Mobile Phone Reviews

Archive for the ‘HTC’ Category

One of several phones in the HTC One smartphone series, the HTC One S was released to the UK in 2012 and is a slightly cheaper alternative to the HTC One X, with a similar mid-range target market to the Samsung Galaxy S2 smartphone. 

Ultra slim, it has a 4.3 inch screen that benefits from a bright AMOLED display protected all round by Gorilla Glass fascia.  Easily viewable in daylight and even bright sun, the HTC One S is highly user-friendly and has an easily navigable touch screen, in addition to being strong and lightweight.  A dual core processor and 1GB of RAM make this fast and powerful, and despite limited internal storage of 16GB, integrated Dropbox storage more than compensates for this.  Coming in two colours, black or grey, the HTC One S also incorporates a QWERTY keyboard for ease of use, and features a very good 8 megapixel camera which produces clear and sharp images. 

Connectivity settings are good, and the HTC One S includes Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth and GPS.  Running on Android Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest version, this is a speedy and highly efficient smartphone with a fantastic user interface and easily navigated apps.  As with other smartphones in the HTC stable, there is Beats Audio software incorporated for a brilliant listening experience.   There are some great HTC One S deals on the market, with free handset and some internet use with 24 month contracts, making it perfectly placed in this competitive mid-range field.

The HTC Desire S review pages all over the web are claiming it to be a fantastic phone. The 3.7 inch device has an aluminium-shelled handset that goes a little further than its competitors by wrapping it around the components inside the phone, so it acts as a case as well as a frame. Despite the metal casing, the Desire S is lightweight at 125 grams and only 115 mm in height.

The phone comes complete with a five-megapixel camera unit, which is ideal for viewing photos or for sharing them over the web. The picture taking software is fast and snappy and comes with filters that can be applied during or after taking photos, plus useful cropping and rotating options. The video feature records in a .3gp format and can stretch up to 720p.

The LCD technology used by the HTC Desire S gives you lively, well-saturated images that also have excellent viewing angles. It is being praised for functions and as a handset that is very user friendly.

Inside, it has the popular MSM8255 system-on-chip, otherwise known as the ‘Snapdragon’. It also has 768 MB of RAM, more than many of its competitors. The earlier generation Desire had a very low battery life, however the snapdragon technology uses energy far more efficiently, making the phone run for a much longer time without needing to be charged. It can easily last a day, although for those who use their phone a little less, it is expected to survive a couple of days between charges.

In today’s rapidly evolving technological world, new terms are always coming into mainstream use.  People ask questions about these, such as ‘What is HTC Sense?’  HTC is one of the more recent companies to emerge in the competitive smartphone market of mobile phones.  HTC produces mobile phones that utilise the operating system known as Android.  HTC Sense sits on top of this OS on all HTC smartphones.

Basically, HTC sense is a GUI that expands and enhances the Android platform.  A typical HTC phone will have seven major modes.  This includes such features as the time, day and current weather.  Also included are the four main functions of the phone, which are browsing the web, text messages, the camera and email.  HTC Sense adds touchscreen commands such as cycling through the modes by swiping your finger to either side.  Zooming is performed by pinching fingers, which will display all the main icons that can then easily be selected. 

HTC is always adding new improvements to the system that complement and expand Android technology.

Android now controls slightly over 50% of the Smartphone market because any company can legally manufacture Android smart phones. Unfortunately, this means many different devices are seen running the same firmware, which negatively affects the sense of individuality for each particular phone.

What exactly is HTC Sense? High Tech Computer Corporation, one of the leading manufacturers of Android smart phones including the inaugural HTC Dream, developed their very own overlay for Android to set them apart from this huge pack. This overlay is HTC Sense.  It is essentially set of modifications to the stock Android operating system, adding  a different look to the menus, two extra home screens as well as a multitude of built in widgets and apps to play around with. These include a bookmarks widget, HTC’s very own Twitter client called Peep, Facebook chat as well as weather widgets and many more. HTC Sense debuted on the HTC Hero in October 2009.

