HTC Advantage (X7510)

Bookmark

By Brett James, CNET.co.uk
Jul 25, 2008

The HTC Advantage X7510 smart phone adds Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional and updates its QWERTY keypad with haptic feedback. Are these additions worth the price tag?

Editors' note:

This review is based on tests done by our sister site CNET.co.uk. As such, please note that there may be slight differences in the testing procedure and ratings system. For more information on the actual tests conducted on the product, please inquire directly at the site where the article was originally published.

HTC has no plans to launch this product in Asia Pacific but it's possible to get one from online stores like Expansys. Take note that it costs over US$1,200, and that's not counting shipping.

Strengths

Cosmetically, the X7510 is virtually identical to the original Advantage, though a few buttons have been removed from the front facia. The OS is now Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional with a standard HTC customized home interface.

Its weight and larger profile are in place to accommodate the 5-inch touchscreen display which, despite its VGA resolution, will at least retain better compatibility with third-party programs.

Apart from the impressive 16GB of storage, miniSD card expansion and multimedia touches--stereo speakers/3.5mm headphone jack--the X7510's biggest improvement lies with its keyboard. While the keypad is completely flat, it does provide a dedicated number key row and the new haptic feedback system gives off a slight vibration/audible noise when each key is pressed. This feature helped produce a quicker and more comfortable typing experience than we had expected.

When the board is not in use, it clips to the front of the screen and provides basic heads-up information related to network status, battery strength and time. When required for typing it locks into position with a strong magnet and the screen angles back slightly.

The TV-out cable can be used to rig up your device to a TV/VGA monitor (S-video/Composite/D-sub) to watch movies. You could also utilize the USB port to attach a full-sized USB PC keyboard or flash drive.

Additionally, the X7510 is adorned with a 624MHz CPU, 128MB RAM (with 77MB free, allowing for better multitasking), HSDPA support, Wi-Fi and a GPS receiver. The receiver was pretty slow at picking up our location using Google Maps, but there's a data utility supplied to help.

HTC also throws in a host of extra software/utilities--far too many to list here. The cream of the crop has to be the Opera 9 browser which, alongside the display, makes Web surfing a dream.

Even with the large screen, the X7510 provided respectable battery life, with a claimed 5 hours of talktime and 300 hours of standby.

Weaknesses

The X7510 definitely offers great specs, but it's still a Windows Mobile device underneath and the high price may be out of most buyers' reach.

Plus, while smaller than a laptop, it's still large, heavy and impractical for all situations. The navigation pad, for example, has been removed, which will impede those wishing to pursue gaming. Making calls feels a little strange as the keyboard really needs a flat surface to work effectively and the screen angle can't be adjusted.

The 3-megapixel camera provided above-average image quality, but we did discover a strange issue when using the camera outside. After a while, the screen would start flashing and captured images would corrupt. Hopefully, a firmware upgrade will solve this issue.

Our synthetic benchmark test revealed that its graphics performance was surprisingly poor and while not really affecting Windows operation, we did detect a few lip sync issues in one of our video tests.

Conclusion

Like early Advantage models, the X7510 is one of those devices that struggle to find a common ground. It's too big to be completely functional as a smart phone, though it's lighter and more manageable than a laptop or UMPC. In theory, it does provide a useful proposition for those who don't want a full-blown Windows operating system, but at the same time still need to be kept in touch with the office.

Price is always going to be the X7510's biggest downfall, regardless if the device is well-specced and featured. Despite it not being practical for all mobile situations, the X7510 is still a great piece of kit and we especially liked the new haptic QWERTY keyboard and large screen. Coupled with the instant-on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional OS, 16GB of storage and supplied software, you have a useful alternative to a laptop for out-of-office use.