An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

To begin, I am/was a "fanboy" of Windows and Windows Mobile. My first "smartphone" was the Toshiba 2032 running Windows Mobile 5. My next phone was a PPC-6700 using Windows Mobile 5 and my last phone was the PPC-6800 using Windows Mobile 6.1. I honestly detest the iPhone and Mac computers and go out of my way to stay clear of those "popular" items. I'm not even a fan of the Android operating system. I played on it for a while and it seemed "meh" to me. What I was looking for was an "iPhone Killer" in the HTC Arrive with WP7. What I got was the iPhone/Kiddie Phone Light....

Perhaps I had grown too accustomed to the various customization options offered by previous versions of Windows on cell phones. Perhaps Windows Phone 7 has decided to no longer be a "businessman's phone." I understand that the market was for general consumers but to shift so far away from their original product, well that just sucks.

The Good

1. THE SPEED OF THE HTC ARRIVE AND WP7 IS EXCELLENT. Apps load quick and easy and without lag. I am impressed by how quickly my phone restarts once completely shut down. I measured the time it took the PPC-6800 to load the operating system in minutes where the Arrive load time is measured in seconds.

2. THE SMOOTHNESS OF THE SCREEN OPERATION AND WP7. Flicking my thumb, I can quickly scroll across to another page or scroll down a long list of applications installed on my phone. It also works well within applications and using internet explorer.

3. THE MAIN START SCREEN. I like the way almost any app can be pinned to the main start screen for quick and easy access.

4. PLENTY OF PROGRAM MEMORY. I remember how I had to shut down programs on my PPC-6800 in order to conserve memory, especially if I was using Opera 10 for browsing the internet. So far, I have not had any slow-downs or freezes due to have various programs open on my phone.

5. THE PHONE INTERFACE. I like the way the phone works in that the screen goes black when you are using the phone up to your ear so that your cheek, ear, whatever doesn't hit any buttons and when you pull the phone away, it recognizes this and gives you the options to end call or open the keypad.

6. CALLS ARE CRYSTAL CLEAR. So far, the calls have been great, but I've only used it in an office setting or in my vehicle. I have yet to visit a construction jobsite with heavy machinery moving around. I'll see how it works in that scenario soon enough.

7. THE SCREEN. Wow! I love the screen. HD Movies are clear, colors are vibrant, it seems the screen is one of the best features.

The Bad

1. HUGE CHANGE FROM WINDOWS MOBILE. I think the Microsoft Programmers were too influenced by the Apple iOS and Android to stay with what they originally had in terms of "Windows" operating system. The name of the operating system is "Windows" so just keep it with actual windows on the phone. They moved so far away from the standard windows operating system that it isn't even recognizable. Was Windows Mobile really that bad? I was able to be quite productive with WM, let's hope WP7 proves to be the same.

2. CUSTOM OPTIONS. The phone leaves little for customization in terms of giving the user options for color, background, theme or even the transfer of multimedia or files (see Ugly #1). It seems Microsoft has made the statement, "Do it OUR way or not at all!"

3. HARD KEY SENSITIVITY.. I can't count how many times my fingers have accidentally hit the "search, windows, or back" keys on the face of the phone while browsing, texting, or picking up the phone. I like having the keys there, but they are too sensitive to the touch!

4. PHONE VOLUME. The volume maxes out at the number "30" which seems fine for a quite office or home setting but at the gym, driving, outdoors, or at a jobsite, one should be able to crank it louder. I hope HTC or Microsoft can come out with some kind of fix or crack to allow for greater volume on this phone.

5. A KEYBOARD WITH A "SMILIES" BUTTON. Seriously? Is this a kid's phone or an adult's phone. I'm ok with smiley use, but to actually have a key that pops up options for various smilies? My 3 year old daughter uses this, not me. That should have been my first hint that this phone was made more for adolescent teenie-boppers and not a businessman.

6. FORCED INTEGRATION OF CONTACTS. The worst is from Facebook directly into the phone. I know I can turn it off when looking at contacts, but why not give me the option to import them or not. There are people that are FB friends that I don't even speak to or haven't spoken to since High School. I should have just downloaded the FB app and skipped logging into the phone's built-in FB app which to me is worthless.

7. NO FOLDERS FOR APPS. At this time, I don't have an overabundance of apps for the phone, but as time goes by, I might have need for more. Why not have folders for apps or the option to place them in folders so that I don't have to scroll down through a long list. Sure, scrolling is quick, but with 100 apps (if possible) it could take a while.

