HTC Surround User Reviews

SidLiy posted on 15 Sep 2011, 08:44

9

A solid Windows phone experience

SidLiy has owned it for less than 3 months before publishing this review

The metal midsection, face plate, kickstand & the surround speakers adds a significant weight to the phone, but it looks good & feels solid in hand, the hardware specs are sufficient for a smooth & snappy Windows phone experience.

Build quality 10/10

Reception 9/10

Call quality 10/10

Internet 9/10

Multimedia 10/10

Camera 9/10

UI speed 10/10

Everyday usage 10/10

Text input 10/10

Display 8/10

Battery 6/10

AaronPierce posted on 19 Jul 2011, 11:37

7

Windows Phone: Not The Best. Not The Worst.

AaronPierce has owned it for less than year before publishing this review

Had this phone for about 4 months. When I heard Windows was releasing a phone I thought the capibilities were going to be vast, but sadly they were not. I ended up starting up another line just to get the Motorola Atrix & get away from the phone. Definitely a phone for just "glance & go" people.

Build quality 7/10 Built nice but drops calls.

Reception 7/10

Call quality 8/10

Internet 6/10

Multimedia 9/10

Camera 7/10

UI speed 5/10

Everyday usage 7/10

Text input 3/10 Very laggy texting

Display 6/10

Battery 8/10

Pros

• Great speakers
• Kickstand for watching videos.
• Nicely built design

Cons

• Drops calls frequently
• Battery runs out fast.
• Laggy texting.
• Apps are very limited
• No customiziation

alexandra posted on 17 Apr 2011, 15:18

10

Haven't recived the Phone yet, but Super Excited!

alexandra has owned it for less than month before publishing this review

I just recently ordered the HTC Surround from At&t as a upgrade from my outdated and nearly obselete LG Vu and may i just say that i am super-siced. I have been reading all types of reviews and critiques on this phone an i cannot wait until I have it in my hands. Ive been doing so much research on this phone im almost an expert on it. My surround is en-route to my house and should be there tomorrow or tuesday at the latest. I have harldy read anything too negative about it, but i really want it in my hands so I can experience it for myself. I personally think HTC is really stepping their game up. I know many people with HTC brand phones from the incredible to the inspire and i am seeing more people with HTC phones than iPhones and I think its good for Windows to get a piece of the almost Apple dominated megabrand pie. The HTC Surround seems like a refreshing phone that will revolutionize the smartphone industry.

Apple: Take Note

Build quality 10/10 phone has an outstanding design

Reception 10/10 sttrictly word of mouth

Call quality 10/10 word of mouth

Internet 10/10 as far as im concerned anythings better than my view

Multimedia 10/10 im a music junkie so the surround sound will be perfect for me

Camera 10/10 my mom took my digital camera but the picture quality seems amazing

UI speed 5/10 not sure yet because i havent recived my phone yet

Everyday usage 10/10 of course i will use this phone everyday

Text input 10/10 i prefer virtual keyboards to tactile QWERTY keyboards sticky keys is agrivating

Display 9/10 slightly disapointed for lack of vividness S-AMOLED would have sent this phone above and beyond

Battery 10/10 im not a big multitasker so a day and a half of average use will be perfect for me

Pros

• music-centric device
• windows phone 7 layout
• People Hub, HTC Hub, etc.
• Personalization options are spectacular
• PC like Internet quality
• Nothing like the LG Quatum or Samsung Focus as far as creativity goes
• kickstand (ingenious)
• Zune Music Capability
• Virtual Keyboards
• 3.8" WVGA Screen

Cons

• fragile touchscreen
• No Super AMOLED Screen
• Retina display isnt avalabile
• No Gorilla Glass
• NoDo (copy and paste) options arent avalabile yet
• Utilization of abundant space is.... to be desired

phil.rick posted on 18 Mar 2011, 11:46

9

Follow up: A breath of fresh air for smartphones

phil.rick has owned it for less than year before publishing this review

I feel that it is important to follow up on my original review (“A breath of fresh air for smartphones”) since I have had the phone for 5 months.

I feel that the Start screen is so intuitive. It's very customizable and personal - you'll see that you can pin almost anything there.

MarketPlace has grown 10-fold (or more!) since my last review. There are lots of useful apps that make use of the system interface and device features. It's funny because almost every action on this phone is beautiful.

Some annoyances or problems... First, I totally killed the touchscreen just one week after I got the phone by dropping it *just* right. Luckily I was under a return policy and easily exchanged it. So be careful! Battery life leaves something to be desired but I have never found myself stranded. I'm a heavy data, Bluetooth, and GPS user.

Sometimes apps close unexpectedly. This is an annoyance, not a problem. I can't explain why certain apps (Facebook, Tech News Now) close, but they usually work perfectly once relaunched. Some nice things about Settings Hub: Bluetooth will automatically pair with a device. The device automatically checks for updates from Microsoft and will alert you when one is available.

I'm 110% satisfied with my HTC Surround. I wasn't thrilled with Apple or the Android devices available at the time and I see a lot of potential in this mobile OS. Microsoft seems *very* dedicated to getting Windows Phone 7 at the top of the smartphone arena.

Build quality 10/10

Reception 9/10

Call quality 10/10

Internet 9/10

Multimedia 10/10

Camera 9/10 I really like HTC's app called Photo Enhancer - I recommend it!

UI speed 10/10

Everyday usage 10/10

Text input 9/10

Display 9/10

Battery 8/10 I usually get about a day and half usage before needing a charge.

