Introduction:
HTC has been one of the more profound vigilant figures in the mobile industry that always has a knack in producing quality smartphones. When it comes to the Android landscape, they were there right from the beginning showing their commitment in tastefully complementing Google’s mobile platform with something as equally compelling on the hardware side. With memorable devices like the T-Mobile G1, Nexus One, and HTC EVO 4G under its belt, all eyes are on them to see what they can do to continue that trend in the face of never-ending competition.
Out of all the carriers out there, most people can wholeheartedly agree that Verizon has gotten its fair share of top-notch HTC smartphones – like the HTC Droid Incredible and HTC ThunderBolt. However, we can most certainly say that the HTC EVO 4G is still the benchmark device that HTC lives by to this day – mainly because it brought along a lot of ‘firsts’ that haven’t been seen before during its time. For all of us out there salivating for the next big thing, Big Red is being blessed with something so deliciously high spec’d on paper that it begs for some warranted recognition.
HTC helped Verizon launch itself into the 4G LTE era with the ThunderBolt, a device widely panned as being a fitting candidate, but besides its 4G LTE support, it wasn’t all that cutting-edge. Continuing the trend of packing some ‘firsts’, mainly because it’s the first handset to release on US soil with a 720p display and Beats Audio support, the HTC Rezound is gunning to make its presence widely known as being HTC’s second-generation 4G LTE device. Unlike the underpowered ThunderBolt, the Rezound is outfitted with only the best of the best in order to survive the volatile high-end market, but it’ll need to make some glaring noise if it wants to take the thunder out of the recently launched Motorola DROID RAZR.
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- HTC Rezound
- microUSB cable
- Wall Charger
- iBeats Headphones
- Traveling Pouch
- Quick Start Guide
- Product Safety & Warranty Information
Design:
When you really want to stand out from the crowd, you should opt for a design that’s dramatically different. Well, that’s not the case with the HTC Rezound, as it clearly has its ties to the HTC Droid Incredible 2 – thus, lacking that crucial differentiating appeal to reel us in. Yes, it’s still one solid feeling handset, though it’s not quite on the same level as some of HTC’s uni-body designed handsets. Featuring a gunmetal like bezel, rounded corners, and its distinctive soft touch tiered back cover, we’re able to gently grasp the handset with no problems at all – and it helps that it doesn’t attract much dirt or debris! Even though the handset appears to be primarily constructed out of plastic, it still packs a noticeable amount of weight. With a 0.54” (13.7mm) waistline, it is almost twice the thickness of the slim body of the DROID RAZR. Above all, there’s nothing extravagant with its all too generic design style, and in the end, it doesn’t deliver something that should complement its underlying aura.
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The HTC Rezound is one solid feeling handset | ||
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You can compare the HTC Rezound with many other phones.
We’ve been teased by it for many months now, but a 720p display is finally for real with a handset – and the HTC Rezound is the first one to market with it in the States!
The 720x1280 pixel resolution is an incremental leap forward, following after other popular resolutions like WVGA 480x800 and qHD 540x960. When you do the calculation, the Rezound’s 4.3” display is the most detailed out there with pixel density of 341 ppi. In contrast, the iPhone 4S Retina display boasts a pixel density of 326 ppi – so finally, the Rezound is the first phone to beat it in this aspect.
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Closeup shots of the displays of the HTC Rezound (left), Motorola DROID RAZR (middle) and Apple iPhone 4S (right) | ||
Even though we’re convinced on paper at how it’s superior in resolution, it’s ultimately our eyes that are going to concretely confirm those allegations. The visual detail is most profoundly evident when we look at the display up close and personal– or when looking at tiny details, like text when we’re in a zoomed out view in the web browser. At that point, yes, we behold the majestic detail that the 720p display has to offer – making even the faintest of lines and curves pop with plenty of clarity. As you can see in the photos, detail is so much better than a standard screen, which results in beautifully looking icons, menu details and so on. Nevertheless, its Super LCD (S-LCD) panel continues to deliver the characteristic traits that the display type is known to exhibit – like some deep and vibrant color tones. However, it does suffer from poor viewing angles and outdoor visibility.
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The 720p display offers fine details and image quality, however it suffers from poor viewing angles | ||
Spacing themselves away from the bottom edge of the handset, we gladly accept the minimal accidental presses we find when touching its capacitive Android buttons, which sport a deep red glow (reminding of the Beats Audio element).
We’ve made it clear that we’re not blown away by the Rezound’s design, but what irks us most about the handset, is that its physical buttons are notoriously difficult to feel out. Both the power button and volume rocker are completely flush – thus, offering very little feel. Additionally, it doesn’t help that their response is subtle to the touch.
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The capacitive Android buttons | Power key and 3.5mm headphones jack | Volume rocker on the right side |
Above the display, we’re presented with the typical narrow looking earpiece that has been the staple of nearly all HTC smartphones of late – plus, the handset’s front-facing 2-megapixel camera is perched nearby.
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The 2-megapixel front-facing camera |
Much like other recent HTC smartphones, the microUSB port on the HTC Rezound offers video-out functionality, but it requires the use of an optional MHL adapter that you’ll need to supply yourself.
Rounding its high-spec’d hardware, the Rezound is packing a sizable 8-megapixel auto-focus camera with dual-LED flash in the rear, which isn’t all that surprising at the very least . Meanwhile, prying off its rear cover grants us access to it 1,620 mAh battery, SIM card slot, microSD slot, and speakerphone grill.
