HTC Vivid review

Enter the world of 4G with the all new HTC Vivid smartphone, which boasts a super 4.5 inches screen and huge built in memory along with the Snapdragon S3 chip and a CPU that is dual core clocked @ 1.2 Ghz. Well yes, it does look somewhat similar in its hardware to the previous HTC EVO 3D and HTC sensation (having 4G). But in reality there is a lot more to discuss about the difference and upgrades done in this phone.

The device doesn’t really look like something new as the specs are same old with only the display being bigger. Much more was expected from HTC, especially after 8 months of releasing the HTC sensation. The HTC Vivid doesn’t come for a cheap price. It is priced as per its specifications and fits in the same row as the sensation and EVO.

Here are the main features of the HTC Vivid smartphone:

• Support for Triband 3G; Quad-band GSM
• 5.76 Mbps HSUPA & 21 Mbps HSDPA
• Compatibility for LTE network
• 4.5 inches LCD touch display with 540×960 pixels and gorilla glass
• Android Gingerbread Operating System version-2.3.4 with HTC Sense 3.0
• Snapdragon S3 chip from Qualcomm; 1.2 GHz dual Scorpion CPUs
• 16 GB storage space builtin and 1GB RAM; 32GB (upto) microSD slot
• 1.3 megapixel front camera and 8 MegaPixel autofocus back camera with LED flash
• 1080p and 720p video recording
• Wi-Fi b/g/n and DLNA; HTC Portable Hotspot; GPS with A-GPS
• Accelerometer, proximity sensor and an auto-brightness sensor
• Stereo FM radio with RDS; 3.5 mm Standard audio jack (SRS enhancement)
• stereo Bluetooth v3.0 and microUSB port (for charging)
• MHL TV-out (requires MHL-to-HDMI adapter)
• Voice and Smart dialing
• DivX/XviD video support
• HTCSense.com integration
• Office document editor

Drawbacks

Although HTC Vivid comes as a fully loaded smartphone, the performance of the screen is not up to the mark. The phone is also much heavier than expected with a net weight of 177 grams. The black color version of this smartphone faces heavy dust and fingerprints problem, mainly due to the fine glossy finish of the body. Lastly, surprisingly there is no separate button for the camera on the phone.

In the box

The retail box of HTC Vivid has one important accessory missing and that is the earphones. For some reason HTC threw it out of it and included a few booklets along with the regular charger and a cable for USB. It is well understood why HTC removed the extra SD cards, but its hard to assume why earphones went missing.

Body and Design

There is nothing much to say about how beautiful this phone looks as it sports the regular “HTC look”. But this isn’t a drawback for this Smartphone as there are many HTC fans out there in the world who love to go by its look. In fact, many prefer the looks to be as it is and that only the functionality of it should improve. Amazing isn’t it?

The built of HTC Vivid is very strong and solid from outside; however, the same cannot be said about the internal parts. From outside, it’s dressed up in glossy plastic which can bring in the problem of fingerprints and smudges, especially if the color is black. HTC surely disappoints its fans in this case as all the previous built of the smart phones were free from this problem.

The body weighs 177 gms at 128.8×67.1×11.2 mm size. This weight isn’t pocket friendly as most of the android phones with 4.5 inches screen are lighter. This Smartphone is available in both white as well as black color thus covering most of the audience.

As far as the 4.5 inches display goes, HTC Vivid falls back in line just like all its predecessors. HTC always had this flaw in their Smart phones, especially the angle of view and outdoor usability. The phone is nowhere closer to the super AMOLED plus unit of Galaxy Samsung II in terms of the display.

Below the display, HTC Vivid sports the 4 regular touch buttons. Earpiece, proximity sensors, LED notification light, front camera and ambient light are all placed above the display.

On the right of the unit is the volume control while on the left you find MicroUSB which also serves as the charging port. On the top of the HTC Vivid, you find 3.5 mm audio Jack along with the Lock/Power button.

The back of Smartphone has a neatly finished metal cover which is slightly textured. It is here that you find the main camera of 8 megapixels with LED flash light. The speakers are placed just beside it. The MicroSD and SIM cards are not hot swappable.

