Solid phone with a great OS February 18, 2012

Reviewer:  T. Miller 

Been playing around with my new phone all day, and I have to say WP7 is pretty much all it's cracked up to be. Some of the specs on the HTC Radar aren't all that impressive, but it delivers on everything it promised. Storage is where it lags the most, only 8GB, with 6 and change usable, but I've loaded a pile of music and apps today, and there's still plenty of room to spare, so I'm not going to bitch too hard about that. It holds enough music to keep me happy, enough movies to keep the kid entertained (and with the Netflix app, that's even less of an issue) and enough games and widgets to keep me entertained too.

Speaking of games, this is something the WP7 phones have a leg up on the iPhone and any of the Android units I've played around with (wife has a iPhone 4, friends have androids), Microsoft has really thrown some coolness into their platform in this department. So far, I've only played a few titles, but it's a much smoother experience than what I've seen on other phones. Add in the fact that that it hooks into my Xbox Live account and I'm a happy gamer. Score one for WP7.

Interface-wise, everything is very intuitive, the learning curve has been almost non-existent, which cuts both ways. On the one hand, it is very VERY nice to have a piece of technology that pretty much does everything it's supposed to right out of the box and doesn't need ten hours of configuring to make the email work. On the other, a tad more customization might be nice, but I would be hard pressed to point to anything but the background picture (that is, the lack of one, black or white are your two choices here) that I missed even a little bit. Mango is a very fluid, very smooth UI, the lack of horsepower (only a 1GHz single core Snapdragon) only shows up on the spec sheet, the experience is seamless.

One day in, I have to say this is the best phone I've ever owned, and I'd put it up against my wife's iPhone any day. The screen is bigger and on par with the Apple display, the interface is fresh and uncluttered, and the 7.5 OS really delivers on its promises. If the Metro layout and system works as well on tablets and laptops, it's going to be a huge development in technology in general. The fact that your apps will run on your phone, laptop, tablet and xbox seamlessly is something that is going to give users a massive boost in their bang-for-your-buck levels.

On the HTC end of things, the build quality is excellent, it feels nice and solid, striking a perfect balance between being light enough to hold comfortably while still hefty enough to feel like it's not a cheap piece of nothing. Lack of access to the battery is kind of part and parcel with the unibody construction, so there's a trade-off you have to decide whether you're ok with or not. Personally, it's not a big deal, but ymmv. My one complaint is that my provider only carries the white version, but there's something to be said for looking different from the rest; it's not another black featureless candy bar, so that might be a selling point for you.

Final marks: 95% would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a cool new alternative to their BlackBerry, Android or iPhone.

Great replacement phone February 16, 2012

Reviewer:  Spoken Word "Gonzo"  (Miami, FL) -

I was rather forced to purchase this phone after my beloved HTC HD7 gave up on me, and I simply can't be without a phone period. I'm a college student, work part time and need GPS living in Miami. Since my HD7 was also WP 7, I already knew my way around. I was slightly disappointed on the slightly smaller screen and no kick-stand like the HD7, but no biggie. 8GB of memory is enough for me, since I only use it during my workout. The Gorilla Glass is FANTASTIC and unreal. I also prefer that the battery is non replaceable, I find it annoying when I have to get to my SIM card and the battery is in my way. Front-facing camera is pretty legit, but useless until Skype comes out for WP7. Only other gripe is the charger connects to the side as opposed to the bottom. Not a big deal, just slightly annoying. All in all, a solid phone and Windows OS will only get better.

Nearly perfect,except for one small flaw. (edited) February 1, 2012

Reviewer:  parkpy  (Boulder, CO USA) -

I don't need to get into the ins and outs of Windows Phone 7.5. Everyone has their opinion of the OS. To me, the OS is great. I am a Windows Phone 7.5 fanatic.

Most reviews from the major tech website generally praise the Radar 4G for durable construction, the feel of quality materials and generally good battery life. The screen is acceptable too. It is a generally fantastic phone.

