Extreme disappointment on all levels, not as good as people claim January 27, 2012

Reviewer:  S. Oertwig "slo23" 

I have used many different cell phones over the years. Every 2 years when my contract expires, I always look around and do my research, in order to find a cell phone that has the best reviews. During the Spring of '11, I began my search, trying to find a great smartphone to replace my older LG ENV2. After doing hours of research online, reading reviews from individuals that were left, the best rated smartphone at the time was the HTC Inspire, at an astounding 4.95/5.0. I decided to purchase this phone and needless to say, it has been the most disappointing cell phone purchase that I have ever made.

The phone has a lot of great features and functions but I'm only going to cover the problems and issues that I have encountered. Most reviews will cover the better features for this phone, and all those details can be seen in the listing description. What they don't cover though, are the flaws. I have listed out the major problems that I have faced below, just by using the ATT Inspire for the past 9 months.

POOR RECEPTION

My previous 2 cell phones I had (both LG models), I never had any reception issues and I have been in the same location for the past 6 years. Usually, the phone obtains 3-4 bars of service (with 5 being the max) when at work or at home. I have had numerous complaints from people on why I never responded to their text messages. Well, there have been several texts that I never received, so there is a major communication error with even an average reception showing. My wife has no reception issues on her phone (it isn't a smartphone). Also, I have noticed when I'm in a larger commercial building, there is hardly any reception at all and sometimes there is no service. It is unacceptable that I can't use my phone just because I'm inside a larger building, and this has happened on numerous occasions (reception fine outside of the building).

BATTERY LIFE

Most people reading the reviews will see the complaints about the battery life, and they couldn't be more accurate with this issue. The battery size is decent but not the strongest out there for a smartphone. For anyone wanting to play games, run apps, watch videos, or even talk on the phone for several hours a day, THIS PHONE IS NOT FOR YOU!!!!!!

First of all, the screen size is large compared to many smartphones and the phone does provide great graphics. After the first month of owning this phone and minimal calls, texting, games, apps, etc., the phone held a charge for probably 24-36 hours at the longest, depending on how much I used it. Now, after only 9 months of use (only charging when it is needed), the battery charge barely lasts past 15 hours. This is with little activity too compared to most heavy users out there.

****Settings on my phone: Background data turned off (prevents email updates), WiFi turned off, GPS turned off, Bluetooth turned off, Brightness Level turned all the way down!!, App Killer to close any running apps that aren't needed constantly, etc. I have done everything possible to prevent any unnecessary use on the phone by shutting everything off. During the day, I have to turn the brightness up just a little bit so I can even see the screen. At night time, the screen brightness isn't needed but would still be nice.

I can't even imagine how fast your phone would lose its charge if you turn the brightness all the way up (probably less than 1 hour with use). The screen and graphics are really nice but you can't enjoy that without the brightness being turned up. If I play a game for 1 hour (with all those settings still being applied), battery life will be drained.

PHONE FREEZES / LOCK UP

Since April of 2011, I probably have had to reset my phone over 70 times and that isn't a joke either. On numerous occasions by only running one app or game at a time (I don't run multiple programs at once, always just one), the phone will completely freeze, not even allowing you to even turn it off through the power button. These lock ups require taking the battery out of the phone, putting it back in and turning the power back on. Due to how many times I've had to take the battery out of the phone, it has also caused my Otterbox case (which is way overpriced) to fall apart as the snaps won't go together correctly anymore. There are numerous reports sent to HTC for this issue but the problem still continues as I had to take the battery out just a few days ago. No smartphone should have this serious of an issue.

There are a lot of other annoying features on the phone but I think some of them apply to many other smartphones too. The sensor in the earphone on the phone is one of the dumbest features. When you talk on the phone, if you take your ear off the earphone, it kicks the screen on automatically (unless you re-apply pressure with your ear). If you take the pressure or even still have little pressure with your ear, the screen can kick on and you will likely end calls with your cheek accidentally. This has happened to me numerous times (as well as other people I know) and I'm not aware of anyway to shut of this sensor.

