Windows Mobile Smartphones

Review by J. Hartlove:

Well here we have it. The HTC Droid Eris from Verizon Wireless. This phone was openly criticized on electronic review sites such as [...] because it’s going to be released with the Motorola Droid when the Motorola Droid offers Android OS 2.0 and this HTC model only offers 1.5. After owning both the phones for about a week and switching back and forth (yes, Verizon hates me), I’m overly satisfied with the HTC Droid Eris too. The phone does everything you could ever want with a very large app store and overall beautiful interface. The only 2 negative notes on the HTC Droid Eris would be that it could have a slightly faster processor and the battery life isn’t exactly the best. When it comes to the comparison between the Motorola Droid and the HTC Droid Eris, the operating system shouldn’t be a major concern because HTC does plan to offer a free upgrade to Android 2.0. The major differences are the processor speed, the amount of RAM, and the battery life. All of those categories the Motorola Droid slightly edges the HTC Droid Eris. They’re both very good options, but if you’re looking for something simpler and you’re not going to be using your phone constantly throughout the day the HTC Droid Eris is for you!

Review by D. Fawson:

I had been watching the Droid for a while, and so when I received an Email notifying me of it’s release, I headed on over to the Verizon Store on launch day. All of the employees were wearing shirts that said, “Droid does,” and there was a small, but significant crowd in the corner right beside the entrance. There I saw a stand where some redneck was eying this blocky, shiny black phone. Abandoned, on the same display set-up, there was a lonely, small, much sleeker, touch screen phone I did not recognize. Still eager to take my turn with the Droid, I decided to play with this other one to pass the time.

It was not long at all before I realized that the unadvertised, un-hyped Droid Eris was vastly superior.

Let me start by comparing it to the Motorola Droid (MD) (Motorola Droid A855 Phone (Verizon Wireless)). The MD Has hard edges, corners, and an unfriendly box shape. It has a thin slide-out keyboard, the keys of which have very little tactile feedback, and the rows aren’t offset like a real keyboard. Also, on this slide-out panel, is a d-pad, which is almost completely unnecessary given the touch screen. The entire phone has a shiny smooth finish, making it really susceptible to scratches and fingerprints. The tech specs are a little better, with a faster cpu and a beautiful high resolution screen. Also the camera has a flash.

The Droid Eris (DE) on the other hand, is quite smaller, and has rounded edges (much like the iPhone.) It uses only the on-screen keyboard, which is not the best of all input methods, but most problems are averted by its handy correction feature. Also, like the iPhone, you can turn it on its side to enlarge the keyboard, making the problem of hitting the wrong key nearly disappear. The DE has a trackball, much like the Blackberry Pearl (BlackBerry Pearl 8130 Phone, Pink (Verizon Wireless),) and while this almost never comes into play, it’s much nicer and has less of a primitive feel than the MDs d-pad. You can also have it light up for notifications. The phone has a silky smooth rubber coating on the back. That combined with the rounded edges makes it much easier to hold. The tech specs aren’t on the mark with the MD, but thus far, I have yet to encounter any serious problems with speed. And, while it would be nice to have the higher resolution screen, this one does the job just fine.

They both run on Verizon’s network, which, from what I’ve heard, is the best. Both use Google’s Android OS, which is fantastic and wonderfully customizable. Although the MD uses a newer version, the DE is going to be supporting it soon.

These are the only problems I have run into with the Eris.

>The battery life isn’t so great, especially if you are constantly browsing the internet and stuff, like I did the first couple of days. It’s never gone out on me though, even once when I didn’t charge for two days. But I recommend charging every night.

>The cracks around the edge of the screen seem to attract little bits of dirt, crumbs etc. which can take away the beauty of the phone, and it’s hard to get them out.

>The music system isn’t the best. Especially considering the battery life. Keep your iPod.

These are the things I LOVE about the phone:

>Accelerometers detect the orientation of the screen.

>Browse the internet anytime. Also, browser supports pinch zoom.

>Electrostatic (finger electricity detecting) touch screen much better than the pressure sensitive ones seen on cheap touch screen phones.

>Move icons on main screen anywhere. Put exactly what you want on main and sub screens and nothing else.

