The HTC Wildfire’s software ought to look familiar by now: it’s running a bespoke version of Android, HTC Sense, just like the superb HTC Legend and Desire phones we checked out a couple of months back. With a slower processor and a smaller screen though, can it offer up the same slick social networking experience? Read on and find out in this part of our HTC Wildfire review.
Read the rest of our HTC Wildfire review now
HTC Wildfire review
HTC Wildfire review: Build and touchscreen
HTC Wildfire review: Other Android options
HTC Wildfire review: Ultimate buyer’s guide
While the HTC Wildfire’s innards share a lot in common with last year’s HTC Hero, its software is more akin to the recent Legend and Desire double whammy. For the uninitiated, while all four have a customised version of Android, the Hero currently uses the core Android 1.5 OS (which lacks multiple Gmail account support and Google Maps Navigation), while the Legend, Desire and HTC Wildfire run on top of a newer Android 2.1 build – and are better for it.
We’re not number counting for the sake of it, as Android 2.1 and HTC’s Sense overlay really do make a difference, whether in speed or simply what apps the phones can run, and as things stand now, the HTC Wildfire just eclipses the Hero because of it.
Anyone who’s used the Desire or Legend will find themselves right at home with the HTC Wildfire’s software, as it’s almost identical, if noticeably slower. HTC Sense changes the homescreen paradigm of Android a tad, introducing Scenes, or different layouts of of homescreen panes you can change, as well as new HTC developed widgets, like FriendStream, which hoovers in your Facebook and Twitter stream updates. There’s also a Polite Ringer, which silences call on flip over (and works), and supposedly decreases volume as you pick the HTC Wildfire up, though the latter feature is barely noticeable.
It’s this pervasive social networking element of Sense which we loved on the Legend and Desire, and adore just as much on the HTC Wildfire. When you hold down your finger on a contact, the familiar Android 2.x quick contact bar springs up, but with your friend’s recent status updates too. You can see people’s Facebook or Flickr pictures easily, and best of all, it makes a good stab at automatically connecting Facebook profiles to your Google contacts, and where it doesn’t, it makes very accurate suggestions (Something the new Samsung Wave tripped up on). The HTC Wildfire is genuinely very quick to set up (It’s the job of minutes), something people who don’t know their Android from their Bada will appreciate.
While the whole experience is very similar to previous HTC Android phones, down to the pinch to zoom gestures and HTC on screen keyboard, there are a few differences worth noting. The HTC Wildfire is the first Sense phone to sport an “App Sharing” tool, which simply lets you send a link to an Android Market app for a friend to download. It’s not a major selling point, although it does flag up Google’s shocking lack of sense when it comes to making programs on the Market discoverable, and it’s a nice feature to have.
More pressing are the issues that the speed of the HTC Wildfire and its screen size bring to the HTC Sense experience. While certain core Sense features like Leap (Which brings up all your homescreens in one pane by double tapping the Home button) and Facebook integration work seamlessly, the 528MHz CPU sometimes gets bogged down under the weight of it all. Jumping back to the homescreen can sometimes lead to the occasional screen blackout or loading message, while the two biggest culprits we found to be Gmail and the FriendStream widget – it technically has inertial scrolling so you can whizz down all those updates, but it sometimes doesn’t work due to slowdown.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that the HTC Wildfire uses a QVGA screen (320×240, very low resolution for a touchscreen smartphone), which helps to keep the price down but has a few ramifications. The keyboard isn’t as responsive as that of the HTC Hero (For more on that see our build review), websites and video look grainy, and app support for the resolution is by no means total. Most of our favourites work fine (Google Maps Navigation, Movies, Spotify, Facebook, Amazon MP3 and the official Twitter app all run fine) but if there’s a critical app you rely on you’d be better off checking first – Evernote is a big name missing QVGA support. Don’t even think about powerful 3D games like Raging Thunder either.
Truth be told, we’re really not that fussed that the HTC Wildfire isn’t running quite the latest bake of Android (2.2, which adds Flash support and more), or that HTC hasn’t said whether the phone will even be updated to it at any point in its lifetime. If you want to stay on the bleeding edge, the HTC Wildfire isn’t for you: go get a Google Nexus One or root yourself a Dell Streak.
If you just want to stay in touch with all your friends for a few bob less per month than slicker smartphones cost, the HTC Wildfire will suit you down to the ground.
Read the rest of our HTC Wildfire review now
HTC Wildfire review
HTC Wildfire review: Build and touchscreen
HTC Wildfire review: Other Android options
HTC Wildfire review: Ultimate buyer’s guide
