Most Comprehensive Reviews: HTC Snap (S526), Best Phone For NS?
I got the HTC Snap (Non-Camera variant, a.k.a HTC Ozone in North America or European regions) for the remaining of my 19 months of my NS life.
You ready? For the most comprehensive review on the HTC Snap? Get ready because this will be a long post!
Here we go! Some exterior pictures and unboxing to do..
Now that we are done with the hardware, lets go straight into the softwares! :D
A registry editor is what you need for making changes to settings that are otherwise hidden to the average users to prevent damage to the operating system! The program you see here is Resco Registry Editor and must be purchased.
Right, this really is coming to the end of this very long post. Hope you enjoyed looking at what the HTC Snap can do for you. In conclusion, the HTC Snap is the best NS phone (relating to functions) with the 2nd closest contender being the Nokia E51.
It is rather pricey and stocks are running low for brand new handsets. 2nd hands are available readily but I recommend going for a brand new set and investing in one before NS so by the time you ORD, your contract expires and you can get a new camera phone!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! 5/5 STARS!
You ready? For the most comprehensive review on the HTC Snap? Get ready because this will be a long post!
Here we go! Some exterior pictures and unboxing to do..
Unboxing (Click on image to enlarge)
Exterior of phone and size comparison to iPod nano. (Click to enlarge)
As you can see, the size of the HTC Snap is pretty slim and small for a smartphone. It looks very stylish. The only thing I hate is the rubber flap that you have to open up on the side of the device each time you want to charge the phone up or connect your headset. The rubber feels very fragile and looks like it could break in less than 6 months of usage.
Interior of phone.
Battery: 1500mAh
Such a large battery for a device with no touch screen should allow for some pretty amazing battery life! I've been getting around 3-4 days of battery life with some light usage and around 1-2 days battery life when I do hard core talking on the phone of around 1-2hours each day!
Starting up the phone!
Starting up is pretty quick compared to my Samsung Omnia despite the slower 528mhz processor as compared to the 628mhz processor on my Omnia.
Now that we are done with the hardware, lets go straight into the softwares! :D
The home screen you see here is bundled with the phone and comes as default on the Snap. It looks very stylish and is easy to use and gives you access to commonly used programs like task manager (shown later) and settings as well as profiles and audio manager.
Dialing is easy on the Snap. Start dialing a number on the homescreen or typing in the name of the person you wish to sms or call.
The task manager can be easily accessed from the home screen. Displays CPU and RAM usage and is easy to use.
One thing nice about this phone as compared to my previous non-camera phone was that the Snap can type Chinese easily due to its QWERTY keyboard. The keyboard is quite responsive but may miss some key presses sometimes when you type too fast.
The calendar is the same as that on Windows Mobile professional and is comprehensive and easy to use and see your appointments for the day, week or month. Your upcoming appointments are shown on the home screen so you are reminded of your tasks with just one glance.
Office mobile comes with the phone and allows you to work on your documents.
I find it quite useful in my work to take down notes or create barracks damage reports on the go.
Windows Media player comes with the device and handles mp4, avi, 3gp or any mobile video formats with no problem!
HTC has kindly skinned a version of the player and created the HTC audio manager for playing of audio. I find it easy to use and a great thing is that Chinese (traditional/simplified) song tags are shown without a problem on the device. I expected ugly squares to appear with most of my songs being tagged by traditional Chinese characters but thank god that didn't happen.
Windows Live messenger comes on the phone by default too. It is fast and free to use. Unlike other 3rd party messengers that add advertisements and random texts to the IMs you send out, this doesn't!
The email application is easy to use and set up. Just enter your credentials and you are good to go immediately!
Youtube doesn't come on the device by default but I found that you can easily install it by heading to m.youtube.com on your mobile phone. The application is nicely skinned and easy to use!
Facebook application can be easily downloaded from the marketplace. Nicely skinned and easy to use but some functions are restricted. For example, you cannot view or add tags to photos.
I installed PockeTwit as my Twitter application and it works great on the Snap.
The default browser that comes on the device was Internet Explorer mobile but I found it cumbersome to use. Another alternative is Opera Mobile Mini 10. It loads pages fast and is easy to zoom in and out of pages. One caveat is that you cannot view flash objects on the pages yet but this function will come pretty soon with new versions of the browser.
Google maps was the default navigation software that came on the phone. Google maps is a good navigation software. Additionally, it is a freeware application. However, it requires a constant connection to the internet, which can be costly if you do not have a data plan or if you are navigating overseas.
For an offline navigation browser, I turned to Garmin Mobile XT which is a pay-to-use software. However, it is worth the price as you get details that cannot be seen on Google Maps. You can see any fastfood or convenient stores on the maps and easily walk to that place!
Microsoft MyPhone (C) can be easily downloaded from the Marketplace and it allows you to backup your documents and SMSes to Microsoft for free! Great software for something that is free!
For games, needless to say, it is a pathetic list. What do you expect, it's a workhorse, not an arcade machine!
One great thing about Windows Mobile is the ability to install any application you need or want. SPB Wireless Monitor is something I install on all of my WinMo devices. It can track your data usage and warn you about exceeding your data limits!
A MUST PROGRAM FOR GEEKS!
A registry editor is what you need for making changes to settings that are otherwise hidden to the average users to prevent damage to the operating system! The program you see here is Resco Registry Editor and must be purchased.
One thing that I hate about WinMo devices is the lack of a timeout keypad lock. You can only lock and unlock your devices manually which sucks, if you forget to do so as proven to me by my naughty pocket. It dialed out to many people with names starting from "A" without me knowing.
I installed an app called Automatic Keylock (Go figure) and it came with more functions than I ever hoped for. Keylock aside, it came with a great and simple looking screensaver that shows the time and some other vital information with just a glance!
Right, this really is coming to the end of this very long post. Hope you enjoyed looking at what the HTC Snap can do for you. In conclusion, the HTC Snap is the best NS phone (relating to functions) with the 2nd closest contender being the Nokia E51.
It is rather pricey and stocks are running low for brand new handsets. 2nd hands are available readily but I recommend going for a brand new set and investing in one before NS so by the time you ORD, your contract expires and you can get a new camera phone!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! 5/5 STARS!
posted by sLaCkErZ™ @ 2:49 PM,
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