IT Support | Windows Phone 7 Mini-Review, Part 1!
Posted by The Blogging Desk on Thu, Dec 09, 2010
- by Andrew, "Lewis", Levin
So, I've had the HD7 from T-Mobile for about 3 weeks now, and overall I am very pleased with what Microsoft has developed. WP7 is truly a streamlined mobile operating system which allows you to "get in, and get out." Below I have outlined, in my opinion, some of the pros and cons of the phone.
Pros
Size - The 4.3 inch screen makes the phone large, but not cumbersome. At first I was a bit concerned that it was too big and scorned myself for upgrading to something larger. However, it only took a couple days to get used to it and now I really like the large keys and easily readable text. It is still very skinny, so even with the large screen it doesn’t feel bulky.
Speed/Usability - It’s fast. Way faster than my iPhone 3G. It is also very smooth, way smoother than my iPhone 3G. The OS is intuitive and not overloaded. It is simple from a user's perspective, but also very robust. I also really like the back button which will take you back to any area of the phone you were just in, without having to navigate back to the home screen or restore your previous app's session. When you try to quantify the time it takes for additional navigation time, it seems ridiculous to try and justify an extra .2 seconds as taking too long. However, as we have all experienced with computers, .2 seconds and a single extra step is actually very noticeable and can get very frustrating. WP7 does a good job at reducing overall navigation time.
Kickstand - At first I just thought this was a cool idea and never thought I would actually use it. However, while I was hunting last weekend I was able to comfortably watch "The Expendables" while sitting in my tree stand. To my surprise, the kickstand ended up becoming very useful.
Pictures and Video - The 5 MP camera with the dual LED flash and zoom functionality creates sharp and clean pictures. The HD video camera also produces very high quality and movies.
Windows Live Integration - I was never really a Windows Live guy until I got this phone, but now I like it a lot. Integrating with Windows Live allows you to store and manipulate your files, pictures, videos, Zune content, etc all online and sync with your phone. You can also control your phone from the web, performing such actions as a remote wipe, locking the screen or even ringing it in case you lost it in the couch. Microsoft's cloud offerings of Office are also quite impressive. Therefore, since I use Microsoft's products all day, it makes sense for me to embrace these web offerings. I can keep my Office docs, contacts, calendar, personal email, media content, etc. all in a single location, and still access them through my computer, phone or the web.
Office - Office mobile works great on this phone, especially because of the large display. OneNote is especially very handy.
Zune - I never really adopted the Mac culture so adopting Zune as my media access portal was pretty easy. It integrates much better for what I do and how I use a computer.
Search/Voice recognition - It doesn't matter where you are in the phone, you can use voice commands to search the web, call a number, etc. You can also search within an app or the web wherever you are.
With Trigon's usage and review of the phone, you can continue to rely on us for being on the cutting edge of the newest technology that can make your job that much easier.
Tune in tomorrow for Part 2 of Trigon's Windows Phone 7 review!
