In 2012, we saw the Android smartphone world reach heights that I don’t imagine many predicted. On a spec front, 2012 was the year of quad-core processors, 2GB of RAM, HD displays, longer battery lives, and incredibly thin bodies. It seems like just yesterday that we were asking DL readers if they had a dual-core or single-core phone, yet here we are, with dual-core phones already becoming a thing of the past.

On a manufacturer front, 2012 was the year that Samsung proved that it really was the only big fish in a bowl full of minnows. We saw Motorola kick off its life as a Google-owned company, HTC struggle to make money even while releasing amazing phones, and LG take its turn as the face of the Nexus phone program.

In this post, I thought we’d talk a bit about all of that by listing out my top 10 phones of the year. 

Back in November, we were told by sources that a special edition HTC DROID DNA would be made available to employees of Verizon stores. The special edition was said to come in an exclusive red color that no one outside of the company could purchase. It would have a serial number, marking the edition, along with wording imprinted on the back that reads, “Verizon Employee Limited Edition.” Said to launch in December, it appears that these special edition DNAs have indeed started arriving to employees that ordered them.

We have the first pictures of the device. As you can see, it has a red back that flows around the device onto the sides. It’s beautiful. Nothing else has changed – still has the same 8MP camera, quad-core processor, 2GB RAM, and 4G LTE.

Jealous? 

Verizon goes Ironmanbionictotalrecalluniversalsoldierrobotic in this first HTC DROID DNA spot.

Making the rounds today is a new rumored device from HTC called the M7. As of today, we haven’t discussed this phone whatsoever, but over the past week, it’s been gaining attention through Asian-based tech sites and for good reason. The M7 is said to come to market here in the U.S. sometime in mid Q1 of 2013 in direct, but early, competition to Samsung’s Galaxy S4 device. In order to compete, it looks like HTC is sparing no expense in the spec department and it is reported that the M7 will feature some pretty impressive characteristics. 

After we posted up our full review of the HTC DROID DNA, I was able to get a hold of a second device and take it for a spin of my own. Since it’s such a major device for Verizon, I couldn’t help but share some of my thoughts on it as well. This isn’t a second review, but just a quick list of some things that stood out to me, both good and bad. 

HTC’s DROID DNA, the phone with the best display in the business, has dropped to $149.99 at Amazon for both new customers and upgrades. Verizon is selling the device for $199 on 2-year contract, so if you are interested in picking one up, you may want to go this route and save yourself $50.

We reviewed the device a couple of weeks back and came away very impressed. The battery life far exceeded our expectations, the display is brilliant, and the form factor doesn’t feel as big in hand as that 5-inch display would lead you to believe it has.

Buy. 

A little over a year ago, when Google introduced the Galaxy Nexus, we thought the days of hardware navigation buttons were limited. Google was pushing for them to be on-screen, even suggesting app style guidelines that would work best with the flexibility that comes with them. But as devices were released month after month throughout 2012, we quickly realized that hardware buttons were here to stay.

HTC, trying to at least be somewhat with the times, gave us three hardware buttons that mimicked the on-screen versions from Google – back, home, and task switcher. The terrible Photoshop job in the image above is the ultimate representation of this. Found on Verizon’s DROID DNA site, Big Red is trying to highlight Google Now, a Jelly Bean feature that we can’t get enough of. Unfortunately, for this graphic artist, even the not-so-tech-savvy individual should realize that there is something wrong here.

(Full version)

After comparing the DROID DNA’s 1080p display to the Nexus 4 and Galaxy S3, we had a number of readers ask that we do the same with the Galaxy Note 2. Well, here you go. Pixels, pixels, and more pixels. In case you were wondering, the Note 2 is no longer considered to be “PenTile,” something we we couldn’t be happier about. Then again, the PenTile arrangement on the Galaxy S3 is not necessarily noticeable except under a macro lens, thanks to the high pixel count. At this point in the game, displays are so good, that you could throw almost any display tech at us and we’d probably be satisfied. Times are good.

Oh, and ignore the white splotch on the icon of the DNA. I thought I had a dead pixel, but it seems to have fixed itself and I cannot reproduce that spot any longer. Could have been dust for all I know.