Just got my Radar!

[sp3ci4lk]

Thanks to those who provided feedback!

I had the Lumia 710, and while it was a nice WP, it started to feel really cheap after just a week of use. I don't like phones that creak, so I took it back and got a Radar.

The build quality of the Radar, barring the exception of the SIM cover not fitting up 100%, is fantastic. Holding it in my hand, the phone just exudes quality. I've read in a few reviews that the phone is extremely light and has a nearly hollow feel to it; I don't perceive this AT ALL. The phone has a nice heft to it and feels remarkably solid in my hand. I also like the feel of all the Radar's buttons -- they protrude from the body of the phone just enough that they're easy to discern by touch, and they all have a nice tactile feel to them. The 710's buttons are poorly executed, nearly flush with the phone's body with feedback that's vague at best.

As for its looks, I've got to say...it's really, really sharp. I've never had a white phone before, even though I'd consider it more "aluminum with a touch of white." It's a really nice match with my MacBook Pro.

The camera is significantly better than that of the Lumia 710, and the panorama and burst modes are a nice bonus.

Performance-wise, it seems nearly as fast as the 710. I did perceive the 710 to be a hair faster. Considering it has a 1GHz processor versus the 710's 1.4GHz part, I suppose some discrepancy is to be expected, but I'm not complaining. On the plus side, while I've only had my Radar for half a day, battery life appears immensely promising; with both phones at 100%, I unplugged them and read the time remaining for each: The 710 read 16 hours (which isn't too bad), while the Radar read 1 day 17 hours -- Radar FTW! It should be noted, too, that this was with the 710's screen brightness set to Automatic and Low and the Radar's set to Automatic and High.

Speaking of the screen, the Lumia's looks dull in comparison; the Radar's is far brighter, and even though it's only .1" bigger than the 710's, it FEELS substantially larger. Further, I don't know what materials are used for the "glass" in each of these phones, but the Lumia's screen was a fingerprint and face oil magnet and very difficult to keep clean. It also seemed to cause quite a bit of "drag" when scrolling, flicking and swiping. The Radar's screen feels more "glassy," doesn't seem to attract grime nearly as much, cleans up very easily, and my fingers glide across its surface without effort.

I also read in a few reviews that reception and call quality are not as good with the Radar as they are with the Lumia. I haven't noticed this. Reception and call quality have both been very good, if not excellent, and the phone's speaker volume is fantastic!

I've experienced the disappearing keyboard issue a few times, but it hasn't bothered me the way all of Android's bugs ever did. Besides, this phone's positives so far-outweigh such a small negative that, in the worst-case scenario, I'll simply disable background tasks until the update to fix it is pushed. At least Microsoft has acknowledged the issue and released an update that addresses it. Getting the update will be just a matter of time.

All-in-all, I'm EXTREMELY happy with my purchase and impressed with this phone, and I'd like to thank everyone, again, who replied to my earlier posts with their input and feedback.

 

[speedtouch]

Awesome! Let us know what you think about it in a week.

 

[Sir_Josh]

I've had my Radar for nearly a month, and I am still in love with it. It is everything you said and more. I love the hardware, and of course WP7 doesn't disappoint. I wish more people would consider these "low end" devices, because these new HTC phones are very very well built. I am loving it.

Sent from my Radar 4G using Board Express

 

[sp3ci4lk]

I just realized the sound enhancer feature. WHAT?! SRS AND EQ options?! AWESOME!!! By the way, did I mention that I love having access to my phone's music controls when the screen is locked? I can't believe that Google can't seem to get features like simple music controls on the lock screen baked in -- this kind of feature is such a "given." Oh well. I guess they'll continue to "innovate" with Android by adding cool, wiz-bang features (like "facial unlock") that work only 50% of the time while their user base gets shafted on the essentials.

BTW, I like the Radar's little LED indicator for charging, too. Nice touch.

 

[sp3ci4lk]

I've had my Radar for nearly a month, and I am still in love with it. It is everything you said and more. I love the hardware, and of course WP7 doesn't disappoint. I wish more people would consider these "low end" devices, because these new HTC phones are very very well built. I am loving it.

Sent from my Radar 4G using Board Express

This is the first HTC phone I've used since I had a Hero with Sprint. That phone was a piece of garbage. I went through three of them in three weeks; each one suffered from a gratuitous amount of dust somehow getting under its screen. On top of that, each phone's physical buttons started to lose their feel and their bodies started to get creaky in just under a week of use. I almost can't believe the Radar was designed by the same company.