>High quality camera. With the highest settings, the picture is too high quality to send in a mms message. No flash, but hey. I didn’t get this phone for the camera.

>Hundreds of free apps in the store (that can be made freely by anybody) to keep me entertained forever.

>My screen still has no scratches, despite being dropped into and pulled out of my pocket countless times since I got it release day.

>Although the port looks different, a standard Mini-USB will fit it. This means it is easy to find a usable cord for it, if you lose the provided one.

There’s probably more, but why don’t you find out for yourself? Buy it. You won’t be disappointed.

Review by J. Davenport:

Windows Mobile phones require a little more dedication and knowledge to use but with a small amount of googling you will discover enormous potential. HTC has been a savior for the Windows Mobile platform and their products keep getting better. This phone is a mobile computer.

I am a self-employed home theater and automation installer. I love pushing technology to it’s limits. This phone continues to wow me each time that I find the time to explore it’s power.

Here are the reasons why I own the HTC Touch Pro:

- VGA Screen

- Slide out keyboard

- Fast Internet

- Microsoft Office Mobile (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote)

- Exchange Server Support

- GPS Mapping / Tracking / Trip Logging / Geotagging Applications

- Google Maps Navigation

- WiFi Connection Testing

- Bluetooth Internet Connection Sharing

- Bluetooth mouse and keyboard input

- AV output cable to TV

- Remote Office Desktop viewing with gotomypc

- Opera Browser capable of using most websites

- Replaceable Battery

- Home Automation Control

- Bluetooth Printer Support

- Threaded Text Messages

- Contacts and Calendar Integration

- PIM contacts file export and duplication

- TouchFlo Interface

- MicroSD expansion

- 3.2 MP Camera

- Panoramic Photo Stitching Application

- Sitewalk videos

- Voice Recorder

- Mobile Media Player

- Plays the XM radio site.

- Drag and Drop media files

- TiVo Desktop Support

- SlingBox Support

- Tilt Sensor

- Charging Cable is mini-USB

- Video Conferencing Ability (not tested)

- Nice Speaker Phone

- Dedicated number keys on the keyboard.

- Windows Mobile 6.1 allows applications to easily close without opening the task manager in the control panel.

- The look on an iPhone user’s face when they realize there’s something better.

Here’s what it needs:

- Hard keys to close windows, open contacts, launch applications.

- A standard Headphone Jack on the top of the phone.

- Louder Speaker

- Better Scratch Protection

- TouchFlo interface input, it’s mainly for viewing only

- Visual Voicemail

- Stronger Vibrate Ring

- OK button on keyboard

- Ability to launch selected applications at Start Up

- A real flash for the camera, it’s the flashlight type.

- A stronger magnet or more friction to hold in the stylus.

- Phone shouldn’t unlock itself if the keyboard slides out a little bit, only if fully extended.

- More responsive landscape/portrait video switching

Dream Features:

- Desktops and Phones use an OS where applications will install on either machine

- Mini DisplayPort external monitor support

- Dedicated Number and Programmable hardkeys with small display screen on the back side.

- IR emitter on top

- Universal remote control programming support

Review by Labuiacs:

This phone is fast and has a high resolution screen. As a former Mogul user I had to get used to the lack of exterior buttons and the fact that the keyboard slides out in a different direction. (Its good for left handed individuals… but I am not left handed.)

The tilt sensor is fun with games and integrates smoothly with Opera Mobile. GPS is very useful if you download the Google Maps application, its free unlike the pre-installed GPS app from Sprint. The camera is quite good for a phone, and is a significant improvement over the Mogul’s.

TouchFLO is neat but not very customizable with out 3rd party applications. This is the wonderful advantage Windows Mobile phones have over the iPhone… I can change the interface and install anything I want with out jailbreaking it.

Windows Mobile phones are for adults and experienced users. You can’t just flip it open and start dialing, that’s not why you buy a Windows Mobile phone. Its a hand held computer/GPS/MP3 Player/Video player/Browser/Camera/E-mail/Scheduler/Etc. that also happens to be a decent phone.

The HTC Pro has a better battery life than the Mogul and a brighter screen. It charges with mini USB, which is ubiquitous, and you can choose to connect to your computer with Active sync or as a Hard Drive.

