Hands-on with all nine Windows Phone 7 devices (with pics!)
Microsoft is jumping into Windows Phone 7 with both feet. There'll be nine WP7 handsets available globally this year (three from AT&T and two from T-Mobile in the U.S. next month starting Nov. 8), and at least one more — The HTC 7 Pro for Sprint, the first CDMA Windows Phone 7 we've seen — in the first half of next year.
Here are the nine (plus one) handsets:
- Dell Venue Pro (T-Mobile)
- LG Quantum (AT&T)
- LG Optimus 7 (Europe/Asia)
- HTC HD 7 (T-Mobile)
- HTC Surround (AT&T)
- HTC Mozart (Europe/Asia)
- HTC Trophy (Europe/Asia)
- HTC 7 Pro (Sprint)
- Samsung Focus (AT&T)
- Samsung Omnia 7 (Europe/Asia)
Most of these phones share common hardware and software attributes: slab-style with a 3.5-inch or larger display, 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 5MP digital camera and HD camcorder, 16GB of memory, stereo Bluetooth, integrated Mobile Office, Outlook and OneNote, multiplayer Xbox Live gaming, and U-Verse subscription video. Variations we know of: the Samsung Focus will have just 8GB built in, the HTC Surround features a slide-up Dolby stereo speaker and a kickstand, as does the HTC HD7, and both the LG Quantum and the HTC 7 Pro sport slide-out QWERTY keypads.
Navigation and usage is smooth and easy on all the models. Scrolling and screen swiping is instantaneous and natural as on an iPhone. The autocorrect software on the touchscreen QWERTY's produced nearly perfect, mistake-free text, and is sure to convert hardcore physical keyboard lovers.
On the down side, the accelerometer on all the phones I played with seem to be slow, as if the phone were waiting for us to confirm our orientation choice. While the physical camera key got us to the camera quick, they all seemed a bit firm and are likely to produce blurry shots indoors.
Two of these phones stand out: The lightweight 9.9mm thin Samsung Focus, a doppelganger to the company's Galaxy S Fascinate (the Verizon model) with its 4-inch super bright AMOLED screen (although the camera shutter is sluggish) , and the HTC HD7, a doppelganger to the company's Incredible, featuring with a crisp 4.3-inch screen, the largest in the Windows Phone 7 portfolio.
Here's what they all look like.
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Dell's Venue Pro, due from T-Mobile sometime in mid-November. It'll be the first Windows Phone with a vertical slide-down keyboard.
A side view of the open Dell Venue Pro.
The rear of the Dell Venue Pro.
The first (that we know of) CDMA Windows Phone 7, the HTC 7 Pro for Sprint. The unique sliding/tilting QWERTY can be operated with one hand with a little practice and provides a more comfortable screen-to-keyboard angle than conventional sliders.
A side view of the HTC Pro 7 Windows Phone 7 coming from Sprint sometime during the first half of next year.
The rear of the CDMA HTC 7 Pro for Sprint.
Four of the five HTC Windows Phones.
HTC's HD7 Windows Phone 7 for T-Mobile, coming sometime mid-November. It has a crisp and beautiful 4.3-inch screen, the largest in the Windows Phone portfolio. It's lighter than you'd expect, and one of my favorites so far.
The rear of the HTC HD7 for T-Mobile. It won't run on T-Mobile's near-4G network, but will run on the carrier's top 7.2 Mbps network.
AT&T's HTC Surround, showing off Windows Mobile 7 excellent touchscreen keyboard. Featuring the best auto-correct I've run across, it corrected nearly every typing mistake I made.
The HTC HD Surround with the sliding Dolby stereo speaker open and the U-Verse subscription service open. The phone really isn't gold, it's black. The golden hue is a reflection of the room's ambient light.
LG's Quantum, the third AT&T model coming sometime in min-November. All the AT&T models will be priced at $200. No other carrier has announced pricing.
The LG Quantum with the slide down QWERTY keyboard open. I did not like this keyboard â keys felt mushy when pressed, and the Shift and Function keys were small buttons to the left of the main keyboard, which was awkward. WM7's touchscreen keyboard was a far superior experience.
The first Windows Phone 7 that will be available will be this one, the Samsung Focus, featuring a 4-inch super AMOLED screen. While easily the brightest screen in the WP7 portfolio, it includes only 8 GB of memory. In addition, the camera suffers from shutter lag, which will cause many a blurry photo, and the accelerometer felt even slower than on the other already sluggish models.
