I spent the majority of the week in NYC meeting with a variety of good people. (That’s Kevin Tofel, Mari, Brad Linder, Dan Dorato, and I above.) On my journey, I came across several new and upcoming phones. Here’s my 60 second review:
HTC Touch
Nice form factor, though I’m still not sold on the idea of a phone without physical buttons. The fingertip touch-sensitive shell HTC has overlayed on Windows Mobile is attractive and efficient for basic tasks like calling contacts, but once you drill down to things like composing email you’re back to using the stylus.
LG PRADA
Also forgoing physical keypad, the touchscreen phone looks sharp both inside and out. Instead of a virtual QWERTY keyboard, the PRADA displays traditional phone keys and uses predictive text entry. Smart decision given portrait screen orientation and finger size. The PRADA name comes at a cost.
Blackberry Curve
Nice size and clearly delineated keys, unlike the 8800. This particular model didn’t show the sluggishness I experienced with another model a few weeks ago. I didn’t use the camera, though I like the idea of having one around for spontaneous moments. Too bad they couldn’t also squeeze in the 8800’s GPS.
Motorola Q9
Every time I’ve held this Windows Mobile phone, I try to think of a better mobile keyboard… and I can’t. I like the Q9’s solid construction and don’t mind the extra weight that comes with it.
T-Mobile Wing
As I’ve been saying for several weeks, I love the feel of this device with a smooth slide mechanism and sort of soft-touch finish. WiFi is nice and works very well — which is good since T-Mobile doesn’t offer 3G connectivity yet. The Wing could probably benefit from a faster processor, though it’s not a deal breaker.
Sprint 6800
Like the Wing, this HTC-produced device has a smooth slide mechanism. The phone is smaller and sleeker than the “brick,” as I not so-fondly called my 6700. I didn’t have a Cingular 8525 handy, but the 6800 seemed smaller. Some folks are dinging the 6800 for not enabling Rev A speeds at launch, but the current EVDO speeds are perfectly acceptable.
Nokia N95
Much lighter than I had expected, with a great screen both indoors and out. Beefy specs including GPS and 5 megapixel camera. I also like purple. Hopefully a US carrier will subsidize this handset so it gets the audience it deserves.
iPhone
As if! The half dozen people who probably have the iPhone in their possession don’t talk to the likes of me. ;)
I still haven’t seen the Helio Ocean in person (but would like to) and Sprint sent me a Samsung Upstage to evaluate a few weeks ago… but I’m not feeling very positive about it at the moment. The tilt-mechanism and higher-end specs look good on the upcoming HTC Kaiser – a phone I also haven’t seen in person yet.