Android isn’t the only platform that HTC modified. Before Windows Mobile was discontinued, HTC was one of the leading manufacturers of handsets with that interface as well. The Windows Mobile version of HTC Sense is essentially an update from TouchFLO 3D and made a few visual modifications to Windows Mobile’s Today screen, including a widget that showed how many text messages or emails are unread, as well as HTC’s own media app replacing Windows Media Player. The first Windows Mobile phone to feature HTC Sense was the HTC HD2.

While the Windows Mobile version of HTC Sense has been discontinued along with the platform itself, the latest version of HTC Sense for Android is 3.0, featured on some of the later HTC smart phones, such as the HTC Desire Z, HTC Incredible S and the HTC Sensation.

In the past, mobile phones had become smaller, yet in today’s world of technology smartphones are boasting a bigger and improved display screen designed for browsing the web and using apps for gaming, productivity and online reading.  Handsets such as the iPhone, Palm Pre, Blackberry and Android are leading the way for ‘bigger on the inside’ functionality, allowing more space for the ever expanding array of apps, music and videos, enabling browsing and email to become a much more significant feature than ever before.  Photos are bigger and clearer with the ability to tag photos with a location.

For the majority of smartphones, including iPhone and HTC, the traditional keypad is replaced by an on-screen version, conveniently hiding in the background, popping up when the user needs to insert text.  Other handsets such as the Android and Blackberry have swapped the keypad for a QWERTY alternative.  Texting and emailing is made easier with precision and speed, and the ability to edit documents from the handset makes the smartphone an ideal handset for both personal and business usage. 

Many handsets offer an app store in which many business and recreational tasks can be undertaken direct from the handset, such as paying bills, sending invoices and chatting online. Users can find local amenities and facilities such as cash machines, taxi firms and supermarkets with details of directions. 

There are many Android sat nav apps in the Android App Market, with impartial reviews available online.  GPS is also available on major smartphones and information can be found on many trusted review websites. HTC Radar reviews can be found amongst other major handsets.

The compact but mighty HTC Desire S smartphone has a 3.7” screen, 400 x 800 pixels and a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, which enhances the energy efficiency of the device and is assisted by 768MB of RAM.  The Desire S also comes to you with a full Gingerbread package and the streamlined Android 2.3.

The body of the Desire S is ingeniously manufactured using the unibody method (industrial strength, no joins, less weakness) and the Desire S weighs only 130g and is slimmer than its ancestor, the original HTC Desire.  The only plastic to be seen is the slide cover, under which are housed SIM and memory cards.

The display screen is improved too, being inlaid closer to the glass for sharper, clearer visuals, excellent viewing angles and guarded by Gorilla Glass for extra durability.  The navigation keys are touch sensitive which allow for both accuracy and quick response thereby minimising the chance of accidental key presses.

All in all the HTC Desire S comes with the most contemporary features on the market and does everything the user would expect.  A speedy load-up with Flash support, performance boosters, smooth operations, voice activation, front facing camera and video capability are only a little of what the new Desire S offers.

The elegance and unfussy style combined with the user friendly nature of the Desire S makes it a popular addition to the HTC range.

In a nutshell HTC Sense is a user-friendly interface developed by HTC and is compatible with Android, Brew and Windows Mobile phones.  All new smartphones on the market now feature HTC Sense.  Or, to say the same thing in a more human way, HTC Sense are those little ingenious extras which we smartphone users would invent themselves if they only knew how. 

For example, when a phone is stuck deep down in the corner of a bag it is almost guaranteed the call will be missed by the time the phone ringing has been registered, the user will probably fumble around, retract phone, and try to answer the call.  The clever HTC Sense, which, recognising the phone is, tucked away, rings more loudly until answered.  Or, at the opposite end of the volume spectrum, what about those times when the phone blares out at an inappropriate moment?  Again the HTC Sense automatically lowers the volume as soon as the phone is touched and if you are unable to take the call at that time just turn the phone over in your hand and it will stop.  Everyone hates saying things more than once and with the HTC Sense ‘Friend Stream’ repetition is a thing of the past.  ‘Friend Stream’ co-ordinates social networking sites and allows the user to post the same thing many times.  Smartphone internet users will discover that HTC Sense remembers the text frame and size and cleverly ensures that your preferences are always met. 

