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Hands-On: HTC Titan and Radar WP7 Mango Phones

Article Comments  22  

Sep 1, 2011, 1:30 PM   by Eric M. Zeman

Phone Scoop spent some time with HTC's new Windows Phone 7.5 Mango handsets, the Titan and Radar. Here are our first impressions of these second-generation WP7 smartphones.

source: HTC

Titan 

The Titan is one big mother-lover of a phone. Thank to the 4.7-inch WVGA (800x480) display, its dimensions stretch to the extreme. Surprisingly, though, it is very similar to overall size to the HD7 and HD2 (both of which have 4.3-inch displays). HTC was able to squeeze the slightly larger display into a similar-sized chassis. The weight is really, really good. I was expecting it to be a brick, and it isn't. It isn't too heavy at all.

Titan  

As is typical of HTC devices, the manufacture and materials are top-notch. Everything about the feel of the Titan exudes quality. The glass and metal components feel very satisfying in the hand.

The front is mostly screen, but there are three capacitive buttons along the bottom for the standard WP7.5 controls: Back, Home, Bing Search. They worked well and were responsive.

A microUSB port us on the left side of the Titan, and the volume toggle and camera button are on the right. Both of these buttons are easy to find and use, and offered good travel and feedback. The camera — and even the photo galleries — can be accessed from the locked device by pressing and holding the camera button. This is still one of WP7's best features.

The camera is positioned very close to the top of the Titan, and swells out from the back surface just a bit. The dual-LED flash is next to it. The entire back cover peels off to reveal the battery. There Titan does not have a user-accessible memory card slot. It ships with 16GB of storage and that's all you get.

Of course, what's more important than the hardware is that the Titan is among the first smartphones to run with Microsoft's Windows Phone 7.5 Mango operating system.

With a dual-core 1.5GHz processor providing all the get-up-and-go needed, the Titan's UI was insanely fast. On the surface, the basic UI doesn't look at that different when compared to WP7, but you'll eventually notice that the settings menus have more to them, and there are more programs and controls in the full application list.

HTC was sure to sure Phone Scoop the expanded HTC Hub, which has far more HTC-developed applications available than before. The premiere app HTC was demonstrating is HTC Watch, which is its own content store for music and video. Why it is competing directly with Zune is beyond me, but hey, the option is there.

The camera software has seen significant updates, and offers tons more features for controlling it before and after taking pictures. Remember that Microsoft thinks pictures are super important, so the Photos Hub is part-and-parcel with the camera.

Rounding out some of the specs, the Titan has an 8-megapixel camera with F2.2 lens, autofocus, dual LED flash, and 720p video capture. It also has a 1.3-megapixel user-facing camera. Other features include GPS, Wi-Fi, stereo Bluetooth, 5.1 surround sound, a bevy of sensors, and HSPA+ 3G at 14.4Mbps down and 5.76Mbps up.

As far as Windows Phone 7 smartphones go, the Titan sets a new benchmark. HTC's competitors will have a lot to live up to.

Radar 

The Radar isn't quite as impressive as the Titan, but it is still a solid device, that will surely please many users looking for a slightly smaller device. It shares a lot of basic features with the Titan, but the hardware is all its own.

Radar  

The Radar's HTC lineage is unmistakable. From a distance, it will be easy to confuse the Radar with some of HTC's mid-range Android devices. It has an aluminum unibody chasses for rigidity and strength, which is complimented by plastics and glass. Aluminum is an awesome material, and feels great wrapped around portions of the Radar's body. As with the Titan, fit and finish are spot-on.

The smaller 3.8-inch display makes for a smaller device all around, and the Radar nestles comfortably in the palm of your hand. The comfortable shape makes the device a pleasure to hold and use. There's a lot less space dedicated to the display on the front, and there is more room around the three capacitive buttons along the bottom for the standard WP7.5 controls: Back, Home, Bing Search. They worked well and were responsive.

