HTC Amaze 4G review
HTC Amaze 4G is joining the über-smartphone ranks in the United States at a time, when the competition has reached its peak. The device is part of the first wave of smartphones, capable of reaching 42Mbps on T-Mobile’s HSDPA network. It was launched simultaneously with the Samsung Galaxy S II for T-Mobile and shares quite a few internal components with it.
HTC Amaze 4G official photos
When the HTC launched the Amaze 4G, we couldn’t help but wonder why would T-Mobile offer yet another top of the line HTC smartphone, given the fact that the magenta colored carrier already has the Sensation 4G on its shelves. It turns out however, that the newcomer has quite a few extra tricks up the sleeve.
Starting with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 chipset, a gig of RAM and an improved 8MP snapper, which offers the whopping two hardware buttons, there is a lot of new kit in the Amaze 4G, compared to the Sensation. The camera alone is loaded with features, including a handful of shooting modes which can put a lot of point and shoot snappers to shame. All in all, there are plenty of novelties in the smartphone to spark our interest, so we’re not going to waste time, and hop straight on its key features.
Key features
HTC Amaze 4G live shots
The big question with the latest smartphone offering from Taiwan is how it will fare against the rest of the competition. There is an iPhone 4S out there, and it’s selling like hot cakes. Samsung has not one, but three Galaxy S II versions in the United States, including one on T-Mobile with the same chipset as the Amaze 4G. With so much competition out there, the margin for error is small. Let’s see how the metal-clad handset will fare on our test course. As always, we’ll kick things off with an unboxing.
HTC Amaze 4G official photos
When the HTC launched the Amaze 4G, we couldn’t help but wonder why would T-Mobile offer yet another top of the line HTC smartphone, given the fact that the magenta colored carrier already has the Sensation 4G on its shelves. It turns out however, that the newcomer has quite a few extra tricks up the sleeve.
Starting with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 chipset, a gig of RAM and an improved 8MP snapper, which offers the whopping two hardware buttons, there is a lot of new kit in the Amaze 4G, compared to the Sensation. The camera alone is loaded with features, including a handful of shooting modes which can put a lot of point and shoot snappers to shame. All in all, there are plenty of novelties in the smartphone to spark our interest, so we’re not going to waste time, and hop straight on its key features.
Key features
- Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G support
- 42 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
- 4.3" 16M-color capacitive LCD touchscreen of qHD resolution (540 x 960 pixels); Gorilla glass
- Android OS v2.3.4 Gingerbread with HTC Sense 3.0
- 1.5 GHz dual Scorpion CPUs, Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 chipset
- 1GB RAM and 16 GB built-in storage
- 8 MP autofocus camera with LED flash; face detection and geotagging; 2 camera buttons
- 1080p and 720p video recording @ 30fps
- Wi-Fi b/g/n and DLNA
- GPS with A-GPS
- Stereo FM radio with RDS
- microSD slot up to 32GB
- Accelerometer, proximity sensor and an auto-brightness sensor
- Front facing camera with video calls
- Standard 3.5 mm audio jack (SRS enhancement)
- microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v3.0
- MHL TV-out (requires MHL-to-HDMI adapter)
- NFC connectivity with a dedicated app
- Smart dialing, voice dialing
- Active noise cancellation with a dedicated secondary mic
- DivX/XviD video support
- HTCSense.com integration
- HTC Portable Hotspot
- Office document editor
- Superb build quality
- Screen performance is not on par with the best offerings
- At 173 grams, the device is downright heavy
- microSD card slot is located under the cover
- No headphones enclosed in the retail package
- Battery life is questionable
HTC Amaze 4G live shots
The big question with the latest smartphone offering from Taiwan is how it will fare against the rest of the competition. There is an iPhone 4S out there, and it’s selling like hot cakes. Samsung has not one, but three Galaxy S II versions in the United States, including one on T-Mobile with the same chipset as the Amaze 4G. With so much competition out there, the margin for error is small. Let’s see how the metal-clad handset will fare on our test course. As always, we’ll kick things off with an unboxing.