HTC Imagio review – first with Verizon’s live mobile TV service
For:
Kickstand-cum-antenna, 5-megapixel camera, 3.5mm headset jack, large and responsive touch-screen, quad-band world roaming, EV-DO Rev. A network, Bluetooth, GPS, Wi-Fi, Windows Mobile 6.5 with a lot of applications, first Verizon smartphone with V Cast Mobile TV with an array of Verizon services.
Against:
A bit choppy video quality.
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
The HTC Imagio is powered with 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7600 processor. It is based on CDMA2000 1X / GSM / WCDMA (UMTS) technology that supports WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900 / CDMA2000 1X 1900/800 band. Supported wireless interfaces are IEEE 802.11b/g and Bluetooth.
The operating system is Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional and the Imagio has micro-SD expansion slot that accepts up to 16GB cards. The additional features are HSDPA, EV-DO Rev. A network, V Cast Mobile TV, V Cast Video, V Cast Music with Rhapsody, GPS support with Verizon VZ Navigator, Verizon Visual Voice Mail service, EDGE, GPRS and Verizon Mobile Email.
3.6 inches touch-screen display has 800×480 pixels resolution. 5-megapixel camera features one-touch focus, and video recording. The connector set includes 3.5mm headset jack.
The HTC Imagio has one 1500mAH lithium ion battery. Accessories supplied inside the package are user manual, software CD, an array of international plug adapters, and power adapter.
Razzle Dazzle:
The HTC Imagio is 2.4 inches wide, 4.6 inches tall, and 0.5 inch thick and weighs 5.25 ounces. It has plastic casing with tapered corners and smooth edges. The speaker is located as dimpled bezel around the screen, while the back is partially covered with soft-touch black matte finish. The smartphone has sturdy built and feels comfortable while holding in hand.
Inside Dope:
The high-profile smartphones like the Samsung Rogue and the LG enV Touch has featured a common luxury and staple feature of Verizon Wireless – V Cast Music and V Cast Video. Now, it seems that the Verizon has changed its tune with new – HTC Imagio. It will be the first Verizon smartphone with the V Cast Mobile TV – live mobile television service, V Cast Music, V Cast Video, and Windows Mobile 6.5 OS. It features kickstand to watch videos, smart touch-screen, micro-SD card slot, 5-megapixel camera, and 3.5mm headset jack. The Imagio costs $199.99 with two-year contract after a mail-in-rebate of $100. What’s more – the Windows Mobile 6.5 smartphone supports quad-band GSM for world roaming, EV-Do Rev. A network, and has inbuilt Wi-Fi. However, the Imagio still suffer from a drawback that its call quality may be a bit choppy. If you need a smartphone with latest features, Mobile Live TV service and fast performance, then the HTC Imagio will be the first choice. Noteworthy that live mobile TV service is not widely available, so please check this service before purchasing.
Design
The display and the navigation array are located on the front. The 3.5mm headset jack and mini-USB port are on the bottom, while the volume rocker is on the right spine. AT the back, you will find the camera lens at top, kickstand-cum-antenna on the bottom, and stylus compartment on the lower right side. The kickstand will come out on pressing the release button on its left side. You can use this stand to stand the smartphone for watching videos. The micro-SD card slot sits beneath the battery cover at right side on the back.
Display
3.6 inches resistive touch-screen of the HTC Imagio has 480×800 pixels WVGA resolution that supports 65,000 colors. The display is made up of smooth glass surface and shows sharp text and crisp images. This large display is very useful for browsing the Web and viewing the photos and videos. The Imagio features inbuilt accelerometer that rotates the display on tilting the phone. However, it only works for certain applications of videos, photos, emails, and Web-browser. The touch-screen is not capacitive, still it maintains to be quick responsive eve with our fingers.
HTC TouchFlo User Interface
The HTC Imagio does not have Touch branding, but still features HTC TouchFlo 3D user interface. Like the HTC Touch Pro 2, the Imagio features additional tabs for Stock and Calendar quotes. You will also get the ability to add/remove the tabs on the Home Screen. We like that the Start menu is arranged in grid view and allows customization with different settings and applications.
QWERTY Keyboard
The virtual onscreen QWERTY keyboard features XT9 auto-word complete and provides haptic feedback on tapping. The keyboard also rotates from portrait mode to landscape on tilting the phone. We will recommend you to use the keyboard in landscape mode as it features large and spacious buttons.
