Windows Explorer is the default web browser, rather than Opera, as it is on the later Touches, which is a shame. Fortunately, you can view web pages in landscape mode by sliding out the keyboard, which in any case is the best way to type in URLs. The zoom control is rather crude, offering only one increment, though there are options to fit an entire page into one column or fit it to the screen size – not a pretty solution, though it is practical. For RSS feeds, it's a fully functional and practical, if not particularly elegant browser.
Not the best 3.2Mp camera we've seen
The 3.2Mp camera can be accessed from the home screen by pressing the shutter button on the side. It's quick to start up too, at a fraction under two seconds, which we liked. The 2x digital zoom was very slow, however, and took a couple of seconds to adjust between each of its five increments. There's no autofocus or flash, but pictures weren't bad in good light, though colours tended to be less than vibrant, and often appeared a little washed out.
The panorama setting is worth a mention. It let's you take three photos, with the previous one superimposed on the next to help you line up and create a widescreen image.
As usual, video quality drops a little - but not a lot in this case - though in common with virtually all of the HTC cameras we've tried, it doesn't handle motion very well, and blurs way too easily.
The S740's Assisted GPS system uses Google Maps and found our location easily enough, even when we were indoors - so long as we were near a window. This being a Windows Mobile handset there are plenty of options to download other satnav apps software with voice-guidance and all, though it's unlikely you'll want to use such a small screen as your in-car navigator.
Invisible to radar?
HTC's own Audio Manager is the default music player on the S740. It does a more than decent job of ordering your sounds and displaying cover art where it's available. There's also a useful ten-band graphic equaliser which you can adjust manually, or by selecting one of the 21 presets.
COMMENTS
Eh?
Is it me or are those 'photos' computer generated? The shine across the number keys and the general anti-aliasing just doesn't look right. Nor does it that the phone isn't turned on.
Not really good for the cred there reg. Fake photos? Whatever next?
Am I th only one who noticed..
There is not a single pic of this thing switched on and no pics of the interface?
I really wanted to see what it looks like, you know, in use.
Not as good a phone as claimed
I used this phone for a week and I took it back.
The Send/End keys are too small and hard to find, making it very hard to do its main function which is being a phone.
Like many sliders the top row of keys (in this case 2 soft keys) is way too close the the edge of the top half when opened. You end up using your nail half the time to hit these keys.
The only NAV buttons are on the top half of the slider in the middle of the top half. Try reading a web page and scrolling down. You having to awkwardly reach up from the QWERTY where you have to hold it when open anyway. Do this for about 10 web pages on 4-5 sites and you will want to scream. Add to that the way too small NAV ring and navigation on this device is just plain broken for ease of use.
Next the QWERTY keyboard is IMHO terrible. The keys feel mushy lacking a tactile snap and worst of all they lack sufficient "bumps" to find the difference between keys.
Finally the aggressive power management is insane when it comes to key backlighting. Try using this phone in the dark. On other phones like the Moto Q9 I am able to reactivate the key board backlight with a tap to the 4way nav keys. On this device that does not work for the QWERTY, you have to hit something on ITS keyboard which in this case is a letter or soft fn keys and like I said above given the lack of humps on the keys even if you about where a key is in the dark, you can't find it until you get the keyboard lit. I've tried to use the keyboard in a dark car while a friend was driving and I wanted to through it out the window.
It does have a nice feel and I coveted it when I saw someone with it, but one week of use and it went back and I dusted off my Moto Q9. I know keyboards are highly personal in preference but I really suggest you try navigating a web site and see how hard it is to get the keys to light up when u r in the store. I really wanted this phone to be "the one" but sadly it fails in basic usability unrelated to the software.
Re: David Evans
Sorry David, completely different. This uses Windows Mobile standard edition. As mentioned in the review, it has no touch screen and you cannot create or edit office documents (well, you can with third party software - but not as standard).
The Xperia is a Windows Mobile Professional device which means it has a touch screen, a full version of Office Mobile (you can create and edit office docs) and is also quite a lot larger ad heavier with a significantly larger/higher-res screen.
The XPeria is aimed at road-warriors, this is aimed at people who want a phone-sized device that is also good for email.
