HTC Snap (S510) GSM/UMTS smartphone review

HTC Snap (S510) GSM/UMTS smartphone review

The HTC Snap smartphone is one of the few devices from the company released as a range offer, or rather, for those customers, mostly corporate ones, who need a QWERTY keyboard and Exchange support from the device. It may seem that such positioning is far-fetched, because we are talking about businessmen and business people, but just in relation to HTC Snap, the picture looks exactly like this. This is a smartphone for a very narrow circle of users who will switch to it, for example, from their old HTC S620 (Excalibur).

Design, case materials

In the review of HTC Snap, I will keep referring to the S620, known as the HTC Excalibur, because in Snap we see a continuation of the same model, released no more and no less – five years later. An inquisitive reader will ask: "But what about the HTC S630 (S650), also known as the Cavalier?".

Outwardly, HTC Snap looks like it should be for such a device, simple and no frills. The upper half of the case is occupied by a landscape display, and the lower half by a QWERTY keyboard. The case is black, with smooth transitions between planes.

Almost the entire device is made of matte, velvet-like plastic (soft-touch). Due to the use of this material, it is pleasant to hold a smartphone in your hands, it does not slip even if your hands are wet, the screen surface is covered with a layer of protective glass (special plastic that cannot be scratched, for example, with keys). Under the control keys there is an insert made of metal or plastic that imitates metal well.

The build quality is good, the only complaint is the plug for the miniUSB connector. According to my feelings, after six months or a year of operation of the device, it will loosen and fall off, and Snap is one of those smartphones that are bought not for a year, but for two or three.

The soiling of the smartphone is minimal, the screen surface gets dirty, but it is difficult to notice traces or prints on it, for example, an ear. The back side of the device also gets dirty, but here the traces are completely invisible.

Dimensions

In terms of size, is the Snap a typical QWERTY candybar smartphone? that is comparable to HTC S620, Nokia E71, E72 and other similar devices.

  • HTC S620 (Excalibur) – 111.5 x 62.5 x 12.8mm, 130g
  • HTC Snap – 116.5 x 61.5 x 12mm, 120g
  • Nokia E71 – 114 x 57 x 10mm, 127g
  • Nokia E73 – 113.8 x 58.4 x 10.2mm, 127g

The smartphone fits perfectly in the hand during a call, it is convenient to carry it in the pockets of trousers, jeans or in a bag.

Keyboard, controls

For entering text, HTC Snap has a QWERTY keyboard, the main element of this device. The keyboard has 38 keys, including additional buttons, 26 buttons are reserved for alphabetic characters (Latin). There are keys to quickly lock, launch the camera and open the message window (via FN). A separate hardware button is used to launch the Inner Circle program, the practical value of which tends to be zero for most users.

The keys are rectangular, slightly rounded, they are convex towards the center of the button, in the rows the keys are located close to each other, and the rows themselves are separated from each other.

Typing on the keyboard takes some getting used to, but over time, the presence of a QWERTY keyboard allows you to save time on typing, personally, I write a little using the Snap keyboard or the like, but still faster than using the on-screen keyboard on the same HTC Desire . Unfortunately, in my sample device the keyboard is not localized, so I cannot say whether the localization is well done. If you use HTC Snap, I would appreciate your comments on this topic.

Above the keyboard in HTC Snap there is a block of control keys, from left to right there are buttons: Call, Left soft key, Return to the main menu (House), trackball, Back, Right soft key and Hang up call. The buttons are round, relatively large, so it is convenient to press them. The trackball, as usual, takes getting used to and not everyone will like it, but it's still better than nothing, although worse than a standard joystick or control button, in my opinion (these elements do not require getting used to them).

On the front side, in the upper part, there is a speaker, covered with a grid almost the entire width of the case. To the left of it is an indicator light, it glows red during charging or low battery, and also blinks when there are missed events. The indicator does not show the activity of the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules.

On the top left edge is the volume rocker. It retreats a millimeter from the surface of the rib, so you can press it by touch. Below on the same edge – an eyelet for attaching a lace or strap to your hand. On the right side there is a miniUSB connector hidden by a cover.

There are no elements on the lower and upper ends, the speaking microphone is located in the lower part of the front side of the case, under the keyboard.

The device does not have a dedicated camera button. The camera is activated by the icon on the desktop or in the program menu, and the trackball is used for shooting.

On the top of the back of the smartphone there is a speaker hole and a 2-megapixel camera eye.