Finally, anyone who buy’s a Windows Mobile device and expects it to never crash or lock up is crazy. Its WINDOWS! BTW I have witnessed many iPhones lock up in the same way!

Review by L. Mcconner:

I love this phone. It’s operating system is very intuitive and smooth. Also, the small size lends it a cuteness factor that is too hard to resist. Even though the keyboard is extremely petite I find it very easy to type fast and accurately. People have been commenting that the Pixi Plus is slower than the Pre Plus. I’ve played with both devices while in the Verizon store and while the Pixi is a tad bit slower it is still fast enough. The lag time is about 10 seconds or less. That is nothing; still super fast to me. This Verizon edition has Wifi, which is lacking in the Sprint model. Nice. From what I read the addition of Wifi should help ease the strain on the horrible battery.

Con:

Battery life. Even though I changed some of the settings to increase battery life I am finding that it still sucks. Even when it is just sitting in my purse the battery drains. So, basically you will only be able to get about a day’s worth of a charge on this phone and that is with changing the settings such as decreasing the brightness of the screen, turning off the GPS, etc.. Depending on usage, you will find yourself charging it twice a day. Since I really do love this phone I will just have to put up with the battery and take full advantage of my AC adapter as well as my Touchstone. With this battery a car charger would be a good investment as well.

Pros: Everything else.

Three weeks later: I find myself more satisfied with the battery life. Manually changing the above mentioned settings on this phone does make a difference. It does not constantly drain from inactivity as it did before and even though I still have to charge it by the end of the day at least I get a full day’s use out of it before I have to.

I also understand that Palm will be providing a wireless update for both the Pre Plus and Pix Plus that will give it the ability to record video. I remember reading that somewhere. I will check back and update my review when (if) this happens.

Review by Nathan Beauchamp:

I spent over a month reading about and researching phones before finally ultimately choosing the HTC Touch Pro 2. I considered the i-phone (although not for very long once I heard the 3Gs is currently impossible to jailbreak), the blackberry, and a few other phones like the HTC Hero. I settled on the Touch Pro 2 for many reasons, but the primary were its phenomenal feature set, well designed QWERTY keypad, and ability to run open source programs. That said, there are a few downsides to this otherwise excellent phone–I’ll get into those later in this review. Also it’s worth noting that this phone sells for quite a bit more if bought directly from t-mobile. Amazon has the cheapest price (as of October 2009) by far.

The build quality of this phone is excellent. It has that ’solid’ feel that is hard to otherwise quantify, but that you know when you interact with it. The i-phone has the same sort of feeling to it. The phone is also pleasingly tactile, and feels great to hold and use. This is one of the difficult to quantify things about a phone, but is so important since most of us use our phones everyday for at least a year. I believe RIM understands this design principle better than anyone–Blackberry’s have always been great to hold–but the Touch Pro 2 is proof that HTC has learned a thing or two about making a phone more than just another device.

Windows Mobile 6.5 is already available for the international version of the Touch Pro 2, but won’t be available for the t-mobile version for another few months. However, there is little in Windows Mobile 6.5 that the Touch Pro 2 does already have with TouchFLO 3D. The TouchFLO interface makes using the touch screen easier. I find I almost never need to use the stylus except when browsing detailed web pages with a lot of text links. Scrolling from panel to panel is accomplished by using simple drag gestures from right to left or wonder-of-wonders, right to left–one of my pet peeves in menu design is when you cannot scroll both directions. Don’t expect much from WM 6.5 when it is released. Bottom line: WM, regardless of version, is pretty poor, but the Touch Pro 2 and accompanying TouchFLO interface are excellent.

Multitasking is also excellent. You can answer a phone call, open your calendar and make entries, view a PDF and transition to a conference call all with a minimum of fuss. They’ve done a lot to make the phone intuitive to navigate, and I’ve found I can pretty much figure out how to do most things without referring to the manual. TouchFLO makes navigation really easy (more on TouchFLO later in the review) and makes shifting from one task to another simple.

Believe what you’ve read about the QWERTY key pad. It is definitively the best key pad out there. I’ve used quite a few, and tested even more while researching my new phone including various blackberries and the sidekick. The Touch Pro’s keypad is easy to use, feels great, and gives solid tactile response at each key-tap. I can type in the range of 30 words a minute with reasonable accuracy. I think I could type even more quickly if the keypad had an ‘alt’ key on the right side of the keypad and not just the left. This is a surprising disappointment in an otherwise perfect keypad.

