Well, our technical buds were all geared up and vigilant as we began a thorough review of the HTC Wildfire soaked in the elegant sap of Android 2.1. Following a meticulous analysis of its ingredients, here is a detailed report to determine whether the Wildfire renders a sour or sweet taste. HTC has been slicing out varied flavors of handsets, unleashing diverse features to gratify those with a penchant for smartphones. With a wide range of Android phones in its kitty, the company has been hacking timber from its kernel for fueling another pot of feast in the latest offering dubbed Wildfire. After getting us pepped up, the said handset finally entered our arena with the grandeur of its Legacy, a nip of Desire and an imprinted Tattoo, all enveloped in a familiar cover.
The HTC Wildfire arrived in the midst of a bustling day, wrapped in an all white enclosure. The simply crafted white container neatly placed the smartphone on a paper partition which capped the charger and a USB cord at the base. The latter two were tidily packed in soft plastic coverings, making for a perfectly swathed gift. Clad in a black garb, the haute couture design of the Wildfire is strikingly similar to that of Google’s Nexus One. Sporting a 3.2-inch QVGA touchscreen along with four options namely home, menu, back and search, the device has been etched in a rectangular case with two sheathing textures. The front side of the handset flashes a small navigation trackball placed at the bed as thin metal coated openings for speakers dazzle on the peak. The camera lens and flash lie above the embossed HTC logo on the upper segment whereas the lower half swanks HTC sense in tiny gray letters.
Equipped with a volume adjustment button and a mini USB port on the left side, the device boasts of a 3.5mm jack along with power on/off key at the pinnacle. The rear surface is clearly demarcated into three parts with the top and bottom lending a rubberized finish while the middle portion has a brushed matte feel. The back flap can be removed devoid of rigorous effort, uncovering the firmly sketched interiors. The battery occupies the largest part in the segregation carved inside the smartphone while the positioning of the microSD slot has been outfitted on the left side of the periphery. Its lithium-ion 1300mAh battery is light and sits just right in the place allocated to it without creating any hassles.
The vibrant and lively interface of the phone has been adorned by the HTC Sense which forms the top most layer of this preparation. Beneath this sheet of colorful options is a world crafted by the Android 2.1 operating system. The smartphone encompasses seven homescreen pages which accommodate multitude of experiences for users. All seven pages can be viewed with a simple pinch on the touchscreen display. However, the old school LCD panel offers distorted graphics which makes it extremely difficult to clearly distinguish the content on these screens. The 320 x 240 resolution of the screen turned out to be quite problematic as it underplays the Android system, leaving us with little fat to chew.
The customization streak of the HTC Wildfire handset flags off with the very first ingredient. The handy ‘settings’ option unfurls an effortless way to modify not only wallpaper and ringtones but also Wireless & networks, Call, Location, Search, Privacy, Security, Applications and numerous other functions. As we further peeled under the vivacious cover, a string of applications comprising the popular Friend Stream surfaced on the panel. Keeping you connected with friends and family over the virtual web world, this app makes away for graceful syncing of Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and Plurk accounts.
Moving to the next component, syncing the phonebook with Facebook settings allows users to view the status message and birth date of the person calling. While we were on the move, the handset was a boon as the call quality is extremely good and the noise cancellation feature embedded in the device is pretty much a sweetener. Furthermore, the accelerometer of the smartphone allows users to mute a receiving call by simply turning it over. The other option lets users to reduce the volume of the ringtone by lifting the phone which appears unnecessary and not so expedient. The virtual QWERTY keypad is comfortable but seems a bit crammed up. A little more space between the keys could have reduced some salt. Nevertheless, the auto spelling feature distills it from turning extremely saline as the attribute is helpful and makes for quick typing of messages.
We next moved to check two other elements found commonly in fully featured smartphones namely camera and music playback. The integrated 5MP camera captures decent images while producing deep and vibrant colors for indoor pictures. It offers various modes and effects such as sepia, negative, polarize amongst others for innovative photography. The embedded geo-tagging facility can come handy for freezing time and location of the moment clicked in by the Wildfire. The device is capable of recording average videos and though the results did not surpass our expectations, they deemed right for the handset. Although it is not a music-based phone, we’d expected better audio quality than that produced by the loud speaker. The volume and pitch levels of the system seemed a little below the par.
We went all the way to the Android Market for our next component. Our trip through the Android Market was as smooth as a melting piece of butter gliding through a loaf of fresh bread. Well, we must say that the its web browsing features are quite impressive. The universe of Android Market houses numerous apps including those which offer weather forecasts as well as trace your ‘footprint’ while traverse across different locations. The ‘Maps’ app was a pleasant surprise as it provided exact details and the clear, tidy presentation can be of great help. The ‘Weather’ app extends information not only for the day but also allowed us to plan our weekend with reports about the expected climatic conditions over the next few days. Whether you wish to keep a tab on the weather in your town or the one located miles away, it takes merely few seconds to update and extract data. The search option is simple to use as well and can be pulled into the picture with few clicks.
The gaming bug just doesn’t let us take our hands off without experiencing the ride on every device which comes into this work place. We tried out quite a few games including The Smurfs, Twilight Puzzle and Space Buster 3D Lite. As we moved our fingers across the display to solve riddles and control bouncing balls, the superlative touchscreen seemed the perfect pad. With a few tweaks, HTC can probably ponder entering the gaming arena of portable devices. Nonetheless, our glees were ripped off by the poor battery life of the handset. The mobile can run for barely over 12 hours on a single charge and this is certainly disappointing as many mobile phone developers have been focusing on this facet to enhance user experience.
Being a HTC innovation, we anticipated the Wildfire to spread a furious blaze in the mobile segment. This handset extends a comprehensive set of experiences enveloped through the assortment of its varied features. Its crystal clear call clarity, camera features and seamless internet connectivity is quite captivating. However, the smartphone somehow falls short against the benchmark set by the manufacturer. The company has tagged the HTC Wildfire with a price of Rs. 15,300. Despite the fact that the device has been affixed in the medium price range, the manufacturer has compromised on more than just one factor. We’d expected it to be a feast but the device lacks some of HTC’s trademark spices. On the whole, those who wish to purchase a fully loaded smartphone with the HTC label can opt for this one. This device has managed to impress us enough to bag a rating of 8 out of 10.