8. PHONE TEMPERATURE. Remember when Dell's laptops would burn people's legs because they became so hot? Well, the HTC Arrive may not cause burns but it is the first smartphone I have experienced that actually radiates heat from the battery compartment. Maybe this is a heat exchange issue to allow the phone to cool off. Maybe it is a big problem to come.

9. BATTERY LIFE. I know many have complimented the battery life of the HTC Arrive but I have to state that it is not as good as it should be. I have to charge the phone at least once a day and it has actually shut down on me twice before I could charge it, whereas the old PPC-6800 gave me plenty of warning before shutting down. I am disappointed with the batter life and will need to purchase a spare for long trips where I can't stop to recharge the phone.


The Ugly

1. TRANSFER OF FILES. Honestly, why are we forced to use Zune to transfer files to WP7? I used a "hack" to allow me to open WP7 in my explorer but now what do I do? Do I just transfer files over? The files on the phone are not in the window so I have no idea where the files are going! And what about "syncing" Word and Excel documents? How do I do that without having to upload them to a skydrive??? I've already had problems trying to transfer a single photo from my computer to my phone. Let me choose how I want to transfer files. I'm not an idiot, I can work with computer hardware and software, I did it flawlessly on WM5 & WM6 but now it seems Microsoft doesn't trust me to do this on my own so I am forced to use Zune!

2. MS EXCHANGE SYNC ISSUES. I am not the only one that cannot sync my e-mail, calendar, or contacts with my Microsoft Exchange Server here at work. I've read numerous items on the net about these issues. I was hoping that a Microsoft Windows Phone 7 would work flawlessly with Microsoft Exchange Server. It used to be a piece of cake to use ActiveSync to establish a physical connection for the option to Sync this data. Why not bring back that option?

3. AUTOMATIC TILT. Honestly, why do I need to have my screen tilt automatically? I understand if I don't slide out the screen all the way I don't have to tilt it, but why not give me the option to tilt like the TP2? HTC really screwed up on this one. In order to type with my thumbs and view the screen in tilt mode, I have to bend my wrists forward to compensate for the angle. What is the reason for the tilt, anyway? The only reason I could come up with for the automatic tilt was to annoy HTC Arrive users so much that they would rather use the onscreen keyboard than to use the physical one. This way, HTC can stop making phones with a physical keyboard which costs more to manufacture in terms of parts and labor!

4. NO REMOVABLE MEMORY CARD. I know one can remove and replace it with skill (at least on the 7 Pro) and with voiding any warranty, but this was one of the WORST ideas yet! After painfully transferring multimedia with Zune and realizing I had to do a hard reset for another reason, I lost all the information that was on the card! At least with the PPC-6800 a hard reset just lost my phone settings and programs but not everything on the memory card!

5. FORCED TO USE ONLY ONE LIVE ACCOUNT. This sucks big time! If you enter a live account and need to change it to another one later (I get waaaay too much spam in my hotmail account - and have turned off syncing with it) one has to do a hard reset on the phone to return it to factory settings and delete everything, including what is on the internal memory card. See #4.

6. NO UPLOADING OF VIDEOS DIRECTLY FROM THE PHONE. Sure, I can upload photos I've taken with the camera but I have to transfer the video to my computer (through Zune, see #1) in order to upload it to Facebook? Honestly, quit treating us like children and let us work with what we know! Microsoft has added yet another barrier/step to a process that used to be so simple!

7. NO 4G, NO EASY ACCESS TO WIFI OPTIONS. I understand that "4G" is possibly on its way out, but why not have the phone have that option. I don't even know if I am getting 3G service with this phone! Also, the ONE thing I would have stolen from the Android OS is the ability to scroll to my left from the start screen and access my communication options, Airplane mode, WiFi, 3G, etc... Having to scroll down numerous apps to get to the phone communication settings is just plain idiotic.

If I were grading the phone I would give it a solid C+. I'm not sure how much of a "fix" can be done with some of the issues so I guess I will have to wait for a new phone to come out next year. By comparison, when the HTC PPC-6800 came out, I graded that as a B+/A-.

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

You definitely bring up some great points and explained it well and hopefully alot of these will be fixed in future updates. I agree that Windows Phone 7 still has a long way to go before it is really ready to compete with how even windows mobile used to be, but I think once it finally does get there (and I'm almost positive it will) the platform will be so much better. I do miss the absolute customisability of windows mobile, but the flow and smoothness where everything just works on my arrive and I don't have to worry about things randomly not working far outweighs its current shortcomings, at least for me. I think once an unlock for Nodo comes out many things can be tweaked and added to make it more functional.

Great read though, I agree with just about everything you said.

Wirelessly posted (WP7 Beta Tester: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 8.12; MSIEMobile6.0) Sprint T7380)

I felt the same when I first got it, but the more I used it, the less I missed winmo.

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

hmm honestly I don't even know where to begin. so I'll just say this, obviously u haven't spent enough time with the phone,MS services or OS because some of the things u complained about are a little false and misinformed.

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

Why is 4G on its way out?

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

Nice points, agree with much said. However, WM5/6 just got too buggy/laggy, and WP7 was a fresh change. It does feel very "kiddy" and restrictive, however...

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

Clearwire is out of money, no expansions planned, and LTE seems to be the future.... At least that is what I was told.

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

my phone sync great with exchange.... I had my short comings spill but the more I used this phone I love it.. granted I was using the evo before no it sits on my night stand. as far as your exchange sync talk to your admins and see if they can customize the EAS policy for you. or if you us a upn login try to get your nt4 login and see if that one works for you

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

Ummm Ok, enlighten/inform me. Look at my "Ugly" list and explain to me where I am misinformed (other than the exchange issue which is the minority).

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

because u can just simply not slide it all the way or u can just use the onscreen solution which is fantastic in landscape mode. and I currently have 2 hotmail accounts synching to my phone 1 that I've had since hs and the other that I made especially for contact synching etc. complaining about smiles is also silly because even the tp2 had this on both the hardware and onscreen keyboards. u also are not "forced" to integrate Facebook contacts into the phone u can choose to have the ones that aren't already in ur phone to not be synched and the volume in my arrive is louder than it was in my tp2. there's really not much volume increasing u can do in a standard headphone jack without causing distortion and using a BT headset is a great workaround as well.

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

i don't want a flamewar, but your list looks like one from a person that doesn't have one...your list is nothing new. now, if you want help with most of that list (there are solutions) or really want to know how to use the phone, we're here to help. if you just want to bash, put a flame suit on :).

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

yea exactly what I thought and kinda said. really need to actually learn the device before u go and review it. otherwise it just looks like bashing and I see alot of reviews like this of other wp7 devices or anything MS in general.

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

One thing that ticks me off is lack of reading comprehension. IF you bothered to read my entire post you would understand my points, however your response above states otherwise. Let me enlighten you a bit:

Read my point on the slide out keyboard/tilt. I am full aware of that option, but why not keep it like the TP2 instead of adding a spring to the device? And you confirmed exactly my point, it seems HTC wants to do away with the physical keyboard (possible reduction in manufacturing costs) and have you type using the screen. If I wanted a screen I would have purchased the EVO or iPhone.

Yes, you can have multiple hotmail accounts but only one is directly tied to your phone. Once you enter that account you have to perform a HARD RESET in order to change the main hotmail/live account directly associated with your phone.

If you read my introduction, I never owned the TP2, I went from the Mogul to the Arrive, HUGE difference. This new smiley keyboard key may work great for kids, but try sending smilies in your next business e-mail and see how it goes.

Once you enter your Facebook login information it automatically integragtes the contacts into your phone. Sure, you can hide the view in your contacts but they are still there. Don't believe me? Try sending a text message and you'll notice some of your facebook contacts come up once you start typing a name.

If a recording is not done loud enough, it will not play loud enough. I'm not writing about phone calls, I'm writing about music and movies on the Arrive after syncing with Zune. Zune should have a volume increase percentage where one can increase the volume on videos before they transfer. At least with WinMo 6.1 I could use another program to compress video files and increase volume during compression then play them on the device.

These are all problems that should be addressed and/or fixed with updates to WP7 and future HTC phones, not ignored or blame passed on as user error because one thinks the user has not investigated the issue thoroughly.

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

I appreciate the help. I read way too many glorifying reviews online about the WP7 OS and the HTC Arrive and felt a real review should be posted. One shouldn't have to hack their WP7 operating system to get things to work properly. It wasn't like that with WinMo, and Microsoft should consider this with their new products....

Wirelessly posted (Htc Arrive: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows Phone OS 7.0; Trident/3.1; IEMobile/7.0; HTC; T7575))

Ok ok.. This is the main facts regarding wp7, HTC arrive etc etc. WP7 is pretty much a close sourced OS, unlike Android. One of the main objectives for WP7 is to remain closed source.
WP7 isn't not even 1 year old to the public. Android, iOS, webOS has been around and under development for years. WebOS, Android is open source. iOS is closed source like WP7, unlike Apple Microsoft release software update few far and in between
Apple will release a device and new software then drop a software 2 months later i.e. iphone4 etc.

I could go on and on, I knew what I was signing up for before the signed 2yrs agreement and $299.99 tax. I'm a Windows ppc user first and before any OS no matter what. There something I would change but hey the future is bright and I'll be using WP7 till high noon when it shines the brightest.

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

Thank you for that post. Sometimes my expectations of Microsoft are way too high. I am one of the fortunate few that was able to apply Sprint credits to my account to pay for my HTC Arrive. At first I paid $199 but Sprint applied another $100 credit and then when I renewed my contract for 2 years they gave me another $135. So basically my phone was free. However, free or not, my expectations of MS were very high.... I just hope that enough users complain to both HTC and mS so that adequate changes are made to improve the products.

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

i love to tinker with my devices and i had a surround and i played with a arrive for 3hrs and its better than i expected and im good with m$ fixing issues with updates but i just cant figure out why copy/paste was even dropped, im in no way bashing wp but i just really dont get it. oh ya the no ringtones deal is kinda chitty too. imo its a good phone and a great phone if your upgrading from vogue/diamond/tp but not tp2.

(back off doc) lol

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

once again not a big issue with the keyboard situation. as well as the Facebook contacts I'm very aware that they still show up in some areas but if u text people using the people hub instead of the messaging hub u wouldn't ever notice them. and the smiles on the keyboard is really not a big issue. so u need to get on with that no es Para tanto just don't use them entiendes, and as for lack of reading comprehension? its funny how no one else has issues with the things u complained about, what's that say about u? no seas gilipollas eh.

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

I believe there are too many Microsoft "fanboys" just like there are too many iPhone/Mac "fanboys" that just won't admit when their OS is not up to the standard pendejo that many of us are used to in the business world.

Look, I "like" the phone and WP7, there is a lot to like about it, but unless users respond to Microsoft and HTC instead of follow like sheep, changes will not be made. Why? Because changes cost money and MS is a business and the less they have to spend on reworking and fixing issues, the better off they are financially.

I hope MS and HTC both make intelligent changes so as to not alienate more Windows fans like me....

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

i agree and with all the wp7 hype made while gsm was out and cdma was not i think m$ did drop the ball. m$ had too much time to make wp near perfect and i think arrive is lacking lots of basic needs of users starting with screen size.

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

can't really say that darren especially when android devices vary in screen sizes as well and seeing how specific devices only goes to certain companies ..

Wirelessly posted (WP7 Beta Tester: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 8.12; MSIEMobile6.0) Sprint T7380)

let's just call this thread what it is....a wp7 bash fest. if the op wants help, just ask.......I'll be chilling on the side with a basket of popcorn.

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

ya i get that but im saying tp2 is same size, like i said i still think its a great update but not for me cause i got a tp2.
oh stop, its really informative thread imo and erics post explained alot to me alone. i said its a good device and so did op plus theres issues i hate about my epic and evo i own.

Honestly, unless you have xbox live and netflix the phone is not a good choice. Or the other exception. Straight business. Otherwise, its no win mo. Lol

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

dont really agree but the phone is geared towards business peeps.

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

hmm i see u don't have a ps phone so i guess evo pretty much sucks j/k lol

Wirelessly posted (WP7 Beta Tester: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 8.12; MSIEMobile6.0) Sprint T7380)

I'm cool lol, I just know where this thread is headed.

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

not gonna happen. if i see a "all out bashimg" im gonna delete posts but i think its been very civil thus far and i wanna say thanx to op/you/eric and others for that.

Wirelessly posted (Htc Arrive: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows Phone OS 7.0; Trident/3.1; IEMobile/7.0; HTC; T7575))

This is WP7's first year and its a fresh and enjoyable experience. I'm a flasher-holic on vacation and loving the efficient simplicity of life.

There are a few things missing, but the things thats not missing are working great.

It's all personal preference and windows mobile is my first love no matter how much she changed. Enjoy and carry on.


