If phones could have babies, then this HTC Wildfire would indubitably be a love child of a Desire as well as Nexus One. But of course, the humdrum reality is which ’tis just an Android 2.1 deputy for a entry-level Tattoo — same 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7225 processor, 3.2-inch 320 x 240 capacitive LCD touchscreen instead of 2.8-inch resistive, 384MB IMPEL instead of 256MB, and a 5-megapixel camera instead of 3.2 (although extravagant counts more, obviously). So can this affordable handset yield enough crash for the buck to satisfy Europeans as well as Asians? Can the aging processor keep Sense UI good oiled? All will be revealed after a break.HTC Wildfire examination

Hardware
At initial glance, the Wildfire’s the flattering handsome as well as familiar-looking device, but if you’re not a air blower of this pointed brownish-red finish, there have been three more tone options. You can see several elements borrowed from a company’s dual other Android handsets — touch buttons as well as the calming back hardness from a Nexus One, nonetheless the buttons don’t work as well on the large dad; optical trackpad, earpiece, chin, as well as body support from a Desire (read: not unibody à la Nexus One). The behind is styled like the HD2 with the far-reaching lead band, though it’s not the steel which you take off for a battery bay — a tangible cover needs to be peeled off with a little bid from the tip (like a Desire). When held in palm, a phone feels like the shorter Desire but similarly as sturdy.

The chin next forms part of the behind cover, but this is where we speckled the Wildfire’s initial earthy flaw: we saw an uneven cut between a body support as well as the chin. This does no justice to HTC’s impressive setup extravagant on many of its other devices, though as an entry-level device, we’ll need to go easy with this turn of detail. Swinging around to the left side you’ll see a glossy volume rocker — which feels well-built — as well as micro-USB pier, as well as on a behind you have a five-megapixel camera sandwiched by a loudspeaker as well as LED flash.

To meet the lower cost indicate, HTC’s opted for the great ol’ LCD instead of AMOLED on a Wildfire. Sadly, a infamous counterpart outcome is still benefaction albeit not as clever the Desire’s and the Hero’s. See for yourself in the video next where you compare this with the screens upon a Desire, Hero, Dell Streak and iPhone 4 (HD playback rarely recommended for more realistic results). Whilst on this subject, we’re also the bit upset that due to the low 320 x 240 resolution, some apps — together with the own — did not crop up in a Wildfire’s Market. Ah, the great ol’ fragmentation problem. For destiny anxiety, intensity Android users should look during inclination with a smallest resolution of 480 x 320 to get a many support.

Performance
The Wildfire’s been given a same HTC Sense UI good fortune as its other 2.1 siblings — highlights include Leap for switching between homescreens, FriendStream widget for stalking your friends, an discerning content highlighting tool (which is dangerously identical to the iOS’s), built-in Flash Lite, and a keyboard that most have shown preference to over the stock chronicle. Like a Legend, live wallpapers have been — no pun intended — sensibly disabled upon a feeble Wildfire. Still, we noticed a occasional hiccups every right away as well as afterwards, and we’ve had the few crashes from a internet browser plus a slow camera app. Looks like a CPU’s the categorical law-breaker here, considering a Legend also rocks 384MB of IMPEL though doesn’t undergo from such issues. On the similar note, Flash web content took minutes to load on the Wildfire, as well as even if you have a patience, a low frame rate leaves the lot to be desired. You can see this demoed in the video above.

Despite a list of issues, you managed to get almost twelve hours of battery life on only 3G interpretation tie, while enjoying the occasional music, photo-snapping, video recording, Twitter, FriendStream, and web browsing. Pretty impressive considering you usually got about eight to ten hours on the Legend (also donning the 1,300mAh battery though with a newer as well as presumably some-more efficient CPU) — maybe HTC’s AMOLED screens do suck up the satisfactory bit some-more extract than LCDs. Adding to the list of positives have been a immeasurable range of upheld audio file formats, stereo Bluetooth audio (which worked flawlessly for us), and built-in FM airwave. We wouldn’t suggest regulating the back loudspeaker for audio entertainment, but a granted handsfree kit’s flattering decent — too bad it isn’t the noise isolating-plug sort, nor did the mic perform well in our noise test (but the phone’s built-in mic wasn’t any improved, as demoed in the progressing video).

We’ve already praised HTC’s multimedia apps in the Desire and Legend reviews. Nothing most has changed for a song player — still as discerning as well as fast as prior to. On the alternative palm, a gallery app is notably slower during loading cinema, and video playback is most worse — you can assimilate which 720p playback isn’t possibly with a aged CPU (in actuality, all the 720p clips froze up a art studio app), but with 640 x 480 MP4 clips coming out at low support rates, you’d have to wonder who upon Earth would buy this when there have been featurephones which can do most better. Sorry HTC, though this smartphone ain’t operative out for us.

Moving upon to the set of keys: if you ask the Android community, most would contend HTC has a single of a best virtual keyboards, though you have a feeling which a Wildfire won’t have it to a list. No, it isn’t to do with the slightly more crammed keys — we were still means to type good with which; we’re only annoyed by a slow response to our typing. That said, you contingency commend HTC for yanking a hide keyboard symbol — the Back symbol below the screen does a pursuit anyhow — to magnify the space bar, and the set of keys settings button now prompts a customizable list of international keyboards for discerning switching. Not which this equates to we’d be less frustrated by the laggy keyboard, though.

Camera

Just similar to any other HTC device, don’t expect mind-blowing design quality — generally in low-light condition — from the Wildfire’s five-megapixel camera, though indoor shots like the one above look flattering good. As for outside use, a still camera possibly struggled with a white balance or consistently under-exposed a shots. Still, they are nowhere as bad as a videos available — they’re capped at a 352 x 288 fortitude with the sad frame rate, and you’ll get an even lower support rate if you record in the dark. What the bummer.HTC Wildfire camera stills

Wrap-up
Well, we didn’t have high expectancy for a Wildfire to begin with, as well as carrying played with it you were even less stoked. In general, this handset’s severely lacking in multimedia facilities, as well as afterwards you have the shade complaint plus the occasional lag. That said, we can’t unequivocally walk divided hating the Wildfire in the whole — the battery life’s great, and it is after all the £230 ($346) device if paid for off a shelf, or for giveaway upon T-Mobile’s £20 ($30) per month two-year stipulate. In comparison, a Legend’s about £360 ($542) SIM-free, though it’s additionally accessible for free on Vodafone’s £20 devise with significantly fewer mins. Needless to say, your choice will severely depend on your phone use and carrier welfare, but we’d gladly sacrifice some call time as well as go for the faster AMOLED-donning Legend. If you’re seeking for a basic off-contract Android smartphone though still wish the Desire / Nexus One look, then the Wildfire’s the way to go. You’d just quickly realize which you wish more.