HTC Radar 4G Review

Introduction:

After a year of checking out Windows Phone devices, we're about to embark on a new journey as Mango flavored smartphones are finally coming to market. The HTC Radar 4G is coming to T-Mobile on November 2nd for the two-year contract price of $100. Knowing that other mango devices are expected to arrive shortly, will the HTC Radar 4G have what it takes to stay on radar?

The package contains:

• HTC Radar 4G
• microUSB cable
• Wall Charger
• Start Guide
• Terms & Conditions

Design:

Donning the same exact design as its European counterpart, the HTC Radar 4G employs the typical solid design characteristics that we tend to see out of HTC's camp. Specifically, it's one of the more compact Windows Phones that we’ve checked out – while maintaining a solid design thanks to its unibody aluminum construction. Additionally, it's white and silver paint job manages to offer a nice contrasting look.



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

Strangely, the displays used by HTC's Windows Phones were never really of great quality, but they managed to hit the mark dead on with HTC Radar 4G. Even though its 3.8” WVGA Super LCD display is nothing to write home about, especially when we know there is a 4.7” monster lying in wait, we're still mesmerized by the fact that colors are extremely deep with its tones and vibrant. Add to that its high brightness output and great viewing angles, it's remarkably well-equipped in being able to be seen in outdoor conditions.


Below the display, we find the usual set of Windows Phone capacitive buttons. Meanwhile, on the opposite side, it's wide looking earpiece grill sits above the display – with a front facing camera nearby. However, it's only used for taking self-portraits since there's no native video chatting application yet.

On its sides, we find a microUSB port, 3.5 mm headset jack, dedicated power button, volume rocker, microphone, and two-level shutter key. Unfortunately, the dedicated power button and volume rocker are extremely flat – making them very difficult to feel out.

Peeking at its backside, we find its 5-megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash – with some notches nearby for it speakerphone. Because of its unibody design, there is no way to remove the battery, however, the bottom plastic piece can be slid off to gain access to the SIM card slot.

Interface and Functionality:

Granted that it's the first new smartphone being released in the US with Mango preloaded, its hardware specs aren't all that different from first-generation Windows Phones. In fact, it sports a familiar single-core 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with 512 MB of RAM, which isn't anything really new. Nevertheless, it's more than capable of delivering a solid and responsive platform experience – with very few instances of slowdown or lag evident in its operation.

Since we’ve gone through in detailing all of the intricacies and new features found with Windows Phone Mango, there isn’t anything especially new found with HTC Radar 4G. Still, it's worth mentioning that the experience is more refined than what we've previously seen initially out of the gate. From its incorporation of Twitter to its new multitasking aspects, the enhancements are especially gratifying to make the overall platform experience such a joy to use. On top of that, we absolutely love the dynamic approach that Microsoft takes with its Metro UI, which shows its evolution with Mango.


We've always been fond of the keyboard found with Windows Phone, mainly because it's wickedly fast and responsive – with auto-correct properly cleaning up after our mistakes. However, individuals with larger fingers will find its layout still somewhat very cramped, which is profoundly evident by the 3.8” real estate. Then again, the landscape option proves to be moderately better with its spacing.


With Mango preloaded, it holds a few enhancements with the email experience. Showing its deepening functionality, it features a universal inbox system and threaded conversations. Of course, setting up email is a breeze since it only requires your username and password for automatic set up.

Considering that this is a Windows Phone we’re talking about, it packs the usual staple of venerable Office functionality to give users plenty of control in the palm of their hands while editing Word and Excel files. Aside from that, there are very few third party apps preloaded with the smartphone, but we do happen to find Netflix, Slacker Radio, TeleNav GPS Navigator, and T-Mobile TV. Lastly, HTC’s presence is well established in the software front with apps like HTC Hub and HTC Watch on board for the ride.
 

Camera:

Touted highly for its picture taking capabilities, it features a reasonable 5-megapixel auto-focus camera with an f2 .2 lens on board for a larger aperture. Overall, images are more than passable with their sharp details while colors are a little bit on the dull side. In low lighting, it's able to combat digital noise, while retaining its slick visuals. However, its LED flash appears to be only potent up to 5 feet away.

Frankly, its 720p video capture isn't as desirable because details are rather faint and muddy looking – with audio recording a little bit on the scratchy side. Besides those gripes, everything appears to be in tiptop shape, as it features a smooth capture rate of 30 frames per second, realistic looking colors, continuous auto-focus, and clear audio recording.

HTC Radar 4G Sample Video:



Multimedia:

Presenting us with the Zune experience, it's naturally equipped in providing us with a sensual music listening experience. Honestly, it's very hard to not like the whole thing, especially when transition effects and animations are in abundance. As for audio quality with its speaker, it's particularly robust with its output, with no evidence of any strain at the loudest volume setting.


In addition, the HTC Radar 4G handles well in playing a test video that's encoded in DivX 1920 x 1080 resolution. Not only does it play swimmingly fast, but its brilliant looking Super LCD display makes everything pop with great colors and details.


For its price, the 8GB of internal storage is more than warranted, but it may seem inadequate for anyone shooting a lot of multimedia content.

Internet and Connectivity:

We're gladly accepting of the fast data speeds we experience via T-Mobile's 4G HSPA network. Just like before, the overall web browsing experience is gratifying with its responsiveness – even if it lacks Adobe Flash support.


Able to place voice phone calls anywhere around the world, its “4G” speeds are only established through T-Mobile's specific AWS band. On the other hand, it features the typical set of connectivity features like aGPS, Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, and mobile hotspot functionality.

Just like what we enjoyed with the European model, calling quality is particularly robust thanks to its spot-on clarity and noise free audio quality. Again, we find its speakerphone quality to be similar, but its audio output is moderate at best.

In our time testing out the HTC Radar 4G, signal strength appears to be solid in high coverage areas – and it didn't drop any phone calls.

If you happen to be a chatterbox, you'll find the 9.8 hours of talk time we're able to get more than sufficient – though, it's shy of the 10 hours of talk rated by the manufacturer. Otherwise, its real-world battery performance is average, as we're able to get a solid one day of normal usage.

Conclusion:

For a good while there now, there wasn't anything particularly interesting out of the Windows Phone camp, but thankfully enough, the HTC Radar 4G comes off as being a good starting point for the new crop of Mango devices. Rather than coming to the table with something extravagant, it's blissfully one enticing handset for the price. In addition, its $99.99 on-contract price is remarkably warranted, but then again, you can still save up the money for something else bigger and better down the road.

OS Version: 7.10.7720.68

HTC Radar 4G Review: