HTC S730

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The C500 was one of the last few devices that came from Dopod before the company was acquired by Taiwan-based High Tech Computer (HTC). Since then, several handhelds have emerged under the HTC umbrella, starting with the Touch to the more recent P3600i, TyTN II and Touch Dual. Although the handheld lineup was almost entirely refreshed within a relatively short time, the smart phone category has stayed quiet until the HTC S730.

Design

Although the S730 (105.8 x 51 x 19.4mm; 150g) is marginally larger and heavier than the C500 (101.5 x 50 x 18.6mm; 140g), the handset remains compact like the latter. It is still considered small for a device with a QWERTY board cleverly hidden beneath a 2.4-inch QVGA LCD and alphanumeric keypad.

The front of the S730 has undergone some changes, but it's a rearrangement of what's already on the C500. So the S730 is still instantly recognizable as having the same form factor as the C500. On the S730, the left/right softkeys are slightly bigger and the numeric pad more tightly packed together. The strange thing is, the softkeys don't have backlighting. That isn't an issue since the buttons are large enough, so users won't miss it even in the dark.

Unlike the C500, the directional control is now in line with the softkeys, allowing the LCD screen to sit lower, while making way for the front-facing VGA camera at the top right corner for video calls.

When held upright, the spring-loaded QWERTY keyboard slides out to the right and locks into place with a fluid motion. The Taiwan-based company has also made some modifications to the layout here. For example, the Q button is now directly above A, which is a more logical arrangement and closer in resemblance to the traditional keyboard.

The QWERTY keypad has a bluish-white backlight. Above the Q button are two tiny lights which alert you when the Shift/Cap and function key have been pressed. Each key is a button on its own and there's decent tactile feedback when typing.

Another change on the S730 is the relocation of the SIM card slot from the underside of the C500's top lid to beneath the battery on the S730. Unless you swap SIM cards every other day, this shouldn't affect most users.

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