The SIM card slot is located below the battery in such a way that the battery must be removed to replace the SIM card. The microSD card slot (support for microSDHC cards) is even lower, the card can be changed without turning off the smartphone, but you still have to remove the battery cover to replace it.

Screen

The smartphone has a TFT display with a diagonal of 2.4" and a resolution of 240×320 pixels (QVGA). The physical dimensions of the screen are 49×37 mm. The screen is not touch-sensitive, with good viewing angles horizontally and minimal vertically. The display has a margin of brightness, but in the sun, it almost completely goes blind, and it becomes impossible to read information from it.

Camera

The smartphone has a simple 2 MP camera with no autofocus, no flash, and no other tricks. Therefore, I will simply give below examples of photos in maximum resolution (1600×1200 pixels) and video (352×288 pixels), so that you can evaluate the quality of the camera yourself.

Offline work

The device uses a Li-Ion battery with a capacity of 1500 mAh. The manufacturer claims up to 8.5 hours of talk time (GSM) and up to 380 hours (16 days) of standby time. In reality, the device is really capable of working for more than a week and a half jSstEG6owkTkUuOpjc4Grsy6.html">10bdrm Apartment in Kijenge, Arusha for Sale is in standby mode, as for the standard usage, the indicators are as follows.

Under standard conditions (30-40 minutes of calls per day, sending 10-15 text messages, MS Exchange connected with Push mail), my sample HTC Snap lasted an average of three to four days on a single charge. These are good indicators for such a model, however, this is exactly what is required in the first place from a QWERTY device that will be used for work: calls and checking mail.

Performance

The smartphone is built on the Qualcomm MSM 7225 platform. The central processor has a frequency of 528 MHz. The device is equipped with 192 MB of RAM and 256 MB of storage.

The performance of the platform and the amount of RAM are more than enough for comfortable work with a smartphone. Program launches and menu navigation occur without delay, the device does not slow down, and nothing else is required from HTC Snap. Hardly any potential Snap user will watch videos or play 3D games on its small screen.

Interfaces

The smartphone works in GSM (850/900/1800/1900) and UMTS (900/2100) networks. Both EDGE and HSDPA high-speed data transfer standards are supported.

The included miniUSB cable is used for PC synchronization and data transfer. USB 2.0 interface. The theoretical data transfer rate reaches 480 Mbps. When ActiveSync is selected, it takes 6-9 seconds to download a 10 MB file to the device's memory via a USB connection. If you select the special mode "Drive", the data download speed increases by 3 times, up to 2,800 Kb / s and is 3-4 seconds for a 10 MB file. In this mode, the memory card memory is available, it is recognized by the computer as a removable disk, but the device cannot be synchronized with the PC.

Integrated Bluetooth 2.0+EDR module. Consider the profiles supported by the device and their purpose:

  • Generic Access Profile (GAP). The main profile responsible for the operation of the stack.
  • Hands-Free Profile (HFP). Connecting a Bluetooth headset, hands-free device.
  • Headset Profile (HSP). Connecting a Bluetooth headset with the ability to perform simple commands – call, answer a call, adjust the volume.
  • Human Interface Device Profile (HID). Connecting a Bluetooth keyboard.
  • Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP). Bluetooth stereo transmission.
  • Audio Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP). Control music playback from a wireless headset.
  • SIM Access Profile (SAP). Connect to car kits that connect to the cellular network using dial-up SIM on your phone.

The operation of the device with a stereo headset does not raise any complaints: there are no delays in sound transmission, all keys, except for rewind within a track, on the headset (HTC BH S100) work correctly. The sound quality when using a stereo headset is subjectively at the level typical for other HTC models, there have been no changes here for several years.

Wi-Fi (802.11b/g). The work of the Wi-Fi module did not cause any complaints. In the model, you can adjust the signal strength ratio for better reception or save battery power, as well as the time after which Wi-Fi will turn off when idle. Browsing the web, downloading files on a Wi-Fi connection did not cause problems.

Navigation

HTC Snap has a built-in GPS chip based on the Qualcomm platform – gpsOne. The cold start time for the smartphone was a little over a minute during the test, with the next launches in a stationary state on the street, it took 20-30 seconds to search for satellites.

To navigate HTC Snap, there is a simple program – Google Maps. With this application, you can get directions (not accompanied by voice prompts), search for addresses by street names or places (restaurant, cafe, name of your own institution, etc.). The advantage of the program over more functional navigation applications is that maps are downloaded from the Internet, and, accordingly, in theory, all major cities of the world are available to you for navigation, wherever you are. The main thing is to have access to the Internet. This is also the main disadvantage of Google Maps, without an Internet connection, the application becomes inoperable. Maps of major cities are available for Russia: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Chelyabinsk, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Perm and others.

