Customer Reviews

HTC Touch Pro XV6850 Phone, Black (Verizon Wireless)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I will admit to initially having some of the same frustration(s) with this device, to which others have alluded, and I, also, considered returning it within the thirty-day period allotted by Verizon. However, the capabilities of the HTC Touch Pro are extensive, and I found it difficult to fully appreciate everything the device can do in six weeks, let alone three or four.

First, my hands and fingers are larger than average, but I've found it easy and quick to navigate using the touch-screens and buttons. I use the stylus from time-to-time, and my experience is that it is sometimes necessary to use it when objects are crowded close together on the touch-screen, but I found this to be an infrequent necessity. The keyboard is very good, though I initially found the odd placement of the letter "M" a little disconcerting, but I did eventually get used to its location. These are certainly things one can try out in any Verizon store, and don't have to be left to chance; the same with build-quality, which I've found to be very good, check it out to your own satisfaction.

I use my Touch Pro mainly for business and am a heavy user of Microsoft Outlook Tasks, Calendar, and Contacts, so easy synchronizing these things with the same items on my desktop PC is very important to me; the HTC Touch Pro does this very well, though I'd have liked the Verizon Wireless Sync capability included with the basic data package, without having to pay extra for wireless sync. But I've gotten used to synchronizing by using the USB cable; it's quick and easy.

Setting up the device to download my email from four different email accounts, and four different providers, was easy and quick. One just types in the email address and password (you only have to do this once at setup) for an account and the device software does most of the rest. I did not find it necessary to download any additional software for this. I just followed the directions in the user guide. For each account, you can choose from a variety of time-intervals for checking your email (5 min., 10 min., 15 min., 30 min., 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, or once per day), or you may check manually in just seconds.

At first, I did find the operating system seemed to slow down or freeze from time-to-time. Invariably, this was due to having too many programs running at once, a condition cured with two touches on the main screen (with two touches, you can close any one program or close all open programs). Also, I found that getting photos and music off the device and onto a memory card resulted in faster operation. The device has a lot of memory, relatively speaking, but keep in mind that it has a lot of programs and capability. Re-setting the device (soft-reset, that is) is also a solution, but probably should only be done with the same frequency as you do it on your desktop or laptop--which is, hopefully, infrequently. If the device completely freezes, of course, your choices may be limited to a re-set. You may find, as I did, that once you learn how to get around in the device, moving more efficiently between and among its functions and programs, the incidence of freezing will drop to zero.

This is a great device for business, though the 3D TouchFLO interface (an I-Phone-like experience) seems fun to use and may be easier for some to navigate to more frequently used functions; I don't use this interface much, preferring the--perhaps more boring--"TODAY screen" interface and the full complement of functions available through menu choices. In any case, I found there are a number of ways of accomplishing typical tasks, some easier and quicker than others. For instance, text messaging, of which I do a lot with my daughter, is as easily accessible as it is for a regular cell phone; just three or four quick touches will get you there with the Touch Pro. For receiving a text message, a notification link takes you to the read/reply screen with only one touch.

In the end I've reacted positively to this device, especially for business. And I very much like the familiar "Windows" look and feel. Among those things for which I have less appreciation are: Cost (it's a pricey phone from Verizon); the highly polished, piano-black finish, is easily smudged with fingerprints; there is an atypically long delay in the phone ringing when a call comes in--the person calling will hear five rings while you will have heard only two--even if you're in the same room. Incidentally, in the event you plan to get your device from a non-Verizon source, you might want to check with Verizon to see if you might be by-passing some benefit (like "new-every-two" or a credit on a new phone when your plan expires--just a thought).

Overall, I'm pretty happy with my Samsung Saga. This Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional smartphone works well enough that it has untethered me from my desktop computer for many functions - checking work and personal e-mail, Facebook, LinkedIn, and the weather; updating my personal calendar and tasks; and editing some basic documents. Mobile web-browsing is a decent experience on the included Opera Mobile and Internet Explorer Mobile web browsers. Windows Mobile 6.1 offers a nifty auto-complete feature which works across the phone's web browsers, Word Mobile and the internal e-mail program, that suggests words as one types.

Some technology-savviness is a requirement for owning this phone; it takes some fiddling to configure the phone to one's preferences. Configurability is one of the Windows Mobile's strengths; especially that of the "tiled" front-screen "Today" interface. The "tiles" show more information than traditional icons. I've configured the front-screen of my phone with a Google Search box; the calendar tile -- which shows my next two appointments; and the task tile -- which shows the number of my regular and high-priority tasks. Also available are a messaging tile -- which shows the number new text messages, MMS messages, e-mail, and voicemail; and a pretty "Samsung Today" - which gives the phone a cute, but simple, mobile phone-like interface.

With the recent release of Google Sync, the Saga can also perform (wireless) push synchronization with one's Gmail's contacts and Google Calendar account. One nice feature is that the synchronization schedule may be customized for peak and off-peak times, and that these times may themselves be customized.

The Saga works best for those who have Microsoft Office 2007. Office Mobile 6.1's default file formats are Office 2007, and the phone's various personal productivity features -- calendar, tasks, contacts, notes, etc., synchronize best with their respective folders in Outlook. OneNote Mobile notes get their own notebook in OneNote 2007. Samsung's PC Studio software allows Windows XP users to synchronize the phone's contacts with Outlook Express (via the Windows Address Book), but this feature is not supported in Windows Vista. Windows Vista users apparently must have Microsoft Outlook or use Google Sync for contacts and calendar synchronization.

