Android Phones - HTC Wildfire

Here my first android review for the HTC Wildfire.  It runs on Android 2.1. It is powered by a 528 MHz Qualcomm processor and runs the Android operating system, version 2.2. It includes an TFT LCD capacitive touchscreen and a 5-megapixel camera. It has been described as a "Mini HTC Desire", and is perceived to be a follow-up model to the previous year's Tattoo.


 Pros 

• Powerful Android operating system
• Wi-Fi and HSDPA connectivity
• GPS
• Address book merges your contacts and social-networking chums
• Syncs photos with Facebook and Flickr
• Useful app-sharing feature
• Doesn't look cheap
• FM radio
• Multi-touch support
• Inexpensive
• Flash Lite so you can see pretty much the whole Web

Cons

• Low-resolution screen makes Web sites hard to read and hinders the user interface in places
• Occasionally slow to respond to taps

Screening our calls

 

The Wildfire's biggest drawback is its low-resolution screen, which struggles to pack in all of Android's awesomeness. At 240x320-pixel, QVGA resolution means that text is huge and slightly blurry, and Web pages are unreadable until you zoom in.


Also, the keys of the on-screen keyboard often cover up a huge portion of the screen, obscuring the fields that you want to see. Then, when you're finished typing, there's no easy way to hide the keyboard away so that you can send your text message, for example. It's a common problem with phones that run Android, but, combined with the low-res screen, it can be a real pain with the Wildfire

Web master  

If you can get over the low-res screen, the Wildfire will prove an excellent phone for surfing the mobile Web. It even has Flash Lite support. You won't be able to watch Flash videos or play Flash games, but you won't miss out on any of the Web either -- you'll be able to see page-navigation tools, for example. And at least the zooming process is easy and intuitive, thanks to multi-touch support that lets you zoom in and out with a pinch or stretch of your fingers.

Wi-Fi and HSDPA, for faster browsing over 3G, are both on-board. Also present is GPS, to keep you going in the right direction via Google Maps. 

Media Support

The Wildfire's media player handles formats from MP3 to WMA, but music lovers should consider investing in a microSD card to beef up the built-in 512MB of memory. There's room for up to 32GB more, via the memory-card slot.

Even if you can't be bothered to load your tunes onto the phone, you can still listen to music at anytime, thanks to the built-in FM radio.

Conclusion

The HTC Wildfire doesn't skimp on smart-phone features, offering some of the best social-network integration that money can buy. There's really nothing about this handset that screams 'cheap phone' except the low-res screen.

For its specifications go here