Mini Boom

HTC have opted to go with the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system with the HD Mini!

HTC have opted to go with the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system with the HD Mini; it is very usable, very palmable little device but its compact design takes nothing away from its performance. HTC have given the HD Mini the superb HTC Sense user interface; it creates a simple and enjoyable mobile environment for you to play with. The phone also has an expandable memory, digital camera, fully functional music player and an FM radio receiver so you can keep up with your favourite shows.

Though the phone is in direct competition with some real big hitters, including HTC's own Legend and Desire models, it is much more compact, pocketable and perhaps even fashionable. The screen measures 3.2 inches and has 320 x 480 HVGA resolutions; it boasts capacitive technology which enables multi touch control and it is very bright and vibrant under any lighting conditions. The 6oo MHz processor will send you from screen-to-screen and page-to-page in no time at all, browsing is a fast, enjoyable experience and the multi touch functionality certainly does its part, HTC have chosen the Opera Browser for its multi touch compatibilities but it lacks flash, this is where the back-up browser from Internet Explorer comes in and saves the day with its super flash powers, BOOM! HTC have also gifted this nifty little device with fast reliable 3G and Wi Fi connections and there is also coverage from EDGE and GPRS data networks, the phones connectivity is unwavering and consistent, so you can feel confident knowing you will never be further than a fingertip from the web. The phones e-mail client is well designed and delivers a great representation of a real e-mail experience, the mail viewer is quite cool as each e-mail is shown as a sheet of paper and rather than having an e-mail list you get an easy view stack with the last e-mail on top. You can set-up your e-mail account from your phone with all the popular providers including Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail.

The Taiwanese communication champions have pre-installed there awesome Sense overlay to cover up the geeky blandness and general heaviness of the Windows Mobile OS, it does a great job giving it a colourful paintjob and superb user experience; it comes with loads of useful applications and customizability. You can create shortcuts to your favourite contacts, most used applications and even websites direct from your home screen, you can also re-arrange the key feature tabs to suite your own needs. The phone supports various IM and SNS clients with providers like WindowsLive Messenger and Facebook, the HTC Peeps Twitter client lets you manage your account, make tweets and check out your friend's tweets, it works well and you will find very few issues with its usability. A special widget called People gathers together groups of contacts for quick communication, friend's are easy to find and easy to contact by message, call or even e-mail. The HTC HD Mini sports a very nice 5 mega pixel digital camera; images come out very clean and clear and videos are shot at 30 frames per second in 640 x 480 pixels which will deliver quite a nice end product, you can add effects to your pictures and videos and as usual they can be uploaded to your social network accounts and also YouTube. The music player supports an array of audio formats and though the video player doesn't support DivX files various Windows apps will handle them for you instead. The Windows Media centre is well serviced by a microSD slot for memory upgrades up to 32GB and Bluetooth technology for wireless file sharing, the 3.5mm jack lets you plug in your favourite headphones for private listening and the USB connector enables PC synchronization.

Overall the HTC HD Mini supplies its user with a heavyweight Smartphone experience in a lightweight package, HTC offer up a great selection of useful apps, great functionality and good customization options, the Media Centre runs well on the HD Mini and the camera does a good job of dealing with your day-to-day snaps and videos. Buy an HTC HD Mini if you are after a top-class user experience with compact pocket-ability.

About the Author

See the new HTC HD Mini and HTC Legend at phoneslimited.co.uk

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