceptical about these announcements, but HTC has a flawless history, which makes them worthy of our confidence. In order to disperse all arising suspicions, the company has even stated that the version 2.4 will be made available in due time just as well.
HTC Sense is an already well-known environment, polished over the years and with added functionality. This phone uses the HTC Sense site as well, which means that registration on the latter will unlock many possibilities for you. You can track your phone via the website, send a message to it, lock it, make it ring even when in silent mode, and even remotely delete all data from it. Additional features haven’t been left out either, so in case that you’re a registered user, you can download additional themes, wallpapers, ringtones, widgets and much more from the website. Within the HTC Sense environment, you have the option of downloading apps via the HTC Likes shortcut instead of the traditional Android Market way. Basically, the differences are few, with the most relevant being the possibility to see comments made on individual apps by other HTC users and follow their recommendations. Some features are still unavailable worldwide and will work in specific regions only, such as navigation, even though Google Maps contains very detailed maps for practically every region of the world. All HTC Sense functions tied to the accelerometer work very well. If the phone rings, and you turn it face down, it’ll stop ringing, but won’t cut the call. When you grab it, the ringing volume will be reduced, and if it’s located inside a pocket or bag, it’ll increase the volume by itself.
