Anything bad about Htc desire

DigitalJedi

This is what I posted on an Android forum. Thought it was easier to repost than to retype:

I've got my HTC Desire yesterday, having owned an Iphone for nearly a year.

To be perfectly honest the Desire isn't perfect. Far from it. Lets talk about the disadvantages first.

Downsides

• Firstly I miss being able to download apps from the equivalent of iTunes.
• The music player isn't as polished as the iPod/iTunes and since the iPod is so ubiquitous, many accessories support iPod (eg. my car).
• There's no supplied media player so again you have to go get one. Little bit annoying but not the end of the world.
• Too many settings and "options" for your average user. I'm ok. I'm a geek at heart and I bet most people here will be. But your average punter in the street will be lost. I recommended the Desire to a female friend who is baffled and just scratching the surface of what it can do. I see this as Android's biggest strength and weakness.
• The messaging application is shockingly basic. You pretty much have to download an app to improve it. Right now I cant figure out why when i read a message, the counter stays showing "1"
• The speaker for playing music is way inferior to the iPhone.
• Facebook contact Sync is annoying. Seems great at first but then after a while its useless. If I dont have a phone number for them then there's a reason! I don't want them in my phone book thanks!

Upsides

What a phone!!!!

• Browsing the Internet on this baby is smooth & fast when compared to the iPhone.
• Browser support for Flash!!!
• LED Flash
• There may be more apps on iPhone but the variety of apps on Android is way better. Quality over quantity!
• Speed of phone in general is better.
• Multitasking versus Apple's crappy effort.
• Uses proper connections (eg. MicroUSB, microSD cards) so you are not locked into the Apple machine
• Removable battery so you can get a spare or bigger capacity (if you want)
• Sheer flexibility to do what you want. (see above if you are not geeky)
• Sense UI is way better than standard Apple and even standard Android affair.
• Like the way I can link Facebook contacts to my phone contacts. (good idea, just poorly implemented)

Overall I am loving the phone. I ummed and ahhed over whether or not to wait for the iPhone 4 but I was tired of only being able to do things the Apple way, using their connectors, not able to upgrade memory/battery and to be frank, the list of new stuff in 4 is hardly earth shattering!

The Desire is in my opinion technically a better phone than the 3GS. Looks wise I think the iPhone still has it but ofc you will pay the Apple premium for that and have to join the Apple collective. Plus every man and his dog has the iPhone now.

For my non-techie friends who've never had a smartphone, I am telling them to get a cheap 2nd hand iPhone first and then later once they get the idea and sold into the concept, the HTC desire becomes an easier move for them.

Fifer

On the upsides you missed a couple of very significant (for me) advantages - much higher screen resolution and you can add/expand storage using cards, where the iPhone storage capacity is fixed . That, for me, was the deal-breaker with iPod/iPhones - want more capacity? Buy a new phone.

Hammer_Slammer

Whats the screen like outside on a sunny day like this?? is it better than the nexus one i had which was poor.
Using a iphone i have no problem outside so not sure if the desire has fixed the poor sunlight legibility.

LeeSouthEast

I've heard people have had reception issues, but it's not been a problem for me. I live in a patchy to reasonable 3G coverage area, and just select 'WCDMA Only'. That seems to make it hold on to the signal, rather than continually trying to drop back to 2G.

The OLED screen is fairly poor in direct sunlight, but ramping up the backlight seems to help. It's usable, put it that way.

The only downside to the phone is the keyboard is nowhere near as good as that of the iPhone. However, 2.2 is apparently addressing this as well!

BillScarab

Hammer_Slammer wrote: »

Whats the screen like outside on a sunny day like this?? is it better than the nexus one i had which was poor.
Using a iphone i have no problem outside so not sure if the desire has fixed the poor sunlight legibility.

It's the same screen asa the Nexus One so if you didn't like that one you won't like the Desire.

Setting it to maximum brightness outside helps. Apparently it's a feature of OLED screens. the viewing angles are great, the colours are brilliant but they're not great in bright sunlight.

The keyboard is the HTC one not the Android one so it could be worth instelling the Android one and trying that if you dont' like it. Personally i think it's great but I've neve used an iPhone one for any length of time.

MJTHFC

Jo_F wrote: »

Mine is set up to work off the router when I am at home.

Does it automatically select a wifi connection over 3G if available?

flyingscotno1

MJTHFC wrote: »

Does it automatically select a wifi connection over 3G if available?

Yes it does.

BillScarab

It does if that's how you set it up. You can turn off WiFi if you want.

Jon_B_2

DigitalJedi wrote: »

For my non-techie friends who've never had a smartphone, I am telling them to get a cheap 2nd hand iPhone first and then later once they get the idea and sold into the concept, the HTC desire becomes an easier move for them.

Have to disagree with you on that one, I think ex-iPhoneites really struggle when moving to Android because it isn't designed to be pick up and go. It is such a powerful piece of hardware there is not simply one icon and you load up an app.

My missus has an iPhone 3GS and she really struggled to use the Desire, purely because it is not a simple device. This is where the iPhone triumphs, but it is also its limitation. There's nothing that can be done with the UI. It has made multitasking nigh on impossible.

As for reception, at least on Orange it is far superior to the iPhone 3GS. In my flat I get 3-4 bars of 2G reception. The iPhone 3GS, also on Orange struggles to get 1 bar and has to sit on the window ledge to get any sort of sustained signal.

The battery also gets better over time. I do driving for a living, so use Sat-Nav a lot and the GPS signal does suck battery life, but I usually still have half a battery left by the end of the day and that is with extended periods of wifi and 3G browsing included.

The thing that gets most people is just how amazing the OLED screen is. I look at my partners iPhone and all the colours are so dull. She did say that the screen was amazing. Although, yes in bright sunlight it isn't great.

BillScarab

I get confused at this idea that the Desire is somehow hard to use. HTC Sense is a great UI and is very straightforward. Downloading apps is also easy. If you want to you can avoid doing any customisation and then all you need to do is tap the triangle in a circle button and there are all your apps, similar to an iPhone.