HTC Inspire 4G Review

Introduction:

Well hello there you larger than life HTC handset! But what do we have here? It’s none other than a re-branded HTC Desire HD we’ve seen already overseas which is making its way onto AT&T’s lineup featuring support for the carrier’s HSPA+ network. Plus, we’re greeted with all the fanfare that comes along with the release of any other high-end Android smartphone out there. Rather than encompassing users with desirable feelings, instead, the HTC Inspire 4G aims to win people over with its straight out of the gate value. Priced at $99.99 with a contract, it sets the bar in terms of subsidized pricing for a high-end device that we haven’t seen before, but will it be enough to woo over consumers before the rise of dual-core packing handsets are set to arrive?

The package contains:

• HTC Inspire 4G
• microUSB cable
• Wall Charger
• 8GB microSD card
• Quickstart Guide

Design:

Interestingly enough, it might be new to US consumers, but the design of the HTC Inspire 4G is an exact facsimile to the HTC Desire HD in Europe. Definitely not a bad thing by any means, since it boasts some fantastic premium materials combined with that solid HTC construction, but it doesn’t particularly attempt to differentiate itself in any away aside from the AT&T branding we’re presented with. Regardless, its unibody aluminum exterior is still exciting to hold which is complemented nicely with its spotted soft touch surfaces. Not only is it sleek (0.46”) enough to hide away in a pocket, but its weight (5.78 oz.) is more than accepting enough considering its overall metallic feel. Comparing it to devices like the HD2, EVO 4G, and HD7, the Inspire 4G is unequivocally the summation of HTC’s design evolution.



You can compare the HTC Inspire 4G with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

Similar to some of its previous brothers and sisters, the first thing to instantly get your attention is none other than its polarizing 4.3” Super LCD display, which employs the usual WVGA (480 x 800) resolution we’d come to expect to see nowadays. Naturally, the sharp visuals and high details that it radiates contrasts perfectly with its iridescent looking colors to make your eyes glow with awe. At the same time, it offers some accepting viewing angles, but still requires a good shielding from the sun outdoors. Furthermore, we are more than happy with its level of responsiveness as it manages to register all the intricate motions of our fingers.

Continuing to see capacitive touch buttons beneath its touchscreen, they’re more than visible thanks to their brilliant backlighting, but in some instances, we still experience an occasional accidental press with them.



On the left edge, we’re presented with a thin looking volume rocker than barely sticks out to offer a reasonable amount of distinguishability. Sadly though, not only did we have difficulty in feeling it out, but we’re not too thrilled by its stiff feel when pressed. Moreover, the same can be said about its dedicated power button on the top side of the phone.

Meanwhile, we find the 3.5mm headset jack, microphone, and microUSB port all located on the bottom portion of the handset. Unfortunately, we’re somewhat bummed by the fact that the Inspire 4G lacks a front-facing camera – especially when it boasts “4G” in its name; indicating the faster than normal 3G data speeds we’re all too accustomed to seeing at this point.


In the rear, we find its 8-megapixel auto-focus jutting out from the surrounding area – which does make you wonder it comes into contact with the surface when the device is resting on its back. However, the concern is lessened since the lens is actually recessed further down from the surrounding area. Additionally, we find its dual-LED flash and speakerphone notch perched close-by.


If there is one annoyance we find with the handset more than anything else, it has to be the difficulty we experienced in removing its battery cover. In fact, removing it will completely kill power to the handset since its basically completes the circuit. However, we can’t say the same about the easy to slide off cover hiding the microSD and SIM card slots.

Interface:

Although we’re on the verge of seeing dual-core processors becoming more mainstream with smartphones, the second generation 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 processor combined with 768MB of RAM enables the Inspire 4G to fly ever so swimmingly. Clearly, it doesn’t choke or stumble in accomplishing the bevy of normal functions we‘d execute on any phone, but it still doesn’t seemed tested by the activation of graphically intensive live wallpapers. From moving between its various homescreens to launching apps, the fluid response that the Inspire 4G exhibits manages to accentuate its larger than life persona of being a high-profiled Android smartphone.