The battery in HTC Vivid is 1620 mAh is awesome and above the regular expectations. After using it for 1 hour each for Video playback, web browsing and phone calls, the phone needs recharge after 42 hours. This is pretty good for such a heavily loaded Smartphone.

Let us now look at the HTC Vivid’s software part.

HTC Sense 3.0 and Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread

The software line up of the phone is similar to the previous HTC releases. HTC sense 3.0 and Android 2.3.4 can be found on many smart phones including the EVO 3D, Amaze 4G and Sensation 4G.

User Interface

The UI of HTC Vivid comprises of a similar look as the previous phones. The lock screen has 4 shortcuts and a ring at the bottom. When you move the shortcut icons into the ring, respective application opens up. When you move the ring to the center of the screen, the phone gets unlocked. One can easily customize the 4 shortcuts. Apart from these, you see the time clock and home screen when the phone is locked.

The HTC Vivid has different home screens (seven) which can be further customized. The arc given at the bottom indicates the home screen you are on. By clicking on the home button you get all the screens at once. It also comes with a new option known as Skins. The Skin is like a theme that changes the feel and look of the buttons, applications, menus etc.

Hardware

The HTC Vivid sports the chip from Qualcomm, called the Snapdragon S3, having 1 GB RAM and 1.2 GHz dual core. Tests have shown that 1.5 GHz dual core CPU performs much better than the 1.2 GHz. This Smart phone however did not come out with flying colors in the test. The browser also isn’t too impressive rather HTC Vivid is left behind in this too. However, the daily routine can easily by carried out on this phone without much of hassles.

Camera and Camcorder

HTC Vivid also features the 8 mega pixels camera that can give still shots of resolution 3264×2448 pixels. Its camcorder can record up to 1080p video at 30 fps. There is dual-LEF flash and surprisingly, a video light too. The low light performance is managed by the wide aperture lens.

The virtual shutter is at the center and controls are on the right side of the viewfinder. The focus can be managed by just touching the screen and it makes a sound which makes you understand that it is adjusting. The loading speed of the camera is pretty good as it takes half a second to come up. HTC Vivid can take high detailed pics with excellent colors and low levels of noise.

The camcorder shoots video in 3gp format and has full HD quality. You can select the 1080p on FullHD to open the full screen of the video. In short, the video shots are excellent and camcorder works perfectly and produces excellent quality result.

Networking and Connectivity

HTC Vivid features the Tri band 3G and EDGE/Quad band GSM/GPRS and benefits much from Snapdragon S3 chip. The compatibility with LTE network is the additional benefit of it and can easily deliver speeds up to 50 Mbps for downloads on the brand new 4G network of AT&T, which is much faster than what people usually use. Full DLNA support and Wi-fi b/g/n forms the local connectivity part in it. It also features HTC portable hotspot.

Other features

HTC Vivid features the HTC’s well known phone book that has a deep integration with social networking. It works and maintains data in organized manner even though there is constant communication between phone book and other social networking platforms. Various tabs are provided in the phone book so as to select the group, call log or use the menu drop down to filter out contacts from various platforms. When it comes to being a networking tool, HTC Vivid is surely a winner. Nearly all the platforms like facebook, twitter, flickr, gmail, etc work like a charm.

It features both smart as well as voice dialing. The dialer on the screen has a keypad, a tab for call log and another one for fetching contacts. The ringer can be muted by turning the phone upside down while loudspeaker can be enabled by turning it upside down during the call. The volume of the ring automatically increases when the phone is kept in the pocket. The Proximity sensor comes into play here.

Conclusion

In April 2011, HTC sensation 4G thrilled everyone with its new design, look and feel and of course with the entire set of new features. A great effort was put by HTC in making it. Having raised the bar for themselves, HTC was expected to take out something different from what is now usual for its smart phones. It’s December 2011 and yet we see a similar phone like sensation coming out with just few upgrades and added features. This could have been taken out as an upgraded version of HTC Sensation or EVDO 3D. Well, let’s hope that after HTC Vivid, they do think about something different!

Check out the hands on video review of HTC Vivid below: