This has been my primary phone for nearly two years now and overall I’m pretty satisfied with this. Let me share my experiences with you.
First the good parts:
1. Windows Mobile Professional
When I bought this one, it came with Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional. I later upgraded it to 6.1 and then finally 6.5(which it’s running right now). Now this is one cool thing about windows mobiles. You see, windows 6.5 devices have not even started shipping right now, but i’m running it on my phone. Windows mobile can be customized to the limit and then more. The applications available are numerous and even the OS is upgradable(warning: upgrading the OS will most likely void your warranty).
2. Good software availability
*The saving grace of Windows Mobile. You can find a software for pretty much anything that can be done using a phone or a computer.
3. Good build quality
I’m impressed with the build quality of HTC devices in general. Nearly all the phones I have seen, including mine, put up with abuse quite well. No, the device do not still look new. The chrome wore off and the battery door creaks. The point is, it still works and considering what this phone has gone through it really shouldn’t.
4. Decent battery life
Till recently the phone used to give decent battery life - about two days on full recharge. That is with about an hours worth phone call each day and the email client checking for mail every 30 minutes. Please do not compare this with a dumb phone and say that the battery life is pathetic. Though now the battery is showing signs of giving up.
5. Cheap
Hey, I bought it. So it should be’cheap’, right? Actually, it is. It is very difficult to find a similarly spec ed phone at the this price range.
6. Others
Wi-fi is good. Cant complain about call quality.
Now to the bad ones:
1. Windows Mobile Professional
No, no . this is not a mistake.Windows mobile is the greatest strength and weakness of this phone. If you haven’t used windows mobile phones(especially a professional edition, like this phone has) in the past, I urge you try it out before you buy. If not, there is a good chance you will be trying to kick your own rear with your own foot. Not everyone can tolerate Windows Mobile.
2. Resistive touch screen
You need the stylus or finger nails to get the phone to respond. The’skin’ on your fingers won’t do. This is unlike the iPhone which has a capacitive touch screen and as result responds to your finger tips and not finger nails or stylus.
3. Slow
Its not difficult to understand why it’s slow. Its cheap and therefore HTC plonked in the cheapest processor they could find. Add to this the generally sluggish windows mobile and you get the match made in hell.
4. Camera
*Do not depend on the camera to save your precious moments. 2 mega pixels, no auto-focus, fairly long shutter lag and look very washed out.
5. Others
No 3G, No GPS
Conclusion:
The phone is decent and the ability of windows mobile to get the job done cannot be denied(though in a spectacularly frustrating and hair pulling way). So if you have the following requirements and want the cheapest possible phone to do it, get this phone. I have added the softwares I use to get the job done.
Call and messaging: well, duh
E-Mail: Built in mail client. very easy to setup gmail via imap, it auto configures. But no’Push’ for Gmail.’Push Mail’ is supported for MS Exchange mail accounts though.
Scheduling: Built in calendar. Added bonus: very easy to set it up to sync with Google Calendar
Instant messaging(gtalk, yahoo, msn, facebook): palringo
Map: Google Maps, though accuracy is spotty due to lack of gps, it resorts to triangulating via cell towers. Still, it works pretty okay for me.
Word/Excel/Powerpoint/OneNote: Built in. But don’t bother with powerpoint. It’s slow and you wont be able to see the slides properly on the tiny screen.
Browsing: Skyfire
Twitter: Twikini
Facebook: Facebook app - someone tell me microsoft made this *rap, it’s horrible and slow.
Note taking: Evernote
Music: Nitrogen
Currency conversion, world clock: SPB Traveller
Alarm: pTravelAlarm
Youtube: Youtube application, Kinoma Freeplay
Passwords: SPB Wallet
Dictionary: Lexisgoo
RSS Reading: RSS Hub/ilium Newsbreak(same software, different branding)
Warning Most of these apps are not bundled with the phone. You have to buy them separately.
So, there it is. My extraordinarily long rant about my phone. As always I’d like to hear what you think about my review. Can you tolerate it or did you suffer brain damage trying to understand what I’ve written?