Should it be on your Radar?
The first thing to strike you about
HTC’s Radar is how pretty it is. Superficial I may be but it’s hard not to stare. While not as gargantuan as its sister unit, the
Titan, it’s metallic finish and sublime 3.8” 480 x 800 16m colour S-LCD
capacitive touchscreen draws the eyes in.
After five minutes with its screen, the prospect of using another seemed akin to interfacing with a rusty typewriter from the wrong side of a grubby window. Its detail is immaculate, its colours crisp and vibrant. In terms of display alone,
HTC has turned competitors into mere blips on the radar.
Unfortunately, burrow a little deeper and the allure starts to wane.
Primarily, dropping the damn thing is a major concern. If felt awkward and oversized in my hands, the tips of my digits constantly triggering unwanted programs. In smaller palms (which I found lying around) the
Radar is very much a two handed-job.
Seriously, gripping this thing on a humid day with hands even remotely approaching sweaty is not advisable. Because though packed full of features, accelerometer, proximity sensor, multi touch input, it’s not compatible with concrete! Gorgeous as that finish is, I’d prefer not to fear for it every time I have a tweet to twit.
Marigolds snapped on, I explore the fabulous
Windows 7.5 OS. Overlooked next to leviathans
Android and
iOS, this UI deserves some praise. It’s simple, clear and, on the whole, intuitive.
Mango employs dual home screens. The first is an entirely customizable stream of panels which house whatever combination of apps you deem imperative. The second offers a comprehensive list of the Radars options and programs, so even if you delete one from the former it’s accessible via the later. Admittedly this makes the primary home screen redundant, but I’m not about to complain about the inclusion of extra options.
Given its mastadonic insides, 1 GHz Scorpion processor, 512 MB RAM, Adreno 205 GPU, Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon chipset, the Radar works at an excellent pace, rarely needing to catch its breath no matter the applications running. As with any new device, important utilities like calls and messaging take a bit of getting used to, but Mango is a simple interface to master.
The fledgling Microsoft Marketplace pales comparatively with its burlier brothers, but with over 30,000 apps, even those who live on their phones should unearth sufficient Feng shui to make the Radar cosy!
Its 5 MP 2560х1920 autofocus LED camera compliments Geo-tagging, VGA and 720p at 30fps. Yet with only 8GB of storage, with no card slot or no scope to improve the battery, the limited use of the device’s gorgeous if limited media sneaks in under the radar.
Music aficionados who eat 8GB for breakfast won’t be best pleased. And though
Zune is a comprehensive, viable alternative to iTunes or Walkman, I resented being forced to install it. That’s right folks, you cannot use Windows Explorer to simply drag and drop music onto this Windows Phone.
I’m not sure if it
Microsoft’s intention was to mimic the single most infuriating aspect of iTunes. But if so, mission accomplished.
It’s a shame the Radar suffers these minor nagging issues, because with regard to performance, customization and presentation, it’s hugely impressive and for the price it's worth considering as a workable substitute to everyone’s favourite iSmartphone. But sadly Windows 7.5 and its marketplace do little to truly tear people away from the comforts of iOS and Android. And coupled with its limited media flexibility, consumers should think hard before turning up on HTC’s radar.