I Love My Phone
Yes, that’s right. I do. To some of you this will come as a SHOCK. (Actually, some of you are sick of hearing it).
I recently upgraded to an HTC Fuze and I really do think it’s the bee’s knees, baby. Read on after the jump from some pollywompus from a real kluck.
To high-level it before I get into details… it does some iphone-y magic tricks to convince the local populace that you are traveling hedge wizard, but unlike an iphone, I personally have a bit more control to haxor it and make it do tricks that I want it to do. Plus… it fully supports… actually it practically encourages… tethering. Until AT&T allows the iphone to share its data connection with a laptop without being a complete jerk about the whole thing (they recently stealth-disabled a hack that had previously allowed iphone tethering), it’s just not a viable phone. For me. I know I’m odd.
But this thing. Wow. See, I use my phone as much as a web browser and text messenger as a… phone. It’s fascinating to see the evolution of these devices into communication centers. Opera mobile comes pre-installed as the default browser and is a wonderful mobile experience, rivaling Safari Mobile. Touchscreen browsing is great - full web page displays and a double tap lets me zoom in and out if my rapidly aging eyes cannot read the text. I can copy and paste, open links in new tabs… and if I need to type more than a couple of words, out comes the sliding keyboard and away I go.
It also has a sensor in it to detect which direction the phone is facing, and will automatically orient the screen appropriately, which is okay. I personally think the REAL reason it does this is because of motion-based games and pointless apps. Duh.
And underneath the pretty touchflo user interface that HTC designs, it has Windows Mobile. Yeah, I know, Windows Mobile has some issues here and there. But if you want it to do something, there’s probably someone out there who has created an application to do it. I downloaded a… dog whistle. The only purpose of it is to make high pitched sounds. Which drive the cats nuts. I am endlessly entertained by this. I think I am still in trouble with my wife for using it.
The only downside, at least out of the box, was battery life. Under heavy use on the first day without a mid-day plugin, it didn’t make it 12 hours. BUT. I did some optimizing and it seems much better, getting through a day with 50% juice now. See, it’s set up by default to bang weather servers for updated information every 5 minutes or so. There are many interesting default choices like this one.
Okay, one more thing, as long as I’m in a complaining mood. AT&T packs this thing with a lot of bloatware. Lots of stuff that you can click on and then click again to get hit with additional charges. Not only that, they make you go through a bit of pain to remove the stuff… it involved doing a soft reset WHILE THE DEVICE WAS STARTING UP to avoid installing AT&T crap, and even that doesn’t get rid of the icons. You have to install HTC tweak software to remove the AT&T software tab. As if that weren’t annoying ENOUGH, they don’t provide a simple utility to remap buttons like the wonderfully placed Push To Talk button, which I want to use for anything else other than Push To Talk. It’s right on the side of the phone, great place to put a task manager and/or voice command, but I actually had to hack the registry to make that change. All the information I needed was on the internet, but geez, AT&T… I guess you guys and Apple really are made for each other.
The only other minor adjustment I’m going through? My last phone, a samsung blackjack, had a full keyboard… that was functional single-handed. I could hold it in my hand, and thumb the whole keyboard, without using my other hand. (I have big hands). If you are going to use this keyboard, you really should use both hands for optimal keyboard thumbing. This is by design… it is NOT a flaw. It’s just different and takes some adapting. I’ve taken to using the touchscreen to tap out really quick note text messages, and to the phone’s credit, the touch keyboard is pretty good.
I should be clear, after my research into new phones, I think that for someone that does not have my obsessive need to tinker with a device, and for someone that does not have a requirement for tethering, that the latest iphone is the best phone out there in the consumer market, especially at the price. My Fuze was a little more expensive than a new iPhone. And as I’ve said, the way it comes out of the box from AT&T, it’s already begging for someone to tweak it. The iPhone’s (in my opinion) more closed platform probably results in more consumer friendliness… Apple always wants it to just work, after all. Even for grandma.
But for someone like ME, this phone fits. This is my first HTC device, and I have to say I do now understand some people’s devotion to them. My last few phones were Samsung devices, and I like those too. We’ll see if the HTC can stand up to those Samsung devices build-wise over time. My wife’s slider phone, for instance, is still going strong, though I don’t think she abuses it the way I would. My blackjack is sitting sad and alone, but still fully functional, in my bag. This new phone certainly feels solid, but I can’t really assess how it will hold up long-term after only a week.
Right now, though, I am pretty happy with the thing.
2 Responses to “I Love My Phone”
shubbe - July 18, 2009
Oh, you got a new phone? Huh.
Send me your old one. My phone isn’t smart.
Ali - July 18, 2009
The overall life of your phone may be severely reduced by continued use of the dog-whistle app. Just saying.
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