HTC HD7: Now With NoDo
by Vivek Gowri on May 12, 2011 6:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Windows Phone 7
- Snapdragon
- Mobile
- HTC HD7
Camera—Standard Snapdragon Fare
The HD7 has the same 5MP camera/dual LED flash arrangement as the HD2, but adds 720p video recording. Again though, this is a previous generation device, so it doesn’t have the same image quality advancements that the newer HTC models have, as Brian detailed in his Thunderbolt review.
But overall, it works alright. Decent for web publishing and Facebook albums, as long as you have enough light. Low light is still basically terrible, and the flash is not very useful. As far as options go, HTC allows you to set the scene mode, after effects, metering mode, and flicker adjustment, in addition to resolution and flash modes.
I don’t get a whole lot of smartphones through here, so I don’t have a standardized test location for pictures like Brian, but I tend to take pictures of various Audis (I live next to the dealership). Also, I’d like to thank the guy that parked his Continental GT right outside my apartment building. Cue Janis Joplin—“Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes-Benz? My neighbors drive Bentleys, I must make amends...”
Most of the pictures turned out okay, but the ones that didn’t usually ended up not being okay either because the camera didn’t focus quickly enough, or because the picture ended up being blurry. So I shall resume my old complaint with WP7—they really need to add a software camera button. I’ve gotten more used to using the camera button in the HD7 than the one in the Venue Pro (or maybe the camera button just doesn’t suck as much), but I still end up taking 2-3 pictures at a time, because invariably, at least 35% of my pictures end up blurry.
As mentioned previously, the HD7 shoots 720p video. Unfortunately, I got the same really weird underwater-microphone effect that Brian saw with the Surround. It’s unexplainable, it almost sounds as though there’s some kind of heavy wind blowing into the mic, even on a clear day. It basically makes the video recording feature completely unusable, I don't understand how HTC hasn't fixed this yet. Also, it annoys me to no end that the camera application doesn’t default to the highest quality video recording option, you need to manually set it to 720p recording, every time.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
44 Comments
View All Comments
softdrinkviking - Thursday, May 12, 2011 - link
nice clip vivek. :)i am interested in WP7, but i am totally underwhelmed by the weak hardware, especially the displays!
basically, a phone is like 90% display, and it seems like apple is the only company that gets that.
but i am not huge IOS fan.
i am going to be back in the US at the end of June after working overseas for 3 years, so i am really hoping that something awesome comes out by about then. (droid 3 maybe?)
sviola - Thursday, May 12, 2011 - link
I know everyone here is a hardware enthusiast, but I don't think it is a major problem with WP7, that seems to run very well on the current hardware, in terms of processor and memory. Of course there is room for improvement and I could add a few examples: cameras, 4G, front facing camera, removable flash storage, multi-SIM; but this will probably come with the Nokia handsets (seems their first handset will be built with the N8 as reference, so we will get 12 mp camera and many other nice stuff).As for the software, there is a need to improving it and I'm sure that with Mango we'll see a lot more than has been disclosed so far:
- Multitasking
- IE 9
- Twitter integration
- Turn by turn navigation
- Voice to text
- Bing Audio
- Bing video
- Messenger integration
- Unified Inbox
- SkyDrive sink for Mobile Office
- Skype
Of course, we'll have the complete list on May 24th when they'll show it to the press.
Silent_Rage - Thursday, May 12, 2011 - link
To say that WP7 runs well on last generation hardware is an understatement. I currently have an HTC Arrive (gotta have the keyboard) and while there are features I wish it had such as front-facing camera and 4G, I really enjoy using it. I got one for my wife and the best part was that she didn't need me to show her how to use it....she figured it out herself!! I think that WP7 has a lot of promise, but I agree with Vivek that the update cycle must be more aggressive to catch up with the competition. From what I read about Mango, it looks promising but they cannot afford to delay this update like what happened with NoDo.softdrinkviking - Thursday, May 12, 2011 - link
the only thing i really want is a better display. that's it. processors they have are good enough to do what i want for the most part, but i would really like a nicer, crisper, display, and hope against hopes, one that is easy to read outside!damianrobertjones - Thursday, May 12, 2011 - link
I don't think that removable storage is a sensible thing. We used to have people here who simply didn't 'get' removable micro-sd storage back in the 6.5 days and neither do many of the people out there in the street. If it works for apple then I say 'don't' have removable storage as you open the company to complaints. People will also buy MEGA cheap cards and THEN complain of speed issues.FrederickL - Friday, May 13, 2011 - link
I have to say that I really disagree. I do not see why my choices should be damaged by the brain-dead amongst the customer base. I have some respect for what MS are doing with Win7 and will definitely be interested when Nokia start delivering. If however there is no removable storage (and they continue like other companies with non-removable batteries) that will be a total deal-breaker for me. MS are clearly running hard to catch up on the software front but if every new release of a WP7 is more of the same old same because Redmond refuse to lighten up on the hardware restrictions, I for one will not even bother to look at a Windows phone.
xype - Thursday, May 12, 2011 - link
iOS 5. :Pxype - Thursday, May 12, 2011 - link
Damn, should have been a comment to softdrinkviking… anyhow, the hardware will get its updates—if WP7 looks like an interesting alternative, I wouldn't worry too much about the hardware part.Psycownage - Thursday, May 12, 2011 - link
As always a great review from ananndtech however i have noticed a couple of problems with the graphs, first on battery graphs 2 are identical, looking at image links i guess one of these should show talk time. second, shouldn't black levels be lower is better not higher is better?VivekGowri - Thursday, May 12, 2011 - link
Fiiiiixed, thanks for catching!