A True Winner – HTC Trophy review

Dan R. July 1, 2011 5

I never expected to like Windows Phone 7.  I simply didn’t expect much.  I had used Windows Mobile 6.1 in the past, and it seemed very stale and clunky.  Microsoft got their act together and really put some work into WM 7.  The combination of HTC and Windows Phone 7 is a welcome change in a world dominated by the iPhone and the recent explosion of Android.  Smartphones have now become extremely popular, and it is about time that there is another choice when it comes to operating systems.  Let’s find out why this combination works.

The device:

If you have used an HTC device in the past, you won’t be disappointed.  If you haven’t used one, you will be in for a treat.  This phone has an excellent feel to it.  The back has a slightly rubbery feel to it, but feels so natural in hand.  I had no worries of an accidental drop because of the feel of the back.  The camera/speaker area has a slight raise to it.  This adds to the comfort level since your index finger rests against it.

Now let’s get to the screen.  Amazing doesn’t even begin to describe the screen.  The Trophy has a 480×800 WVGA TFT LCD display that is super crisp and clear.  It is 3.8″ with a pleasant capacitive touch screen that orients in portrait and landscape mode.  When typing on the full virtual keyboard, I found that it was very accurate.  Three digital buttons are along the bottom, with a back arrow, the Windows logo which acts as a home key, and a search key that brings up Bing to search for whatever you are looking for.  There is a dedicated camera button on the right hand side and typical rocker volume controls on the upper left hand side.  The power button sits on top, along with the 3.5mm standard headphone jack.  On the back, there is a speaker, the 5 megapixel camera lens with auto focus, and an LED flash.

The Trophy runs a 1 GHz Scorpion processor, Adreno 200 GPU, and a Qualcomm QSD8250 Snapdragon chipset.  8 GB of onboard memory along with 576 MB RAM and 512 MB ROM round out the nerdy specs.  720 HD recording, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Microsoft Office document viewer/editor, a full HTML browser, and an FM radio

The operating system:


Take what you know about phones, and rethink everything.  It is all made easy for you now.  Your main screen contains tiles that are active.  When you get a text message, a huge one pops up in the Messaging tile.  There is also a bar along the top that is reminiscent of Android that shows a preview of the message.  This really adds a clean feeling to the home screen.  You can select a white or black background, and you can select the color of the tiles.  When you do this, some of the text within the phone changes to a matching color.  This adds a very custom feeling to the phone, since you can change it any time.  The drawback to this, is that you don’t really get to use a wallpaper.  You can have one as the lock screen, but not as your active wallpaper.  This may not work for everyone, since so many people love their wallpapers.  It took me a few days, and I got quite used to it.  It really keeps the flow of simplicity with the phone.  I really couldn’t find anything that this phone couldn’t do.  From Facebook to Twitter, to browsing the Internet, everything was smooth.  Email setup was a breeze, and multiple accounts were not an issue at all.  The email interface is very visually stunning, crisp and clear again, just like everything else.

Drawbacks:

Battery life is not that great.  I have found that it is almost the standard now with all touch devices.  If you are expecting to get a full day of use with anything more than moderate usage, you better bring a charger along.  I also found the search/Bing button on the homescreen to be a bit annoying.  I would find myself accidentally pressing it when reaching for the phone.  I also use Google as my search engine, so the button didn’t get much use.

Who will like this phone:

Not everyone loves the iPhone, or Android.  Not sure that you want to take a dive into the world of BlackBerry, but still want a powerful smartphone?  This is for you.  It does it all, and then some.  With integrated apps right on the phone like Netflix and Xbox Live games and the ability to sync with Zune, this phone really handles media very well.  Don’t forget about the YouTube app, which works flawlessly.  Media is handled surprisingly well, and should give the iPhone a run for it’s money in that aspect.  So you can have your fun, but still be able to get work done with important email, and of course, edit documents with Microsoft Office right on the phone.  If you are looking to add a little ease into your life, this might just be the phone for you.

5 Comments »

  1. Brett Eliot July 2, 2011 at 4:10 PM -

    I love HTC now more then iPhone. It is running very quickly in technology.

    Regards,
    Brett
    http://www.cellphonesattraction.com

  2. Brett Eliot July 2, 2011 at 4:10 PM -

    I love HTC now more then iPhone. It is running very quickly in technology.

    Regards,
    Brett
    http://www.cellphonesattraction.com

  3. Brett Eliot July 6, 2011 at 3:35 PM -

    HTC is breaking up the records. I really love the shapes and design they are being manufactured. Also features are much compatible with iphone.

    Regards,
    Brett
    http://www.cellphonesattraction.com

  4. Anonymous July 22, 2011 at 6:50 PM -

    Verizon’s Trophy actually has 16GB of onboard memory, compared to the European version’s 8GB

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