Choosing an Incredible Verizon Smartphone

So I saw that Verizon Wireless is having a ridiculous promotion on the Palm Pre Plus ($49 with a second phone free) and the Pixi Plus ($29) right now, with a 2-year contract.  Which reminded me that my contract ended last year and I’m long overdue for a new phone.

Unfortunately the Pre has an uncertain future because Palm is rumored to be up for sale.  The Pre hasn’t “caught on” in the market like Android or the iPhone, which is a shame since all reports indicate the Pre is a nice phone.  For $49, it seems like a crazy good deal to me (and it has tethering!), if you’re willing to take the chance on the dying WebOS.

I also eyed the $69 Droid Eris, which is prettier and has quite similar features to the Pre (plus a 5 megapixel camera).  Unfortunately it lacks tethering, which I could see being useful in some situations (like troubleshooting the in-laws’ computer problems, which is painful over their dial-up connection).  Also, it “only” runs Android 1.6.  I’ve seen rumors it may be getting 2.1 soon, but I wouldn’t hold my breath for it.

Those were my top two picks on Verizon.  Until I heard about the recently unveiled Droid Incredible.  The Incredible (a seriously dorky name for a phone) is very similar to the Nexus One - which was my dream phone prior to this writing - but it’s on Verizon and it’s “only” $199 with a 2-year contract (as opposed to the $529 Nexus One that runs on Sprint).  It has all the cool smartphone features, a Snapdragon 1GHz processor, an 8 megapixel camera, removable micro-SD storage, and a micro-USB connector/charger.  Plus it runs Android 2.1, so I can start my Android app development career.

My Droid Incredible should be arriving 4/29.  Sweet!

P.S. Literally the day after I ordered the Incredible, I heard about Dell’s Lightning and Thunder, which also look like sweet phones.  The rate that cell phones are coming out now is crazy.  You have to hold your breath, make a purchase, and try not to be too envious when a better phone comes out a week later.