HTC Droid DNA review - The Verge

Software

The Droid DNA features Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean with the latest version of HTC’s Sense 4+ interface. Sense 4+ is very similar to Sense 4, and should look quite familiar to anyone that has seen HTC’s phones released this year. HTC customizes Android with its own lock screen, home screens, app drawers, and multitasking system, and it covers the majority of the interface with its own theming. Whether you like HTC’s treatment of Android generally comes down to personal taste, but for the most part, Sense tends to bury Android’s functions under layers of unnecessary UI elements, and it can be slower and more cumbersome to use as a result. For example, Google Now is buried under a long press of the home key, which is much less intuitive to access than the swipe up gesture used in stock Android 4.1. Additionally, Sense’s handling of the legacy menu button still found in many apps is less than elegant, and the DNA doesn’t have the ability to change the function of its dedicated multitasking key like the One X.

In addition to the changes Sense 4+ brings to Android 4.1, the DNA is stuffed to the gills with pre-loaded apps from both Amazon and Verizon itself. Verizon has been putting Amazon apps on its Android smartphones since the release of the Motorola Droid RAZR M, but the DNA takes it to another level with a new single-sign-on widget that gives you access to all of your Amazon content and services in one place. This is great for those that rely on Amazon’s services for everything from books to music to shopping, but it’s a bit annoying that it’s built into the phone and not provided as an option for those that don’t want it. The Droid DNA may be a glimpse into the future of what a real Amazon phone might be like, but it’s at this point, the Amazon features feel more bolted on than truly integrated into the system.

Other crapware apps preloaded on the DNA are Verizon’s NFL Mobile, Viewdini, Verizon Tones, VZ Navigator, Visual Voicemail, Slacker Radio, and Amex Serve apps. While it is possible to disable most of these apps, it’s not possible to remove them from the phone’s memory, which at 16GB (about 11.5GB are available to the user) is already on the smaller side of things.

One thing to note about the DNA’s software is that it is entirely phone-based. Unlike the Samsung Galaxy Note II, which offers some tablet experience and the S Pen for more functionality, the DNA offers more or less the same software experience as any other HTC smartphone from 2012, despite its larger display. The DNA is very much a smartphone, and isn’t really a replacement for a small tablet by any means.

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