HTC Radar Review

Introduction:

Windows Phone 7 kicked things off to a mixed start. Despite critical acclaim, Microsoft, hardware manufacturers and vendors were under-whelmed by its lack of consumer uptake. So while the platform has definitely fared better than, say, WebOS, it’s certainly left the bottom line a bit thin on the ground. An updated OS, Windows Phone 7.5 Mango should however rejuvenate interest, as should a new array of handsets. HTC are the first off the mark with two shiny new devices. The first of these Taiwanese Mango delights comes in the form of the HTC TrophyRadar, a 3.8” device with a WVGA S-LCD display, a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 512 MB RAM, a 5MP camera and HTC’s trademark solid build quality.

Design:

In our introductory paragraph, we may have taken a bit of a swipe at HTC for endowing the HTC Radar with such similar specs to its predecessor, the HTC Trophy, however, one area the Radar definitely surpasses the Trophy is design. With a unibody construction and fantastic weighting, it instantly gets a thumb’s up from the first impression.



You can compare the HTC Radar with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

The HTC Radar’s Super LCD screen measures in at 3.8 inches and has a resolution of 480x800 pixels. With the same resolution as the Titan, and almost an inch less screen, it’s markedly sharper and performs well overall, with vibrant colours, solid viewing angles and good levels of responsiveness. Outdoor viewing is on the whole good as are brightness and contrast levels.


The screen is encased in a slick glossy black fascia, at the bottom of which are three capacitive buttons. Above the screen is grille and front-facing VGA camera, with a 3.5mm jack and power button atop the handset and the in-call mic below. To the left is the microUSB port, and to the right the volume rocker and a fantastic two stage camera button. Flip the HTC Radar over and you'll find the 5MP camera, single LED flash, loud-speaker and removable back-cover. While the battery and memory card are fixed, below the back-cover the SIM card can be swapped out. A notable addition is the soft-touch material at the bottom and top end of the reverse. This adds fantastic grip to the already premium feel of the device exactly where our fingers naturally rested.

There’s the temptation to write off the HTC Radar as a safe bit of design, uninspired and under-considered, however that would be a huge oversight. Given how natural the handset feels in the hand, comfortable against the ear and aesthetically neutral, this is probably one of the most universally appealing handsets we’ve used for a while.