A microUSB port us on the left side of the Radar, and the volume toggle and camera button are on the right. Both of these buttons are easy to find and use, and offered good travel and feedback. The camera — and even the photo galleries — can be accessed from the locked device by pressing and holding the camera button. This is still one of WP7's best features.

The 3.5mm headset jack and power/lock button are on the top, right where I like them. The power button was OK, but not great. I thought it was slightly difficult to find quickly, and the travel and feedback wasn't satisfying.

As with the Titan, the Radar is among the first smartphones to run with Microsoft's Windows Phone 7.5 Mango operating system.

With a dual-core 1GHz processor providing motivation, the Radar was extremely responsive. On the surface, the basic UI doesn't look at that different when compared to WP7, but you'll eventually notice that the settings menus have more to them, and there are more programs and controls in the full application list.

The Radar has all the same customizations that HTC gave to the Titan. That includes the expanded HTC Hub, which has far more HTC-developed applications available than before. The premiere app HTC was demonstrating is HTC Watch, which is its own content store for music and video.

The camera software has seen significant updates, and offers tons more features for controlling it before and after taking pictures. Remember that Microsoft thinks pictures are super important, so the Photos Hub is part-and-parcel with the camera.

Rounding out the specs, the Radar comes with a 5-megapixel camera with F2.2 lens, autofocus, LED flash, and 720p video capture. It also has a VGA user-facing camera. The Radar's 3.8-inch display has 800 x 480 pixels, GPS, Wi-Fi, stereo Bluetooth, and 8GB of on-board storage. Other features include 5.1 surround sound, a bevy of sensors, and HSPA+ 3G at 14.4Mbps.

The Radar may be smaller in stature when compared to its titanic sibling, but that doesn't mean it should fall off the radar for those interested in WP7.5 Mango. It's a solid little performer that carves out its own niche.

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About the author, Eric M. Zeman:

Eric has been covering the mobile telecommunications industry for 17 years at various print and online publications. He studied at Rutgers Newark and University of Kentucky, and has a degree in writing. He likes playing guitar, attending concerts, listening to music, and driving sports cars.

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Comments

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This forum is closed.

casualsuede

Sep 6, 2011, 11:10 PM

So having actually used this software....

It is a great operating system and it has potential....just not to tech enthusiasts.

Let's just call WP 7.5 for what it is. IT is a OS for first time smart-phone users or the casual smart-phone user or the business user who doesn't want a blackberry.

The Pros:

I like the integration between FB, Twitter, LinkedIn and the contact list. The "people hub" is the best contact list out there for me. It gives me a lot of depth on each contact. I can write directly on their wall, I can send a mass communication to multiple contact points. I can even great a group and make a secondary people with all the information with a small group of people.

The Me Hub also let's me post to my social networks with one touch, as well as do check i...
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rpgarcia74

Sep 6, 2011, 12:11 AM

A Manicure Would be Nice

Nice phones but all I kept looking at was this guys crusty finger tips. In addition to reviewing phones, do you dip your hands in battery acid to from time to time?

But pretty sweet phones though.
deanwoof

Sep 1, 2011, 7:21 PM

Still nobody wants it

I remember being in the retail stores and WP7 was bashed. Then MS kept assuring us "wait for mango, wait for mango" Well, mango is here, and people still won't sell this thing. WP is just missing "it" - there's no buzz, no excitement, NO WOW FACTOR.
deanwoof said:
I remember being in the retail stores and WP7 was bashed. Then MS kept assuring us "wait for mango, wait for mango" Well, mango is here, and people still won't sell this thing. WP is just missing "it" - there's no bu
...
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...
While I admit the UI is VERY basic...I think they went that route to simplify it up!

Also, they have TONS of "wow" features! Xbox Live, MS Zune, Netflix, MS Office, etc. etc. They have a valuable OS here.

Lack of marketing and VERY poor associat...
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larrygw

Sep 3, 2011, 12:31 PM

4G

I can't believe it's not 4G!
 
 
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