HTC Aria Review
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Photo quality with the HTC Aria's 5-megapixel auto-focus camera is surprisingly pleasant and satisfactory – it produces sharp looking images, as long as you have a steady hand, but colors do have a harder tone to them. Naturally outdoor shots with good lighting came out the best, however, the quality took a slight nose dive for indoor conditions as they were more fuzzy looking. Images taken in low lighting conditions did produce some subtle color tones to compensate its lack for a flash. The interface is similar to other Sense UI phones from HTC as you simply tap an area to focus and press the optical pad to take a shot. Finally, there are also a plethora of options at your disposal to really fine tune the scenery you're shooting.
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Camera interface | |||
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Gallery | ||
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Outdoor samples shot with the HTC Aria | |||
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Strong light | Medium light | Low light |
Indoor samples | ||
The VGA (640 x 480) videos that the HTC Aria captures may not be the most detailed, but thankfully they're more than agreeable to the taste of most individuals who want to preserve some candid moments. Videos looked pretty smooth thanks to its capture rate of 29fps and audio recorded had some slight static noise in the background, but it was still audible enough to make out conversations that were recorded.
HTC Aria sample video at 640x480 pixels resolution.
Multimedia:
Since it employs a 3.2” display, the HTC Aria provides a tolerable video playback experience. The Aria was able to play a movie trailer encoded in H.264 720 x 306 resolution, which didn't stutter one bit during playback. However, audio from the playing video wasn't the most vibrant or powerful, but we'd imagine most people could overlook this one shortcoming as its performance was refreshing.
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The HTC Aria provides a tolerable video playback experience | |
HTC's audio player is certainly not a sight unseen. It features various content filtering options and none that pertains to audio playback modification (lacks equalizer). In case you don't like that, you can always visit the Android Market and get one of the numerous players available there. Personally, we like "³" (also known as Cubic) best, because of its spectacular interface. Audio emitted by its speaker was more than audible with some sharp tones – that's as long as you don't lay the phone on its back squarely as it'll block the speaker.
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Audio player | |
GPS & Software:
The only software pack for navigation and maps that is pre-installed on the HTC Desire is Google Maps version 4 that brings certain novelties like information layers. If you decide to help the GPS module and activate it in assisted mode, getting your exact location pinpointed will take just a few seconds. Without it, you will have to wait for 4-5 minutes to find out where you are (after hardware reset) and less than a minute if you have already been located exactly.
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Google Maps | |
If Google's turn-by-turn application doesn't float your boat, there's always AT&T Navigator on board to accomplish the same tasks. Additionally, there are also AT&T branded apps for your entertainment such as AT&T Radio and AT&T Maps plus a handful of third party ones like MobiTV, Where, and YPmobile.
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AT&T Navigator | AT&T Radio |
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16 Comments
1. MarcMaiden posted on 20 Oct 2010, 01:55 0 0
Ive been using the HTC Aria for a couple of weeks now and I love it. However, the call quality I get is better than I have gotten on my other phones I've had (Moto Droid, Iphone, Storm) The biggest cons I have: Mediocre speaker volume (personally) the keyboard can be a bit small, but I have gotten fast using, but I know some people out there will not like it other than that I would recommend this phone to anyone who is looking for a great pocketable android device on AT&T. That being said, now that the captivate is released, If you dont mind lugging around a bigger phone, the captivate will satisfy your geeky, anti-iphone needs on AT&T.
2. ace1122 posted on 16 Jul 2010, 15:17 0 0
I wish Verizon would get a phone like this. Small, but good.
4. SladeNoctis posted on 16 Jul 2010, 23:57 0 0
You guys could get the Droid Eris which is exactly like this expect a bit bigger but better overall.
11. ace1122 posted on 30 Jul 2010, 10:23 0 0
That phone is discontinued and pretty ugly compared to this.
5. networkdood posted on 19 Jul 2010, 08:17 0 0
PHONEARENA, you need to stop rating call quality - obviously, you are not in a good reception area. In my house, for the month I owned the phone, where I normally get 0-1 bars of service, the phone was great and had great quality for voice. Speakerphone is not as bad as it is made out to be. SLade, DROID ERIS is RIP now as the ARIA will rock on 2.2. Marc, I bought the captivate as my exchange - that is one SUHHHHHHHHHHWWWWWWWWWWWWEEEEEEET phone.
6. networkdood posted on 19 Jul 2010, 08:18 0 0
PhoneArena is also showing its bias by not reviewing the phone when it first arrived - on 6/20/10. The phone has a 600 Mhz that is actually really fast. The Sense UI is great - I did not like the friends stream. Found the TOUCH WIZ ui better for that, esp. for FACEBOOK.
7. frustyak posted on 21 Jul 2010, 07:56 0 0
"Removing the back cover, you might be fascinated by its internal yellow paint job" Who cares what color the inside of the phone is?
10. ace1122 posted on 26 Jul 2010, 23:12 0 0
I know right. I wish they would add some color to phones where it matters. I'm so sick of the black, grey, or white phones.
8. frustyak posted on 24 Jul 2010, 09:28 0 0
Am I the only one that searched for the Cubic music player that you recommended on the Android Market and couldn't find it?
12. emephone. (unregistered) posted on 26 Aug 2010, 23:57 0 0
I do not like the HTC aria I have gone through 6 phones each time my phone drops called called people when it wants and turns it self in airplane mode would not recommend any one to get this ohon
13. benjamin86 (unregistered) posted on 27 Aug 2010, 00:37 0 0
My new unlocked phones is the best. Without it I would be lost. My HTC Aria is amazing. Being an unlocked at&t phones I can take it overseas and my kids absolutely love the touchscreen, apps, and games. I'm definitely surprising my wife with one for her birthday. I got my htc unlock codes from unlockthatphone.com, they are amazing and fast to get cell phone unlock codes. If you ever need any at&t unlock codes be sure to check them out. Even so the HTC Aria is sick and I would definitely recommend this to anyone who asks!
14. gfdgj (unregistered) posted on 17 Sep 2010, 11:36 0 0
yea only sucky thing is that its only available in USA, dunno when i will come to Europe
15. dude (unregistered) posted on 19 Dec 2010, 04:37 0 0
in europe its known as HTC Gratia. hope this helps man
16. LXH (unregistered) posted on 13 Jan 2011, 13:33 0 0
I don't know why Phonearena say it can handle a whole day ??
It goes out of battery after 3-3.5 hours using wifi and surf the webs and with MINIMUM brightness
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