For use as a navigator, HTC Snap with its small screen, which also fades in the sun, and trackball control is hardly suitable, so it makes no sense to talk about some alternative Google Maps programs, and even more so about car accessories.

Software

The smartphone is running Windows Mobile 6.5 Standard. The interface uses the basic interface of the OS, and the main screen is slightly modified by HTC. You can read about the capabilities of the smartphone version of WM 6.0 here.

By and large, there are no changes compared to the base WM 6.5 Standard in HTC Snap: the appearance of the main screen has been slightly redesigned and several programs have been added.

Competitors

Buying an HTC Snap is reasonable, by and large, only if you want to meet three conditions in one device: an inexpensive smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard and perfect support for MS Exchange Server. Based on these conditions, the closest competitor to HTC Snap can only be listed as Sony Ericsson Aspen, which is about to be released. This communicator has not yet started selling, and its approximate cost is unknown. If it turns out to be in the region of 10,000 – 12,000 rubles, then it will be able to compete with HTC Snap, at a price of 13,000-14,000 rubles – no. To be fair, both the HTC Snap and SE Aspen are very niche offerings, and there is no talk of any noticeable sales.

Alternatively, you can compare Snap with QWERTY devices from Nokia (E71-73), but here everything is determined in advance by brand loyalty and needs, in other words, if you like Nokia E73, you will buy it, and if you need Exchange "out of the box", it is wiser not to waste time and choose Snap.

I will not compare HTC Snap with Blackberry phones for objective reasons. Blackberry has its own ideology, its own well-established world, in which everything works like clockwork, and every new user of this brand knows what and why he chooses, so devices from Blackberry and HTC Snap are definitely not competitors. So it turns out that HTC Snap has no direct competitors that would be on sale.

Conclusion

There are no complaints about the quality of smartphone signal reception. The speaker volume is not bad, there is a small margin (one division). The call speaker is slightly above average in volume, if you use standard melodies, then there are no complaints about the sound and volume level. The vibrating alert is average in strength, however, I personally often missed the small fraction created by the HTC Snap vibration motor when walking.

The device is already on sale, its average cost at the beginning of July is 13,000 rubles. The smartphone is clearly overpriced, but if you wish, you can buy it for 9,000, just the price range in the region of 8,000 – 9,000 rubles is the most reasonable for this device. For this money, HTC Snap is a good workhorse on the already stable version of WM 6.5, with a comfortable keyboard, in a well-assembled case, with a good appearance and a full range of wireless interfaces. Smartphone HTC Snap is an example of when a company makes a device for a certain, very narrow circle of users, and these users, I think, will be grateful to the Taiwanese. Owners of HTC Excalibur and other bearded WM smartphones with QWERTY can safely switch to HTC Snap, while others will hardly be interested in this device.

HTC Snap (S510) GSM/UMTS smartphone review

The HTC Snap smartphone is one of the few devices from the company released as a range offer, or rather, for those customers, mostly corporate ones, who need a QWERTY keyboard and Exchange support from the device. It may seem that such positioning is far-fetched, because we are talking about businessmen and business people, but just in relation to HTC Snap, the picture looks exactly like this. This is a smartphone for a very narrow circle of users who will switch to it, for example, from their old HTC S620 (Excalibur).

Design, case materials

In the review of HTC Snap, I will keep referring to the S620, known as the HTC Excalibur, because in Snap we see a continuation of the same model, released no more and no less – five years later. An inquisitive reader will ask: "But what about the HTC S630 (S650), also known as the Cavalier?".

Outwardly, HTC Snap looks like it should be for such a device, simple and no frills. The upper half of the case is occupied by a landscape display, and the lower half by a QWERTY keyboard. The case is black, with smooth transitions between planes.

Almost the entire device is made of matte, velvet-like plastic (soft-touch). Due to the use of this material, it is pleasant to hold a smartphone in your hands, it does not slip even if your hands are wet, the screen surface is covered with a layer of protective glass (special plastic that cannot be scratched, for example, with keys). Under the control keys there is an insert made of metal or plastic that imitates metal well.

The build quality is good, the only complaint is the plug for the miniUSB connector. According to my feelings, after six months or a year of operation of the device, it will loosen and fall off, and Snap is one of those smartphones that are bought not for a year, but for two or three.

