The HTC Wildfire Is Appealing On Many Levels
As part of its efforts to achieve dominance in the increasingly-competitive smartphone space, HTC has recently released its HTC Wildfire, an entry-level version of its hugely successful HTC Desire model.
The phone comes standard with such features as a 5-megapixel camera,
3.2-inch touchscreen, and a design that is sleek and professional, appealing to both the consumer and enterprise markets.
The first and most noticeable feature that the HTC Wildfire user will notice is the slick HTC Sense user interface. Custom-developed by HTC to be used across its Windows Mobile and Android devices, Sense UI is layered on top of Android, providing easy access to the operating system's built-in features and adding some of its own -- including tight Facebook and Twitter integration into the contacts list, and a calendar that goes above and beyond the stock Android application. HTC's Sense UI also features two more home screens than the typical Android installation, which is great for users who have lots of widgets or application icons. It also helps compensate for the fact that the phone features a 3.2-inch screen in a world that is increasingly adopting a four-inch standard.
The sleek black-and-bronze design packs a punch, with a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen that is extremely easy to use and functions well both for entertainment purposes as well as keyboard purposes. The phone sadly excludes an external camera button, so users will have to turn on the screen to access the built-in 5-megapixel camera. This slight inconvenience can be ignored, however, as the camera on the HTC Wildfire takes very lively, high-quality photographs once it has been turned on. The camera is accompanied by a powerful LED flash which is perfect for low-light situations and makes taking pictures even easier than on earlier HTC models that omitted this feature.
As the HTC Wildfire is the entry-level version of the HTC Desire, its design cues come primarily from its more powerful sibling, including the black-and-silver colour scheme and the optical trackpad that sits beneath the phone's screen and in between its four capacitive buttons. The trackpad is great for scrolling through home screens and websites without worrying about getting smudges all over the touchscreen itself. The device, though quite light, feels very solid in the hand and doesn't suffer from that plastic feel, or the occasional creaky noise that can come from plastic handsets.
Overall, the HTC Wildfire is a solid entry-level device from HTC with a great set of features. Its camera is capable and of high quality, and its design is professional and light without feeling cheap. Its small screen size is really perfect for people that are searching for all the features of Android without having to make room in a small bag or pocket, especially since the trend is toward larger screens and smaller models are increasingly hard to come by. The phone is a vast improvement over its lower-end predecessors and compliments the HTC Desire perfectly. Anyone looking for an affordable entry into the smartphone market, or perhaps making the transition for the first time, will be satisfied with the easy-to-use HTC Sense interface and the broad array of applications available.
