Samsung Droid Charge Review

While technically not in the Samsung Galaxy line up, the Droid Charge still has enough familiar characteristics to be considered a close cousin. The Droid Charge features many of the same design elements as well as the hardware and software found in the Samsung Galaxy S.



The Samsung Droid Charge is Verizon's second LTE compatible smartphone released to the market, but the first Samsung manufactured Android powered device to land in the Droid line up.

With the onslaught of powerful smartphones after the creation of 4G LTE, the Droid Charge has quite a lot of heavy competition to take on. Going toe to toe with the likes of the Thunderbolt, Galaxy S 4G, Atrix and G2x, the Droid Charge really has to take on its namesake and charge through the competition. 

The Droid Charge looks slightly different from other Android smartphones. It has the basic candy bar design, but it does add on some design on the top and bottom, giving it an oval look. Taking up the front is a 4.3 inch Super AMOLED display, which displays colorful, vibrant colors and deep dark contrast. The Super AMOLED also has an impressive viewing angle. Below the display resides the four shortcuts for menu, home, back and search. The right edge has the power / lock button and an HDMI port. The left edge has the volume rocker and the microUSB port for charge and data transfer. The top just has the 3.5 mm headphone jack.

The Samsung Droid Charge doesn't have the latest and greatest when it comes to hardware or software. While the hardware is powerful, it definitely cannot compare to the newer dual core smartphones. Running on the 1 GHz processor is Android 2.2 with TouchWiz. A slight disappointment since Android 2.3 is becoming more and more prevalent. 

The touchscreen gestures are easy to learn and use on the Droid Charge. TouchWiz UI was added to enhance the user experience but there are some who love it and those who hate it. TouchWiz pushes the phone to have a more iOS feel. No surprise that Apple has been suing Samsung lately. 

The Droid Charge is an LTE smartphone, meaning it has the ability access the extremely fast but slightly unreliable 4G LTE network from Verizon. The Droid Charge can share the LTE network to up to 10 devices by becoming a mobile hotspot but there is an added cost. The front facing 1.3 megapixel front facing camera can utilize the 4G network as well, helping to create smooth video chatting experiences. 

The 8 megapixel camera is also a nice feature, able to take some high quality pictures. In addition, it can also record video in 1080p, which combined with the HDMI out, allows you to view high definition video from the smartphone, captured on the smartphone. 

Overall the Samsung Droid Charge is designed nicely, falters a bit when it comes to hardware and software, but regains its balance when it comes to features. 

Scoring

Design - 4/5
Hardware and Software - 3/5
User Interface - 3/5
Features - 4/5 

Overall Score - 14/20 - Wait Until Price Drop