The soiling of the smartphone is minimal, the screen surface gets dirty, but it is difficult to notice traces or prints on it, for example, an ear. The back side of the device also gets dirty, but here the traces are completely invisible.

Dimensions

In terms of size, is the Snap a typical QWERTY candybar smartphone? that is comparable to HTC S620, Nokia E71, E72 and other similar devices.

  • HTC S620 (Excalibur) – 111.5 x 62.5 x 12.8mm, 130g
  • HTC Snap – 116.5 x 61.5 x 12mm, 120g
  • Nokia E71 – 114 x 57 x 10mm, 127g
  • Nokia E73 – 113.8 x 58.4 x 10.2mm, 127g

The smartphone fits perfectly in the hand during a call, it is convenient to carry it in the pockets of trousers, jeans or in a bag.

Keyboard, controls

For entering text, HTC Snap has a QWERTY keyboard, the main element of this device. The keyboard has 38 keys, including additional buttons, 26 buttons are reserved for alphabetic characters (Latin). There are keys to quickly lock, launch the camera and open the message window (via FN). A separate hardware button is used to launch the Inner Circle program, the practical value of which tends to be zero for most users.

The keys are rectangular, slightly rounded, they are convex towards the center of the button, in the rows the keys are located close to each other, and the rows themselves are separated from each other.

Typing on the keyboard takes some getting used to, but over time, the presence of a QWERTY keyboard allows you to save time on typing, personally, I write a little using the Snap keyboard or the like, but still faster than using the on-screen keyboard on the same HTC Desire . Unfortunately, in my sample device the keyboard is not localized, so I cannot say whether the localization is well done. If you use HTC Snap, I would appreciate your comments on this topic.

Above the keyboard in HTC Snap there is a block of control keys, from left to right there are buttons: Call, Left soft key, Return to the main menu (House), trackball, Back, Right soft key and Hang up call. The buttons are round, relatively large, so it is convenient to press them. The trackball, as usual, takes getting used to and not everyone will like it, but it's still better than nothing, although worse than a standard joystick or control button, in my opinion (these elements do not require getting used to them).

On the front side, in the upper part, there is a speaker, covered with a mesh almost the entire width of the case. To the left of it is an indicator light, it glows red during charging or low battery, and also blinks when there are missed events. The indicator does not show the activity of the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules.

On the top left edge is the volume rocker. It retreats a millimeter from the surface of the rib, so you can press it by touch. Below on the same edge – an eyelet for attaching a lace or strap to the hand. On the right side there is a miniUSB connector hidden by a cover.

There are no elements on the lower and upper ends, the speaking microphone is located in the lower part of the front side of the case, under the keyboard.

The device does not have a dedicated camera button. The camera is activated by the icon on the desktop or in the program menu, and the trackball is used for shooting.

On the top of the back of the smartphone there is a speaker hole and a 2-megapixel camera eye.

The SIM card slot is located below the battery in such a way that the battery must be removed to replace the SIM card. The microSD card slot (support for microSDHC cards) is even lower, the card can be changed without turning off the smartphone, but you still have to remove the battery cover to replace it.

Screen

The smartphone has a TFT display with a diagonal of 2.4" and a resolution of 240×320 pixels (QVGA). The physical dimensions of the screen are 49×37 mm. The screen is not touch-sensitive, with good viewing angles horizontally and minimal vertically. The display has a margin of brightness, but in the sun, it almost completely goes blind, and it becomes impossible to read information from it.

Camera

The smartphone has a simple 2 MP camera with no autofocus, no flash, and no other tricks. Therefore, I will simply give below examples of photos in maximum resolution (1600×1200 pixels) and video (352×288 pixels), so that you can evaluate the quality of the camera yourself.

Work offline

The device uses a Li-Ion battery with a capacity of 1500 mAh. The manufacturer claims up to 8.5 hours of talk time (GSM) and up to 380 hours (16 days) of standby time. In reality, the device is really capable of working for more than a week and a half jSstEG6owkTkUuOpjc4Grsy6.html">10bdrm Apartment in Kijenge, Arusha for Sale is in standby mode, as for the standard usage, the indicators are as follows.

Under standard conditions (30-40 minutes of calls per day, sending 10-15 text messages, MS Exchange connected with Push mail), my sample HTC Snap lasted an average of three to four days on a single charge. These are good indicators for such a model, however, this is exactly what is required in the first place from a QWERTY device that will be used for work: calls and checking mail.

Performance

The smartphone is built on the Qualcomm MSM 7225 platform. The central processor has a frequency of 528 MHz. The device is equipped with 192 MB of RAM and 256 MB of storage.