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The microUSB port is on the left | The 8-megapixel shooter on the back | The microSD and SIM slots are behind the battery cover |
Interface:
In order for it to maintain its spiffy 720p display, the Rezound requires some serious processing power to exhibit the class and eloquent nature that we tend to expect with today’s modern high-end smartphones. Thankfully for all of this, HTC finally brings a dual-core processor to the mix with its second 4G LTE smartphone – as opposed to the underwhelming single-core one with the ThunderBolt. Behind it all, there is a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8660 processor coupled with 1GB of DDR2 RAM, which is obviously a tasteful complementary offering.
Honestly, this is probably the fastest and most responsive HTC Android smartphone we’ve had the opportunity of checking it out. In fact, we can sense just that, as it’s able to track tightly the movement of our finer as we move through its homescreen – though, its rate is swimmingly quick with a static wallpaper. However, things drop down the moment when we activate a graphically intensive live wallpaper, which is strange considering it’s packing anAdreno 220 GPU. Gone is its smooth finesse, and instead, we notice some choppiness with its operation – albeit, it’s nothing detrimental. All in all, it’s a fast device that accomplishes just about any task without much exertion, but lacks the fluidity that we see on the Samsung Galaxy S II.
It could’ve been a first if it weren’t for the HTC Rhyme, but the Rezound is the second device on Verizon’s lineup to feature the most up-to-date Sense 3.5 experience running on top of Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread. Beyond the glamorous hardware, we don’t classify Sense as a skin running on top of Android, but rather, it’s an all-encompassing organic experience that continues to enthrall us with its remarkably deep level of personalization and usefulness. As a whole, this isn’t a dramatic change from what we’ve seen before already, but we continually see its willingness to strive in singlehandedly being the utmost best customized Android experience out there.
The Rezound runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread straight out of the box, but is expected to be updated to 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwitch in “early 2012”.
Contacts:
Clicking on the “People” icon in the app drawer will bring up a list of all your contacts shown alphabetically and with their picture on the left side. This is populated by your Google, Facebook, Flickr and Twitter accounts, as well as being able to tie-in with Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync accounts. When you click on a contact, it will then open up a new screen and show all their information, as well as 4 icons on the bottom for viewing their details, threads, updates, and gallery. This is all very useful, and we love the way that HTC Sense brings all this information together, yet makes it easy to use.
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The dial screen and contact details | ||
Organizer:
The calendar works very well, as it pulls information from all your accounts (Google, Facebook, Exchange, PC Sync) and aggregates them to the phone. This way, when you go to the calendar app (or desktop widget), all your events are shown in a day, week, or monthly view. You can also click on them to add reminders and alert tones.
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The calendar app pulls information from all your accounts | ||
Messaging:
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You can automatically setup your email for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, AOL, Yahoo!, Windows Live Hotmail, and GMail, as well as manually entering in your own POP3 and IMAP accounts. Once they are all set up, you can view your emails by account, or in a combined view that designates each account’s email with a different color bar on the left side. Naturally, you can also send and receive text and picture messages, as well as using the Mobile IM program to connect with Windows Live, Yahoo! and AIM buddy lists. Google Talk continues to use its own separate app.
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You can automatically setup your email account for several services | ||
Camera:
As other recent HTC phones, the camera app has received a nice update as it now supports some extra features, such as 14 different visual effects, face detection, and manual image adjustments of the exposure, contrast, saturation, and sharpness. There is also a selection of 9 different scene modes to choose from. Like most other HTC phones, the Rezound does not come with a physical camera button. Instead, the camera continues to auto-focus on the center square shown on the display, or you can move the square around if you want to change where it will focus. To capture the image, you simply press on shutter icon on the right side, and it takes the image almost instantly.
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The camera app has received a nice update and is now packed with features | |||
On paper, there seems to be a lot to like about its 8-megapixel auto-focus camera, which features backside illumination, dual-LED flash, and wide-angle F2.2 lens for larger aperture. Sometimes, we can be jaded by all of the hype surrounding a handset’s photo-taking capabilities, but in the case of the Rezound, we’re simply not convinced after peeking over some of the results.
Overall, its production is average, with macro shots being its best specialty. Color-wise, it tends to be on the saturated side, which is able to raise our brows thanks to its vibrant and robust tones, but it tends to cast this purplish hue that doesn’t accurately portray the real-world scenario. Above all, the main distraction we notice is that fine details are simply indistinct. The images are usable for 4x6” prints, but are not on par with the best 8-megapixel phone cameras.
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With shots taken under low lighting, its exposure is considerably increased to enhance details, but at the same time, it’s dealt a blow with some evidence of noise – though, its dual-LED flash counteracts it.
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Strong | Medium | Low light |
Indoor samples | ||
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3ft | 5ft | 7ft |
Darkness with flash | ||
The HTC Rezound’s 1080p videos are shot in MPEG-4 format instead of the .3GP we found on the Vivid. So what’s good this time? It displays a smooth capture rate of 30 frames per second, mostly noise-free audio recording, and very minimal artifacting. Naturally, that’s fine and dandy, but what distracts us yet again is its vague looking details – it simply doesn’t exhibit the quality you’d expect for something tagged with ‘high-definition.’ Just like the Vivid, the Rezound offers a slow-motion mode that gives us a neat effect with recording that we don't typically see – though, its capture resolution is set at 720p at the most. It captures at 60 frames per second, but the final video is 30fps, thus making it 2x slower.
HTC Rezound Sample Video:
HTC Rezound Slow Motion Sample Video:
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