For AT&T customers, they’re going to be delighted to know that the HTC Inspire 4G is powered by the most-up-to-date Sense experience running on top of Android 2.2.1 Froyo. Needless to say that we’re fond of HTC’s customized interface, especially when it manages to supplement the overall Android experience, but they’ve taken the bold step of taking it further than what we’ve seen previously. Granted that it might not seem like much has changed on the surface, like its distinguishable digital clock widget, but the new features are mostly found on HTCSense.com – its web connected experience that uncovers some unique functionality. After registering for an account, you’re presented with some useful functions at your disposal – like automatic backup, the ability to make your phone ring, or completely wipe the device remotely in the event it’s lost or stolen.


HTC Sense takes a smidgen of getting used to if you've never used it before, however is no more challenging than vanilla Android. In fact, it’s easier. For example, you can personalize the homescreen and add icons without a long-press of the homescreen. Instead, just tap the paintbrush and palette symbol on the bottom left of the homescreen - very intuitive. As already mentioned, there are plenty of pre-loaded HTC widgets which are very functional further improving usability. For those of you who want a list of HTC Widgets, in alphabetical order - your wish is our command: Bookmark, Calculator, Clock, FM Radio, Friend Stream, HTC Likes (app suggestions), Locations, Mail, Messages, Music, My Shelf (ebook shelf), Navigate, News, People, Photo Album, Photo Frame, Search Anywhere, Stocks, Sync All, Tips for Home, Twitter, Weather.



Organizer & Messaging:

Tap the "Phone" button, centered in the bottom of any one of the 7 homescreens and the dialer is pulled up. This works wonderfully, enabling you to numerically enter a name (i.e. bob as 262), with the HTC Desire HD displaying it instantly. Behind the dialer are all your contacts, so minimize the dialer, and intuitively, you're left with your contacts - great. The phonebook works well once you learn how to control it. By this, we mean that HTC Sense pulls in ALL your contacts from EVERYWHERE by default. This feels overwhelming at first, however, open "People", press "Menu" and then tap "View" and you can select which contacts to display (Google, Facebook, SIM etc). Once done, your contacts are a pleasure to thumb through. As for voice recognition, it works better than most, but still gets it wrong every so often.


Organizer tools performed very well indeed. Running Android 2.2,1, the HTC Inspire 4G is perfect if you use Google calendars and contacts for example, it all functions as would be expected from a high-end Android phone (great), with the added sprucing up that comes with bespoke widgets courtesy of HTC, such as calendar and calculator. There is also a swish alarm interface, a flashlight and voice recorder along with all the other organizer tools you would expect.


We can’t say it enough, but the HTC keyboard continues to make sense and is undoubtedly one of the more useful on-screen keyboards out there. In addition to the healthy amount of real-estate provided, we experienced relatively few errors in speed typing while using either its portrait and landscape keyboards. Not only does it offer a ridiculously responsive experience, but we adore the quick input of numbers and punctuations by simply executing a long press on the associated button.

Camera:

Photo enthusiast will adore the myriad of specialty modes available with the HTC Inspire 4G as it makes taking just about any photos especially fun. Moreover, its camera interface provides enough manual controls, such as the ability to modify exposure, contrast, saturation, to enable the user to perfectly capture specific shots in all of their glory. And finally, its vast mix of effects will entertain just about anyone who wants to add a sprinkling of quirkiness or fun to their shots.


In terms of quality, its 8-megapixel auto-focus camera takes some satisfactory images outdoors during the daytime – though, color production is slightly on the cooler side. In fact, it’s even more prevalent with shots taken under artificial lighting, but it’s still more than agreeable thanks to the amount of detail it’s able to capture. Unfortunately though, there is a conspicuous amount of noise evident in photos taken in low lighting conditions. Furthermore, the flash tends to make things look over-exposed – not to mention casting a yellowish hue as well. Despite its reduced output in low lighting conditions, we find using the HTC Inspire 4G more than forgiving in taking photos that you’ll want to remember.



Yeah, it’s got 720p video recording, especially since it’s regarded as a high-caliber handset, but don’t expect much out of it. Sadly, there is just way too much evidence of artifacting which tends to make the overall recording look pixelated. Although we weren’t expecting to find continuous auto-focus, it does offer the functionality of touch focus, but it doesn’t necessarily aid in making the outcome better – despite its ability to shoot at the smooth rate of 28 frames per second. And finally, audio recording is on the mute side which ultimately makes it sound muffled.

