Review: HTC Arrive

24 March, 2011 Category : Articles,featured_widget,HTC

It is official: Arrive has arrived. We have posted a video of HTC Arrive when it came out and now let’s take a closer look. The new HTC Arrive is the latest Windows Phone 7 offering and the great thing about it is that the new phone is quite impressive. Therefore we should skip on the mambo jumbo and let us get started with the review.

The look

Upon first sighting, if you are aware of previous HTC phones, you might also have the same idea that it looks quite a lot like the HTC Tilt2. When it comes to size, feel and weight, it is quite similar to other phones that utilize the Windows Phone 7. Overall, the shape and overall look is impressive. The materials used were quite good and the build was solid. The general look is quite simple. Looking at technical elements, Arrive measures at 4.63×2.32x.61 inches and it weighs just beyond 6 oz. This new phone is quite larger than the Tilt2.

Specs

Let us go now to the substance of it all. HTC Arrive uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. It has a 16GB memory and boasts of a 1500mah battery. It has the standard features of most smart phones like the Bluetooth, GPS and WiFi as well as other Windows related elements. The memory card was deeply buried into the hardware and so it will be very tough to swap it. If you try it, your warranty will be void. The battery power was quite decent and a full battery can last a full day even with heavy usage.

Keyboard and other specs

What makes the HTC Arrive a lot more different from the other HTC phones is the keyboard. When you slide the keyboard, the screen will automatically create an angle, making it easier to type on a flat surface. The keyboard has the standard 5 row set up but it does not have any shortcut keys. There is a smiley key and arrow keys which becomes very useful when editing your work. The screen is quite good and well lit. The sliding action of the keyboard into and out of the back is quite rough so it is one of the less impressive details that they should have been able to address.

Software

The HTC Arrive has the standard software components from Windows Phone 7. Other software components include the HTC Hub as well as the Sprint Zone. There are tips and tricks, suggested apps and the Sprint news. The company kept the phone a lot clean from other apps so that the customers can make their own decisions regarding the extras that will be installed. Actually, for those who do not want the Sprint apps, you can uninstall them if you want. When it comes to the loading of the apps, Arrive tends to offer a much faster load and resume.

Camera

The camera feature is quite solid though it has the problem of reverting the settings back to default which could get a little annoying.

Overall

The HTC Arrive gets very high marks for its speed, functionality, customization of apps and its overall performance. If you love the Windows Phone 7, you might want to try it out with this phone.

Here is a HTC Arrive in a review video by MobileTechReview: