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Old 11-15-2010, 10:23 AM
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Re: Anandtech reviews the Surround

I've played with the Surround, Focus, and Quantum now (in store), so I thought I'd comment.

Now, these phones were tethered to the display, meaning I still don't know what these phones are like in real world situations, so don't take my word as gospel or anything.

HTC 7 Surround - as stated above, this phone is thinner than the TP2, but thicker than the Focus by a few millimeters. The sliding mechanism for the speaker felt solid, but as many others have said, I can't see myself using it very often, maybe to show friends a quick YoutTube video or something.

Actually getting the speaker up is a little bit unnatural to me. I own a Touch Pro 2 so I am used to pushing up on the screen with my thumbs to reveal the keyboard. The Surround has the speaker sliding up the opposite way, meaning you have to either push down on the screen or push up on the back. The motion was a little strange to me and I almost dropped the phone the first time I tried it! I'm sure with time and practice this would be a non-issue, though.

The kickstand works as promised, but seems a little flimsy, which may make this a repair issue after months of use.

One thing I would not recommend (especially if you have your heart set on this device) is looking at it sitting next to the Focus. The Focus may be a little more plasticy, but looking at an LCD screen (like the Surround) sitting next to Samsung's AMOLED screen will immediately make the LCD screen look poor by comparison. Everything will seem washed out, and you will notice the colors fading as you tilt the device.

The OS is buttery smooth, but again, this is not real world conditions, and only stock programs were on the device, but those programs outshine anything currently on the market (in my opinion).

TL,DR: Surround is built like a thinner TP2 with no keyboard. Speaker is only useful in social situations (seriously, if you're by yourself you're going to use headphones, right?) and awkward to engage, and LCD pales in comparison to AMOLED. OS is WP7, so if you liked it in the demo videos, you'll like it in person.
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