Late,
info[]box1

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

informative es lo de menos. I see this as mostly a hissy fit type thing because he's complaining about smileys this so called forced fb integration and that u supposedly can't have more than one account associated with the device. I don't see the point in that. as for the heat issue that's associated with the battery cover being metal which is a heat conductor so of course it will feel hotter,common 3rd grade knowledge right there. my tp would get way hotter and its cover was plastic.
and how would u know this? do u own the device? have u played with it for longer than 5 minutes? didn't think so.

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

can i point out something right quick not trying to call u out but no1 is throwing a hissy fit he's merely saying that from his opinion that it's kinda bad that it heats up like that and maybe he has 2 use more then 1 account who knows i'm not in his shoes but i didn't see him say it down right f"in sucks btw i plan on getting 1 on my next pay day seeing how sprint won't repair or replace my tp2 .. but hey at least i'ma stay in windows so i can't complain ... take it easy ladies and gents it's just another smartphone not a pie eating contest :D:D

Wirelessly posted (WP7 Beta Tester: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 8.12; MSIEMobile6.0) Sprint T7380)

honest response above (looking for a smiley button on the tp2)...i keep telling folks to do them lol...if it works, great..if not, you've got 30 days :) (hey, i found the smiley button on the tp2 :D)

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

Seems we know who the biggest Windows "fanboy" is on these forums....

oh well, hopefully Microsoft will fix some of these issues, if not, I will most likely go with Android on my next purchase. I've had/used Windows Mobile (now Windows Phone) since the Toshiba 2032 (actually had an IPAQ before but it wasn't a phone) and unless Windows becomes more custom friendly and doesn't force me to use Zune or a single master Live account (doesn't allow one to switch the master account) then Android may be the way to go.

Funny, I was looking for the next "iPhone killer" in Windows Phone but it seems that Windows Phone 7 might just end up being the "Windows Killer" instead.... Pity....

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

show me the smiles lol jk bordem set in just that quick ...

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

...Oh, and the last time I used a "smiley" on a business related e-mail/text was, ummmm....... NEVER!

Like I said, kids use smilies, I use them with my daughter. Businessmen do not. I thought/hoped this phone was designed as an alternate to the Blackberry for businessmen, not for "cool kids"

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

Teach each their own but IMO this is an Upgrade over the TP2. Stability ALONE is enough to convince me. I had my TP2 for a year and it just wasn't stable at all. I'm talking stock and custom roms. My HTC Touch was Stable and the custom roms for it were stable. The only thing I miss from my TP2 is tethering and being able to hide and watch naughty videos. :)

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

op is stating his issues not having a "hissy fit" so were not gonna get all crazy in this thread. you like the phone for your reasons and he posted what he likes and dislikes and all in all its just a phone and nothing personal towards you. you can always start a thread on what you like about the arrive if you want.

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

windows killer? are u listening to urself? and I'm pretty sure the blackberries had smiley keys too and it doesn't make it anymore or less of a business phone because of it.maybe of the interface was colored like fisher price and all the keyboard keys had some special colorful effects when bein pushed then maybe u can say that but seriously it's just a smiley key. I'm sure the androids have that too as well. calling me a windows fanboy because I criticized ur review isn't wise either (because I'm not) I do see the faults in the OS but they are mostly minor and will be fixed overtime but do u see me throwing fits and shit over it? NO! again this is not an insult against u so don't take it so personally. I'm also curious as to how long u had this phone. here's an example of a model review of this phone. look at its differences.

http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/htc-arrive...phone-now.html

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

To the OP, thanks for your input. It has helped me to get much better insight into the phone, so much so in fact that I forwarded to a friend of mine a link to this thread to help with his decision (he hates the Epic 2.2 update and is considering an Arrive).

It's my opinion that that the Arrive is a good first stab at WP7 by Sprint, and I hope/expect that it will only improve (mainly in the hardware dept, though the device is nicely stacked as it is). I'm inclined to say that the changes will have to come from MS if the platform is to continue growing at its current pace. Hopefully their $100 dev rebate in exchange for 2 free apps promotion will establish a better free app market as well.

With that said, I have no doubt that "biggest Windows fanboy" is referring to eric123 but I couldn't say for sure since he's been on my ignore for months.

Re: An Open and Honest Review of the HTC Arrive & Windows Phone 7
 

yup, many kb android phones have smiley keys too (even though they get remapped to '@' keys)..its kinda becoming standard...

That said, I've seen smilies get used in business use.it just boils down to how close you get with your contacts..