Updated

There was once a time when smartphone makers were in a race to see who could make the smallest device. Those days, however, are long gone, and nowhere is there a better example of the new "bigger is better" mantra than with HTC's new Droid DNA.

Announced today during a joint HTC and Verizon event, the Droid DNA sports a massive 5-inch true 1080p display, but that's not all. Inside, the Droid DNA features a quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM. Those stats put it roughly on par with Samsung's 5.5-inch Galaxy Note II. So which device is the top supersize smartphone?

The 5.5-inch Note II may have the 5-inch Droid DNA beat on screen size, but the DNA's Super LCD 3 1920 x 1080 resolution display easily beats the Note II's 1280 x 720 Super AMOLED panel.

On the processor side, the Droid DNA packs a powerful 1.5-GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor and 2GB of RAM. The Note II, meanwhile comes with a 1.4-GHz quad-core Exynos processor and 2GB of RAM, too. Despite their slight clock speed differences, both chips should prove more than capable of handling even your most demanding tasks.

Storage for the Droid DNA is limited to 16GB of space while the Note II is available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB variants and, unlike the DNA, includes a microSD card slot, meaning you'll have more space to save music, photos and movies.

Perhaps the one category where the DNA is at a distinct disadvantage in this battle between smartphone monsters is its battery capacity. With its huge screen and quad-core processor, Samsung stuck the Note II with an equally large 3,100 mAh battery. During our testing, the Note II lasted an impressive 7 hours and 45 minutes.

Conversely, the Droid DNA includes a much smaller 2,020 mAh battery. We haven't been able to test the DNA's battery life, but we are all but certain that it will struggle to come anywhere close to the Note II's time.

From the looks of it the Verizon HTC Droid DNA is a solid challenger to the supersize smartphone throne. Whether it will be able to usurp the Samsung Galaxy Note II, we'll see once we have done our full review.

 

 HTC Droid DNA           

Samsung Galaxy Note II                
Display Size   5 inches 5.5 inches
Display Resolution (Pixels)  1920 x 1080 1280 x 720
Pixel Density (PPI)  440 267 ppi
Connectivity  4G LTE 4G LTE
Processor  1.5-GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro 1.4-GHz quad-core Exynos
RAM  2GB 2GB
Internal Storage  16GB 16GB, 32GB, 64GB
NFC  Yes Yes
Battery   2,020 mAh 3,100 mAh
Camera  2.1MP front, 8MP rear  1.9MP front, 8MP rear
Size 5.5 x 2.8 x 0.4 inches  5.9 x 3.2 x 0.4 inches
Weight  4.8 ounces  6.3 ounces
Carriers  Verizon  AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon
Starting Price  $199  $299