Pros

• Windows Phone 7 interface
• Separate camera button
• Ease of use
• Internet Explorer

Cons

• Battery life
• Fragile touchscreen

Gtrain017 posted on 31 Jan 2011, 10:15

9

Awesome phone

Gtrain017 has owned it for less than 3 months before publishing this review

I love this phone, i thought it would be full of glitches since its new but its not to bad. the screen is unresponsive sometimes but very rarely. takes a second to dial a number after you tell it to call, and the app market crashes every once in a while.

Build quality 9/10 Pretty sturdy, dropped is quite a bit and still good

Reception 8/10

Call quality 8/10 takes a moment to dial after hitting the call button

Internet 9/10

Multimedia 8/10 sometimes i have to restart the phone to be able to pull up Zune. but other then that great.

Camera 9/10

UI speed 9/10

Everyday usage 10/10

Text input 9/10

Display 10/10

Battery 9/10

AzraelPC posted on 26 Nov 2010, 19:37

10

HTC Surround is Amazing Smartphone for Mediaphiles!

AzraelPC has owned it for less than month before publishing this review

Ordered this phone last week and received it in mail Wednesday.

Straight out of the box, it worked like a charm. Had absolutely zero issues setting anything up. If you have MS Exchange email for work (like me), you will need help from an IT admin, but aside from that, importing ANY other email is absolutely seamless (Hotmail, GMail, Yahoo, any ISP, etc). Hotmail sets up automatically when you sync with your Windows Live ID, as does your XBL and Zune accounts, if they are tied to the same Windows Live ID. Honestly, a trained monkey could set this device up.

Wifi setup is as simple as turning it on and putting in your WEP/WPA/WPA2 security key (unless your network is unsecured).
Browsing in IE is seamless both in portrait and landscape modes.
I never want another tactile QWERTY keyboard (sorry LG Quantum), as typing on the virtual keyboard is a pleasure (hard to have a key stick on you if there's no key).
The slide-out speaker absolutely rocks and doesn't sound tinny at all. Still trying to figure out the 'surround sound' part though (have only had phone for 2 days). Kickstand rocks.
I can type without issue with just my thumb while holding the phone in portrait with little to no typos (buttons are a bit small, but I don't have issues, and I'm a pretty big guy).
Zune integration is 100% perfect. It's like Microsoft took a ZuneHD and added all of the other features to make it a smartphone.

You owe Microsoft another chance. Pick up a WP7!

Build quality 10/10 Focus felt like holding an empty demo phone. Picking up HTC Surround feels like I'm actually holding something of substance. It would severely injure someone if it hit them in the head.

Reception 10/10 Living in RTP, I have zero reception issues whatsoever.

Call quality 9/10 Only had a few calls so far on it, but I can hear them clearly and they can hear me clearly. That's what matters, right?

Internet 10/10 Seamless integration of IE into the phone. Real HTML browsing never looked so good.

Multimedia 9/10 Mediaphiles will have an absolute field day. Only reason it's a 9 and not a 10 is because I can't sense any surround sound.

Camera 10/10 Pictures in 5MP look AMAZING. Video in 720p looks gorgeous. Flash is B-R-I-G-H-T.

UI speed 10/10 There is no lag between flicks and the UI moving. Frame-rate is amazing. Scanning through 400 contacts never looked so good.

Everyday usage 10/10 If you have a Netbook, feel free to ditch it. You can safely treat this as a MOBILE COMPUTER.

Text input 10/10 To hell with tactile QWERTY keyboards. Adaptive typing catches MOST typos (won't catch 'it's' instead of 'its', of course). You'll never have issues with sticking or non-responsive keys if there aren't any keys.

Display 9/10 Samsung's S-AMOLED is just brighter and more vibrant. HTC's holds its own versus ANY other display, though.

Battery 9/10 Typical smartphone battery. The longer and more applications you use (and leave open), the faster the battery drains. Just keep it charged. Have a charger for home, work, and car.

Pros

• ZUNE+XBL Integration
• IE browsing is PC-like
• Email integration is simple
• Wifi setup is simple
• virtual QWERTY is fantastic and can be done with only one thumb
• Durable Build (doesn't feel cheap like Samsung Focus)

Cons

• not a S-AMOLED
• haven't gotten the surround sound working yet
• Marketplace is in its fledgling state, but growing daily

phil.rick posted on 11 Nov 2010, 18:13

9

A breath of fresh air for smartphones

phil.rick has owned it for less than month before publishing this review

The Windows Phone 7 user interface is absolutely beautiful. You'll find that everything you want/need to do can be done quickly and easily. The live tiles make perfect sense, rather than having separate and individual apps and services. The Surround's speaker is alarmingly impressive - the sound quality is exceptional. HTC Hub is a fun and aesthetically pleasing animated live tile. I find myself tapping into it constantly.

The Windows Phone 7 interface is quite refreshing and pleasant to use. A "traditional" smartphone right now relies on a home screen full of little icons/apps - quite messy looking, in my opinion. The WP7 home screen is full of customizable tiles--which are animated and show certain information--that simply make sense. The People hub combines all your contacts, along with their social networking updates. Mail and E-mail hubs are intuitive and easy to use. Music & Video hub combines all your media, both online and on the device, along with an actual radio. Internet Explorer is now a browser you can rely on and enjoy using. It displays web pages exactly as you see them at home - both in portait or landscape modes.

Overall, I feel iOS and Android are dated-looking user interfaces when compared to WP7. Go and check this phone out at an AT&T store - you will be impressed.

Build quality 10/10

Reception 9/10

Call quality 10/10

Internet 9/10

Multimedia 10/10

Camera 9/10

UI speed 10/10

Everyday usage 10/10

Text input 8/10

Display 9/10

Battery 8/10

Pros

• Form factor
• Windows Phone 7 interface
• Speaker - Dolby and SRS
• HTC Hub
• Useful apps in Marketplace
• Separate camera button

Cons

• Battery life
• Weight