The performance of the platform and the amount of RAM are more than enough for comfortable work with a smartphone. Program launches and menu navigation occur without delay, the device does not slow down, and nothing else is required from HTC Snap. Hardly any potential Snap user will watch videos or play 3D games on its small screen.

Interfaces

The smartphone works in GSM (850/900/1800/1900) and UMTS (900/2100) networks. Both EDGE and HSDPA high-speed data transfer standards are supported.

The included miniUSB cable is used for PC synchronization and data transfer. USB 2.0 interface. The theoretical data transfer rate reaches 480 Mbps. When ActiveSync is selected, it takes 6-9 seconds to download a 10 MB file to the device's memory via a USB connection. If you select the special mode "Drive", the data download speed increases by 3 times, up to 2,800 Kb / s and is 3-4 seconds for a 10 MB file. In this mode, the memory card memory is available, it is recognized by the computer as a removable disk, but the device cannot be synchronized with the PC.

Integrated Bluetooth 2.0+EDR module. Consider the profiles supported by the device and their purpose:

  • Generic Access Profile (GAP). The main profile responsible for the operation of the stack.
  • Hands-Free Profile (HFP). Connecting a Bluetooth headset, hands-free device.
  • Headset Profile (HSP). Connecting a Bluetooth headset with the ability to perform simple commands – call, answer a call, adjust the volume.
  • Human Interface Device Profile (HID). Connecting a Bluetooth keyboard.
  • Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP). Bluetooth stereo transmission.
  • Audio Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP). Control music playback from a wireless headset.
  • SIM Access Profile (SAP). Connect to car kits that connect to the cellular network using dial-up SIM on your phone.

The operation of the device with a stereo headset does not raise any complaints: there are no delays in sound transmission, all keys, except for rewind within a track, on the headset (HTC BH S100) work correctly. The sound quality when using a stereo headset is subjectively at the level typical for other HTC models, there have been no changes here for several years.

Wi-Fi (802.11b/g). The work of the Wi-Fi module did not cause any complaints. In the model, you can adjust the signal strength ratio for better reception or save battery power, as well as the time after which Wi-Fi will turn off when idle. Browsing the web, downloading files on a Wi-Fi connection did not cause problems.

Navigation

HTC Snap has a built-in GPS chip based on the Qualcomm platform – gpsOne. The cold start time for the smartphone was a little over a minute during the test, with the next launches in a stationary state on the street, it took 20-30 seconds to search for satellites.

To navigate HTC Snap, there is a simple program – Google Maps. With this application, you can get directions (not accompanied by voice prompts), search for addresses by street names or places (restaurant, cafe, name of your own institution, etc.). The advantage of the program over more functional navigation applications is that maps are downloaded from the Internet, and, accordingly, in theory, all major cities of the world are available to you for navigation, wherever you are. The main thing is to have access to the Internet. This is the main disadvantage of Google Maps, without an Internet connection, the application becomes inoperable. Maps of major cities are available for Russia: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Chelyabinsk, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Perm and others.

For use as a navigator, HTC Snap with its small screen, which also fades in the sun, and trackball control is hardly suitable, so it makes no sense to talk about some alternative Google Maps programs, and even more so about car accessories.

Software

The smartphone is running Windows Mobile 6.5 Standard. The interface uses the basic interface of the OS, and the main screen is slightly modified by HTC. You can read about the capabilities of the smartphone version of WM 6.0 here.

By and large, there are no changes compared to the base WM 6.5 Standard in HTC Snap: the appearance of the main screen has been slightly redesigned and several programs have been added.

Competitors

Buying an HTC Snap is reasonable, by and large, only if you want to meet three conditions in one device: an inexpensive smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard and perfect support for MS Exchange Server. Based on these conditions, the closest competitor to HTC Snap can only be listed as Sony Ericsson Aspen, which is about to be released. This communicator has not yet started selling, and its approximate cost is unknown. If it turns out to be in the region of 10,000 – 12,000 rubles, then it will be able to compete with HTC Snap, at a price of 13,000-14,000 rubles – no. To be fair, both the HTC Snap and SE Aspen are very niche offerings, and there is no talk of any noticeable sales.

Alternatively, you can compare Snap with QWERTY devices from Nokia (E71-73), but here everything is determined in advance by brand loyalty and needs, in other words, if you like Nokia E73, you will buy it, and if you need Exchange "out of the box", it is wiser not to waste time and choose Snap.