For the most part, phone freezing and poor reception have been the most significant issues I've had. The battery life issue prevents people from even using it as a "smartphone". Phones were created with all of the different abilities, to be able to use those specific features and apps but you just can't with the battery life this phone has. There are higher mAh replacement batteries you can buy and I purchased a few different ones but received the same results (or worse) compared to the original HTC battery when the phone was bought in '11. This was the first HTC cell phone I have ever purchased and I would never buy one of their phones again after this experience. I have several family members that have different smartphones, and they don't experience ANY of the issues that I have had with the ATT Inspire. What started out as a near perfect review rating when it was released, has quickly dwindled down to a much lower rating.

Great smart phone with crisp, clear calls January 24, 2012

Reviewer:  Tippetarius  (Bronx, NY United States) -

I decided to get this phone after reading the reviews for this model and a for a few other phones that were eligible for the AT&T upgrade. I am very pleased with my choice. It is reasonably easy to learn to use (although a user's guide would have been helpful). Voices sound crisp and clear during calls with no interference; this was probably the most important factor for me. I have even been able to use the speaker phone successfully. It picks up a sufficient signal in all the places that my previous phone did, and in some areas is even better at getting a signal. It has a lot of internal memory, and also comes with an sd card for added memory. Currently, if you have this phone with AT&T service, you will not be able to use the Amazon android app store; instead you will need to go directly to the Android app store; if I had known this sooner it would have saved me a lot of time trying to find out where to go to download apps. I have read that Amazon has been working with AT&T to change this. The only major drawback that I have found is the limited selection of profiles for incoming calls/alerts. This phone allows for 3: Normal, Vibrate, and Silent (plus airplane mode). They can be customized as to ring volume, etc. However, my previous phone, which was a very simple one, allowed for several different sound profiles, so that I could quickly choose according to various needs. For example, I would really like the ability to have this phone "beep once and vibrate" which was the setting on my old phone that I always used while at work. Perhaps there is an app somewhere that will allow for more choices like this. All in all, this is really a great phone!

ETA: I found an app in the android store called "Quick Profiles" that allows you to make additional profiles. Now I am even happier with the phone!

I so love this phone! December 27, 2011

Reviewer:  jean deaux  (S Louisiana) -

I know people always say they don't write reviews, but I really don't. I just feel compelled to let you know how great a phone this is. I am a 42 yr old mother of 2. I've had this phone for 8 months and simply can't live without it! I live among a family of I Phone users, and was determined to not own another Apple slave product! :)

Aside from that, the screen on this phone is just indestructible. My Autistic 5yr. old son plays lots of games on it, I throw it in my purse along with my keys, I wear earrings that have scratched every other phone I've owned and this screen is still pristine after 8 months. I do not have a screen protector on it. I do suggest buying a soft rubberized case for it as the design and material it is made of make it a bit slippery to hold. The case has saved this phone from slipping off of the table or any sleek surface.

I've noticed some complaining about the battery life, but that is just typical of a smart phone. With normal usage, I only have to charge the battery every few days. If my son plays games it may need to be charged daily.

I am very satisfied with this phones performance, in fact impressed at times. It has become an intricate part of my day and I rely on it more than I thought I ever would rely on a phone. I highly recommend this product.

Great Phone for the Money December 17, 2011

Reviewer:  Patewack 

I got this phone back in August so I have had some months to use it. Overall it is a great phone especially for how much you can get it for. It might not be a dual core phone but it is still nice a snappy. Some good things about it are that it has a nice large screen which I really like, It has a great camera (8mp and 720p video recording), great software (Android 2.3.3) and HTC's interface. Some negative things to consider when buying this is that the camera sticks out in the back so if you set it down it will wobble, the battery door is somewhat of a challenge to pry off. It is a single core phone which can make some things slow, no front facing camera, and it is a little chunky (not too big though).

