The HTC Droid DNA – should you get it? Well this all depends on exactly what you like in a device.

The Specs

The HTC Droid DNA will sport a 5-inch full 1080p Super LCD3 display, making it the first 1080p smartphone released in the USA! Furthermore the device boasts the new 1.5 GHz quad-core S4 Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm which is sure to deliver in performance and fluidity alike. This handset will also have 2GB of RAM, an 8 megapixel camera (with single LED flash) paired with a 2.1mp front-facing camera which features a super wide angled lens for those lovely portraits of yourself, Android 4.1.1 (Jelly Bean), HTC Sense 4+, Beats audio integration, 16GB of internal storage (11GB are usable), and a non-removable 2,020 mAh battery.

The Pros

Screen: It’s obvious that this phone is going to dominate your hand and your pocket with its wonderful HD display. Users at the announcing of the device exclaim that the phone “fits snugly in your hand” and is so light that they “ didn’t think that there was a battery in it.” One more aspect of the display that has not generated much hype is that Gorilla Glass is present. I myself am a bit clumsy so this is a definite plus in my book. I am definitely looking forward to playing around with this phone and streaming a movie or two.

Camera: HTC is proud to say that the camera for the Droid DNA is going to be one of the best. “It is suited for a photographer” said one of the staffers at the event on the thirteenth, “you can fit four people in a picture with just the front-facing camera!” I am no photographer but that my change with the array of different photo settings embedded into the phone’s camera app!

Audio: Music is extremely important in our lives today. What better way to enjoy it by hearing it through the Droid DNA’s unique, 2.55-volt, built-in headset amplifier or dedicated amp for the external rear-speaker? The audio quality is assured to be crystal clear even when the volume is at maximum on the handsets external speaker.

Areas of Concern

Battery Life: While the HTC DROID DNA is sure to perform well in a major way, I do see some areas that may worry consumers. One notable “problem” people have found with HTC phones in the past is that the screen seems to always suck the battery dry. This screen, being full 1080p HD and a whopping 5 inches, is sure to do the same. With a non-removable 2,020 mAh battery you may find yourself plugging in more often than usual.

Storage: I must admit that I had a bit of a nerdgasm when I originally hear that this phone was going to be a performance powerhouse, but one problem that I have with this phone is its internal storage limitation. At first I didn’t understand why they would market this phone as the ultimate media with only 16GB of internal memory (keep in mind that only 11GB is usable) to hold all my music. As I thought harder I came to the only conclusion: Verizon wants you to stream from the cloud. Nowadays we are moving into cloud-based storage; this is where Verizon makes its money. With no option for users to insert a micro SD card, users will not be able to keep all their music, movies, and books on their phone; they will have to stream it. I feel that Verizon is probably the culprit here as the Japanese version of the Droid DNA (HTC J Butterfly) launched with 16GB of internal memory and a micro SD card slot.

Multiple Phones + Multiple Carriers = Multiple Problems

It has been no secret that HTC has been heading into financial downfall. Is HTC’s practice of launching exclusive phones on different carriers a contributing factor to this fall from grace? I must admit that when I heard the HTC One X was only going to AT&T, I was upset. I wondered how they could miss Verizon – one of the biggest and, in my opinion, the best carrier around. After seeing leaked pictures of what we thought would be called the HTC Incredible X or HTC DLX my hope was restored; they had held out. Was this the right move for HTC though? Other phone manufacturers like Apple, who release the same phone on every major carrier, have saturated the market. What is HTC doing that has got them where they are right now?

They release spectacular phones on every carrier that differ from each other in certain ways in order to give exclusiveness to that particular handset. While I feel that their heart is in the right place I don’t believe this helps them out at all. One way to build up your reputation is to release one handset at a time on every carrier to get your name out there. For example, it is easy for someone to say “I have a Galaxy S3 from Samsung and I love it” because the phone is the same across all the carriers; it gives the manufacturer the benefit of name recognition as well as contributing to a good connotation about the product. HTC doesn’t do that. They release a line of phones on one carrier and name them something and then release some similar phones on another carrier and call them something different; this doesn’t help HTC gain consumer mind share Furthermore they often lack support for some of their devices. The tablets that they released that had a lot of bugs to squish were rarely updated as well as some of the phones they have released as well.

In short, when they release a slew of phones here and there it is hard for them to keep updating them to the latest and greatest software in order to squish all the bugs. This leads frustrated consumers and eventually leads them to jump ship. If HTC worked on one solid product at a time and supported it for a while, they would be able to capitalize on their name alone and win back consumers who have a bit of a bad taste in their mouth.