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Phone Wars: HTC Droid DNA VS Google Nexus 4

Phone Wars: HTC Droid DNA VS Google Nexus 4

By Alexander Maxham
November 13, 2012

Today, we’ve got the newest member of the Verizon Droid family, the HTC Droid DNA going up against the newest member of the Google family, the Nexus 4 built by LG. In terms of specs, these devices have a lot of the same specs until you get to the screen. This is gonna be a good fight, and it might even get a little dirty. But let’s get started with comparing the specs of the Google Nexus 4 and the HTC Droid DNA.

Specifications

HTC Droid DNA

The HTC Droid DNA, also known as the Verizon version of the J Butterfly. It’s HTC’s answer to the Samsung Galaxy Note series, and boy did HTC need to put out a great device. When you first look at the specs, they simply blow you away, except for two minor problems. The small 2020mAh battery and the no expandable storage. The battery in the Droid DNA is smaller than the Google Nexus 4’s battery. And the Nexus 4 has a smaller screen, so you can expect the Nexus 4 to have better battery life. And as far as expandable storage goes, everyone was complaining about the Nexus 4 only offering 16GB so you can expect the same with the Droid DNA.

Pros:

  • Best display available. 5.0″ Super LCD3, 1080p at 441 pixels per inch. That is just crazy!
  • Brings competition to the phablet market on Verizon (Samsung Galaxy Note 2, LG Intuition)
  • Sense 4+ and Android 4.1; Comes with the first version of Jelly Bean which includes Google Now, expandable notifications and Project Butter
  • 2GB RAM and Snapdragon S4 Pro; Doesn’t get much faster than this

Cons:

  • Small 2020mAh battery; with a 5.5″ 441ppi display and LTE, this battery is going to be pretty bad in my opinion
  • Only available on Verizon; When is HTC going to get it, they needed to launch this across all the carriers
  • No expandable storage

Google Nexus 4

The fourth generation Nexus phone from Google, and this time LG. After HTC and Samsung making the first three Nexus devices, Google shipped the program over to LG. And I’ve got to say LG hit it out of the park. Bringing us brand new hardware on every level, and Google bringing us Android 4.2, which is always awesome. Now most people dislike that the Nexus 4 only comes in 8GB and 16GB variations, but for the pricing it’s not bad at all.

Pros:

  • Android 4.2; Stock Android with the latest from Google!
  • Pricing; $299 and $349 respectively, unlocked direct from Google. Can’t get much better than that.
  • Beautiful HD IPS Plus display, almost as good as the HTC One X
  • 2GB RAM and Snapdragon S4 Pro making everything fast on this device.

Cons:

  • No LTE and no expandable storage
  • Only available on GSM carriers; no CDMA availability so far

Winner…

After a tough fight between these two, I’d have to give the win to the Droid DNA. Mostly due to that screen. It’s just beautiful. To be able to have a 1080p display everyday in your pocket is just amazing. Just this time last year we started seeing 720p Android phones, so looks like 2013 is the year of 1080p? Not that we are saying the Nexus 4 is a horrible phone, many of us are still picking it up, including me. But the HTC Droid DNA brings all of HTC’s strengths into one device, and it’s about time HTC!