Samsung Droid Charge Review

Verizon’s Droid line of devices is the pioneering line of Android phones. The original Motorola Droid was the first breakthrough Android device, putting our favorite operating system on the map and serving as a stepping stone to the monumental success that Google has had with Android. The Droid Charge serves as Samsung’s first foray into the Droid world, though Verizon continues working with Motorola on the Droid X2

So, how is Samsung’s first entry into the Droid universe? Let’s take a closer look at what you can expect from the Droid Charge, should you choose to pick this one up in the future.

In The Box

The Droid Charge, like virtually every other smartphone, comes with everything you’ll need to get started with inside the box. You’re looking at the Droid Charge itself and an adorably compact wall charger with detachable USB data transfer cable. Inside the box is also your bog standard guides, consumer info and safety packets and one bonus treat; a $25 gift card for movie rentals or purchases from the Samsung Media Hub application.

The Droid Charge comes loaded with a 32GB Samsung microSD card for all of your music, movies, apps, photos and other sundry data.

Hardware

It’s no great secret that Samsung is a lover of lightweight plastics in their design work, and the Droid Charge is no exception to that tradition. The Charge, while having a solid presence in your hand, definitely doesn’t feel as heavy as some of these other, partial-metal construction devices but this is not necessarily a bad thing. In our day to day dealings with the Charge, we’ve never felt like it wasn’t able to withstand daily usage in any way; you just might not want to launch it into space or throw it from a helicopter.

On board for the ride is a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Display, Android 2.2, 8MP rear-facing camera, 1.3MP front-facing camera, 1GHz single-core CPU and 4G LTE compatibility on Verizon’s excellent 4G network. Now let’s take a closer look at the button setup.

Pushing Buttons

Take a look at the button map below to get yourself familiar with the button layout on the Droid Charge and we’ll run through the basic feel of them after the image. Click the photo to see the enlarged version.

So the bottom, face buttons are the standard Menu, Home, Back and Search buttons – the formula is perfect and Samsung is smart enough to not try and reinvent the wheel here. On the right hand side of the Charge, we’ve got the HDMI out and power/lock buttons. Note that no HDMI cable is provided in the box, but you can pick this one up for $19.95 with our 30-day 100% money back guarantee.

Moving on to the left side of the device, we’ve got the volume rocker and micro USB port. Up top resides the headphone port. One thing about the Droid Charge that we loved is the physical buttons on the front face of the device. Samsung, and many other manufacturers, have been incorporating soft buttons on the front face that respond to touch rather than a physical button press. The buttons feel responsive, solid and are difficult to press by mistake.

Battery, CPU and Storage

We’ve had a great time with the Droid Charge battery, not having to keep it constantly on the charger. Like most devices on the market right now, the Charge has enough battery power to keep a hearty user going throughout the day. If you find yourself using your device for battery-intensive tasks like playing games or playing media, you may want to pick up an extra battery to keep with you. We used the Charge as our daily device for a couple weeks, seeing a daily routing including a host of email reading/writing, sending and receiving SMS messages and surfing the web. The Charge battery didn’t fulfill our every hope and desire, but it got us through the day and was most likely happy to get plugged in by 7 or 8 o’clock in the evening.

In terms of on-board storage, the Droid Charge is rather lacking with its 2GB of internal space. But coming bundled with a 32GB microSD card, this is hardly a complaint.

CPU-wise, we’re looking at the old 1GHz Hummingbird CPU, single-core for those unfamiliar with the processor. It would have been nice to see a dual-core CPU on board, as the Droid series has typically been pretty cutting-edge, but with the Droid X2 filling the dual-core slot, it looks like Samsung was happy to drop in the single-core. If you’ve used a Hummingbird-powered device before, such as the Galaxy S line, you’ll be well familiar with the processor. It is a zippy little fellow, providing more than enough speed for most mobile games and nearly every common task; browsing, playing media, sending and receiving email, etc. The lack of a dual-core processor is disappointing only in that the technology is there, so why not use it? We want to be clear that the Droid Charge doesn’t feel sluggish or lacking, but it would have been nice to see the latest tech inside.

Benchmarks

Just a quick little section here to post some of our benchmark scores.

Linpack, 5 tests run

• MFLOPS: 13.45 – 13.57
• Time: 6.16 – 6.18 Seconds

The Droid Charge came in at 975 on Quadrant, testing for CPU, I/O and 3D Graphics processing. Comparitively, the HTC Thunderbolt 4G comes in around 1000 and the Motorola Droid X2, with its remarkably powerful dual-core CPU scored 2502 on our first benchmark test.

Camera / Video

The Droid Charge excels in the Camera department – we’re looking at an 8MP, rear-facing camera with LED flash and 1.3MP camera facing the front for video chat and low-quality self portraits. The main camera on the rear is capable of taking HD video, up to 720p. Some may complain about the lack of 1080p capture but let’s remember – these are phones. 2 years ago, the concept of high-definition video taking on an 8-inch long device was pretty ridiculous so let’s keep things in perspective.