I will not compare HTC Snap with Blackberry phones for objective reasons. Blackberry has its own ideology, its own well-established world, in which everything works like clockwork, and every new user of this brand knows what and why he chooses, so devices from Blackberry and HTC Snap are definitely not competitors. So it turns out that HTC Snap has no direct competitors that would be on sale.

Conclusion

There are no complaints about the quality of smartphone signal reception. The speaker volume is not bad, there is a small margin (one division). The call speaker is slightly above average in volume, if you use standard melodies, then there are no complaints about the sound and volume level. The vibrating alert is average in strength, however, I personally often missed the small fraction created by the HTC Snap vibration motor when walking.

The device is already on sale, its average cost at the beginning of July is 13,000 rubles. The smartphone is clearly overpriced, but if you wish, you can buy it for 9,000, just the price range in the region of 8,000 – 9,000 rubles is the most reasonable for this device. For this money, HTC Snap is a good workhorse on the already stable version of WM 6.5, with a comfortable keyboard, in a well-assembled case, with a good appearance and a full range of wireless interfaces. Smartphone HTC Snap is an example of when a company makes a device for a certain, very narrow circle of users, and these users, I think, will be grateful to the Taiwanese. Owners of HTC Excalibur and other bearded WM smartphones with QWERTY can safely switch to HTC Snap, while others will hardly be interested in this device.

HTC Snap (S510) GSM/UMTS smartphone review

The HTC Snap smartphone is one of the few devices from the company released as a range offer, or rather, for those customers, mostly corporate ones, who need a QWERTY keyboard and Exchange support from the device. It may seem that such positioning is far-fetched, because we are talking about businessmen and business people, but just in relation to HTC Snap, the picture looks exactly like this. This is a smartphone for a very narrow circle of users who will switch to it, for example, from their old HTC S620 (Excalibur).

Design, case materials

In the review of HTC Snap, I will keep referring to the S620, known as the HTC Excalibur, because in Snap we see a continuation of the same model, released no more and no less – five years later. An inquisitive reader will ask: "But what about the HTC S630 (S650), also known as the Cavalier?".

Outwardly, HTC Snap looks like it should be for such a device, simple and no frills. The upper half of the case is occupied by a landscape display, and the lower half by a QWERTY keyboard. The case is black, with smooth transitions between planes.

Almost the entire device is made of matte, velvet-like plastic (soft-touch). Due to the use of this material, it is pleasant to hold a smartphone in your hands, it does not slip even if your hands are wet, the screen surface is covered with a layer of https://tonaton.co.ke/c_cars/t_manual protective glass (special plastic that cannot be scratched, for example, with keys). Under the control keys there is an insert made of metal or plastic that imitates metal well.

The build quality is good, the only complaint is the plug for the miniUSB connector. According to my feelings, after six months or a year of operation of the device, it will loosen and fall off, and Snap is one of those smartphones that are bought not for a year, but for two or three.

The soiling of the smartphone is minimal, the screen surface gets dirty, but it is difficult to notice traces or prints on it, for example, an ear. The back side of the device also gets dirty, but here the traces are completely invisible.

Dimensions

In terms of size, is the Snap a typical QWERTY candybar smartphone? that is comparable to HTC S620, Nokia E71, E72 and other similar devices.

  • HTC S620 (Excalibur) – 111.5 x 62.5 x 12.8mm, 130g
  • HTC Snap – 116.5 x 61.5 x 12mm, 120g
  • Nokia E71 – 114 x 57 x 10mm, 127g
  • Nokia E73 – 113.8 x 58.4 x 10.2mm, 127g

The smartphone fits perfectly in the hand during a call, it is convenient to carry it in the pockets of trousers, jeans or in a bag.

Keyboard, controls

For entering text, HTC Snap has a QWERTY keyboard, the main element of this device. The keyboard has 38 keys, including additional buttons, 26 buttons are reserved for alphabetic characters (Latin). There are keys to quickly lock, launch the camera and open the message window (via FN). A separate hardware button is used to launch the Inner Circle program, the practical value of which tends to be zero for most users.

The keys are rectangular, slightly rounded, they are convex towards the center of the button, in the rows the keys are located close to each other, and the rows themselves are separated from each other.

Typing on the keyboard takes some getting used to, but over time, the presence of a QWERTY keyboard allows you to save time on typing, personally, I write a little using the Snap keyboard or the like, but still faster than using the on-screen keyboard on the same HTC Desire . Unfortunately, in my sample device the keyboard is not localized, so I cannot say whether the localization is well done. If you use HTC Snap, I would appreciate your comments on this topic.