LOVE THIS PHONE December 15, 2011

Reviewer:  Just a gyrl  (IL USA) -

I have had this phone for 5 months, and it is by far the best phone I have ever had. I have owned a very many phones over a period of 17 years. Not only did I fall in love with android, but I fell in love with HTC. I was a little leary about getting a phone I knew nothing about, but I trusted my at&t sales rep and bought it. I have had almost no problems with it. I have way to many pictures and text messages on it and it causes it to freeze up sometimes but not much(which can be expected with so much space taken up). I usually just restart it and it is fine. Every so often I go through and delete things to give it a little bit of a break lol. I have never loved a phone as much as I love this one. I have dropped it on my ceramic tile in my kitchen and bathroom and it didn't even have so much as a scratch on it. I also dropped it on my concrete steps in my garage and again nothing happened to it. I have to say if you are going to get a smart phone (or any phone for that matter) this is the one to get. It has an 8MP camera which is awesome and the color is so vibrant I can hardly stand looking or using anyone else's phone. I have to say this phone has me spoiled. When it comes time to upgrade I will get another HTC phone. Also if you lose your phone you can download an app called android lost from your computer to your phone. It will send you the last messages sent and received, phone calls, take a picture from your phone, send crazy loud "help me I'm lost" messages (the phone can be on silent and it still plays it loud), you can set the phone to lock up and notify you if a different sim card is inserted, and many more great things to find your phone. On top of all those things it gives you a gps location within 7 meters of where your phone is. Trust me it works. My phone was stolen and I used this app and it had an arrow directly on the house where the phone was. All of this is emailed to you and the person with your phone has no idea any of this is going on. Awesome phone I highly recommend it to everyone!!!

Terrible phone December 7, 2011

Reviewer:  jimbomace 

This is the worst phone I have ever owned! Drops calls, terrible wifi signal, battery won't hold a charge for more than 3 hours. I wouldn't recommend this phone to an enemy!

danky phone November 27, 2011

Reviewer:  dudemanguy 

After reading some reviews on this phone I could not believe that some people actually put a bad review!!! This phone is so incredible that it could change a stubborn old ladys mind .... Really. I just want to say especially to the guy who lives in Baltimore , actually I want to say this to everyone who put a one star- IF THE PHONE DOESN'T WORK THE CALL THE COMPANY!!!! YOU HAVE A WARRENTY !!!! This is obviously true because everybody else ,including me - put a five star!!! About the battery - if you use any phone ..including iPhone (trust me my wife has one) for five hours straight of course its gonna die that goes for everything!!!! this phone is gold and unstopable ther isn't anything this pho.e can not do .. if your gonna put a bad review at least do it on something that's actually a flaw in design ,such as the speaker is on the back.. in my opinion ,that is the only thing wrong with this phone at all. Almost went with Samsung infuse -only reason... Front facing camera - but if that the only reason go with this because it can do all the same stuff - final words - this phone is classy

grain of salt November 8, 2011

Reviewer:  gilgie 

My first smartphone. It's awesome. Don't know much about other Smartphones. But I do know its too quiet at max volume. I've been around a few others and they get much louder on speaker and in call. Also I have to keep my hand away from the top of the phone or it won't allow WiFi which I hate because I love to surf sideways. But maybe that's common. Id say five stars otherwise.

Phone shines!!!.........when rooted. xD November 7, 2011

Reviewer:  josue reyes 

Phone is great.
handles apps very well. The only thing is that HTC Sense that it comes with, drains the battery with it's software bloatware.

I rooted the phone (and flash the ROM), and without all the bloatware, phones screams fast & furious.
Battery is enhance when it's rooted & when you flash a new rom into it. I put cyanogenmod 7 and it works wonders with the battery. (Last %35-40 longer than with the HTC Sense Bloatware)

Overall I give a 4 out 5. (-1 star because of the battery constraints).
It's not as sharp as a retina display, but still looks wonderful side to side versus an iphone 4.

