This might be the last HTC review you read on Flush the Fashion. While I was testing the HTC Incredible S I was running for a train and it slipped out of my pocket and went crashing to the floor. The phone worked find still, but lets just say I had to send it back a little ‘battle scarred’.
So, if this is the last it will be a shame as the HTC have come from relative obscurity in recent times to become one, (if not the best) mobile phone manufacturers out there and the HTC incredible S is a pretty nifty phone.
Size wise, it feels comfortable in the hand and is not too light or too heavy, it’s minimal looks are sleek and the 4inch screen is a good size. There is a slot for a SD card so the phones 1gig memory can be expanded to store huge amounts of pics, movies, games and apps and you can also charge it from the USB lead from your comp.
Using Android’s 2.2 Froyo Operating System it has one of the best interfaces out there in terms of speed of use, customisation and navigation. Scrolling from one app to the next is smooth and instant and loading time is blisteringly fast.
HTC sense.com will let you sync and back up your data (or if your phone is stolen), to wipe the data from it remotely, (a reassuring feature when you have all your Mail accounts / Facebook and Twitter logins saved to it’s preferences).
One of my favourite features is so simple it is brilliant.
Ok, so you were watching a movie last night and put your phone on silent, you had a few glasses of wine and woke up with no idea where it is.
You now have 2 choices. You can spend an hour looking for it down the side of the chair or in the bin or under the bed. Or you can go to the HTC website and make it ring (even if it’s on silent). Features like this show HTC have a proper understanding of the needs of the people buying their phones, well done!
Getting the phone to work and look how you want is easy, and there are a lot of HTC widgets built into this phone including a FM Radio, HTC likes, Locations, and a great music player.
There is a really nice looking alarm clock app, and a really useful ‘Torch’ app ideal for locating your front door lock on a particularly late night or early morning.
In common with all Android OS phones the Incredible S is a great partner to your productivity on the move. I was able to publish a Flush the Fashion feature from the train, including uploading and re-sizing pics and editing copy direct from the phone. Email is also nicely thought out (Integration with Gmail is seamless), and it feels like the phone is working for you, rather than battling against you as is sometimes the case.
While the quality of cameras on mobile phones is improving all the time, they still have some way to go before I would replace my regular camera for one.
The Incredible S’s 8MP camera takes big pictures and it’s auto focus function works really well (especially in bad light), which is fine for 99% of the time but the finer details are sometimes lost. Uploading to Facebook and Twitter is a doodle and there is also a front facing camera which is ideal for Video calls.
While video playback is EXCELLENT and movies look great, video recording is not quite as sharp, but still perfectly acceptable.
There are so many features in phones these days, one of the things people sometimes overlook when reviewing phones is, the phone bit.
The Incredible S’s predictive text interface makes text messaging very quick and accessing a number from your phone book is equally rapid. The audio is clear, especially on the other end of the line and better than many we’ve tried.
There is a cool HTC Hub where you can download ringtones, screensavers and the like to keep your phone fresh.
Unlike the iPhone flash is supported and web browsing (as long as you have a reasonable connection) over 3g or Wi-Fi is a painless and pleasant experience. Pinch and zoom touchscreen functions allowing you to read websites without feeling dizzy.
All current Android phones have access to the Android Market and that means a wealth of apps and ALOT of choice. Some are good, some bad, some are fantastic, (including the Flush the Fashion one you can download here). From photo editing to FTP Clients, to games there is something for everyone.
Developers are really starting to get their teeth into this platform, something that will keep Incredible S owners happy for sometime in the future. A small negative, there is no HDMI output to plug it in your TV, but it’s a small concession to what is an all round excellent phone and just the sort of thing I will be getting once my contract is up for renewal.
Hopefully I wont drop that one!