HTC Droid DNA

HTC and Verizon will be making the HTC Droid DNA available in the US at around the same time that Samsung will be making their Galaxy Note 2 available as well.

Both of these Android handsets have the same customer base more or less: those who prefer an Android smartphone that has a bigger screen than the usual.

Let’s take a closer look at both devices.

Display

The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 has a 5.55 inch Super AMOLED display.
This is the biggest smartphone display currently available in the market.
The Galaxy Note 2 has a pixel resolution of 1280 x 720 for a pixel density of 265 pixels per inch.
The images on the Galaxy Note 2 are a little crisper than that found in the Galaxy S3 as it doesn’t use PenTile layout.
Because of the Super AMOLED technology, the Note 2’s display has great contrast ratios, brightness levels, and viewing angles.
However, because of the Super AMOLED technology, color reproduction is not that accurate.
The HTC Droid DNA has a 5 inch Super LCD3 display.
The HTC Droid DNA display has a pixel resolution of 1920 x 1080 for a pixel density of 440 pixels per inch.
The quality of the display of the HTC Droid DNA is impressive. The ultra high resolution allows for perfect crispness, great viewing angles, and very accurate color reproduction.

Verdict: The display of the HTC Droid DNA can be considered one of the best ever to be featured on a smartphone

Design and Build Quality

The Galaxy Note 2 looks a lot like Samsung’s Galaxy S3.
Under drop tests, the Galaxy Note 2 did prove to be sturdier than the Galaxy S3.
The Galaxy Note 2’s measurements are 151.1 x 80.5 x 9.4 mm and it weighs around 183 grams.
The HTC Droid DNA is said to be one of the best-looking handsets ever.
The Droid DNA has a smaller display than the Note 2 and it also has curved edges. These two features allow for a more compact phone that easily fits in your hands or in your pockets.
The Droid DNA’s measurements are 143 x 71 x 9.73 mm and it weighs 138 grams.
The Droid DNA is thinner, shorter, narrower, and also lighter than the Galaxy Note 2.
Both the Droid DNA and the Galaxy Note 2 feature narrow bezels which allow for them to maximize screen space.

Verdict: The HTC Droid DNA has the better-looking design.

Internal Hardware

The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 has a 1.6GHz Exynos 4 (A9) quad-core processor as well as a Mali400 MP GPU
The HTC Droid DNA has a Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 Pro which has a 1.5 GHz quad-core Krait processor as well as an Adreno 320 GPU.
Both the Droid DNA and the Galaxy Note 2 have 2GB RAM for a smooth experience while multitasking.
The Adreno 320 GPU is much faster than the Mali 400 MPGPU.
There are 3 variants of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 available with different amounts of onboard storage: 16, 32, 54 GB.
The Galaxy Note 2 also has a microSD slot so you can expand your storage by as much as 64 GB.
The Droid DNA only has the option for 16 GB of onboard storage and does not have a microSD so there is not an option to expand your storage.
Camera-wise, both the Galaxy Note 2 and the Droid DNA have an 8MP shooter as their primary camera.
The Note 2 also has a 1.9 MP secondary camera
The Droid DNA has a 2 MP secondary camera.
Both these cameras are quite good for basic photo taking.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 has a 3,100 mAh battery
The HTC Droid DNA has a 2,020 mAh battery.
The Note 2 has a Wacom digitizer and features Samsung’s S-Pen. Both these features are needed for some unique software functions.

Verdict: The Galaxy Note 2, with its big removable battery and its microSD slot wins here.

Software

Both the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and the HTC Droid DNA have Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Updates for both these phones to Android 4.2 are expected shortly.
The HTC Droid DNA uses HTC’s Sense user interface.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 uses Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface.
Samsung has introduced a range of software features with the Galaxy Note 2, including a number of apps to be used with the S-Pen.

Verdict: The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and its extra software win here.

There are two questions you need to ask yourself when choosing between the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and the HTC Droid DNA:

1) Do you want really fast internals and a great 5-inch display? Then go for the Droid DNA.

2) Do you want something that feels like a smartphone, improves the Android OS and which you can take notes on? Then go for the Galaxy Note 2.

What’s your answer? The Droid DNA or the Galaxy Note 2 ?

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