Take a look below for a couple samples from the phones primary camera.

Image taken in high sunlight

Image taken in lower indoor lighting conditions, sunlight flooding in

Take a look at a video sample – the following video was uploaded directly from the Droid Charge, no editing or correction applied.

Accessories

The Droid Charge doesn’t have any high price-point accessories like the Atrix 4G keyboard docks, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a wealth of great and useful accessories already on the market for this bad boy. Whether you’re looking for spare batteries, Bluetooth headsets, screen protectors or cases, we’ve got you covered.

If you’re just picking up your Charge for the first time, we’d definitely recommend grabbing a Body Glove protective case. The Body Glove doesn’t detract from the beauty of the Droid Charge but it will definitely protect your device should you drop it or toss it on your desk when you get home.

Outside of the protective case, you may want to consider picking up a spare battery, although we’ve had a great time with battery usage so far as we said earlier. Some of the other hot accessories right now for the Charge are car chargers, Mobi Products colored skins and leather cases. Check out our store for more Droid Charge accessories.

Software

Before we get any further into the software side of the review, let’s get this out there right now; the Droid Charge is running Android 2.2 – not the latest version of the software, Android 2.3. Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily; like the lack of a dual-core CPU, this is only a deterrent because the technology is there and it’s disappointing to see it not included.

Android 2.2 notwithstanding, Android 2.2 and Samsung’s proprietary TouchWiz 3.0 overlay feels very fluid and is definitely user-friendly. TouchWiz 3.0 will be familiar to users of previous Samsung Devices, including the Galaxy S variants. The software feels smooth and the 1GHz CPU definitely helps to move things along, preventing any lag or stutter.

Preloaded Software

The Droid Charge comes to you with quite a few pre-loaded applicatiosn out of the box, in addition to the stock Android applications. Those apps are:

• AllShare
• Amazon Kindle
• BitBop
• Blockbuster
• Lets Golf 2
• Samsung Media Hub
• Rhapsody
• Rock Band
• Slacker Radio
• ThinkFree Office
• TuneWiki

The device also features Verizon’s suite of proprietary applications including Apps, Backup Assistant, My Verizon Mobile, V CAST Media and VZ Navigator. Needless to say, the Droid Charge comes with a ton of stuff that you’ll likely never load one single time in all your life. It’s important to note that the Charge has been rooted and custom ROMs are making their way online each week without the additional software that you may not want bogging down your delicious Droid Charge.

No word at this time if TouchWiz 4.0, the latest version of the overlay, will be made available on the Droid Charge in the future.

Multimedia

Here is one area where the Droid Charge’s beautiful Super AMOLED Plus really goes to work; multimedia — specifically, videos. One thing that Samsung just can’t fail to do wonderfully is their AMOLED displays. The Super AMOLED on the Galaxy S was a joy to behold and has only gotten bigger and better on the Droid Charge, in the Super AMOLED Plus.

Watching videos on the Droid Charge was a breeze. The 1GHz CPU moved things along, and the 4G speeds blazed along when we streamed video from the Internet. With applications like Blockbuster and Samsung Media Hub on board right out of the box, this phone is just begging to become your portable media player. On top of that, you have the option to rent movies from the Android Market as well – although this is not a Droid Charge-specific feature, but rather available on all non-rooted Android devices.

In the music department, the Charge comes with Slacker Radio on board in addition to the stock Music Player but as we all know, the Android Market features a host of media player alternatives and we all have our favorites.

Conclusion

The Droid Charge isn’t as revolutionary a device as it’s big brother the Motorola Droid was, but Samsung has put together a device that does the Droid series proud. Folks on Verizon Wireless are going to tend to compare this one to the HTC Thunderbolt 4G – both devices came out around the same time, and were the first two phones to support Verizon’s 4G LTE network.

While this isn’t necessarily an unfair comparison, you’re really looking at your choice of handset manufacturer and overlay at the end of the day. Both devices have nearly identical specs on the inside — so it comes down to whether you prefer HTC and Sense overlay, or Samsung and TouchWiz.

The Droid Charge has made an excellent daily device, and we’re happy to offer up a 9 out of 10. The device, by itself, would most likely merit a 10 but when we step back and look at the bigger picture – seeing a lack of a dual-core CPU really hurts the device, because the technology is so prevalent in other phones. Don’t get us wrong, we love the Hummingbird and it will always have a place in our digital hearts, but dated technology in a brand new device doesn’t bode well with us.  The excellent quality camera, beautiful Super AMOLED Plus and zippy Hummingbird processor are guaranteed to please nearly any Verizon Wireless customer.