The 480×800 resolution screen is a sight for sore eyes (literally). If you’re moving up from a previous generation phone, prepare to be impressed. Even if you’re switching from a phone with a pretty good screen like a blackberry, this screen will still impress you. Crystal clear, excellent color accuracy, and all kinds of real estate for a mobile device. Watching videos on You Tube, playing games, reading text, ect., all benefit from the gorgeous screen.

Wifi connectivity works well and makes surfing the web or using the you tube application a joy. Some reviews have mentioned terrible frame rates when playing You Tube videos. I have not found this to be the case, even on the t-mobile 3G network. Streaming videos works just fine in my experience.

The included media player (WM 6.1 default) is a joke and should be ignored. Download one of the many free (and far superior) media players out there rather than suffering with the WM version. Sadly, the Touch Pro does not have a 3.5mm audio jack. This is probably the single most frustrating thing about the phone and a glaring omission for a phone that could otherwise also serve as a media player powerhouse if it did. The included dongle which connects to HTC’s proprietary USB connection converts to a non-standard 2.5mm jack, which makes it useless: imagine using a dongle connected to a 2.5mm-3.5mm converter connected to your headphones–stupid.

The Touch Pro 2’s emphasis on keeping you connected with your friends through an integration of your contacts, text messages, face book, instant messenger, etc., is a good idea in theory but with mixed results in application. Threading SMS works very well, as does integration with facebook (which lets you choose which notifications you want to receive) but tagging all your contacts with their corresponding facebook page is time consuming.

The camera is ho-hum. Not bad but not great either. It works well when there’s plenty of light but not so well in dim light or at night. It’s suitable for taking informal shots of friends and such, but won’t really impress even by camera phone standards.

Summary:

PROs:

1) Non proprietary system that allows you to run what ever programs you feel like

2) TouchFLO interface is excellent

3) Supports up to 32gb micro SD cards (try getting that from an i-phone)

4) Build quality is great

5) 480×800 resolution screen is flawless

6) QWERTY keypad is best in class

7) Good multitasking

3G coverage in most major metropolitan areas (I live in Chicago and coverage is good-excellent depending on where I am)

CONS:

1) No 3.5mm audio jack

2) No right ‘alt’ key on key pad

3) Expensive if bought directly from t-mobile

4) Windows Mobile 6.1 (or 6.5 for that matter) is old and outdated

ADVANTAGES over the i-phone:

1) Not proprietary and can use third party applications

2) Supports micro SD cards

3) Has a tilt screen

4) Better battery life (3-4 hours more depending on how you use the phone)

5) Is not contractually locked to AT&T

ADVANTAGES over the Blackberry 8900:

1) Support for 3G network coverage

2) Tilt screen

3) Better third party e-mail support

4) Better multi-media support

This is a great phone. The more I use it, the more I like it. If you want a rock solid smart phone that is as great looking as it functional, the Touch Pro 2 is an excellent choice and beats out the i-phone and Blackberry smart phones in my opinion.

4.5/5 Stars.

Review by Skyler A. Loth:

This is the most spectacular phone that I have owned.

I recently got this phone and I chose the T-mobile Touch Pro 2 over the Iphone 3GS, Palm Pre, Blackberry tour, and MyTouch 3G.

It was money well spent and is the perfect phone for me!

Before you buy though… 3 things:

1. The Touch Pro 2 is a big device. Its not TOO big, but don’t expect to fit it in your jean pocket if you are a girl. If you are a guy, wear a belt if you put the phone in your pocket. I have to do this or else the sheer weight of the device will win…

2. It runs Windows Mobile.

A. If you know what xda-developers is…. this will be a phone that can withstand at least 2 years and STILL be a cutting edge device. Money well spent!

B. If you don’t know what xda-developers is and you are tech-savvy, Google it! Have fun.

C. If computers scare you… think about purchasing a less-complicated phone with less features. You probably won’t understand how to work this phone.

