Well, you probably will be disappointed because all the smartphones with 1GHz processor have big screen...but in my opinion, if you are looking for a mini smartphone, the HTC Aria will be the one for you.
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| HTC Aria looks nice and elegant even in a smaller size |
Just when it seems that the next great smartphone will be humungous in size, it is great to grab a hold of the HTC Aria. The silver faux screws on the rear and the power strip on top with the volume rocker on the side are definitely a good choice for design. What sets HTC Aria apart from other great smartphones are probably the design. Cute is right word to describe the smartphone and yet it could still look sexy when you grab hold of it. A combination that definitely attract enough attention despite of so many other higher end smartphones that we are seeing in the market today.
The phone measured at only 4.1- x 2.3- x 0.46-inches and weights 3.8 ounces only with the 1,200mAh battery installed. The lightness of the phone made it comfortable to hold and play with the phone. The black rear of the phone also rejects fingerprints and could easily be taken in and out of your pocket.
There is however a setbback on the design. I find it extremely difficult to open the phone and it is a neccessity for this phone as the storage card could only be inserted inside the phone, something that I find it to be quite annoying. Besides this, I felt that the design of the phone is pretty flawless.
DISPLAY
When it comes to display, HTC Aria is definitely not as great as the iPhone or some of the higher end smartphones. Under the bright sunlight, the HTC Aria will require an adjustment to the brightness so that it could be seen clearly. Of course, it is not a big issue with the widget available for one to easily adjust the brightness to the maximum.
No doubt about it, with smaller phones, it simply means that you will find it more difficult when it comes to texting. I definitely find it hard to get used to it after using the iPhone 4 for quite a while but then, I still manage to find some good keyboards from the Android market to help me on this.
The four main buttons on the screen remains the same, just as any other Android phones and I think it is smart as you could easily click on the Home, Menu, Back and Search button.
CAMERA
Well, the HTC Aria comes with a 5 Megapixel camera, pretty much competitive on paper but when it comes to performance, it really isn't as good as the iPhone 4. However, with some tweaks on the phone camera settings, you could still come out with photos with great satisfaction. Of course, on low light, it will be an issue for the camera since it does not come with flash for the camera.
BATTERY
Now, when it comes to battery lifespan, the HTC Aria is top class and you will most likely be able to enjoy the usage of the phone for a whole day without worrying about charging your phone. I find that I don't have to worry about whether the phone has enough battery to last when I am using YenLeng's HTC Aria in comparison to when I use the iPhone 4. Anyway, it might due to the fact that I am playing more often with the Apple's toy but then, the HTC Aria definitely is strong on this area, most likely due to the much smaller screen.
THE SOFTWARE AND EVERYTHING ELSE
When I first play with the HTC Aria, I am totally in love with the HTC-built Sense overlay on top of the Android 2.1. Oops...before I forgot, the HTC Aria could be updated to Android 2.2 (Froyo) although it might not support 2.3 (Gingerbread).
Anyway, when I play with the phone, I did not expect much on the speed front since the phone is only on 600MHz but I am quite impressed by the HTC Aria. With a few apps running in the background, I did not notice any particular lag or sluggishness.
I also enjoyed switching the home screen as I downloaded some new homescreen such as the Launcher 7 (similar to Windows Phone 7).
And honestly, I kinda like it since the home screen helps to simplify things...but then again, the Android multiple pages home screen has its' own advantages such as being able to look at news without entering any apps, update on the weather easily and also the ability to look at notes and to-do list in a glance, something that iPhone cannot do.
Of course, like almost all other high end HTC smartphones these days, there is a polite ringer functionality. As soon as one lift up the phone to see who is calling, the ringer volume lowers down and if I flip the phone over, it stops ringer altogether and takes message quietly. Something useful especially when one is in a conversation and decided not to be rude by answering the phone.
The email is push on the go (I find it as good as the iPhone), the FriendStream is good enough and there is the HTC Peep for twitters!!! Like all other HTC phones, there is the HTC Footprints to check on the places that you been before (particularly useful if you are a traveller...not me though).
WRAP UP
So, the question that remains after all this playing and blogging about the HTC Aria, is it good enough to be the smartphone for you?
Honestly, if you are asking me to compare the iPhone and HTC Aria, I will definitely go for the Apple's Giant but then it is like comparing an Apple and a orange...one is sweet and the other is sweet-sour citric taste...both are different stuff!!
If you want the smartphone that is tiny, sexy, cute and yet able to perform marvellously, HTC Aria is the one for you but if you are a gamer or someone who would need to use your smartphone for a lot of emails, social networking, blogging and other business work, it might not be so suitable due to the smaller screen but overall, it is a classy smartphone, definitely one worth while for you to check on and given that it is also much cheaper than other high end smartphones...
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