HTC HD7 price and reviews

Microsoft and HTC hit the ball out of the park with this phone. I was on the front lines when the G1 came out so I remember when the app market for android was as small as the current windows market place. I also remember having an android before voice navigation was released, so for ppl that say not to go WP7 because of the market not being big enough are full of it because all that stuff is coming soon. Both me and my wife love our new HD7's

I've long been a big advocate for Microsoft when my clients / friends were frustrated. But this phone is making me re-think years of giving MSFT the benefit of the doubt. I've looked forward to this phone for about 3 months, and I excitedly purchased it from a local T-Mobile store on release day (a week and a half ago). I've spent the last week frustrated because the entire WP7 operating system is missing what I believe to be the most fundamental functionality - the ability to synchronize with Outlook locally (via USB cable). Don't get me wrong, this is a great phone overall. But as someone who doesn't work in a corporate environment (and therefore doesn't have access to an Exchange server) and doesn't want to put all my data (and that of my clients' and friends') in the cloud (so that I can synchronize via Windows Live), that means the phone is useless. Since my last 4 Windows Mobile devices have all performed this function flawlessly, and even the iPhone can sync with Outlook via a USB cable, I have to conclude that MSFT is oblivious to the fact that they've alienated their most devout fans / users. A simple look at the user forums for WP7 will confirm these frustrations are pretty universal from WP7 phone users.

If you don't need to synchronize with Outlook, then I'd highly recommend this phone!

Tried using the H2 and 4G T-mobile new phones but was constantly making typing mistakes on the onscreen keyboard (as used to the old screens that were heat activated). My nails are not that long but do hang over my fingertips. This keyboard is great! Have had an HTC Tilt with the old windows operating system and then for past year a Nokia pearl which was a nightmare when getting my e-mail off Comcast or Outlook (not to mention the back out operating system). I was interested in the Dell Venue Pro for the slide out bottom keyboard but got tired of waiting - always have Dell computers but come on; roll out ridiculous (with a few Microsoft stores getting them last week and the Dell web site offering them for a few hours on one day so the bloggers say). I figured I would try this for 30 days (only 14 on T-mobile plans but I am on their no plan which actually cost less each month) and then if I missed a Q keyboard, take it back and get the Venue pro. But I think this phone is going to work out well (and is less bulky without the KB).

Updated on Dec 9, 2010

While the screen may look dull the extra screen real estate more than makes up when viewing webpages or watching video, Then one major problem that HTC built for itself is no expandable memory slot, and i seriously dont understand why they would do that, especially when they are facing so much competition from other maufactures on launch day no less. Then we get to bittersweet part, the size while it may be too big for some people, no one out there can say that they would enjoy watching watching video's on a 3.5 or 3.8 or even a 4.0 inche screen then they would on this screen, plus the big size compliments some of Microsoft's built in features like the office suite on the go will be easier to view and edit on the screen, while downlaoding games from Xbox live it wil be easier to play games on this bigger screen.While it may not bre ak barriers as people may have expected, the HD7 is more than a solid smartphone in all affairs work or play. Most of the con's aren't unsolvable, and it all adds up to a satisfying smartphone experience.

I like this phone - it's my girlfriends actulaly. I've got the smaller HTC Mozart. As she is about sharing videos snd photos, browsing thle web and taht kind of media stuff it's actualy a great phone for her.

bottm line is great value ,

Windows Phone 7 is so amazing. Coming from Android to this OS has been a very pleasant experience, it is one of a few computing experiences that just makes me smile on a regular basis. Everything from the Xbox Live tile to the sounds are just fun! Even Email and Office are so fluid and well presented that it makes you want to open them just to swipe to the right or scroll a document. I can't recomend this OS enough despite some quirky growing pains

As for the phone itself it looks great and it has a big screen to enjoy all the features of the OS. It has one very big fault though and that is the camera which is pretty bad. The Flash especially seems to overpower the exposure and there aren't any settings or adjustments to help fix this. Hopefully HTC will release some updates to their camera settings because as it is now is not a good experience, especially when the limited settings you can change are not saved on exit.

For me personally this isn't an issue becuase I am invested in and use very nice camera equipment so the phone is mostly just to store and view photos but if you need a good camera phone I would not go this route.

So I've been dying to get my hands on this phone for a little while now, and today I used my 2-yr contract extension upgrade ON TOP of a $100 credit, and got the phone for roughly $150 ($100 counting mail-in rebate). I have to say, after using the phone for around 10 hours now, I have explored just about the entire phone.

