HTC HD7 Review

When I first became a cell phone user, I was into the newest phones but when phones got smarter, I stayed away, preferring the newest and greatest in phone devices. I guess I thought they were too complicated and too clunky for what they were. I was into compact, sleek and if it had a slide up screen, I had to have it. Then, I tried a Windows 5.0 device because it looked familiar and had a stylus. Text messaging was becoming a part of my life and this one had a full keyboard. It was all right, for what it was at the time, but now, its almost completely useless. Cell phones have evolved quite a bit in the past 5 years, and my taste in devices has gone with it. After the Windows device, I tried a Blackberry which I loved. I even had one of the very first Android devices on the market and went back to my Blackberry for the love of it. (I never cared to try an iphone because I'm really not an Apple fan, but that's another blog.) There were more to follow, I upgrade yearly. I couldn't bring myself to switch away from the Blackberry simply because it worked right every time I wanted it to, and they make a darn sexy phone these days.
But after years of loving my Blackberry devices, I have finally made a committed switch. I just got my first Windows Phone 7 device - the HTC HD7. And I love it more every time I touch it.
AT&T made a commercial about the Windows Phone 7 device and how it's supposed to be a phone to free you from your phone. That's a load of bull. I can't stop touching it. It's that amazing.


I've never trusted a touch screen phone before, I'm honestly still a little afraid of my Zune and it's touch screen, because I consider myself to be rather twitchy and fidgety and not likely able to press a precise place on a touch screen. But I was willing to give it a shot because this screen is enormous. It's a 4" screen but it looks bigger because of how it sits in the phone. I'm able to touch the screen fairly accurately and there's a great auto correct function in the messaging fields that is also very helpful. The smiley button is convenient, but I don't get to see the smiley's I'm sending. If ever you receive one that isn't polite, I'm sorry. And sometimes, I get a little lag when I turn the screen from portrait to landscape.
Another big gripe that I've heard but am not really suffering from is the lack of copy and paste. I don't care, but if this matters to you please consider yourself warned.


I'm already a Zune user and XBOX gamer so I was glad to see that I can finally integrate these accounts into one device. It also has access to XBOX Live Games and I earned achievements while I was playing the free download of Flowerz. FUN! I almost dropped the phone when I heard the familiar "bleep-bloop" because it happened so suddenly. Speaking of sounds, it works well and sounds great when I play the music through the AUX port in my car stereo. There's a cool sound enhancer app that really livens it up. And if it's running through your car stereo, it automatically turns into a speakerphone that lets you hear your caller through your cars speakers. The speaker on the device itself will allow your caller to hear you. That was fun to learn. You won't, however, be able to download or use a custom ringtone on the phone until they put out an update to fix it, which I'm sure that Microsoft is working on right now. (Right, Microsoft?)
The Windows Marketplace is all right. It's not as huge as Android, and it's lacking a few basics, like a decent e-reader app. I did find a few fun apps, and there's always the basic Facebook, Twitter, Fandango. We also found a Subway app that allows you to order your sandwiches and then go get them. COOL! I didn't try it out, but I might someday. The Netflix app is also cool and it might be exclusive to the HD7. I haven't seen it advertised on any of the other Windows Phone 7 Devices. Please correct me if I'm wrong.


Overall, this phone is amazing. I'm not too challenged by the touch screen and it's really fun to use. It's also simple, like the Windows 7 Operating System. The phone is sleek and comfortable, but big enough to make watching movies and browsing the internet comfortable. I don't have a rating scale, but I do have to say that it's better than a Blackberry but still not quite an Android. (I know that the Android device is superior in its diversity, but the frequency of the updates, and the lack of functionality between them turns me off completely.)