Let’s not beat around the bush. The HTC HD7 is the phone the HTC HD2 should have been: a mammoth smartphone that’s all screen, with a working OS. Windows Phone 7 is that panacea, but there are a few more differences – plus some serious competition from the likes of Samsung and LG. Find out how the HTC HD7 holds up now with our HTC HD7 review.
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Windows Phone 7 review
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Long time Electricpig readers will probably know by now that we’re in love with HTC’s huge smartphone form factor. It was ace in the HTC HD2, it’s ace in the Android powered Desire HD, and it’s what puts the HTC HD7 ahead of the rest of the Windows Phone 7 launch pack when it comes to design. Despite how smudgy it can soon become, we love the build: that front face is almost all screen, while the slightly curved edges make it comfortable to hold. At 11.2mm, it’s not at all thick, and we can sure you it won’t have any problems fitting into any pocket.
The HTC HD7 is still very thin at 11.2mm
A few changes on the hardware side have been made since the HD2′s launch a year ago though. The physical row of home buttons is now replaced by the three mandated Microsoft buttons, Back, Home and Search. They’re now touch sensitive, but work without a hitch. It’s also possibly a newer 1GHz CPU, but we can’t confirm this – there is however more internal storage this time. Our review model had 16GB, but HTC says European units will ship with 8GB. It should be enough, though we’d love the option to bolster this with microSD – which Windows Phone 7 technically supports. The lock button is now on the top right of the HTC HD7, while 3.5mm audio and micro USB for syncing and charging sit on the bottom.
The kickstand in action
The kickstand meanwhile is an interesting addition to the HTC HD7. We’ve not really seen one of these on a high end phone since the Sony Ericsson W995, but if any screen merits one, it’s certainly the huge panel on the HTC HD7. Truth be told, Windows Phone 7′s limited video format support (The same as the iPhone’s, pretty much) means you might not watch too many, but it’s nice to have the option there: it balances well, and perhaps more importantly, doesn’t add to the thickness, or ever feel like it could open and snap by accident when pulling the HTC HD7 from your pocket.
Check out our Best HTC phone Top 5 now
One of the most noticeable physical difference between the HTC HD7 and the Desire HD is the former’s physical camera shutter button, where you’d expect it on the right hand side. Windows Phone 7 conveniently lets you trigger the camera with a long press even when the screen is locked, which is welcome for spur of the moment shots, and the five megapixel sensor on the HTC HD7 is reasonable.
Shots ended up pretty noisy most of the time, and the phone has an annoying habit of only focusing on the screen at the very last second, so it can be difficult to frame shots accurately. The dual LED flash is welcome, and get the job done – this is no Nokia N8 though.
What we were pleased with however, was the HTC HD7′s 720p video recording. As you can see in the clip above, while nothing is especially sharp, the auto focus is extremely responsive.
See the difference between black and screen black?
All in all, the HTC HD7 is the spruced up slab of hotness we were expecting. What really surprised us about the HTC HD7 however, we’re almost sorry to say, is the screen. While it’s perfectly responsive and sharp, at 800×480 resolution, it’s also unfortunately washy for something so top of the line, and the Windows Phone 7 default black background only shows it up even more. You know how blacks on older TVs look more white than anything else? It’s like that. Perch a Samsung Omnia 7, complete with Super AMOLED screen next to it, and the difference is astonishing. HTC really needs to work on this aspect of all its phones, now that its supply of Samsung made AMOLED panels is dwindling.
Of course, the sheer size of the screen goes some way to making this up. The 4.3-inch display sounds big, but at least with our man hands, it’s absolutely perfect for typing and tapping icons. We never missed a stroke on the excellent Windows Phone 7 keyboard, and it’s definitely the way forward.
Typing on the HTC HD7 is seamless. Kudos for the keyboard, Microsoft
You can read more about Windows Phone 7 itself in our full review, but the HTC HD7′s 1GHz CPU absolutely flies. We never experienced any slowdown, and if anything, you’ll only be waiting on the flash screen transitions – see for yourself in the video below, which we doubled up and recorded with the Samsung Omnia 7. Some third party apps (particularly games) do take a long time to load, but the HD7 is a match for the Omnia 7 when it comes to speed. We did run into a couple of crazy bugs that caused the screen to repeat itself again and again, offset by a few pixels, so the whole thing became unreadable. But a restart fixed these, and it’s possible this glitch will be fixed by launch.
HTC has tried to differentiate itself a tad with the HTC HD7′s software though. On board, you’ll find the HTC Hub preloaded, which lets you use various HTC widgets within it (stocks/weather). Unfortunately, it’s pretty pointless, since it opens as a third party app. We don’t think HTC will be making a name for itself with this in the way it has with Sense on Android, and we unpinned it from the start screen fairly quickly, and haven’t looked back.
Battery life on the HTC HD7 is pretty much par for the course with a modern smartphone these days. 1230mAh doesn’t sound like much for a 4.3-inch WVGA smartphone, but we still never had any trouble getting through a day of solid use, even if it won’t stretch to two. Of course, Windows Phone 7 doesn’t allow for third party apps 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 – swings and roundabouts.
In spite of its screen, this is the best Windows Phone 7 launch handset - just
The HTC HD7 is unusual, in that perhaps more than any other smartphone this year, we’ve been expecting it. It just seemed obvious that HTC would combine its beautiful design with Windows Phone 7. And it works: we’d go so far as to say that it still makes it a better choice than the fugly Samsung Omnia 7, despite its clearly inferior screen. It’s big, beautiful, and for better or worse, has all the pros and cons Windows Phone 7 brings with it.
Read the rest of our Windows Phone 7 review
Windows Phone 7 review
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