REVIEWS / SMARTPHONES / HTC INDIA PVT. LTD.

HTC Radar, Windows Phone Mango smartphone review

21 Oct, 2011, 5:46 pm IST | by Jamshed Avari | Smartphones Smartphones

Finally an option to multitask

Finally an option to multitask
New Twitter and upadted Xbox Live apps
The gray option is quite a looker as well
Not the slimmest in the lot but quite well built
Slick looking device
Tiles, tiles and more tiles, a neat way to get around
Totally encased battery
Looking familiar?

PRICE IN INDIA

23,000

TECH2 RATING

8.0

AVERAGE USER RATING

How we test

CONTACT

HTC India Pvt. Ltd.

 shaurya.vedvyas@brightpoint.com

 +91 9811 428765

 http://www.htc.com/in

HTC’s Radar brings us our first taste of Windows Phone 7.5, aka Mango. Although it has made its debut just a little while after Samsung’s Omnia W, claiming second place in the WP7 Mango handset category in India, it does seem to have what it takes to make it. Here’s a closer look at the handset and all that WP7 Mango brings to the party.


Form Factor
While the software is of course its defining feature and will get most of our attention, HTC has done an admirable job of crafting the phone itself. Its solid aluminum body feels reassuringly hefty, and its curves are perfectly defined to fit in the hand. Our silver-and-white review model looked clean and modern, though its minimalistic lines were a bit broken by the black sensor and camera (VGA resolution) patches.

Totally encased battery

Totally encased battery

 


The Radar has three standard touch-sensitive controls on the front, and extremely slim buttons along the top and right edges for sleep, volume control and camera shutter release. A 3.5mm headset socket is on top, a micro USB charging port on the left, and the rather large camera lens (5MP) and LED flash are at the rear. The battery is built in, the SIM card slips underneath a removable plastic chin, and there’s no microSD or other expansion slot, no different from any other WP7 handset.

Not the slimmest in the lot but quite well built

Not the slimmest in the lot but quite well built

 


Front and center, the 3.8-inch-tall 800 x 480-pixel touchscreen is crisp and vibrant, with the OS’s stark neon icons standing out against their black background. The Radar comes with a matching white USB cord and headset, but strangely, a black charger.


Features
The internals of the Radar consist of a 1 GHz Qualcomm CPU, 512 MB of RAM and 8 GB of storage space, which are decidedly mid-range for a smartphone today. Windows Phone 7 had only a half-hearted launch in India, which was perhaps fitting for a smartphone operating system that felt only half complete. Luckily for us, WP 7.5 “Mango” is now here in full force and it will be most peoples’ first taste of Windows Phone. Compared to the first WP7 release, Mango is an absolute pleasure to use, and it’s much more likely that new users will spend time getting to know the quirky OS without being put off by the fairly major omissions of the first generation.

Finally an option to multitask

Finally an option to multitask

 


WP’s iconic “Metro” visual style is a far cry from the grids, icons and lists we’re used to, making even iOS and Android feel rather dated. Still, it’s not for everyone—the look is stark and modern, text titles are stylistically blown up so that they fall off the screen’s edges, and it’ll take a while to get used to the way things are organized and laid out. Most notably, the traditional phone book has been transformed into a “People Hub”, with live updates from Facebook, Windows Live, and even Twitter. This lets you to focus on people, rather than the individual apps required for each kind of interaction. The downside is that things can quickly get cluttered, especially since Windows Phone combines the contact lists from all your email accounts, which tend to automatically add contacts you don’t really need to have saved. Luckily, you can filter out individual sources and link contacts across them. You can of course choose not to tie the phone into your various other accounts, but then you’d be losing out on its most unique and valuable capabilities.


The Messaging app lets you pick up a conversation via SMS, Facebook chat or Windows Live Messenger. The built-in Bing search can recognize voice commands and music lyrics, and you can even hold up the camera to a QR code or scan text for instant (though only semi accurate) language translation. “Attentive” features let you flip the phone to mute an alert or automatically switch to speakerphone, and you can make it ring louder when it detects that it’s in a pocket or bag. Even the soft keyboard is superbly designed, using the screen’s extra vertical real estate to space things out. A smart autocorrect system replaces obvious mistakes and also subtly suggests replacements when it isn’t sure.

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Would you buy it?




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How We Test

The Tech2 Labs receives many products every single week and each of them is tested with the utmost care and highest level of objectivity. There’s a constant effort to reduce and totally eliminate subjectivity. Each product is tested according to set test processes so the same test scenario is used.

Verdict
The ratings awarded to a product are derived from a number of tests and calculations, keeping certain important factors in mind. These factors consist of features, performance, quality and value for money. In case of software and some other categories, build quality might be replaced with ease of use or ease of installation. Products are compared with other products in a similar price range or product category.


Features
The features component of the score is rated based on the kind of features present on a particular product. Features are a big part of what people look for when they’re buying a new product such as a phone or a camera.

Performance
The performance score is derived from the benchmarks and tests run on the product. In case of the subjective scores, an average of the scores given by the group of reviewers is considered.

Build Quality
The build quality of a product is important so that it doesn’t fall apart after some use. The build quality scores from the way the product is designed and the kind of materials used in the product.

Value
Value for money comes from the fact that a cheap product is able to provide most of the performance of a higher priced product. Once again, value for money is judged by comparing pricing and performance of products in a particular price range or category. 

There are many other aspects of the product that are looked at such as the bundled software and accessories. All of these scores are aggregated together to form the final score.

What do the ratings mean?

Ratings are simple - higher the score, the better the product. A brief listing of the features and what they mean are given below.

1 - 3

The product is bad in almost every aspect. We strongly advise against purchasing this product.

4 - 6

An average product that isn't the best you can buy, but isn't the worst either.

7 - 8

Product with this rating is highly recommended because it's priced sensibly, has a good set of features and performs well.

9 - 10

Exceptionally excellent product with features and performance unlike any we've seen in the past. A must-have for everyone!

What is the Average User Rating?

We at Tech2 take product reviewing very seriously and every product is tested with the utmost care and level of objectivity. The end user who buys a particular product and uses it over an extended period of time has his own take on a product and there might be nuances that he or she can shed light on. The Average User Rating is present to help readers get the complete picture of how good or bad a product is. The Average User Rating is calculated by averaging the ratings by the thousands of readers visiting Tech2.com every single day. To record your own rating of a product, simply click on the user rating bar. If you disagree with our ratings or our community's product rating, please don't hesitate from voicing your opinion in the comments section below the review.

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