3. Get a data plan with this phone. .99 may seem like a lot… but without it you will miss out on so much.

As time goes on, my phone keeps getting better. Once again, if XDA rings a bell, BUY THIS PHONE and you will be delighted. The software on it is superior to any other phone on the market today. If xda means nothing to you, the touch pro 2 is still a great device (with a few software flaws.) It is still worth your money!

Review by RFW:

I will admit to initially having some of the same frustration(s) with this device, to which others have alluded, and I, also, considered returning it within the thirty-day period allotted by Verizon. However, the capabilities of the HTC Touch Pro are extensive, and I found it difficult to fully appreciate everything the device can do in six weeks, let alone three or four.

First, my hands and fingers are larger than average, but I’ve found it easy and quick to navigate using the touch-screens and buttons. I use the stylus from time-to-time, and my experience is that it is sometimes necessary to use it when objects are crowded close together on the touch-screen, but I found this to be an infrequent necessity. The keyboard is very good, though I initially found the odd placement of the letter “M” a little disconcerting, but I did eventually get used to its location. These are certainly things one can try out in any Verizon store, and don’t have to be left to chance; the same with build-quality, which I’ve found to be very good, check it out to your own satisfaction.

I use my Touch Pro mainly for business and am a heavy user of Microsoft Outlook Tasks, Calendar, and Contacts, so easy synchronizing these things with the same items on my desktop PC is very important to me; the HTC Touch Pro does this very well, though I’d have liked the Verizon Wireless Sync capability included with the basic data package, without having to pay extra for wireless sync. But I’ve gotten used to synchronizing by using the USB cable; it’s quick and easy.

Setting up the device to download my email from four different email accounts, and four different providers, was easy and quick. One just types in the email address and password (you only have to do this once at setup) for an account and the device software does most of the rest. I did not find it necessary to download any additional software for this. I just followed the directions in the user guide. For each account, you can choose from a variety of time-intervals for checking your email (5 min., 10 min., 15 min., 30 min., 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, or once per day), or you may check manually in just seconds.

At first, I did find the operating system seemed to slow down or freeze from time-to-time. Invariably, this was due to having too many programs running at once, a condition cured with two touches on the main screen (with two touches, you can close any one program or close all open programs). Also, I found that getting photos and music off the device and onto a memory card resulted in faster operation. The device has a lot of memory, relatively speaking, but keep in mind that it has a lot of programs and capability. Re-setting the device (soft-reset, that is) is also a solution, but probably should only be done with the same frequency as you do it on your desktop or laptop–which is, hopefully, infrequently. If the device completely freezes, of course, your choices may be limited to a re-set. You may find, as I did, that once you learn how to get around in the device, moving more efficiently between and among its functions and programs, the incidence of freezing will drop to zero.

This is a great device for business, though the 3D TouchFLO interface (an I-Phone-like experience) seems fun to use and may be easier for some to navigate to more frequently used functions; I don’t use this interface much, preferring the–perhaps more boring–”TODAY screen” interface and the full complement of functions available through menu choices. In any case, I found there are a number of ways of accomplishing typical tasks, some easier and quicker than others. For instance, text messaging, of which I do a lot with my daughter, is as easily accessible as it is for a regular cell phone; just three or four quick touches will get you there with the Touch Pro. For receiving a text message, a notification link takes you to the read/reply screen with only one touch.

In the end I’ve reacted positively to this device, especially for business. And I very much like the familiar “Windows” look and feel. Among those things for which I have less appreciation are: Cost (it’s a pricey phone from Verizon); the highly polished, piano-black finish, is easily smudged with fingerprints; there is an atypically long delay in the phone ringing when a call comes in–the person calling will hear five rings while you will have heard only two–even if you’re in the same room. Incidentally, in the event you plan to get your device from a non-Verizon source, you might want to check with Verizon to see if you might be by-passing some benefit (like “new-every-two” or a credit on a new phone when your plan expires–just a thought).

Review by Etta Wildberry:

I had this phone for three weeks, sent it back to Verizon within my 30 days, paid and restocking fee of 35 dollars, and am awaiting the Blackberry Curve.

Pros:

-Lots of features and capabilities. Top of the line in terms of the list of things it can do. I wont repeat since they are listed in the description.

-I liked the Opera browser and once I got email working, its a nice interface.

Cons:

-Did not find navigating menu items and settings intuitive. Took navigating through 6 menu items to get to a text message unless that person was in your favorites list. Could not figure out how to switch between video and camera mode, for example.

-Minimalist buttons forced me to use the stylus on this phone frequently, which is cumbersome at times. It has only the buttons on the front of the phone, and a volume control on the side. Thats it. It really should have stuck with the buttons and side navigation wheel that its predecessor had.

-Ironically (since this runs a Windows OS), it was easy to set up my gmail email account, but I had to download extra software (which took multiple tries to get to install correctly) and many attempts to get my hotmail accounts setup.

-Slow OS, freezes. I found it annoyingly slow to switch between applications and functions on this phone. The phone also froze on me repeatedly and I had to reset it on three occasions in the three weeks I had it. Unacceptable.

BTW – when I went to the Verizon store to look for a different phone the salesperson told me that the latest version of Windows OS is “lightyears better” that previous versions. Maybe is it (I never used them) but in my experience, it still sucks. Freezing and resetting your handheld should not be part of regular use. Why can’t Microsoft get this right?

-Back cover was flimsy and popped off a few times when I was trying to slide the keyboard open.

I could go on, but why? I was disappointed in this phone. Based on my experience, I ruled out Windows OS, check out Palm software but found it outdated or else without a physical keyboard, and so ended up choosing from Blackberry. I’ve got two good friends who love their Blackberry Curves, and I liked my experience with it in the store, so I am hoping for the best with that one.

Two other things – as of the time of this review Verizon does not make these phones available in their stores for a physical, hands-on experience.

AND, Verizon has created a new requirement that you MUST buy the add-on monthly data package for .99/month with any smartphone. So keep that in mind.

Good luck.

Review by Tim Hoag:

Ok, before I rant about the battery, I want to warn Palm fanboys about the one change you need to prepare for (note: I am a huge Palm fanboy). If you aren’t currently using a Treo or Centro phone, skip the next paragraph.

Not a complaint, just some advice because Palm has ALWAYS been the best at contact/calendar management. No one else comes close. If you like the way PalmOS has always sync’d directly with your PC (Outlook, Palm Desktop, etc) – you will need to buy a 3rd-part application to do that with the Pre or Pixi. Palm has dropped support for that. It can synch with an Exchange server like a Blackberry (my company won’t support it) or with Gmail (I will never share my contacts with Google, Yahoo, or any other public site). Most of these apps come with a trial period. I recommend that you have it installed on your PC before you do any contact sync or email set up. It worked flawlessly and it’s just like I’ve been doing it with Outlook for many years. When setting up your Pre for the first time, skip the step to set up e-mail so you can synch your contacts with a third party app first. IT’s much less confusing.

Oh, and DON’T sync with more than one 3rd party app, because you will duplicate every contact. The Pre is able to see the duplicates and show them as a single contact (sort of) but I tried it with more than one, and I had to do a hard reset and then sync with only one 3rd party app to de-dupe the contacts. PocketMirror does wireless sync, but it is VERY slow with my 3,000 contacts. It’s a litte faster via Bluetooth. CompanionLink is much faster, but requires a USB cable.

Ok, for those who don’t care about contact/calendar sync, or who get one of the 3rd party apps, here is my summary of the Palm Pre: FANTASTIC!

It is very close to the iPhone in ease of use, innovation, etc. Each has a few unique advantages. But, the Palm wins on the stuff I care about – multitasking being a major item… I can listen to music AND surf the web. Can’t do that on an iPone, iPad, or any other iDevice. That’s huge.

The ONLY complaint I have is battery life, which is even worse than an iPhone. Palm really has to fix this. I bought a Siedio extended battery from Amazon.com to provide some improvement, and reducing screen brightness also helps. But, if you are doing a lot of web browsing, tweeting, etc… it’s really bad – but no worse than the Motorola Droid, by the way. About 5 hours of heavy web use.

So, carry a spare battery (another great feature the iPhone doesn’t have – you can quickly swap batteries) – or get an extended life battery like I did. Other than that, I also wish it had a soft keyboard and a few things that would make it easier to surf and text in landscape mode…

If Palm would add a few refinements like better landscape support,it would be a perfect phone.