Navigation Array
We appreciate the HTC to include a physical and touch-sensitive zoom in/out bar beneath the display. It is very useful in the Web browser for adjusting the zoom even while selecting the hyperlinks and reading the pages. We like that you can easily zoom in and out instantly by sliding the finger on the bar. You will find the Talk button, media key, Start Menu button, back button, and End/Power key beneath the bar. You can map the media key to launch any multimedia application such as music player, V Cast Video, and V Cast TV. The keys are flat and separated with enough dlineation.
Operating System and Applications
As already said, the HTC Imagio is the first Verizon smartphone with V Cast TV and Windows Mobile 6.5. The preloaded applications are Adobe Reader LE, a calendar, a voice recorder, a task list, Microsoft Office Mobile Suite, and Microsoft Direct Push technology that allow synchronization contacts, tasks, calendar, and email with Exchange server. The other highlights are Windows MarketPlace Mobile, revamped Internet Explorer Mobile browser, and MyPhoen backup service.
Supported Networks
Like the Touch Pro 2, the HTC Imagio is also a dual-mode phone to support both GSM and CDMA networks. It will work on Verizon network in the United States and then switched to compatible GSM network outside. However, you cannot swap the smartphone with T-Mobile or AT&T SIM card as Verizon does not have any agreement with any local GSM carrier. You will receive 3G data and voice coverage world-wide as it supports both 2100MHz HSDPA/UMTS, and quad-band GSM. We will recommend you to check the roaming rates.
Phonebook and PIM features
The HTC Imagio can store the contacts in its phonebook limited to available memory and the SIM card can hold additional 250 contacts. Each entry can save multiple phone numbers, work addresses, home addresses, birthdays, email addresses, and so forth. You can also link Facebook profile with the contact that will display the update status, message and call history with that person. The basic feature set includes text and multimedia messages, a proximity sensor, voice commands, smart dialing, and speed dialing.
Additional Highlights
The additional highlights of the HTC Imagio are Verizon Visual Voice Mail service, GPS support with Verizon VZ Navigator, Opera browser, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and EV-DO Rev. A network support. The onboard Bluetooth supports profiles of phone book access, dial-up networking, object file transfer, hands-free kits, headsets, and more. The Verizon VZ Navigator will provide location based and voice-guided turn-by-turn directions.
Web browsing
The Internet Explorer Mobile 6.0 supports Flash Lite, and Opera features tabbed browsing. The Internet Explorer is smoother and sleeker than its previous editions. You can select between full desktop and mobile mode in both the browsers.
Verizon Services
The HTC Imagio is the first Verizon smartphone to feature V Cast Mobile TV – Verizon live mobile TV service. It feels and acts like real-time live television as it uses Flo TV and it does not seem to take on-the-air cellular signal at any point. You just have to pay $15 per month for basic package that includes eight different channels: Nickelodeon, NBC News 2Go, NBC 2Go, MTV, Fox Mobile, ESPN Mobile TV, Comedy Central, and CBS Mobile. Noteworthy that some offerings are not live, but time-shifted; while others are specifically for mobile TV users. We are disappointed that the V Cast Mobile TV is not widely available, so please check before buying the Imagio smartphone for TV.
The other included Verizon services are V Cast Music with Rhapsody to buy and download on-the-air music, and V Cast Video for on-demand streaming video.
Media Player
Being a Windows Mobile smartphone, the HTC Imagio comes with Windows Media Player 10. It supports a lot of video and audio formats including WMV, MPEG4, WMA, WAV, MP3, and AAC. You will also get benefit of preloaded YouTube application.
Camera
5-megapixel camera of the HTC Imagio features one-touch focus mode, wide-screen mode, self timer, and video recording. The still capture options are shutter sound toggle, panorama stitching mode, four quality settings, ISO levels, brightness, sharpness, saturation, contrast, six resolutions, and white balance. You can record VGA quality videos limited for MMS and longer in normal mode. The recorder settings are same as that of still capture. The supported video formats are H.264, H.263, MPEG4, and 3GPP2.
We captured some pictures and recorded video clips for testing. The overall picture quality looked good with bright colors. The low-light performance was average. The video quality was good for a mobile handset. The video looked a bit pixelated and shake while moving the mobile during video recording.
Call Quality
We made few calls through the HTC Imagio via Verizon Wireless for testing. The overall call quality was average. We received natural and smooth sound at our end with a bit static and background noise. The callers received breaking sound at their end and they missed to entire sentence or word we said. The speakerphone call quality was good with loud volume over tiny speakers. The callers also received good sound, but it appeared to be distant.
Battery Life
The battery life of the HTC Imagio is 5 hours talk time and 13 days idle standby time. Its digital SAR is 0.498watt per kg in accordance with FCC radiation tests.
Verdict:
If you need a smartphone with latest multimedia features, applications and live mobile TV service, then buy – HTC Imagio.
