HTC Radar review

December 03, 2011

Formerly known as the Omega, the HTC Radar is one of HTC’s new Windows powered smartphones. The HTC Radar is the miniature, cost-effective adaptation of its brother, the HTC Titan. This gives the Radar the status of being HTC's more practical and user-friendly device. 

HTC was previously known for their Windows Mobile devices, and with the HTC Radar boasting the new Windows Phone 7 Mango running (WP7.5), it is clear that HTC’s addiction to Windows software is still at its peak. Agreed, it may not be the “tech-savvy” dream phone, but it definitely opens doors for those that are reluctant to change from previous Windows to other competitors such as iOS and Android. 

Main Features

• 3.8” 16M- color capacitive 
• LCD touchscreen (480x800 pixels) 
• 3G and HSDPA (7.2 Mbps) 
• Windows phone 7 operating system 
• 1GHz Scorpio processor 
• 512 MB RAM 
• 512 MB ROM 
• 5 megapixel camera with LED flash (720p video recording) 
• 8GB internal storage 
• WiFi (b/g/n) 
• Bluetooth 2.1 
• GPS 
• Stereo FM radio 

The Radar’s user interface is identical to that of any other WP7 device with the exception of HTC’s unique green theme (this is preloaded on all Radar handsets). The interface is very simple and eye-catching - the live tiles show vital information like the current date, calendar events, missed calls, unread emails and more. All this without the need to tap the phone and open the application. 

Multimedia Updates

The full resolution picture tile is the Mango update's new- jaw-dropping- feature that will keep competitors on their feet. The hub is now customizable and users can set a single photo as the hub’s background (as opposed to the last photo viewed prior to the update). The main highlight of this hub is the camera roll, albums, people and date. A simple swipe gesture to the left reveals new and unseen data such as Facebook or Twitter galleries.  

AVI videos can be automatically converted to MP4 through Zune via your pc (unfortunately DivX support was not included in the update). 

HTC Radar video review

Conclusion

With the baby CPU, smaller screen size and lower resolution, I have decided to class the Radar as the Titan’s less bulky little brother. If you need to frequently remove your cellphone  battery or tend to exceed 8GB of storage, then the Radar is not for you. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a simple, easy-to-use phone or a “pocket HD camera”, then the Radar should be a definite choice. 

HTC Radar deals and specials

Vodacom, MTN and Cell C have not yet released details of pricing for the HTC Radar contracts. We'll update this page as soon as we have the relevant information from the networks.

Naman Singh

www.dionysuscellular.co.za

HTC Radar