Above the keyboard in HTC Snap there is a block of control keys, from left to right there are buttons: Call, Left soft key, Return to the main menu (House), trackball, Back, Right soft key and Hang up call. The buttons are round, relatively large, so it is convenient to press them. The trackball, as usual, takes getting used to and not everyone will like it, but it's still better than nothing, although worse than a standard joystick or control button, in my opinion (these elements do not require getting used to them).

On the front side, in the upper part, there is a speaker, covered with a mesh almost the entire width of the case. To the left of it is an indicator light, it glows red during charging or low battery, and also blinks when there are missed events. The indicator does not show the activity of the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules.

On the top left edge is the volume rocker. It retreats a millimeter from the surface of the rib, so you can press it by touch. Below on the same edge – an eyelet for attaching a lace or strap to the hand. On the right side there is a miniUSB connector hidden by a cover.

There are no elements on the lower and upper ends, the speaking microphone is located in the lower part of the front side of the case, under the keyboard.

The device does not have a dedicated camera button. The camera is activated by the icon on the desktop or in the program menu, and the trackball is used for shooting.

On the top of the back of the smartphone there is a speaker hole and a 2-megapixel camera eye.

The SIM card slot is located below the battery in such a way that the battery must be removed to replace the SIM card. The microSD card slot (support for microSDHC cards) is even lower, the card can be changed without turning off the smartphone, but you still have to remove the battery cover to replace it.

Screen

The smartphone has a TFT display with a diagonal of 2.4" and a resolution of 240×320 pixels (QVGA). The physical dimensions of the screen are 49×37 mm. The screen is not touch-sensitive, with good viewing angles horizontally and minimal vertically. The display has a margin of brightness, but in the sun, it almost completely goes blind, and it becomes impossible to read information from it.

Camera

The smartphone has a simple 2 MP camera with no autofocus, no flash, and no other tricks. Therefore, I will simply give below examples of photos in maximum resolution (1600×1200 pixels) and video (352×288 pixels), so that you can evaluate the quality of the camera yourself.

Offline work

The device uses a Li-Ion battery with a capacity of 1500 mAh. The manufacturer claims up to 8.5 hours of talk time (GSM) and up to 380 hours (16 days) of standby time. In reality, the device is really capable of working for more than a week and a half 10bdrm Apartment in Kijenge, Arusha for Sale in standby mode, as for the standard use, the indicators are as follows.

The device uses a Li-Ion battery with a capacity of 1500 mAh. The manufacturer claims up to 8.5 hours of talk time (GSM) and up to 380 hours (16 days) of standby time. In reality, the device is really capable of working for more than a week and a half. 10bdrm Apartment in Kijenge , Arusha for Sale 10bdrm Apartment in Kijenge, Arusha for Sale in standby mode, as for the standard use mode, the indicators are as follows.

Under standard conditions (30-40 minutes of calls per day, sending 10-15 text messages, MS Exchange connected with Push mail), my sample HTC Snap lasted an average of three to four days on a single charge. These are good indicators for such a model, however, this is exactly what is required in the first place from a QWERTY device that will be used for work: calls and checking mail.

Performance

The smartphone is built on the Qualcomm MSM 7225 platform. The central processor has a frequency of 528 MHz. The device is equipped with 192 MB of RAM and 256 MB of storage.

The performance of the platform and the amount of RAM are more than enough for comfortable work with a smartphone. Program launches and menu navigation occur without delay, the device does not slow down, and nothing else is required from HTC Snap. Hardly any potential Snap user will watch videos or play 3D games on its small screen.

Interfaces

The smartphone works in GSM (850/900/1800/1900) and UMTS (900/2100) networks. Both EDGE and HSDPA high-speed data transfer standards are supported.

The included miniUSB cable is used for PC synchronization and data transfer. USB 2.0 interface. The theoretical data transfer rate reaches 480 Mbps. When ActiveSync is selected, it takes 6-9 seconds to download a 10 MB file to the device's memory via a USB connection. If you select the special mode "Drive", the data download speed increases by 3 times, up to 2,800 Kb / s and is 3-4 seconds for a 10 MB file. In this mode, the memory card memory is available, it is recognized by the computer as a removable disk, but the device cannot be synchronized with the PC.

