The DROID Charge is a large phone, and there is no hiding it. The 4.3-inch screen dominates the front of the device, and its broad upper section is very obvious. The tapered shape, similar to a shield, may not be popular with all (this reviewer included), but it does allow the Charge to sit nicely in the hand, and helps minimize its girth. The Charge is thinner than its stablemate, the ThunderBolt, measuring only 11.7mm at its thinnest point. It is also significantly lighter, tipping the scales at 144g (5oz). The light weight helps to mask the large size of the Charge somewhat.
Below the display are the standard Android buttons for menu, home, back, and search. Instead of the usual capacitive touch buttons, the Charge opts instead for real physical buttons, something I certainly appreciated. The backlight on the buttons could be brighter, but they otherwise worked well enough.
The front of the phone is also home to forward-facing 1.3 megapixel camera as well. I wish Samsung would also include a notification light on its high-end Android phones, but that seems a bit too much to ask for some reason.
The DROID Charge is surrounded by a plastic rim that is painted with a black chrome finish. The battery cover is made from a glossy plastic, as is often the case with Samsung's Galaxy brand Android smartphones (the DROID Charge is not technically branded as a Galaxy phone, but it shares a lot of similarities with the Galaxy family of phones.). All of this plastic gives the Charge a cheap feel, even though everything is put together well and the phone does not exhibit any creakiness or loose fitting parts.
The DROID Charge offers a micro-HDMI port on its right side that allows a user to output video content to a hi-def TV. The ThunderBolt was missing this, surprisingly enough, so the few users that look for that feature should appreciate it on the Charge.
The highlight of the hardware on the Charge is, by far, the 4.3-inch, Super AMOLED Plus screen. This is the same unit as seen on the Samsung Galaxy S II, and is an updated version of the Super AMOLED(INFO) touchscreen that Samsung debuted last year. To put it simply, the Super AMOLED Plus screen is phenomenal. Colors are incredibly vibrant and images seem to pop right off the display. Unlike older AMOLED screens, the Charge's display is usable in direct sunlight without any issues. It was also the first screen I could see and use while keeping my sunglasses on during a bright day. The viewing angles are top notch as well, matched only by the iPhone 4's Retina Display. The resolution is the only disappointing thing about the Charge's display, as it is WVGA (800 x 480 pixels). It still looks great, but I wish it had the pixel density of the newer qHD display like on the Motorola ATRIX 4G. The WVGA resolution is maxed out at 4.3-inches in my opinion, and I hope Samsung upgrades to a higher resolution for future models.