Second worst phone ever November 1, 2011

Reviewer:  Grilled Bear 

The htc iteration of android is by far the worst of all phones that I have used (moto, htc, and samsung). Some features on this phone make no sense. Try using the voice-to-text and rotate from portrait to landscape. It just quits the voice feature. Everytime it is plugged in in my car it goes to car mode. Well naturally you would think. But you can't exit unless you unplug it and it limits your features to just a few things. The update bricked my first phone and I've had to factory reset numerous times. Apps that can't be killed, battery that is dead before lunch, and a search feature that can't bring you to what you find is just icing on the cake.

Fantastic Phone October 27, 2011

Reviewer:  4 Kids 2 Exhausted 

I've had my Inspire for 6 months and I am extremely pleased with it. As noted, the stock battery life is terrible! However, there is a setting that comes enabled on the phone, and turning it off makes the battery last all day and then some. Just turn off this setting: Settings --> Wireless controls --> Mobile networks --> Enable always-on mobile

On to the phone: At the time I bought it, this phone was the fastest phone at around $50. Its quick. Really quick for a mid range smartphone. Its noticeably faster than the Droid Xs that people I know have. The screen is great, and the data connection is fine for me (and I just have 3G where I live). This phone has great performance on every app I've used with it, including games. The performance is so good on this device that I don't really feel it would be worth upgrading to anything else until some apps come out that require a bit more horsepower.

The phone body is quality for its price level; solid construction, mostly aluminum exterior. It feels nice and is surprisingly light for being a bigger phone. Its not up to comparison versus an iPhone in its design and exterior quality, but it does have the performance of an iPhone without the price.

Highly recommend this phone, but right now I'd probably see if there was anything a bit newer or wait for a new phone to come out. This one is probably going to get replaced shortly.

HTC Loyalist October 12, 2011

Reviewer:  et2980  (California) -

I've used Windows phones since they came out and the horrible Windows 6.5 OS on my last phone (Tilt) forced me to Android and I'm not looking back. The storage is great, keep an eye on battery life - I have to charge this phone more than any others. The phone is greatly stable, no crashes like my Win 6.5 phone. I'm hoping this phone will last me more than 2 years, unlike my previous devices.

M&M was correct, Tilt was Windows 6.5 NOT 7. My mistake.

DONT BUY October 11, 2011

Reviewer:  Eric B 

this phone is awful and i will tell you y. Wifi reception is awful. really big. feals cheap. Battery is sub par. and it gliitches out way to much Doooonnnntttttt buyyyyyyy

HTC excellence October 4, 2011

Reviewer:  B 

I've had this phone for about 6 months now, and I love it. Both of my brothers got one as well. None of us have had any regrets. In fact, my brother's girlfriend and my wife both switched to HTC Inspires after using ours.

Is it better than the iPhone? Without a doubt. The Inspire is more like a small computer than a phone. An iPhone, even the new 4S, is more like an iPod. It is a very limited device characterized by rows of apps (many of which are more expensive than their identical Android counterparts). The Inspire, on the other hand, has widgets, can play flash, has multiple stores to buy apps from (including the Amazon app store, which gives you a different paid app for free each day!), had a much bigger screen, and costs much less.

I have rooted my phone and put Gingerbread and HTC Sense 3.0 on it, and it is still running smoothly. Battery life is fine - I charge every night and get through every day without a problem. The screen still looks great. The only cons I would mention are the battery cover and the bloatware ATT installs on your phone and won't let you remove (unless you root the phone).

If you've never used Android before, there is a small learning curve - but you went through that when you used a computer for the first time as well:-) Embrace the change, and you will be surprised at how much more you can do with this phone.

sideload wonder machine September 28, 2011

Reviewer:  gmailer1987 

Reporting on the 4G inspire review done by Brad. I agree fully that this phone is superior to the I phone.
I have loaded apps, connected to a router and carried on a conversation all at the same time
with this Android. I've even created my own applications its really amazing how user friendly this device
can be. Furthermore on Bradsreview I have found a way to sideload apps using the Android sideload wonder machine. People, this means no more jailbreaking your phone its very good. Androidforums .com if the link is dead email me and I will compress and zip the file no donations or gratitude needed.
Down with the I phones!

great phone :D September 27, 2011

Reviewer:  chivas  (santa rosa) -

my first smartphone and I am enjoying all the great apps and the 8 megapixel camera :D my girlfriend has the black one and i have the red one.

