HTC Rezound Announced:LTE, Beats by Dre and HD SuperLCD on Verizon
by Jason Inofuentes on November 3, 2011 4:10 PM EST- Posted in
- HTC
- Qualcomm
- Gingerbread
- Smartphones
- Android
- MSM8660
- Mobile
- Laptops
- Rezound
- Sense
We knew this was coming, but HTC still had some surprises in store. The HTC Rezound will hit retail channels for $299 on November 14th. This latest halo phone comes to us with an emphasis on the audio, but it's the display we're particularly keen on seeing. Let's dive into the specs and have a look at what we can expect.
Performance will be driven by the familiar MSM8660 clocked at 1.5 GHz, we explored this platform at this clock speed in the Mobile Development Platform we explored. The MDP's performance was stellar, but it wasn't held back by power optimizations necessary to make a viable everyday cellphone. So while our MDP data gives us some idea of what the top end of our expectations might be, we're certain a retail device will look more like the performance we saw in the Evo 3D review.
When Anand took a look at the TouchPad, seemingly an age ago, he noted the Wolfson Micro silicon inside which provides the hardware to implement the Beats Audio software. The Rezound is billed as the first Beats Audio smartphone in the US, kin to the Sensation XL available in the UK. We're not sure whether the Rezound will have a similar Wolfson Micro codec, but the Beats Audio technique is capable of drastically improving the audio quality by providing improved low and midrange frequencies. The Beats by Dre ear buds that will ship with the Rezound won't have you leaving your favorite Shures in the drawer but they should be an improvement over the usual cheap buds that come with phones these days.
The Rezound comes with the venerable MDM9600, speeds will mirror those of the rest of VZW's LTE fleet, but even it's 1620 mAh will not drastically improve battery performance over other LTE devices. The other specs are halo phone par: 8MP/1080p rear shooter, 2MP front shooter, 16GB on board storage, 16GB microSD included, 1GB RAM and the usual Bluetooth and WiFi capabilities.
Where the Rezound raises questions is in the display technology. At 4.3" and with a 720p resolution, the Rezound has a stupendous 341 ppi pixel density, and the stated display technology is Super LCD which should thrill the AMOLED detractors amongst you. What we don't know is whether there remains a Pentile matrix, as we've seen on the Droid 3, in an RGBW format. If not, this could be amongs the finest displays on a phone this year. But even with a Pentile matrix, the subpixel density should far exceed the human eye's ability to detect a Pentile grid, leaving just the color representation as a concern.
We're reaching out to HTC for more information, and are excited to get our hands on it. Stay tuned.
| Physical Comparison | ||||||
| Galaxy Nexus | Galaxy S II (International) | Motorola Droid RAZR | HTC Rezound | |||
| Height | 135.5 mm (5.33") | 125.3 mm (4.93") | 130.70 mm (5.15") | 129.5 mm (5.1") | ||
| Width | 67.94 mm (2.67") | 66.1 mm (2.60") | 68.90 mm (2.71") | 66.0 mm (2.6") | ||
| Depth | 8.94 mm (0.35") | 8.49 mm (0.33") | 7.1 - ?? mm (0.28" - ??") | 13.7 mm (0.54") | ||
| Weight | 135 g (4.76 oz) | 115 g (4.06 oz) | 127 g (4.48 oz) | ??? g (??? oz) | ||
| CPU | 1.2 GHz Dual Core Cortex-A9 OMAP 4460 | 1.2 GHz Dual Core Exynos 4210 | 1.2 GHz Dual Core Cortex-A9 OMAP 4430 | 1.5 GHz Dual Core Snapdragon MSM8660 | ||
| GPU | PowerVR SGX 540 (@384 MHz) | ARM Mali-400 | PowerVR SGX 540 (@304 MHz) | Adreno 220 | ||
| RAM | 1 GB LPDDR2 | 1 GB LPDDR2 | 1 GB LPDDR2 | 1 GB LPDDR2 | ||
| NAND | 16 / 32 GB NAND | 16 GB NAND with up to 32 GB micro SD | 16 GB NAND, 16 GB microSD class 4 preinstalled | 16 GB NAND, 16 GB microSD preinstalled | ||
| Camera | 5 MP with autofocus and LED flash, 1080p30 video recording, 1.3 MP front facing | 8 MP with AF/LED Flash, 2MP front facing | 8 MP with AF/LED Flash, 1080p30 video recording, 720p front facing | 8 MP with AF/LED Flash, 1080p30 video recording, 2MP front facing | ||
| Screen | 4.65” 1280 x 720 Super AMOLED | 4.27" 800 x 480 Super AMOLED Plus | 4.3" 960 x 540 Super AMOLED Advanced | 4.3" 1280 x 720 Super LCD | ||
| Battery | ?Removable 6.48 Whr | Removable 6.11 Whr | Sealed 6.56 Whr | Removable 5.99 Whr | ||
Source: HTC (pdf)
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shabby - Thursday, November 3, 2011 - link
Htc really needs to pull out a razr/galaxy nexus out its ass, its current design mimic's dozen's of older phones and brings nothing new to the table. Is there any htc phone that doesn't look like an incredible/evo 4g?lmcd - Thursday, November 3, 2011 - link
The design was always pleasant, while durable and authentically HTC's own. Besides, HTC also has shiny gray designs it has used, though primarily not on Verizon. Pretty much any smartphone on Verizon, minus the white iPhone, is in black, mostly due to the DROID branding...Besides, the phone itself is good. It's basically an upgraded Sensation for VZW.
Omega215D - Thursday, November 3, 2011 - link
You can always tell an HTC phone from the others and the shape and materials is pretty much tried and true in terms of comfort and build quality.Stop being a fanboy because then you'll see that the other two phones have some flaws in their designs and specs as well.
shabby - Friday, November 4, 2011 - link
Im not talking about specs of design flaws, im talking about bringing something new to the table and not rehashing old designs.Camikazi - Friday, November 4, 2011 - link
Why change it when the design is solid and works? My Incredible has been dropped, hit and bumped all over the place and the only visible signs are a few scratches on the side, nothing at all on front or back, and my Inc was a refurbished one too so some of those scratches were already there. Same goes for my friends Evo, this design is strong and lasts so why deviate away from it to some unknown design that might be crap and ruin their reputation.name99 - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
So much for the claim that Apple "sheeple" are the people who buy phones based on fashion and appearance...sciwizam - Thursday, November 3, 2011 - link
HTC's SLCD screens have always been full RGB stripe, so hopefully that practice continues.Strk - Thursday, November 3, 2011 - link
It looks nice, but why so thick? Does HTC just have a thing for portly phones?agent2099 - Thursday, November 3, 2011 - link
This phone is THICK. Almost twice as thick as the RAZR. While the internals are nice, HTC should have focused more in the design of the phone. Having a thinner phone is even more important once you start talking about phones with these large screen sizes.ol1bit - Thursday, November 3, 2011 - link
Well, with 3 new $299 phones, I think the one that drops the fastest in price will be the most popular. Like I've said in other forums, an iPhone 4s for $199 or and Android look alike for $299?I've never had an Apple product, but the $199 price and speed has me thinking.