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HTC HD7 Windows Phone 7 Phone Review

The long-awaited HTC HD7 Windows Phone 7 phone, the successor of HTC HD2, was released, together with HTC Surround, HTC 7 Mozart, and HTC 7 Trophy. Please see HTC HD7 review for more details.

1. HTC HD7 Windows Phone 7 Phone—Appearance

HTC HD7 windows phone 7 phone is larger than its successor HD2, with the dimension of 122 x 68 x 11.2mm and the weight of 162g. It is worth mentioning that the thickness of 11.2mm is decent for such a large guy.

(1) HTC HD7—Front

HTC HD7 cell phone follows "Quietly Brilliant" theory, featuring a huge 4.3 capacitive touchscreen (480 x 800) with upgraded super LCD material, which makes it stand out among others of its kind its crowds. A light sensor, a receiver and a distance sensor are present in the upper part of the front. Unfortunately, there is no front camera in the front, which means HTC HD7 doesn't support self-shoot and video calling. In addition, there are 3 virtual keys (return, Home, and Search) underneath the huge 4.3-inch touchscreen.

(2) HTC HD7—Rear

The rear of HTC HD7 phone adopts traditional engineering plastic instead of metal rear that applied in HD2 phone. On one hand, the texture of plastic is not as good as metal and the fingerprint and oil stain may remain in the rear cover, on the other hand.

HTC HD7 features a 5MP camera with dual LED flashlight, loudspeaker and 720p video recording capability. However, the effect of video recorded is not as good as that of iPhone 4. The careful user will find a foldable kickstand covering the lens. This distinguished design will protect the lens well.

Furthermore, you will see an "HD7" logo marked on a metal band of the rear, together with a "Windows phone" logo underneath the band.

(3) HTC HD7—Connectors

For the thickness of 11.2mm, HTC HD7 comes with many long and thin keys, but it may cause slow response.
Right: shutter and volume keys
Top: power/ screen lock key
Bottom: a microphone, micro USB, and 3.5mm audio jack

2. HTC HD7 Windows Phone 7 Phone—Operating System

Windows Phone 7 OS breaks the old UI layout and is more convenient than iOS and Android OS.

(1) HTC HD7—Metro Interface

Metro Interface is more like the combination of Android and iOS operating systems. The features of Metro interface are fluent, fast, easy-to-use, and logical. The Simplified interface in HD 7 is good news for user who dislikes complicated operation.

Metro interface are divided into 3 blocks clearly, and user can add or move those icons within the same block, including

a. Menu block: User can reset often-used functions through the option of "pin to start", such as contact, software, even web page.

b. Programs block: with scrolling menu, options are arranged alphabetically, which is logical and easy-to-use.

c. HTC Hub: It includes Windows Live, Music& Video and so on.

Disadvantages of Metro Interface:
a. First, the themed color of interface is too simple.
b. The absence of local search in menu may be inconvenient for user to search what you want among mass software.

(2) HTC HD7—Windows Live Account

Windows Live account is widely used in Windows phone 7 OS. The account of Windows Live is necessary, whatever hotmail or MSN.

1. Owing to this account, all your renewal in Hubs can be synchronized with PC via Zune client.
2. Windows Live account allows user to roam in different Hubs.
3. With this account, user can download games via Market Place.

(3) HTC HD7—HTC Hub

a. Social Hub
If your account ties to your phone, all the contacts in your phone will be synchronized with your hotmail or MSN account. That is to say, if you delete your contacts accidentally, just log in your Windows Live account, all the missing contacts will come back.

b. Music& Video Hub
HTC HD7 offers users a new selection in Apps Store, try before you buy, which lets users experience games or music in a limited selection of apps before purchasing them. On one hand, the apps in store are well promoted to the users, and the user will not waste money in apps they dislike on the other hand.
Other free service includes: weather, photo enhancer, stocks, flashlight, volume and games.

Marketplace

(4) HTC HD7—Documents Editing

a. Pros: More edit functions available, together with vivid and funny bubble-style dialogue box
b. Cons: It's a pity that HD7 doesn't support copy and paste function

(5) HTC HD7 Windows Phone 7 Phone—Bing

Pros: super 3D special effect and eye view in Bing Map offer user a pleasing browsing experience.
Cons: Absence of voice navigation

(6) HTC HD7 Windows Phone 7 Phone—Xbox Live

Xbox Live would be a strong weapon of HTC HD 7 phone and allows avatar setting. There are many games available, such as Twin blades, Under cover, the Harvest, the Sims 3, and so on.

2. Windows Phone 7 Phone—Configuration

HTC HD7 phones comes with 1GHz Snapdragon QSD8250 processor, 512MB ROM, 576 RAM, an 8GB or 16GB storage version. Other features includes Dolby Mobile, SRS surround sound, Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, 3G, HSDPA, various sensors and 3.5mm headphone jack.

Battery

HTC HD7 equips with a 1230mAh Li-ion battery, which is the same as the HD2, obviously it is not enough for so huge screen of HD7 phone. Besides, there is a spring widget under the battery, which makes user remove the battery easier.

3. Windows Phone 7 Phone—Summary

HTC HD7, the upgraded version of HD2 flagship phone, features huge touchscreen and the latest Windows phone 7 OS, with quite exquisite workmanship and the large body suitable for male. With the coming of Windows Phone 7 OS, more and more WP7 phones will join the Warfield of smartphone. Who will be the winner? Let's wait and see.

Pros:
4.3-inch huge touchscreen
Distinguished kickstand in the rear
Latest Windows Phone 7 OS (Easy-to-use Interface& Windows Live account)

Cons:
HD7 doesn't support copy and paste function in Message
Absence of expandable slot
Weak Loudspeaker
Insensitive key of shutter

4. Windows Phone 7 Phone—Specs
OS: Windows Phone 7
Internet: 3G/ GPRS/ EDGE
Connectivity: 3.5 mm stereo audio jack, Wi-Fi802.11 b/g/n USB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.1
Display: 4.3-inch WVGA Touchscreen with pinch-to-zoom capability (480 x 800)
Dimension: 122 x 68 x 11.2mm
Weight: 162 grams (5.7 ounces) with battery
Camera: 5MP Auto focus with dual LED flash, supporting 720p HD video recording
Storage: 16 GB internal, ROM: 512 MB, RAM: 576 MB
Battery: rechargeable 1230mAh Li-ion battery
Talk time: Up to 320 minutes (WCDMA), 380 minutes (GSM)
Standby time: Up to 320 hours (WCDMA), 310 hours (GSM)
Sensors: G-Sensor, Digital compass, Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor
HTC Hub: Weather, Stocks, Converter, Photo Enhancer, Sound Enhancer, and more
Location: Internal Gps antenna, Bing? Maps
Multimedia: Dolby Mobile and SRS surround sound
Audio formats: m4a, .m4b, .mp3, .wma (Windows Media Audio 9)
Video formats: Playback: 3gp, .3g2, .mp4, .m4v, .mbr., .wmv (Windows Media Video 9 and VC-1) mp4 (Recording)

About the Author

The long-awaited HTC HD7 Windows Phone 7 phone, the successor of HTC HD2, was released, together with HTC Surround, HTC 7 Mozart, and HTC 7 Trophy. Please see HTC HD7 review for more details.

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