It does inspire my ire September 26, 2011

Reviewer:  James M. Richardson "Goldsmith, Artist, MFA"  (stratosphere) -

Although I've just gotten this phone I realize that it doesn't pick up a signal nearly as good as my old trusty broken hinged LG cu515. The old 515 will have several signal bars on it and this super smart phone doesn't have any...ANY!!!! Granted I do live out in the country but if the other phone works out here then what's the problem ATT?

While navigating the labyrinth of all the features, I've discovered that the interface isn't exactly intuitive. Between the navigational difficulties and the off and on signal issues, this hasn't been an enjoyable phone day.

Next adventure: Tethering.

Ok update: one month later. I turned it back in at the ATT store and the only regret I have is that I never got to use the "square" credit card app. Of course if I had wanted to use it I'm sure this little treasure wouldn't have had any signal.

Let me just send out a big *SHAME ON YOU ATT*, spending all that money on advertizing and not enough on infrastructure to support this phone. I spent PLENTY of time on the phone talking to a bevy of "customer care specialists" who all apologized profusely for my problems. I'm figuring they have plenty of practice with the apologies. Also, what's with a company that doesn't mind you, the customer paying their salaries, having to wait 6 minutes for the next customer care specialist? They must have spent plenty on the studies to tell them just how much crap we would take.

So I've gone back to a little old Nokia. I can get reception where the 500$ phone would still be saying "out of service area".
It seems the first function of the Inspire isn't to be a telephone, but to be a small money making machine for ATT. I found it difficult to use while driving, impossible to punch a number in while holding it in one hand, but it did have the 3.5mm head set jack that allows you to use that universal plug. Damn all those other phones that have their particular headphones and adapters and all that. The touch screen takes a lot of getting used to as the "end call" button is right next to the dial pad and even after waiting 10 minutes to speak to one of those customer care specialists you can inadvertently hang up on them with one careless swipe of a thumb.... oh just imagine the aggravation. Another problem is that if your caller hangs up before you, in that split second when you press the button to hang up, because they've already ended the call, you'll call them back. Touch a name in the address book and you'll call them, even if you don't want to. Try to figure out how to save your numbers to the SIM card once they're "linked". I did say that the interface isn't intuitive.

If you've already got enough stress and tedium in your life and live outside of a city then this phone probably isn't for you... it only took me a month to find that out.

Oh and I never even got around to "tethering" as the service sucked so badly that there was no point.

Great September 23, 2011

Reviewer:  Saints-TP 

Some of the more popular reviews say it best but after following some of the tips on this post as well as the android forums I am really becoming quite a fan of this phone. Good Job HTC!!!

Good phone, but... August 25, 2011

Reviewer:  SwitchedNick 

The Inspire is a good phone especially for the price. HTC's Sense that is running on android is very good but I prefer to have stock android. If you want a true Google Android experience I recommend picking up the Nexus S now that it is available for AT&T. If you want Sense then this is really the only way to go on AT&T. I enjoy this phone but have had a couple issues with the screen not being responsive and with it locking up on me. But for the price, its hard to beat.

Nice Phone August 21, 2011

Reviewer:  RDW 

I have had my Inspire for about a month and a half and I love it. Yes the Battery is a bit weak but this is a lot of phone and you kind of have to pick and chose what you want running on it unless you want it to be on the charger all the time. Just got the update to Gingerbread and it's running better than ever with a slightly better battery life. Still waiting for someone to make an extended battery for it but it is better than my origional iPhone or my iPhone 3G was. It's fast, Has a nice screen and does everything I want it to do.