And the icing on the cake? The network, of course! The Pre+ runs on Verizon, and not AT&T. That drives all my iPhone fanboy friends crazy. It was well worth the wait for Verizon to get this phone. I recommend this for everyone… I especially recommend this phone for iPhone users so they can get off the AT&T network…

Now Verizon can say “there’s an App for that” as well as “there’s a map for that”, and that, my friends, makes this a terrific phone!

Review by C. R. Caballero:

Let me start by saying I love the iPhone but I do not love AT&T and AT&T does not love me. I was tired of family/friends complaining of lost/failed calls when I was talking to them on my iPhone. I know this is not true for every area, but for my area Verizon is definitely the most reliable carrier. That said, I bought the Palm Pre Plus about 10 days ago and so far I am extremely happy with it. There is not much it can’t do that the iphone can. Multi-tasking is a definite plus! And I really like Tweed for Palm Twittering, it’s just as good as any app on the iphone. There are a few games I miss but most of the popular ones are there with more coming everyday. The contacts sync, UI, web browsing are all excellent. I love the clear bright screen and the shape of the phone, fits great in the hand and in your pocket. I am having a little trouble getting use to the keyboard but it’s coming along. I would really love to see a virtual keyboard added as well as a few landscape support. Nothing though that Homebrew couldn’t fix. I’m happy to say that I have added all I wanted with Homebrew. If I can’t have an iphone on Verizon then this is the phone to have. I am a fan of nobody but what makes ME happy. And this phone makes me happy! I am now using my iphone as an ipod touch.

Review by Ken Sann:

I received this phone just days after Verizon released it, replacing a TouchPro as my personal phone. I also have a Blackberry Tour and was testing an iphone 3GS for our company at the same time. So I had three of the latest technologies in my hands.

The iphone was my first experience with touch-screen only, and I was really hesitant. But after using it for a couple days, I realized that it was actually very quick to learn to type with. I was sending decent sized emails quickly. But dang, the web browsing speeds were so incredibly slow compared to the other phones. The iphone interface was very easy to learn, and one strong point was moving from app to app didn’t seem to slow the phone down at all. But I have multiple email accounts (work, and two personal), and to move between accounts takes several taps. Another thing that I did not like was the back cover is a shiny plastic, only way to keep it decent looking is to cover it. I don’t like that.

The BB Tour had a learning curve that I was not expecting, it was not nearly as intuitive as either WM6.1 or the iphone, to move from function to function takes several clicks or motions with the trackball, move here, then there, then here, press this, then that, however, once learned, it is an incredibly quick phone. Lots of finger motion, but it is extremely fast to move from app to app. The fastest of the three, but it really feels that you have to work for it. This phone feels well made, a decent keyboard (though I preferred the keyboard on my TouchPro) so typing is decent.

Now, my newest toy, the Imagio, my first interaction with WM6.5. The phone feels really solid in the hand, much more substantial than any of the other phones. Plus the back cover has a textured surface, it is very easy to grab, and will not scratch easily, so no protector needed. The HTC navigation is very similar to my TouchPro, but it is even easier and faster. The screen is stunning, truly. I love the tactile feedback when typing (a very nice compliment to the touchscreen typing, a step up from the iphone in this way), the screen is extremely touch sensitive, slightly more so than the iphone, so it takes a while to learn just exactly how to brush the screen to initiate a scroll rather than selecting something, iphone was better at this. Rotation of the screen seems to take about the same amount of time as the iphone, no winners there, but the multitouch (expand, open, close, etc) of the iphone is nice, something that the Imagio does not do. There is a zoom slider area, but it only works in some apps, so it helps, but no match for the iphone in this way. But the killer piece, to go from email account to email account takes a single touch, I love it. This phone feels much more business oriented in the navigation than the iphone, I feel that it is a superior tool for my usage, and again, I love the screen, stunning. The kickstand feature is cool, but I really have no intention of watching stuff on it, but my 10 year old daughter thinks it is cool. One drawback, as you open lots of apps, the phone does slow down, so I often go in and actually close the apps rather than just switching apps (iphone excelled at this). Oh, and battery life is fantastic, better than the ipone, but not quite up to the BB Tour. First phone that I have had that I didn’t have to recharge every single night.

