Review HTC has released two ‘Facebook phones’ of late – the Qwerty-packing ChaCha and the Salsa, the latter being a compact bundle of fun, which wears its dedicated Facebook button just beneath its screen.
HTC’s Salsa: spiced with Facebook favours
While the designers of the ChaCha had obviously looked over the shoulder of a BlackBerry owner or two, the Salsa’s style keeps things in-house with a nod to the HTC Desire’s odd little chin at the bottom of the phone, which seems to be getting less pronounced with each incarnation. Read the rest of this entry »
Review With HTC churning out a different handset for seemingly every demographic, the original Wildfire was ‘the weeny one’. The recent Wildfire S updates the concept with improved screen and processor, the latest (almost) Android 2.3 Gingerbread, plus GPS, Wi-Fi and 3G, at half the price of a high-end handset.
HTC’s Wildfire S: offers a speed bump and a higher res screen over the original
The pricier handsets might be fighting each other to see just how big they can make a screen that will still fit the in the average pocket, but the Wildfire S makes a virtue of its petite proportions. Read the rest of this entry »
The revised version of HTC’s more than capable Desire offers an updated look and runs Gingerbread, the latest Android 2.3 OS. What the Desire S brings to the mix is a faster, more responsive handset with improved keyboards and video calling options, all for a reasonable price.
Android appeal: HTC’s Desire S
The casing is made from a single piece of aluminium, rather like HTC’s previous Mozart and Legend – very classy, if a little cold. It’s also in complete contrast to the rubbery countenance of the recent Incredible S. There are a couple of plastic panels at the top and bottom for the aerials and the bottom one is removable for access to your hot-swappable Sim and Micro SD cards. Read the rest of this entry »
Review HTC has just about the fullest range of Windows Mobile smart phones on the market at the moment with a wide variety of types and prices. The HD2 is at the apex of its range, offering arguably the most bang, but also demanding a considerable amount of bucks. It lines up as HTC’s most complete package to date though, with a huge screen, the latest Sense UI, Windows Mobile 6.5 OS, HSDPA 3G, a 5Mp Camera, Wi-Fi, FM radio, GPS and social networking integration.
Quite a display – HTC’s HD2
There’s no getting around it, the HD2 is a large handset and looks as if it’s well on the way to becoming a notebook PC. HTC has sweetened the pill however by making it exceptionally slim and fairly light, so it measures up as 121x67x11mm and 157g. It’s still a handful, but not a huge jump from the iPhone and, in practise, we found it surprisingly pocket-friendly.
The capacitive LCD touch screen is a mighty 4.3in with 480×800 pixel resolution and both looks and feels fantastic. The display is clear and sharp for viewing but it’s also sensitive enough that it never seems to have any trouble distinguishing between brushes and strokes – not something that you’ll find on all Windows Mobile touch screen phones (are you listening Acer?). It is a bit of a fingerprint magnet however, seemingly lacking the sort of anti-grease coating that the iPhone revels in. Read the rest of this entry »
Review Android smartphones are fast losing their novelty status as more manufacturers get to grips with Google’s open source operating system and go the widget way, often developing their own individual take of the basic style. Motorola and Samsung have been recent converts – with their Dext and Galaxy, respectively – but Taiwanese firm HTC was the first, and has been churning out variations on the theme with steady regularity.
HTC’s Tattoo: Android for the mainstream?
The Tattoo marks a change of positioning for HTC, since the handset aimed very much at the mid-range, and is the cheapest Android yet. It seems to have sacrificed remarkably little in doing so, since it comes with HTC’s popular Sense user interface, HSDPA 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS and a 3.2Mp Camera.
The Tattoo breaks with the tradition established by HTC’s previous Androids by forsaking the distinctive style of the likes of the Magic and the Hero with their quirky little chin. Instead, HTC has here opted for the more classic look of HTC’s Windows Mobile handsets. Beneath the 2.8in, 240 x 320 touchscreen sits a circular navpad, a control mechanism not usually seen on Android handsets, and certainly not HTC’s. Read the rest of this entry »
