Samsung Droid Charge 4G Verizon Smartphone Review

Browsing the Web is certainly a key feature of any smartphone, so we also conducted some formal speed tests to see how well the Samsung Droid Charge compares to some of today's hottest smartphones.

In the Xtremelabs speed test, the Droid Charge performed well on Verizon's 4G network and over our 802.11g network. 3G scores with the Droid Charge in the Xtremelabs speed test were not quite as impressive, though the phone did score similarly to the HTC Thunderbolt with 3G coverage.

In looking at the BA.net speed test, the Droid Charge scored well over Wi-Fi. 4G scores weren't quite as high as we would have hoped though they were still respectable. The Droid Charge came in last compared to our other systems when running the BA.net speed test over a Verizon Wireless 3G connection.

The Droid Charge competed well against the HTC Thunderbolt in the Speetest.net speed test while connected to Verizon Wireless' 4G network and our Wi-Fi network. 3G speeds were a little disappointing. As we noted in our review of the HTC Thunderbolt, the scores from the HTC Thunderbolt on the Speetest.net speed test seemed abnormally high (bug in the previous release of the benchmark caused this). However, we were able to re-run this test for comparison with the Droid Charge. As you can see, the two phones now offer more comparable speed results.

Although both our 3G and 4G speed tests weren’t optimal because we couldn't get a clean 5-bar connection in our test locations, the browsing speed tests do show that 4G really does offer significant speed improvements over previous cellular technologies. If you're lucky enough to be in a 4G coverage area, you should see a definite speed boost over 3G.