However, having used the phone heavily for the last few weeks, I have found some negatives about this phone that were not mentioned in any of the numerous tech and user reviews I have read. These are absolutely horrible sound quality through the headphone jack at higher volume levels and poor wi-fi connectivity range.

NOTE: I have updated this review, and have removed my complaints of poor sound quality. If you are having problems with popping noises, or distortion, go to settings->sound enhancer-> and disable the sound enhancements. The default settings boost volume and bass that cause weird issues with powered speakers/headphones.

The other negative about this phone, is how poor the wireless network range is. My home network is through a Actionec Q1000 802.11n router. The HTC Radar 4G struggles to maintain signal beyond 15 feet. By 15 feet, I am struggling to maintain 1 signal bar of strength. Very disappointing.

Very nice phone January 27, 2012

Reviewer:  Denise 

I'm not a very tech-savvy person. When it comes to a phone, I like the basics. I want to make calls and have to quality be decent, I want to play games without lag. And I want to have enough storage for favorite songs. This phone has all that and more. I previously had an HTC HD7 Windows Phone which I loved. Unfortunately I had an issue with that phone and T-Mobile would not replace it because of the way I received that phone. I am someone on a budget, so when I had to get a new phone I went with the most efficient at the smallest price which brought me to the Samsung Dart. Going from a HTC Windows phone to a Samsung Android was quite a difference. I hated the Samsung from the start. I didn't mind the Android operating system or the apps I could get through Android but the phone itself was a joke. I had to go back to a Windows phone. I had never heard of this one till I read a few reviews on T-Mobiles website and I knew I had to have it. When I purchased this phone, I instantly fell in love. It is so smooth. No lag at all! The only time I got lag was when I used the IheartRadio App and I think that was due to my connectivity rather than any issue with the phone. It is 4G which is awesome because it is lightening fast. I have yet to put any music on my phone but I know I'm going to have to cut my music library down a little to just the favorites which is fine because I skip most songs anyways. This phone is easy very easy to use and I love that it now offers custom ringtones. It's a fun phone!

Best phone I have ever owned December 29, 2011

Reviewer:  JW  (Simpsonville, SC USA) -

Very stable phone. Have never had to reboot in the two months I have owned the phone. Fun to use and very responsive. Feels sturdy. 4g is very fast compared to my old 3g phone. Downloads and web browsing are quick. Love the OS and still discovering new features every day. The phone only has 4Gb of storage which is adequate for me but it also includes free Skydrive cloud storage if you find yourself needing more. There is no digital compass if that is important to you. Otherwise I give it 5 stars and highly recommend giving it a try.

Radar 4G + Windows Phone. Much better than expected! December 26, 2011

Reviewer:  Leopoldo Yanes 

I decided to go with a Windows Phone about a month ago, so I purchased the Radar 4G. I have to say I'm really impressed with the phone, the interface is smooth and super responsive, and I have found that I can do anything I want to do with this as with my previous phones (I had a Blackberry and an iPhone).

The Radar has become my main phone now and I don't regret anything about it. The MS Office integration is excellent with a great functionality. Also the marketplace has lots of apps and is rapidly growing.

I have to say that the Windows Phone interface is really great! Try it and you'll love it. The integration of the social features in one single hub is excellent and I was already bored of the iOS look (which looks the same as the Android). It's really easy to get used to it and you'll find you can do a lot without having to install any single app.

Now about the Radar 4G. The 1Ghz processor gives you a great and smooth experience that has nothing to envy to the iPhone (it happened to me with Android phones that weren't very responsive). The camera takes really nice pictures even in low light situations but it's still not a camera replacement (for that look into the HTC Titan or the Nokia Lumia). Reception is very good and battery lasts for more than a day on HEAVY use.