Built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR. Consider the profiles supported by the device and their purpose:

  • Generic Access Profile (GAP). The main profile, responsible for the operation of the stack.
  • Hands-Free Profile (HFP). Connecting a Bluetooth headset, hands-free device.
  • Headset Profile (HSP). Connecting a Bluetooth headset with the ability to perform simple commands – call, answer a call, adjust the volume.
  • Human Interface Device Profile (HID). Connecting a Bluetooth keyboard.
  • Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP). Stereo sound transmission via Bluetooth.
  • Audio Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP). Control music playback from a wireless headset.
  • SIM Access Profile (SAP). Connect to car kits that connect to the cellular network using dial-up SIM on your phone.

The operation of the device with a stereo headset does not raise any complaints: there are no delays in sound transmission, all keys, except for rewind within a track, on the headset (HTC BH S100) work correctly. The sound quality when using a stereo headset is subjectively at the level typical for other HTC models, there have been no changes here for several years.

Wi-Fi (802.11b/g). The work of the Wi-Fi module did not cause any complaints. In the model, you can adjust the signal strength ratio for better reception or save battery power, as well as the time after which Wi-Fi will turn off when idle. Browsing the web, downloading files on a Wi-Fi connection did not cause problems.

Navigation

HTC Snap has a built-in GPS chip based on the Qualcomm platform – gpsOne. The cold start time for the smartphone was a little over a minute during the test, with the next launches in a stationary state on the street, it took 20-30 seconds to search for satellites.

To navigate HTC Snap, there is a simple program – Google Maps. With this application, you can get directions (not accompanied by voice prompts), search for addresses by street names or places (restaurant, cafe, name of your own institution, etc.). The advantage of the program over more functional navigation applications is that maps are downloaded from the Internet, and, accordingly, in theory, all major cities of the world are available to you for navigation, wherever you are. The main thing is to have access to the Internet. This is the main disadvantage of Google Maps, without an Internet connection, the application becomes inoperable. Maps of major cities are available for Russia: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Chelyabinsk, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Perm and others.

For use as a navigator, HTC Snap with its small screen, which also fades in the sun, and trackball control is hardly suitable, so it makes no sense to talk about some alternative Google Maps programs, and even more so about car accessories.

Software

The smartphone is running Windows Mobile 6.5 Standard. The interface uses the basic interface of the OS, and the main screen is slightly modified by HTC. You can read about the capabilities of the smartphone version of WM 6.0 here.

By and large, there are no changes compared to the base WM 6.5 Standard in HTC Snap: the appearance of the main screen has been slightly redesigned and several programs have been added.

Competitors

Buying an HTC Snap is reasonable, by and large, only if you want to meet three conditions in one device: an inexpensive smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard and perfect support for MS Exchange Server. Based on these conditions, the closest competitor to HTC Snap can only be listed as Sony Ericsson Aspen, which is about to be released. This communicator has not yet started selling, and its approximate cost is unknown. If it turns out to be in the region of 10,000 – 12,000 rubles, then it will be able to compete with HTC Snap, at a price of 13,000-14,000 rubles – no. To be fair, both the HTC Snap and SE Aspen are very niche offerings, and there is no talk of any noticeable sales.

Alternatively, you can compare Snap with QWERTY devices from Nokia (E71-73), but here everything is determined in advance by brand loyalty and needs, in other words, if you like Nokia E73, you will buy it, and if you need Exchange out of the box, it's wiser not to waste time and choose Snap.

I will not compare HTC Snap with Blackberry phones for objective reasons. Blackberry has its own ideology, its own well-established world, in which everything works like clockwork, and every new user of this brand knows what and why he chooses, so devices from Blackberry and HTC Snap are definitely not competitors. So it turns out that HTC Snap has no direct competitors that would be on sale.

Conclusion

There are no complaints about the quality of smartphone signal reception. The speaker volume is not bad, there is a small margin (one division). The call speaker is slightly above average in volume, if you use standard melodies, then there are no complaints about the sound and volume level. The vibrating alert is average in strength, however, I personally often missed the small fraction created by the HTC Snap vibration motor when walking.

The device is already on sale, its average cost at the beginning of July is 13,000 rubles. The smartphone is clearly overpriced, but if you wish, you can buy it for 9,000, just the price range in the region of 8,000 – 9,000 rubles is the most reasonable for this device. For this money, HTC Snap is a good workhorse on the already stable version of WM 6.5, with a comfortable keyboard, in a well-assembled case, with a good appearance and a full range of wireless interfaces. Smartphone HTC Snap is an example of when a company makes a device for a certain, very narrow circle of users, and these users, I think, will be grateful to the Taiwanese. Owners of HTC Excalibur and other bearded WM smartphones with QWERTY can safely switch to HTC Snap, while others will hardly be interested in this device.

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