Fasten your seat belt boys and girls, today we’ve got two monster devices going head-to-head in Phone Wars. Let’s introduce them. First up is the HTC Droid DNA, with it’s 5″ 1080p display and quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor. Going up against the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 with it’s 5.5″ 720p display and Exynos quad-core processor. It’s gonna be a good fight ladies and gentlemen. Both of these are Verizon devices, and are expected to be some of the biggest sellers this holiday season, so let’s get into it. Starting with the Specs.
Specifications
HTC Droid DNA
Let’s start with the hardware on this beast. Starting with the display, it’s just gorgeous. If you thought the display on the One X was the best, come check out the Droid DNA’s screen. It blows that one away. With 441 pixels per inch at true 1080p, it’s the best display on the market right now. Then bring in the 2GB of RAM and that quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro, it just brings the device to a whole new ball game. Right now I don’t think there’s any device that can match the Droid DNA in specs.
Onto the software. The Droid DNA comes with Android 4.1 – Jelly Bean with Sense 4+. Yes Sense is still around, unfortunately. But it’s not as bad as it used to be. And HTC has added another gigabyte of RAM to make the device run even faster. So you’ll get all the features of Jelly Bean including Google Now, Expandable notifications, and Project Butter, along with Beats Audio which makes listening to Google Music even better.
Pros:
- That screen; I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again that screen is just amazing
- Jelly Bean; yes it does come with, well almost the latest version of Android. Since Android 4.2 just dropped yesterday
- 2GB of RAM and Snapdragon S4 Pro; bringing you the best multi-tasking experience possible
Cons:
- Small battery; the battery is only 2020mAh which is pretty small for a display like that and running 4G LTE. It’ll probably last about 6 hours before it needs to be recharged.
- Sense 4+; while the Droid DNA does run on 2GB of RAM, Sense 4+ is still going to be a sore spot for many people
Samsung Galaxy Note 2
Onto our second of the Verizon beasts, the Galaxy Note 2. Starting with the hardware, the Note 2 has a quad-core Exynos processor clocked at 1.6GHz. Now for many, this is believed to be the fastest processor for a mobile device. But they haven’t compared the S4 Pro to the Exynos 4412 yet. Then we have that 5.5″ display. Sure it’s bigger than the Droid DNA, but half an inch (not a jab at that fruit phone) but it’s 720p and not 1080p. Gotta say the Galaxy Note 3 is going to have some real contenders next year.
Now the software. Much like the Droid DNA, the Note 2 ships with Android 4.1 – Jelly Bean as well, but it also comes with Touchwiz. Now many people don’t like Touchwiz (including me) but I have to say it’s pretty darn good on battery life. I’ve found that Touchwiz is much better on Battery life than any of the other manufacturers skins. The Note 2 comes with features of Jelly Bean including Google Now, Enhanced Notifications and Project Butter.
Pros:
- Samsung Software and features including; S Memo, S Voice, Smart Stay, the S Pen and many more
- Huge battery; at 3100mAh, it’s one of the larger batteries on the market right now. The only device with a larger one? The Droid Razr Maxx HD
- Quad-core Exynos Processor with 2GB of RAM; making the multi-window feature on the Note 2 work even better than on the S3.
- Huge developer community
Cons:
- Touchwiz; this is a personal preference, but some do not like manufacturers skins.
- The 5.5″ display may be found as to big to be used with one hand for some people. This is another personal preference
- Verizon Branded home button; it’s just ugly!
Winner….
This is a pretty close race, but would have to give it to the Galaxy Note 2 for all the features it brings in Touchwiz along with the S Pen. For most people the Galaxy Note 2 will be the winner based on how popular Samsung is. But with both devices being available on Verizon, the choice is completely up to you.