Give it a go, you won't regret it. I believe that right now this is the BEST phone you can get for that price out there.

best phone ever - AND accepts custom ringtones ! September 14, 2012

Reviewer:  David Kaufman  (Los Angeles) -

The manual makes no mention of custom ringtones, so let me first provide this most useful info:

This process works for me - I'm sure there are other methods that work, but the write-ups I found on the net are absurdly long and absurdly convoluted.

requirements for an audio file to be a ringtone:

Format must be mp3 or wma
Size must be under 1 mg
Playing time must be under 40 seconds
Genre must be "ringtone"

Instructions:

1) You'll need to have on your computer a program or programs which allows you to shorten an audio file and change its bitrate. There are many programs that do this, and many are free. I use "Power Audio Cutter."

2) If this is your first time making ringtones, create a folder called "Ringtones" inside your Zune synch folder.

3) Identify an mp3 or wma on your computer that you wish to convert into a ringtone.

4) Create a version of that file which is 39 seconds long. You might also need to reduce bitrate, which might be needed to make the ringtone file under 1 mg. You might have to experiment with bitrates, in order to get as close to 1 mg as possible without going over.

5) Save/move the created file into your ringtones folder.

6) Right-click on the file, properties, then click on "Details" tab. Change genre to Ringtone. With Windows 7, just start typing ringtone, and that genre pops up automatically.

7) Sync to your phone.

8) Go to ringtones on your phone, and you'll see that your custom ringtones are at the top of the list.
Select your new ringtone, and that's it!

This phone is:

fast
intuitive
elegant interface
elegant on the outside too

I previously had a Motorola (android), and this is SO much better! The sleek interface is light years beyond any other phone I've ever used, including iphone!

Only negative so far, is that there's no quick/simple way to designate a song to be a ringtone. But see my instructions above for creating custom ringtones. Also note that the phone's memory is only 8gb, which is fine for me, but might not be enough for some folks.

Regarding apps, I'm not much into apps, so there's more than enough for me. Certainly all basic apps are available. How many apps does a person need? Personally, I don't have time for games. If you're concerned about app availability, look at the website for Windows Phone Store before purchasing.

Copying existing music and pictures from a computer onto this phone is easy.

I'm really shocked at how great this phone is, and also shocked that Windows Phones aren't more popular.

Elegant and well-designed! September 3, 2012

Reviewer:  C. Logan "loganonmission"  (Oregon, USA) -

I've had this phone for almost a year now. I bought it to replace a much higher-powered Android phone (the T-Mobile G2x).

Maybe I'm just too used to Apple's way of doing things, but Android seemed a bit too pieced-together and Linux-like for me. I wanted something that was well-designed and actually felt like a piece of art. Surprisingly enough, Microsoft seems to have gotten this right and has been doing a better job of designing an OS that is meant to be dead simple yet very fluid and elegant.

Enter the Radar 4G. This phone is actually pretty cool. I bought this phone with high hopes, and it hasn't disappointed. Let me go through some of the key points:

1) It's not too big, it's not too small, and it has gentle curves that just make it look elegant. Furthermore, there aren't any huge buttons, and the few buttons it does have are well-placed. I also like the capacitative Windows, back, and search buttons-- it makes it look almost like they're just part of the casing.

2) The battery is very long-lasting. I can run this thing for upwards of over two days before it dies. Plus, it doesn't take long to charge, maybe two hours from dead to full charge.

3) It has dual cameras, which are good, but not great. They give about the same quality of photos that you would expect from a cell phone. Don't expect this to replace a dedicated digital camera.

4) The biggest point-- it runs one of the most beautiful, well-designed mobile operating systems around today! I honestly have shown my phone to iPhone 4S users who thought my phone seemed pretty cool. The live tiles make it have automatic updates like an Android phone, but without the lag and bugginess of Android. Plus, it's smooth and has amazing art/photos in the password screen and search screen. It just looks cool! The biggest downside, though-- not nearly enough apps. Windows Marketplace doesn't even have a tenth of the apps that Android or iPhone has, which can be a big downer, but it does have most of the important apps I use anyway. But if you want to know more about Windows Phone 7, take a look at YouTube and watch some of the demonstration videos-- you'll be impressed!

So, I give this phone great marks. The only problem with buying this phone today is that Windows Phone 8 is about to come out, and from what I've heard, it won't be compatible with the Radar. So, if you're thinking about buying this phone, decide now if you're willing to wait on getting a Windows 8 phone. If so, then buy it! You won't regret it!

