HTC has gone all out with the DROID DNA, and it pays dividends: the new Verizon exclusive breaks records with its 1080p display, putting HTC back into the limelight with a legitimate flagship. A Full HD screen, 4G LTE, and a quadcore S4 Pro chipset tick the spec boxes more comprehensively than weve ever seen before, though big displays and fast processors do make us worry when the battery is non-removable. Has HTC redeemed itself with the best Android phone on the market, or are the DROID DNAs ambitions simply ahead of their time? Read on for the full SlashGear review.

HTC hasnt strayed too far from its recent design language with the DROID DNA, and unlike its brightly-colored Windows Phones, the new Android flagship sticks with sober black for its chassis, lightened only with some splashes of red and fine detailing. Thats not to say its an ugly phone, nor a badly constructed one. Its plastic, but HTCs polycarbonate feels far more impressive than Samsungs comparatively flimsy materials.

The 141 x 70.5 x 9.73 mm casing is surprisingly compact, given the size of the screen, a perception helped by the taper to the rubberized-finish rear panel and the bevel of the edges. The micro-perforated red grilles running down those edges are, HTC tells us, meant to be reminiscent of a Lamborghini, though they work more as a simple visual cue pulling together the slice of red at the earpiece and the matching camera lens trim on the back.

Less successful are the physical buttons, the centered, recessed power key being tricky to find with your finger on the top edge, and the volume rocker being on the right side rather than the left, as is more usual. Were close to forgiving HTC for that, though, since it included not one but two notification LEDs, the first hidden behind the earpiece grille on the front, and then a second on the back of the phone, so that theres more chance of you spotting when an alert comes in.

Obviously the DROID DNAs pride and joy is its display, which well cover specifically in the next section. The rest of the phone is no slouch, however. At its heart is Qualcomms quadcore 1.5GHz APQ8064 Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, paired with 2GB of RAM; its the same chip as in the LG Nexus 4, but were told that HTC and Qualcomm worked together on refining the firmware so as to eke out even greater performance.

Elsewhere, just about every shiny and appealing part from the other devices in HTCs line-up has been squeezed into the DROID DNA. The 8-megapixel main camera has the f/2.0 aperture, 28mm lens and 1080p Full HD video recording weve seen on the HTC One X+, along with HTCs dedicated ImageChip processing that optimizes photos in their RAW state rather than after theyve been converted to JPEGs. HTC says thats better for final quality, and the front-facing 2.1-megapixel camera which gets the 88-degree wide angle lens, for fitting more people into group shots even when the DNA is held at arms length, as on the Windows Phone 8X by HTC also routes its shots through the standalone processing.

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DROID DNA Review