 

[speedtouch]

This is the first HTC phone I've used since I had a Hero with Sprint. That phone was a piece of garbage. I went through three of them in three weeks; each one suffered from a gratuitous amount of dust somehow getting under its screen. On top of that, each phone's physical buttons started to lose their feel and their bodies started to get creaky in just under a week of use. I almost can't believe the Radar was designed by the same company.

Amazingly enough my brother is still using his Hero he got just a few weeks after launch. Crazy huh? All the buttons are worn off and you can't tell what they are and they don't always work. It was getting amazingly slow and unusable for him until I installed a custom 2.3.7 ROM on it for him. Now it's quite the usable phone---when the buttons work.

But you are right about the build quality. It's amazing to look at how HTC has made gains on quality since the Hero. I have an EVO 3D, and coming from the Palm Pre this thing is built like a tank. Man, talk about junk...the Pre was horrific.

 

[sp3ci4lk]

Awesome! Let us know what you think about it in a week.

It's been about a week, so here it goes...

I still LOVE this phone. I've fallen prey to the disappearing keyboard bug only a few times (and I text and email a LOT). The battery life is really, really good. I use the phone pretty heavily for a number of things (talk, text, browsing, using apps, listening to music, checking stuff out on YouTube, etc.), and it's consistently managed to make it through each day with ease.

The only things I don't like about it are the limited storage (I really wish it had been given another 8GB) and that the camera's flash quits working once the battery dips below 20% (confirmed by an HTC FAQ). This is a real "WTF?!" With 19% battery life remaining, the phone is still good for at least another few hours of casual use, so I don't see the point in this (especially when the flash still works with the camera in video mode). If I'm outdoors at a party on a Friday night, and my phone's battery is 19%, I should be able to take pictures with the flash. I think I'll send HTC a "Please re-think this 'feature'" email.

Other than those two things, and the few minor quirks inherent to WP, I'm still loving it.

Now, if I could just find a good set of earbuds with an inline mic and volume and track controls that work with WP, I'd be all set.

 

[palandri]

Glad you like it. The Radar is a nice looking phone.

 

[Bifurcated]

Special K, for what it's worth, I have been using a set of LG hbs-700 headphones, and all the controls work perfectly with WP.

 

[sp3ci4lk]

Special K, for what it's worth, I have been using a set of LG hbs-700 headphones, and all the controls work perfectly with WP.

Thanks. How do they sound? I'd prefer a good sounding set. For music, I listen to pretty much everything on a set of Sony MDR-7506 studio monitors, but when I go cycling, I'd like to have something with equal fidelity and tend not to like a lot of consumer bugs/sets that tend to really exaggerate the low frequencies. I was planning on spending $50 - $75 bucks, which I know isn't much, but it's a lot more than the average consumer spends on stereo earbuds. A lot of the Samsung buds don't sound very good (I'm picky). I tried a $35 set that sounded like utter crap -- I actually threw them out (LOL?). I could be completely off on the HBS-700s, though...

I appreciate the recommendation!

 

[sp3ci4lk]

Glad you like it. The Radar is a nice looking phone.

Me too. After coming from two Android stinkers in a row, I'm glad to finally have a phone that works for me. And yes, she is pretty.

 

[speedtouch]

That's great, sp3ci4lk. Thanks for checking back in on this thread. I think I should have gotten my wife a Radar. The battery life on the Lumia 710 just isn't all that great. But don't tell her! She'll get mad at me. I hope you get a long life out of the Radar, it appears to be built pretty well.

 

[sp3ci4lk]

That's great, sp3ci4lk. Thanks for checking back in on this thread. I think I should have gotten my wife a Radar. The battery life on the Lumia 710 just isn't all that great. But don't tell her! She'll get mad at me. I hope you get a long life out of the Radar, it appears to be built pretty well.

Awwwww, damn. No chance you can take it back? I did like the Lumia before returning it, but the battery life was really not that hot -- the Radar's seems far better. It's a fantastic phone and the build quality is tighter than a...well...I'll keep it family friendly here. Sounds like you've already handled one. Take back the Lumia if you can! Worse comes to worse, buy a Radar on eBay (I found mine brand new for $280) and sell the Lumia. It might be worth it; having owned and used each for a week, I'm confident the Radar will take a licking and keep going...far longer than a 710 will, under even normal use...

 

[speedtouch]

Awwwww, damn. No chance you can take it back? I did like the Lumia before returning it, but the battery life was really not that hot -- the Radar's seems far better. It's a fantastic phone and the build quality is tighter than a...well...I'll keep it family friendly here. Sounds like you've already handled one. Take back the Lumia if you can! Worse comes to worse, buy a Radar on eBay (I found mine brand new for $280) and sell the Lumia. It might be worth it; having owned and used each for a week, I'm confident the Radar will take a licking and keep going...far longer than a 710 will, under even normal use...

