HTC HD7 review

Non can say that HD7 is the new flagman in the HTC linup, as we got Android based Desire HD and other WindowsPhone 7 handsets to pick up with at least similar specs, but the HD7 is a successor to one of the most thriving smartphones of its times – the HD2, and not surprisingly it should have got the buzz around it.

The HTC HD7 is one of the company’s most awaited phones, talked a lot, named HD3 and finally launched as HD7 with its cinematic design and the Windows Phone 7 OS being the selling points of the gadget. The phone is HD2’s successor, though the phones run different versions of OS, but it basically packs the same hardware inside.

Microsoft did everything to fill the phone with entertainment options on the phone’s Zune background, where besides the pre-installed entertainment apps is also Netflix which helps you customize your phone for TV shows, T-Mobile TV, Slacker Radio and X Box Live features for gamers. Not only the Zune turns the HD7 into a one-stop entertainment center, but there are many useful apps and services making the phone one of the greatest “creations” of the company.

The handset is equipped with other awesome features and one of them is its convenience for watching videos. This list can be last too long, but let’s talk about everything detailed.

HTC HD7 Specs

Network: GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSDPA 900 / 2100
OS: Microsoft Windows Phone 7
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8250 1 GHz
Memory: 512 MB ROM, 576 MB RAM, 8GB (Europe) / 16GB (Asia), no card slot ability
Display: 4.3 inch S-LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, 480 x 800 pixels
Camera: 5 MP, 2592х1944 pixels, autofocus, dual-LED flash, 720p video recording
Wireless communication: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP, GPS with A-GPS support; Bing Maps
Battery: Standard battery, Li-Ion 1230 mAh
Dimensions: 122x68x11.2 mm
Weight: 162g

Hardware

The handset is has 1GHz processor which is the minimum requirement for Windows Phone 7. It certainly is  fast, though not fastest among the high-end smartphones, but its integration is quite well with the OS and Apps. For normal working the phone also sports 512MB ROM and 576MB RAM, and the internal speaker which is along the bottom edge of the phone, so you can enjoy music playback and without headsets, but if you like to listen music through headphones there is a 3.5mm jack. It is on the bottom of the phone, i think it’s a good solution, as when the headphones are on this side it looks nice and otherwise I have a feeling I hold the phone upside down in my hand.

The text input is nice too, and when you type a wrong world the red line under it tips about it and clicking on the word you can choose correction options. Though the auto-correction is not so good, as it is in iPhone 4, but after long usage you can adapt with the input tool.

Dimensions

From the display size we can realize that the phone is bigger than other HTC phones, and truly, the HD7’s dimensions are 122x68x11.2mm and weighs 162g, which is heavy enough, but sometimes bulky phones give a feeling that they are equipped with many good features.

Though the handset is big enough, but its thinness gives an impression there is a small netbook in your hands.

Display

The HTC HD7 sports really great features and comes as an art work, looking at the phone we understand that the developers didn’t spare any effort to make it too attractive at the first sight. It sports a 4.3 inch touchscreen with a resolution of 480×800 pixels. The phone is one of the most favorite Windows Phone 7 handsets, as it has got the largest display among the WP7 powered smartphones. The OS’s live tiles look better on larger screen making its usage more enjoyable. Though the screen isn’t Super AMOLED, but it is plenty big and plenty bright, which is very comfortable for web browsing and watching videos.

When the phone is turned on, the screen makes up most of the phone, a thin strip of glass is laid bottom of the handset and the touch sensitive buttons are on it.

By the way, the device has a built-in kickstand on the back, which is made of metal and we don’t have to worry about it snapping off or can use our hands for something else. But this is damageable for hands, as the kickstand is opened too easily and scratches.

Besides the kickstand it’s also uncomfortable to use the power/lock button, as the phone is too big and it is difficult to push it by holding in a hand. Here you have use your second hand, or put the phone on something else to reach the mentioned button. I don’t even speak about those who have got smaller hands.

Battery

The HTC HD7 has got a 1230 mAh battery giving to the users up to 5 hours of talk time and up to 320 hours of stand-by mode in 3G network, which is a little disappointing, as the phone classified as a high-end smartphone, but doesn’t provide for example 1500mAh battery. In this case the HD7 is similar to the HTC HD2 which is a little lighter and smaller.

As Windows Phone 7 doesn’t allow any third party app to run in the background, so you won’t have any real opportunity to drain it in the same way you would an Android phone.