These features and more are available with HTC Sense technology giving the user an ultimate smartphone experience.

There seem to be mixed reviews on the HTC Wildfire.  On one extreme end of the spectrum users are disappointed, while at the other end, users consider it the best low-end phone they’ve ever owned.  Users who see it as a decent low priced handset occupy the middle ground.

How it adds up
Wildfire is a cheaper alternative to the Desire.  Both phones look the same but Wildfire carries a much smaller screen, less internal memory (512 MB) and a much slower processor (528).  It is small and surprisingly sturdy for a phone of its kind.

Call quality is good and silencing an incoming call is as easy as turning the phone over.  Features include WI-FI, USB, microSD card compatibility, Bluetooth, an audio player that supports eight types of files (including MP3, MA4 and WMA, a WMV, 3GP and MP4 video player, FM radio and 3.5mm headphone jack.  Additionally, the phone is sold with a decent 3.5mm headphone as part of the package.

Unfortunately poor battery life, constant freezing and bad screen resolution is a let down for some.  Also, although it comes with a 5mp camera, the picture quality can be poor.  Some users have a hard time using the apps downloaded, the friend stream widget can be slow and unresponsive, or offer outdated info.

In the end, the HTC Wildfire leaves a lot to be desired by tech lovers, however for those looking for a low end phone with some of the perks afforded by more advanced phones, it’s a good pick.  Overall, it’s worth the price.

What is HTC Sense?  According to the Taiwanese giants, HTC Sense is an experience designed around many little original and insightful, yet simple, ideas.  So is HTC Sense an ideology?  A way of thinking?  Or merely corporate jargon?  In reality, HTC Sense is the interface that HTC uses for its Android, Brew and Windows Mobile devices.  However, even HTC itself often seems confused as to what exactly HTC Sense is, sometimes calling it the user interface (UI) and at other times insisting it is not.

Stock applications and widgets are a massive part of HTC Sense and, out of the box, HTC hopes that its highly customisable features will deter consumers from deferring to an alternate UI.  Due to this, HTC is constantly updating its UI in order to ensure customers stay loyal to HTC Sense, despite the free-market mentality of Android as competition.  Recent additions to HTC Sense include maps that synchronise with the phone’s compass in order to rotate in unison with the owner, previewing the route ahead while using navigational applications and the ringer turning off when the phone is flipped.  It adapts to the lifestyle and location of its owner, allowing technology and connectivity to contacts to combine for the modern age. 

Ideas such as these, which HTC are offering, will meet the wishes of today’s consumer, who is free to choose between the countless number of free UIs offered on the Android market.

The Google Nexus S is like Marmite; some love it, while others hate it.  One example of this is the slightly curved screen that Google has employed for the Nexus S, its newest venture into the smartphone world.  Critics of the phone would say that the curvature of the screen is annoying and unnecessary, while fans would argue that it brings a touch of individuality to the sometimes monotonous aestheticism of the smartphone world.

In a time where Apple and HTC dominate the smartphone business it is only natural that any competitors will be compared to these giants.  Google has decided to team up with Samsung to try and break the dominance of these two and the Nexus S actually stands up well upon closer inspection.  The 4-inch super AMOLED display can be most obviously compared to the HTC Desire S and the 5-megapixel rear-facing camera is undeniably similar to the iPhone 4.

The 1GHz Cortex-A8 processor and the massive 16GB inbuilt memory mean the Nexus S is superior to many of its rivals with regards to memory, although by not including a MicroSD™ expansion slot the Nexus S seems rather inferior to the big smartphone powerhouses.

In regards to the look of the phone, one cannot help noticing the similarities between the Nexus S and the Samsung Galaxy S.  Furthermore, the plastic chassis of the phone means it lacks a certain classy feel that its metallic counterparts possess.

While the Nexus S may not be the world’s best smartphone, Google’s foray into the market is still young and it surely won’t be long until the Google smartphone is perfected.