Well, I bought the Lumia 710 outright off eBay. So there's really no one to take it back to. I guess I could buy a Radar for the little lady and sell the Lumia. I don't know. We'll see what she says after a couple of weeks with the Lumia. Thankfully, she's not a techie in the least, so she may not notice the battery stuff. She uses it for texting, voice calls, and email--and occasional web browsing. She's not a power user by any stretch of the imagination.

Wow, $280 new for a Radar isn't bad at all. I got the Lumia new for $290.

 

[sp3ci4lk]

Well, I bought the Lumia 710 outright off eBay. So there's really no one to take it back to. I guess I could buy a Radar for the little lady and sell the Lumia. I don't know. We'll see what she says after a couple of weeks with the Lumia. Thankfully, she's not a techie in the least, so she may not notice the battery stuff. She uses it for texting, voice calls, and email--and occasional web browsing. She's not a power user by any stretch of the imagination.

Wow, $280 new for a Radar isn't bad at all. I got the Lumia new for $290.

Yeah...I got lucky. The 710 isn't a bad phone for a more casual user. In fact, it's a great little all-around smartphone. I just became weary of the physical buttons and the battery life. Sounds like the Mrs. will be fine. (SHHH!!!)

 

[speedtouch]

Yeah...I got lucky. The 710 isn't a bad phone for a more casual user. In fact, it's a great little all-around smartphone. I just became weary of the physical buttons and the battery life. Sounds like the Mrs. will be fine. (SHHH!!!)

Yep, she's definitely a casual user. I hope she'll be ok with it. I think she will. In any case, here's to your new Radar! I'm still holding out for a Lumia 900, Titan II, Samsung (whatever its name is), or the announced-today LG Miracle. I do have an HTC HD7 arriving in the mail for me today.

 

[sp3ci4lk]

Yep, she's definitely a casual user. I hope she'll be ok with it. I think she will. In any case, here's to your new Radar! I'm still holding out for a Lumia 900, Titan II, Samsung (whatever its name is), or the announced-today LG Miracle. I do have an HTC HD7 arriving in the mail for me today.

I'd think the HD7 would be as good as -- if not better than -- any of the above (sans the Lumia 900, which I REALLY would like to see T-Mobile get). The Titan II looks really nice, though. I've shied away from Samsung; their build quality to me is usually so-so, and their phones usually feel pretty cheap (probably all the thin plastics used).

Enjoy your HD7. I've heard good things!

 

[speedtouch]

I'd think the HD7 would be as good as -- if not better than -- any of the above (sans the Lumia 900, which I REALLY would like to see T-Mobile get). The Titan II looks really nice, though. I've shied away from Samsung; their build quality to me is usually so-so, and their phones usually feel pretty cheap (probably all the thin plastics used).

Enjoy your HD7. I've heard good things!

We shall see. It's an old Windows Phone device for sure. I'm mainly using it so I can test out WP for myself and test out T-Mobile. If all goes well, I'll wait and see what WP devices T-Mo gets in the next few months and probably jump on one of those (if any).

Did you get the WiFi Hotspot service on your Radar? What kind of plan did you go for on T-Mobile?

 

[freestaterocker]

Thanks. How do they sound? I'd prefer a good sounding set. For music, I listen to pretty much everything on a set of Sony MDR-7506 studio monitors, but when I go cycling, I'd like to have something with equal fidelity and tend not to like a lot of consumer bugs/sets that tend to really exaggerate the low frequencies. I was planning on spending $50 - $75 bucks, which I know isn't much, but it's a lot more than the average consumer spends on stereo earbuds. A lot of the Samsung buds don't sound very good (I'm picky). I tried a $35 set that sounded like utter crap -- I actually threw them out (LOL?). I could be completely off on the HBS-700s, though...

I appreciate the recommendation!

Hate to break it to you but true high fidelity earphones/headphones don't exist. The lower the frequency, the physically larger speaker required to reproduce it. For example, the massive soundwaves of a 20hz frequency-the lowest B on an 88 key piano-requires a 15" speaker. Earphones that seem to have good bass are tricking your brain, similar to the way a telephone does, into "hearing" what it knows is missing. Congratulations, you've been science'd.

 

[freestaterocker]

As an HD7 owner, I recommend getting the Radar. Don't get me wrong it's a good device, but battery life is ABYSMAL. I can kill it in 3 hours without breaking a sweat. If I don't touch it at all, it MIGHT make it to bedtime without dipping into the reasons.