Steelwolf

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Great phone, short life

Apr 10, 2008

Rating: 4 out of 10 (Mediocre)
Pros: It has almost everything you might want
Cons: Abrupt and unrecoverable failure, short life, bad service
Opinion:
It was a great phone, though I could probably have done without the slide-out Qwerty keyboard. It is useful, but I'm more used to graffitti script, thanks to Palm.

Integrated GPS receiver is great. I don't know how people get the superfast GPS lock, but on my phone, it typically takes 1min at least from cold.

WM6, though quite a step up from previous OS, still lacks a good built-in alarm and notification system. Still very basic and you will most likely need a third-party program to do a proper job. There is also no provision for Daylight savings time, something that is very basic and was implemented well in the old Palm Treo 650.

Profiles is not supported either, so no such thing as switching from "General" to "Meeting", or "Silent". You need to control the sound manually. And forgetting to switch the sound back on will mean your alarms won't ring.

As useful as it was, no one warns you about the red light of death. It can happen any time, any where, for no apparent reason. And there is nothing you can do about it except to bring it in to a service centre. Even there, the techs need to delve deeply in to it (3 days minimum turnaround) to figure out what's wrong. It could be something cheap and simple to replace, or it might be the cost of a new phone. They don't know until they have opened it.

And woe betide you if you bought it whilst overseas or from eBay. HTC do not honour any warranty for any phone not bought from the particular country that you are trying to get service. i.e. HTC Singapore will not touch an Australian bought phone (unless you are willing to pay whatever they ask, as though there were no warranty).

Mine broke down 3 months in and I have been without it for the last month while I work out with HTC Singapore, HTC Australia and the seller what to do with it. A quick search on the net showed that this is not an uncommon problem, both the breakdown and the un-cooperativeness of the various HTC branches.

A further review might be posted if this situation ever gets resolved. But for now, avoid this phone, avoid this company. Phones should just work, not break down before even a year is up. Service centres should provide service, not try to pass the buck. You really don't want to be caught out without a phone whilst trying to get non-existent service.