This phone is awesome July 1, 2012

Reviewer:  palazzo96 

To start, I love this phone so much that I didn't even buy it off of amazon. First off, amazingly fast, both with internet and the phone itself. I have so many different accounts that I just bound together with this phone, phone contacts were linked to xbox live and facebook, and calendars sync very efficiently. I also was able to take music from my computer fairly easily. The only two problems that I have with the phone are that games and apps, although they are reliable and exceptional, there are not a lot of them, also to put music on it, you need to download zune, a free program from microsoft, but after that, it is easy to sync music, videos, and photos.

Beautiful and Smooth May 17, 2012

Reviewer:  Jeremy  (Seattle, WA) -

This is by far the best Phone I've had. Recently went through 3 Samsung Galaxy S II's, which constantly had issues. No issues with the Windows Radar phone, and just a way better overall user experience.

Legally obligated to tell you I do work for Microsoft, but it doesn't matter here. This is flat out a great phone. Try it yourself.

HTC Radar for the win April 12, 2012

Reviewer:  MWolf 

Coming from Window Smartphone 2002 to Windows Mobile 2003 to Windows Mobile 5, 6 , & 6.5 then to Iphone then to Andriod and now WP7! The Radar has been (for the past 6months) by far the best of the bunch for me. Even with the Nokia Lumia phones out right now I'm still so happy with my HTC Radar. I probably won't upgrade till the next version of Winodow Phone. Also T-Mobile has much better support of there Windows Phones. I get software updates so much quicker that my friends on At&t(like months ealier.)

Love this phone December 20, 2011

Reviewer:  krusty 

The HTC Radar is great its smooth and easy to use with a goog build quality and amazing features, also no concerns about spyware in the market place unlike the 10% of android apps considered spyware by security firms

HTC Windows Radar Phone April 19, 2013

Reviewer:  Lisa 

My husband, myself, and my son all have this Windows HTC Radar phones. My husband and I have never had a problem with our phones, however for the past 6-8 months, my son has had nothing but troube with his. We have taken it in the store at least 3 times and they claimed they fixed it, it would then work for a few hours and start acting up again. Needless to say its obvious they are not fixing the problem. We have a contract until Oct or Nov. It seems to be the phone. If we are not having any issues with our phones and its been in the store several times and them not able to permenantly fix the problem, shouldnt he be offered a new one? The phone will not send or receive picture messages, it charges all night, when he wakes up, its a full bar and he may use it once or twice and withing a few hours, its down to low battery, not holding charge, and it just randomly shuts off quite a few times a day. I know ours shuts off automatically every once in awhile but never several times a day. He has also deleted just about everything on his phone to see if maybe the memory was too full..... Still doesnt work. He is now using another phone until his contract is up and then will be getting a new phone with a new carrier, but I hate the thought of paying for this high tech expensive phone for it not to be used all because of a what seems to be obvious defect in the phone that the store cant fix. Anyone else have any of these problems? I am planning on taking it in one more time and demand that the problem is fixed or he is given a replacement/new phone. This is ridiculous.

SUCKS MONKEY BALLS!!!!!! June 1, 2012

Reviewer:  Almost a former T-Mobile Customer 

I don't normally write reviews but here goes. This device is an expensive piece of SugarHoneyIceTea!!!! 1. If you are an on the go type of person and need something to entertain yourself with such as listening to your playlist that you have sync'ed to your device to sing loud and out of tune with well. . . . It is not going to happen with this piece of CRAP because you have to purchase the music from the tune. Yes the music that you have already purchased once yea that music you have to but all over again! So don't think you can go to your music that you have on your computer and sync some music on your phone right before you go to the gym because it ain't going to happen point, blank, period, end of story (there's not even an epilogue!!!) But this is just my expierience with this device and I have never been this upset about being hyped about a product before and then the big let down (kinda like your going to a fireworks show and all they have are sparklers).