HTC S740 Qwerty keyboard smartphone At first glance, HTC's S740 looks like a revamped version of the slim'n'sexy Touch Diamond, but with a numeric keypad and a pull-out Qwerty keyboard. Even the angled back is similar to the Diamond's. But when you pick it up, it soon becomes clear that the differences go much deeper. HTC S740 HTC's S740: not a Diamond rehash …
Surely the most direct competitor to this is the Xperia X1? Pretty much identical in concept and OS and made by the same manufacturer I believe? Despite the shortcomings of Windows mobile, I quite like the look of the Xperia but I'm now wondering if this is a better option.
But a few comments on the review...
1. If it has the Sliding Panels homescreeen this is not an HTC innovation, this is part of the Windows Mobile Standard edition which I actually miss on my Touch Pro as it is highly configurable (Look for chome configurator on XDADevs) and less of a resource hog than Touch Flo.
2. It is "Microsoft Office" not "Windows Office" (And if you save a blank document you can then open this when you need to make a new document and save as a different filename)
Come on Reg, these are basic facts that I would have thought you would know and I think you should come to me whenever you want a phone reviewed in the future ;-) (If only so I can play with all the new gadgets)
Sorry David, completely different. This uses Windows Mobile standard edition. As mentioned in the review, it has no touch screen and you cannot create or edit office documents (well, you can with third party software - but not as standard).
The Xperia is a Windows Mobile Professional device which means it has a touch screen, a full version of Office Mobile (you can create and edit office docs) and is also quite a lot larger ad heavier with a significantly larger/higher-res screen.
The XPeria is aimed at road-warriors, this is aimed at people who want a phone-sized device that is also good for email.
I used this phone for a week and I took it back.
The Send/End keys are too small and hard to find, making it very hard to do its main function which is being a phone.
Like many sliders the top row of keys (in this case 2 soft keys) is way too close the the edge of the top half when opened. You end up using your nail half the time to hit these keys.
The only NAV buttons are on the top half of the slider in the middle of the top half. Try reading a web page and scrolling down. You having to awkwardly reach up from the QWERTY where you have to hold it when open anyway. Do this for about 10 web pages on 4-5 sites and you will want to scream. Add to that the way too small NAV ring and navigation on this device is just plain broken for ease of use.
Next the QWERTY keyboard is IMHO terrible. The keys feel mushy lacking a tactile snap and worst of all they lack sufficient "bumps" to find the difference between keys.
Finally the aggressive power management is insane when it comes to key backlighting. Try using this phone in the dark. On other phones like the Moto Q9 I am able to reactivate the key board backlight with a tap to the 4way nav keys. On this device that does not work for the QWERTY, you have to hit something on ITS keyboard which in this case is a letter or soft fn keys and like I said above given the lack of humps on the keys even if you about where a key is in the dark, you can't find it until you get the keyboard lit. I've tried to use the keyboard in a dark car while a friend was driving and I wanted to through it out the window.
It does have a nice feel and I coveted it when I saw someone with it, but one week of use and it went back and I dusted off my Moto Q9. I know keyboards are highly personal in preference but I really suggest you try navigating a web site and see how hard it is to get the keys to light up when u r in the store. I really wanted this phone to be "the one" but sadly it fails in basic usability unrelated to the software.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
