|
I've upgraded from the 6700 to the 6800 and so far I'm reasonably happy with the 6800 over the 6700.
Pros
The screen colors and brightness are pretty good.
The speaker is a little better than the 6700
The reception is as good as the 6700 which is better than the Treo's
It runs WM6 so it can display HTML formatted e-mail from an Exchange 2007 server, and you can flag e-mails as well as search your exchange 2007 server for anything throughout your entire mailbox not just what is downloaded to your phone.
The keyboard is easier for me to type on than the smaller Treo keyboard.
The display is larger than the treo display so I can see more calendar events and other information on my today screen and browse the web easier.
The construction seems reasonably good although since it is a little slimmer than the old 6700, the weight difference may give people the impression it isn't as sturdy but I think it is - however the rear battery cover is very flimsy - I imagine HTC will have to sell a lot of replacements to customers.
The larger Lithium Polymer battery helps give you about 20% more life than the previous battery in my opinion. Haven't done an in depth comparison but I'd say that is reasonably accurate.
Comes with 512MB microSD storage in addition to the greater storage capacity build in memory. I think this is a good touch.
Browsing the web is improved as it now supports java natively.
So far no "Dark Screen of Death/DSOD" that was common with the 6700 - required you to remove your storage for the display to turn on (unless you upgraded to AKU 3.5 which wasn't available from Sprint.
CONS
The Bluetooth STILL is bad - blame microsoft -their BT stack isn't as good as widcoms - unfortunately the BT doesn't perform as well as the WM5 AKU3.5(not supplied by Sprint) firmware you could get for the 6700.
The GPS on the phone is A-GPS - assisted GPS - not a full GPS so if you look at the Sprint sales link - it says something like GPS enabled - that means if you pay Sprint a monthly fee you can use their software - you can't use any other ones like google maps or live search or even paid programs like TomTom or iGuidance without buying a BT GPS receiver to communicate with your phone - seems silly not to include a real SirfIII chip when they cost about the same - wouldn't increase the size and wouldn't have us running up our monthly fees with Sprint. Other phones such as the x800 come with a full GPS chip and are slimmer than the 6800.
Voice Command 1.6 has an issue with voice dialing confirmation - so you say call Mary at home and it will say "call Mary at home?" no matter how many times or how loud you say yes, it will timeout and not place the call - you have to turn confirmation off and hope it recognized the name you wanted to call.
It does not come with a car charger - you have to buy that seperately - I still think this is a rip off - not sure how many people use mobile phones don't want a charger for the car?
Still comes with fannypack style case - if I'm going to look like a geek with a big honkin phone -I'd like to at least project a somewhat heterosexual image.
Still comes with Sprint crapware like audibles. I'd really love it if it asked you before installing the junk however until someone posts the iota and other sprint specific items you do want to load, you'll have to manually remove the junk after it installs.
For some reason, while this unit has plenty of hard buttons, you can't reassign them like you can on the 6700 some can be but only about half of them.
The gap in the slider makes the unit feel flimsy as you press on the screen.
The vibration doesn't seem as strong as the 6700's did to me.
Status Quo
If you are using the latest sprint rom 2.2 on your 6700 you'll see a slight improvement in speed, if you are using an unsanctioned but better rom AKU 3.5 from other sources, you'll see a slight drop in performance when opening apps, files etc.
Things to consider -
I prefer a larger screen over the front keypad like the treo or the q or blackjack however some people will want one handed typing and they would be better served by another phone - get the phone that serves you best not what serves others best. I would suggest waiting for WM6 on whatever phone you get if possible as many new WM6 should be out by the end of the year.
I really wish this unit was still a bit slimmer although it is better than the 6700 (which is like saying our 75 floor skyscraper is shorter than the empire state building - that is still a TALL building) - I think it will have to decrease at least 5 more mm before I'd say it was reasonably "slim"
I really think ALL the WM6 phones Sprint offers next year will have to be VGA resolution - I don't see how they intend to compete considering there are about 15 VGA WM6 phones being released this year and the 6800 a brand new phone is still only QVGA 240x320 - one fourth the resolution of those other phones.
Things I'd recommend for any WM6 phoneAcrobat reader for mobile - free
flash player for mobile - free
Micosoft Live Search - free (information searching, GPS/NAV display)
MS Voice Command - let's you dial by name or number anyone in your contacts without having to train for each person's name.
SPB Pocket PLus - let's you customize your today screen - put frequently used app shortcuts, document shortcuts etc on your today screen AND it has a very good battery indicator - better than the native battery indicator.
|