Camera

The phone’s 5MP camera is not an awesome, but you can get enough good pictures with it. The WP7 offers a “pictures” button on the Home screen to ease the access to the photos of your phone.

You can also access the camera from the lock screen by holding the camera button down, though the rest of the device stays lock if you have a PIN code. As the HD7 has an integrated app for Facebook, you can share the photos taken with your camera on the social network quick and easy. But you have to wait  for dedicated Flickr and Twitter apps to upload to these services without using the browser, as they are not integrated in the phone.

Software

We think there is a problem when the phone starts, as the software doesn’t automatically realign the icons. Of course, that’s good deal what Microsoft does with customization of the screen, but what is it with pulled icons. I guess this is one of the main problems of WP7.

The other problem is related with the time the OS needed to download and install the drivers, though Windows 7 is close to perfect, but Microsoft has to work to improve it definitely. That’s right, you have to do it once, but the installing process lasts too long.

Microsoft is now working on Windows Phone Connector for Mac, which beta version has already launched, but there is much work to do. You can also use Windows LiveSpace to transfer your files from the phone to the PC, but the lack of ability to transfer files direct to the Mass Storage is disappointing.

Menu

Windows Phone 7 is very nice, smooth, attractive, polished and incredibly intuitive, and it is seen from the first usage; the Start menu working with tiles is different from the identi-kit icon based menus. The OS’s design is very calming, as the tiles are large, the fonts are simple and there are no reasons to be unpleased with the interface.

While calling it’s useful that extraneous functions are hidden away by one tap, and we don’t have to worry about unforeseen touch by cheek.

Though the tiles are big and massive making easy their usage, but when you look at them in the dark mode, they seem slightly washed out.

I think the most pleasant thing in Windows Phone 7 is the fact the Home screen is activated by hitting the main Windows button.

HTCSense.com

HTCSense.com is one of new advantages of HTC phones, which was firstly introduced in example of the HTC Desire HD and HTC Desire Z, but was officially announced open lately. Now everyone can be registered on HTCSense.com and enjoy its services.

Generally this is another kind of services providing backup, security, and control features for your HTC handset, they include:

• if the phone was lost or stolen, you can remote lock or wipe the phone
• in the same case, your contacts, call history, messages, customization and date will be archived automatically
• adding new advanced multimedia capabilities, you can easier capture, share, and upload our content
• the online service can call your phone and you can easily find where you have left it
• Send messages from your computer to the lock screen of your phone

Using the Footprints tab in HTCSense.com you can add those place where you would like to be on Google Map and have those pushed to your device, which allows to plan every trip on your phone anymore.

From other services i can mention one more, which let you make or edit contacts directly from the website.

You will receive the text messages in your Inbox and Outbox in the web interself too, this helps to keep your message historu even when you chnage your phone.

And finally you can choose wallpapers, ringtones, widgets and themes from your Web browser and they get pushed to your device.

So the HTCSense.com with its Location, Backup and  Remote Wipe services comes to ease the usage of your HTC HD7.

The lacks

Another minus of the phone is the lack of HDMI port, unlike the Nokia N8 which has smaller screen but is equipped with an HDMI port and a microSD slot, as well as a micro USB port.

The first launched HD7s has some problems such as lack of ability to use GPS location and access to Bing search, and the main bug was the problem with downloading apps from the marketplace website. But all these fixes were resolved as soon as an account with Zune had been set up. Though there are many problems not solved, and one of them is the lack of support for Flash which allows users to watch online videos directly in browser.

Though the HD7 is equipped with Facebook integration app, but it doesn’t as cool as it is spoken, because sometimes we want just to go to Facebook page, or look at the picture we have seen in our friend’s profile, but as the apps is working integrated with contacts, we get tired until we reach to our goal. We also can “be lost” in picture gallery seeking needed folder, because the same Facebook app arranges it in alphabetical order, and what to do if we don’t remember what name we have given to the gallery in Facebook.

Conclusion

The HTC HD7 is one of the trumps of the manufacturer, which sports the biggest touchscreen among the smartphones, 5MP camera, which is good enough for recording videos at 720p, 8GB internal memory and others. But the main advantage is the OS it runs – Windows Phones 7 providing improved performance for its users.

The HTC HD7 is available for $199.99 in the USA with two year contract from T-Mobile, and O2 has the exclusive deal in the UK.

The HTC HD7 photo gallery:

You can find more reviews of HTC HD7 @ TestFreaks.