HTC HD7

Overview

Easy to Use and Feature-rich

Overview

HTC HD7 is very different from the usual HTC Desire phone but it is still a phone that deserves a mention in the smartphone category.

HTC HD7 Design and Build Quality

Smooth, Sleek and solid are the first impression that we get when we pick up the phone in our hands. However, on close inspection the quality of the phone is not so good. The most stand-out feature of the phone is the kickstand at the back. The kickstand makes it a treat to watch the movies on the large 4.3-inch screen. The kickstand wraps around the camera and gives some extra protection to the lens. Another stand out design feature of the phone is the side speaker gills. The phone fits in the pocket comfortably but the battery is only 1,230mAh, which is quite less for a smartphone. The weight of the phone is 162 grams, which is a little too much.

User Interface and Comfort to Use HTC HD7

The phone’s OS is Windows 7 and it has a 1GHz processor. The RAM is 512MB and in India, the phone comes with 16GB of internal memory with no option to upgrade it. The Windows operating system is tile bases OS, which you can pin and unpin from the main screen. The screen of the phone is large 4.3-inch capacitive screen and this fact makes it very easy to use. You can easily access the menu options by long press and also customize the screen the way you want. Since it is a Windows 7 phone, it has all the features that you would accept from a Microsoft OS. In the dark mode, the screen looks a little kind of haze but otherwise the resolution of 480x800 pixels is very good for viewing purposes.

Telephony and Phonebook

The phone has a people’s app, which takes you directly to your contacts. The contact saving options is very basic which some of the Android Phone users might find a little out-dated. You can directly go for contacts to Facebook updates by the contact using the people app. The phone supports both 2G and 3G networks and we are not very impressed with the call quality. On using the earpiece of the phone, we felt that placing the phone very close to the ear is not a very comfortable position. When using a Loudspeaker the sound comes out from the rear speakers (although the phone has two side speakers too) and if you are holding it tightly in your hand or it is lying on the bed then the voice appears very muffled.

Messaging and Emails

The large screen size means that the keyboard on the screen is very easy to use. Word correction when typing a message or email is very fast and accurate. Emails with various accounts such as Hotmail, Gmail, and yahoo can be added easily and update on the screen.

Gallery, Photo Viewer and Video Player

The phone comes with some of the best Microsoft feature and a big size screen but the phone’s video player only supports MP4 and H.264 therefore for any other format you will have to use the Zune software to convert. The only way to access most of the features is through the Zune interface, which is very smooth and easy to use. Videos look really good on the screen but the missing feature of sliding through the video progress irks us a bit.

HTC HD7 Music Player and FM Radio

The phone comes with Dolby and Surround sound system support. The sound quality on the phone using the sound enhancer is awesome. Unfortunately, since you cannot access things in background you have to first exit the media player to access the sound enhancer. You can listen to songs for hours without have any stutter in the speakers. Here also, Zune software controls most of the song information and sync with PC is required every time you want to change something.

HTC HD7 Camera and Image Quality

The phone has a 5MP camera with dual flash light. You can easily change the options from the camera screen but the features of the phone are pretty basic. Pictures are clear and crisp and even in dark lights you can have a decent image. However, the macro image from the phone is average at its best.

Video Camera and Video Quality

Video camera of the phone has light toggle options and recordings in both cases are very good.

HTC HD7 Connectivity Options

HD 7 is a dual band GSM phone with 3G, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPRS, and USB as connectivity options. There is no HDMI port which considering the price of the phone should have been there.

Organiser and other utility tools

The phone contains all the basic organizer tools like alarm, calendar, clock, calculator, and unit convertor. The calendar can be easily synced to the goggle calendar is quite easy to use.

Web Browser and Applications

Microsoft uses standard web browser the Internet explorer mobile for the phone. It loads faster, has a smooth scrolling, supports pinch to zoom and double tapping very accurately. Facebook, Twitter, Photo enhancer, Stocks, Weather, HTC hub, and Windows marketplace are some of the useful applications on the phone. The phone takes away the job of using apps by not supporting multitasking.

Bing Maps and GPS

The phone comes with preloaded Bing Maps. The map navigation is use and gives quite a precise location of your whereabouts.

Distinctive Features of HTC HD7

Xbox Live: Xbox live is the feature that we most loved on this phones. You can integrate your own avatar from your Xbox account and play the tracks. Online multiplayer gaming is not supported as yet.

Microsoft office: We could not leave this feature of the phone out of the review. You can easily create, edit, and save all kind of office documents on the phone. The documents can be synced with SkyDrive and Windows account. It is just like using Office on your laptop.

Value for Money

The phone is priced at around INR 17000 (approx., may vary) in the Indian market. It is a bit expensive considering its battery life, limited support to multimedia formats and missing front camera.