HTC Inspire 4G Sample Video:



Multimedia:

There isn’t much transformation with the Gallery App on the HTC Inspire 4G as it lays out content in the typical grid-like formation in portrait, while turning it to landscape, switches it to a camera roll like carousel. With photos, there is a finite set of editing tools available, such as cropping or rotating, but there are additional after-effects that you can apply on them as well.


In keeping the experience engaging for users, we’re glad to see some improvements made to the music player that seemingly keeps the presentation factor in mind. Even though we’re presented with the same look in portrait, tilting the phone to landscape presents a full blown Cover-flow like interface that effortlessly allows you to swipe between albums. Sadly, the audio quality from its speaker is on the shrill side when no equalizer option is enabled, but even after enabling Dolby Mobile or SRS enhancement, it still doesn’t particularly come off as being too pleasant to the ear.


Even before loading a video encoded in DivX 1280 x 720 resolution, we had good faith in its ability to playback videos in general thanks to its peppy processor. Of course, it didn’t stutter or slow down one bit as it played swimmingly to its entirety. And thanks to its gorgeous looking and massive sized display, it easily makes for a conducive video watching experience.



Connectivity and Internet:

Being the quad-band (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) GSM and dual-band (850/1900 MHz) UMTS device it is, global travelers will have no problems taking the HTC Inspire 4G with them on their escapades. Although it’s highly touted for its HSPA+ connectivity, which is indicated by the “H+” icon in the notifications area, we aren’t thrilled by the speeds it obtained during our testing. Generally speaking, it manages to get average speeds around 1700kbps down and 150kbps up – which by contrast aren’t fantastic by any means over the speeds we’ve experienced with T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network. If that’s the case, then it probably justifies why the handset lacks a front-facing camera – especially for a 4G branded device. Lastly, the HTC Inspire 4G packs on other connectivity items such as 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, aGPS, and Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR.

Without question, the HTC Inspire 4G’s roomy confines and lighting quick processor provides for some productive web browsing. On the surface, it manages to load up complex pages with relative ease, and with support for Flash 10.1 in tow, it perfectly brings forth that desktop-like look and feel. Again, we see the power of its Snapdragon processor as it offers fluid kinetic scrolling and responsive zooming with pinch gestures. In the end, it follows in familiar fashion with other prior high-end handsets out there, but it doesn’t load up pages any faster than what we’ve seen on other AT&T handsets.


For most people out there, the 8GB microSD card pre-installed should suffice, but for those heavy into multimedia, they’ll be happy to know that the hot-swappable slot will accommodate cards up to 32GB in capacity.

Performance:

Granted that voices on both ends of the line are rather audible in tone, there is evidence of static through the earpiece which is especially prevalent in the middle and loudest volume levels. Still, it doesn’t detract from the overall quality as we are still capable of comprehending our conversations. However, the speakerphone quality is horrendous seeing that it produces a crackling tone that ultimately muddies down voices.

During our testing, we didn’t experience any instances of the handset drastically fluctuating in signal strength, and at the same time, it didn’t drop any call either in the greater Philadelphia area.

As we continue to see handsets boasting faster processors, battery technology seems to still be on the backburner – regretfully. Plainly, we managed get less than a single day on normal usage out of the handset on a full charge, but it at least provides enough juice to get through an 8-hour working day. Light users should be able to get a solid day out of it, but heavy users will want to bring along a spare battery or charger.

Conclusion: 

Obviously, the HTC Inspire 4G doesn’t come off as being an innovative product that breaks down walls and barriers because we’ve seen it done already with the HTC EVO 4G. Nevertheless, it presents AT&T customers their first taste of a high-caliber HTC device that’s sure to inspire customers with its equipped performance. And even though we’re disappointed by the so-called HSPA+ speeds it obtained in our testing, the most impressive part about the Inspire 4G is its right out of the gate on-contract pricing of $99.99. In fact, it boats plenty of value for the dollar since it’s chocked full off inspiring hardware under the hood to satisfy even the most demanding users out there. As much as we’d love to see this become common with other high-end smartphones, we know it’s simply wishful thinking at this point, but we’re sure that customers will be inspired by it nonetheless.