Bottom line, the AT&T rep picked up the iphone, and I turned in my BB Tour, we just call forward to my personal Imagio, and for the first time in seven years, I carry a single phone (personal, it is my home phone too, and for work).

Yes, I am a very happy customer.

ken

Review by Firstclassfreight:

After finding some standout features we decided on the Imagio.

First with Windows based phones we can view our security cameras at home on our

phone, for the first time with Verizon. (wi-life online) It is also the

only phone with actual live Mobile TV like Fox News which is an extra a month,

but I am very happy to watch the news as it is happening. I really liked the Google maps on the Droid, but I was able to download and install that easily enough (m.google.com). The Droid (Motorola) has more features with Navigation, but I find the navigation to be unreliable so I started looking at the Imagio again.

When we started looking at all of the phones, I did not see many reviews on the Imagio. One said there was hissing during calls, but in fact the calls are great, clear, and reliable for the most part. (We tried iPhones which were the worst reliability in our area as well as driving from LAX to Disneyland, especially at Disneyland – just awful!) The Imagio as a phone is not the most ergonomic feel in your hand, but the speakerphone is great and there’s always bluetooth.

The email is not supercool. It was confusing to set up because they have it in two places. I actually had to call Verizon for help. Now that it is set up, it is still not the most user friendly. I read in a review to try downloading and using SPB Mobile shell to replace the existing interface, so I plan to try that but haven’t done so yet.

The Imagio touch screen is sensitive as the other reviewer says. I was very hesitant about having only the touch screen but it works fine overall. The setup for synching to my computer went on and on but eventually I figured it out.

As far as battery life goes, Verizon sells an extended battery and cover. I bought that and it doesn’t add too much weight or size to the phone. The battery adds the extra time you need to make it not so bad on battery life. Removing the micro-sd is not that user friendly because you have to take the battery cover off and take the stylus out before replacing the cover or you will lock the stylus in and will have to take the cover off again to get to it.

Having less to do with the Imagio:

If you are buying your first smart phone I would just recommend that you find 3 really cool features about the phone that make you excited and want to put up with the phone’s shortcomings. They all had some. This is where I found my peace with picking and feeling happy about a phone. We looked at Blackberry’s which are probably the best for emailing and had cool radio station apps. We looked at the Droids which are really cool and have great potential. The Motorola was fun to scan the map, look for restaurants in the area. The screen is really nice on that phone. After comparing it to the Imagio however, the Imagio was just as cool.

Review by J. Gates:

When upgrading from the Blackberry Curve, I had two phones in mind: the Blackberry Tour and HTC Ozone. The features of both phones are similar. However the differences were that the HTC Ozone had wifi and flash support. By downloading Skyfire, I am able to view or play embedded videos or music on practically any website. For example Youtube, CNET, or Cnn videos. With large amount of features and the ability to stream audio and video, battery life is something that needs to be monitored. Overall a wonderful cell phone that is similar to having a computer in my pocket.

Review by VOM:

I have mixed feelings about this phone that I’ve had for a week. It has plenty of features but some of them fit into the “WTF were the designers thinking!” department.

1. The Call History shows only the phone number. No time or date. Just about every cheap cell phone provides call time and date so why not this?

2. When you create an email account you are forced to set up an unlock code. But, when you get a phone call you have to enter the unlock code to answer it. I’ve missed answering calls because I couldn’t unlock it fast enough.

3. You have a choice of only 1 minute or 5 minutes for the time that inactivity causes the phone to lock itself. Not enough. Worse, you can’t turn it off as the option to do so is grayed out in the settings page. So, once you set an unlock you can’t remove it. Stupid! I had to reset the phone to factory settings to get rid of the unlock and lost call history, emails, etc.

4. There is no way that I could find to delete an email account after its been set up. Stupid! Again, I had to reset the phone to factory settings to get rid of the email account and lost call history, emails, etc.

5. The silver button in the middle of the directional keypad is too narrow and shiny so you have to come at it sideways with the tip of your thumb and hope it doesn’t slip. Try and come at it from below with your thumb and you end up pressing the up/down arrows by accident. This should be a square or circular button with a non-shiny surface.

6. Windows Update doesn’t work!

Sorry but I’m not imnpressed and will probably take advantage of Verizon’s 30-day exchange to get something different, perhaps a Blackberry.