The operating system is beautiful and smooth, transition effects are great, and notifications are very clear and easy to navigate. You have options to synchronize facebook, email, and other applications' contacts with your phone's contact book, which is very handy. Also, the in-house Windows-branded applications use the same interface as say the Zune, with the whole "Carousel" menu thingy. Facebook application is great and fast, Netflix is easy to navigate, and Xbox Live as well.

When you first set up the phone, you put in your Windows Live ID which immediately logs you into your applications.

There are essentially three different types of app-markets, the Windows Market, the HTC market, and the Xbox Live market. There are tons of great apps, and are of much higher quality than Android's. (Not nearly as many, but as the saying goes, "Quality, not Quantity").

The camera takes decent but not stellar pictures, and the flash is VERY, VERY bright (Understatement!!! - this thing could light up an entire city). The biggest problem with the HTC HD7 I found was the interface for the camera, unfortunately. This phone is capable of 5MP still images and 720p HD video recording, however, when you record a video, the default setting is VGA 540x480, and when you want to record in HD, you simply press the settings button and change the quality. However, the proble, is, this changes back EVERY time you close the camera. So next time you open the camera app, the settings restore to default. There is even a setting for "Restore default settings", so this is obviously an early-OS glitch that will most likely be fixed. Not a big deal really, just a small annoyance.

The claim to fame on the Windows Phone 7 would have to be the User Interface. Everything is very pretty, very easy to navigate, simplistic, not overdone, and extremely customizable.

Heavy texters will love this phone as well, believe it or not. Typically touch-only phones aren't the text-fiend's best friend, but as someone who sent and received over 12,000 text messages last month, I have to say, transitioning from a full QWERTY keyboard to THIS phone was very easy. In fact, I feel as if I text even faster now. Unfortunately, there is no Swype, YET, but the auto-correction and massive screen are a piece of cake to use to send your 400 texts a minute.

Another thing I absolutely have to mention is that the call quality is FANTASTIC. The speaker on the phone is very loud (the back speaker is great too for speakerphone and music), and the microphone picks up crystal clear and cancels out external noise for the caller at the other end. I was talking to my mom and the first thing she says is "Nice and loud, I can hear you perfectly". It's very landline-quality.

Overall, I say this is *THE* best phone in T-Mobile's lineup. You can decide for yourself whether or not you want Windows Mobile 7 or Android platform, but for a multimedia-hungry consumer, this is a very luxurious phone, both hardware and software wise. The phone's housing is incredibly durable feeling, well-weighted, easy to hold, feels great in the hand, and the metal casing is just beautiful.

Get this phone and I promise you won't regret it.
Android phones are great as well, although in my opinion have terrible battery life.
(This phone does very well in that department because of the simplistic design)

Buy this phone :)

I am going to keep this pretty short and simple...
I never have seen an OS like this..It is better than both Apple and Android
in my opinion...because it takes what they both do and merges them together into something better

If your a tmobile customer, i recommend this over most Android phones because it is easy to use, it's fresh, and it just is an all around amazing phone.

I had a mytouch 4g and while it is fast and has some features that the HD7 does not...The only thing that would make me go back to it is the fact of the camera...and maybe the wi-fi calling.

I just love the phone...it's fast, no lag like on Android phones when you open multiple apps
Not bogged down with bloatware and what bloatware it does have...you can delete?

Now it does not have an SD card slot to expand memory but 16GB is big enough for me and what i plan to do with it

I have yet to try out Microsoft office but i have a project due for class on thursday and friday and plan to figure out they work with the microsoft office

Live tiles are amazing(no longer do i have to worry about pulling down the android notification tab that is bogged down with too many notifications)

It is just a great phone...its using last years hardware but combined with next year software, it really does feel like it could compete with many phones out there today!

Lol i guess this wasnt as short as i planned

I am so impressed with the integration of two features. First Google and the apps they offer. Changing from one phone to another was always a task to dread, but no more. All my mail, and all my contacts are real time updated and synched at GMail. GMail offers lots of fields for info with contacts and it all gets to, and is used by the phone!
Second, the Voice integration is superb. I am not sure what other phones include so much "voice" integration in the package. Voice mail to text, voice dialing, voice search, voice to SMS texting - and I've had it less than a week.
I had reservations about texting and working with a touch screen keyboard because of my large hands, so the slide out keyboard was a plus, but I hardly use it. When I can use the voice input, it really shines. The touch screen keyboard is really easy to use, even with thunder thumbs like mine.

As a note, there is an App manager in the Settings as well, and it appears that you might be able to remove the apps that came with the phone. I have no desire to do that right now, so I don't know if it really works.

I am still learning, so perhaps I can add more later.

Updated on Nov 24, 2010