There is an unevenness to the Samsung Saga and its underlying Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system. While the Saga has a very good keyboard and productivity applications, the phone's keyboard lacks a delete function ([Fn][Backspace] in many other phones). The use of a stylus is still necessary to select blocks of text. While the e-mail program properly displays inbound formatted e-mail - bold, italic, tables, etc., the program only supports plain text for outbound e-mail. The phone can either ring or vibrate for incoming calls, but can't do both simultaneously. The Samsung Saga uses a proprietary USB data connection, which does not consistently charge the phone. Files are only synchronized if they are on the phone; files on kept on a storage card cannot be synchronized. The Saga also seems to have weaker signal reception than other cell phones. My Saga couldn't find a signal where my wife's Samsung Gleam had two "bars" of signal.

Dialing contacts and voicemail access did not work for me out-of-the-box; I had to turn off assisted dialing and add a # sign, for each feature to work, respectively. While Opera Mobile and Internet Explorer Mobile are competent web browsers, browsing regular-sized web sites is still done best on a desktop or laptop computer. Opera Mobile lets users zoom into and out of sections in regular-sized web pages, while Internet Explorer requires users to scroll through the web page. Both methods are slow. It is best to surf mobile versions of websites (such as m.amazon.com) on a Samsung Saga.

There are two accessories that will make one's purchase of the Samsung Saga more enjoyable -- a Bluetooth headset and the extended battery. While the standard size battery makes the phone attractively slim - slim enough to slip comfortably into one's front pants pocket, the standard battery limits the phone to "light" usage. Get the extended battery right away if you plan using the phone on purchasing this phone; otherwise plan on carrying around a travel charger because the battery drains quite rapidly with intensive usage. The extended battery adds about forty percent more capacity -- 1800 mAh, versus 1300 mAh for the standard battery, and makes the difference between "light" and "moderate" use of the phone. One must also be mindful of open but dormant data connections (including Bluetooth), because these also contribute to battery life issues. A Bluetooth headset is important because the phone notifies Bluetooth headset users of incoming phone calls, but those using wired headsets must rely on the phone's ringer -- which may not be heard in a noisy public environment, or if the phone is kept in a jacket pocket.

People who are willing to tinker a little bit under the hood will find Samsung's Saga i770 an affordable, utilitarian phone. Those who have Microsoft Office 2007 (or at least Outlook 2007) will be able to make the best use of this phone.

I had this phone for three weeks, sent it back to Verizon within my 30 days, paid and restocking fee of 35 dollars, and am awaiting the Blackberry Curve.

Pros:
-Lots of features and capabilities. Top of the line in terms of the list of things it can do. I wont repeat since they are listed in the description.

-I liked the Opera browser and once I got email working, its a nice interface.

Cons:
-Did not find navigating menu items and settings intuitive. Took navigating through 6 menu items to get to a text message unless that person was in your favorites list. Could not figure out how to switch between video and camera mode, for example.

-Minimalist buttons forced me to use the stylus on this phone frequently, which is cumbersome at times. It has only the buttons on the front of the phone, and a volume control on the side. Thats it. It really should have stuck with the buttons and side navigation wheel that its predecessor had.

-Ironically (since this runs a Windows OS), it was easy to set up my gmail email account, but I had to download extra software (which took multiple tries to get to install correctly) and many attempts to get my hotmail accounts setup.

-Slow OS, freezes. I found it annoyingly slow to switch between applications and functions on this phone. The phone also froze on me repeatedly and I had to reset it on three occasions in the three weeks I had it. Unacceptable.
BTW - when I went to the Verizon store to look for a different phone the salesperson told me that the latest version of Windows OS is "lightyears better" that previous versions. Maybe is it (I never used them) but in my experience, it still sucks. Freezing and resetting your handheld should not be part of regular use. Why can't Microsoft get this right?

-Back cover was flimsy and popped off a few times when I was trying to slide the keyboard open.

I could go on, but why? I was disappointed in this phone. Based on my experience, I ruled out Windows OS, check out Palm software but found it outdated or else without a physical keyboard, and so ended up choosing from Blackberry. I've got two good friends who love their Blackberry Curves, and I liked my experience with it in the store, so I am hoping for the best with that one.

Two other things - as of the time of this review Verizon does not make these phones available in their stores for a physical, hands-on experience.
AND, Verizon has created a new requirement that you MUST buy the add-on monthly data package for $29.99/month with any smartphone. So keep that in mind.

Good luck.

I'll give you the bad news first so I can end on a positive note. Verizon took an AMAZING phone from HTC and dummied it down. The original phone has a really cool "TouchFLO 3D" interface that you can see on HTC's website: http://www.htc.com/www/product/touchpro/overview.html then click on TouchFLO 3D. You'll see that each screen transitions into the other and has a 3D feel. 1) Verizon's version, maybe because of a reduced the memory size, doesn't have this. Instead, they opted for this dark red 2D version of TouchFLO, seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKweHBO6Cks . On top of that, the interface can get slow and unresponsive, especially once you leave your phone on for a long time or run a lot of apps. I've seen good reviews on CNET for the AT&T version (fuze) and bad reviews for the Verizon version. 2) NEXT, Verizon disabled the GPS. The phone has a GPS, and is GPS capable, but Verizon wants you pay a monthly fee to use VZ Navigator, which is the only "official" way to get the GPS working. This is big blow to fans of Google Maps Pocket PC version, which worked great on my AT&T Tilt. Google Maps is a free app that can show you where you are and get you directions, find the nearest anything, and show you the Traffic flow on freeways in major cities. There is GPS hack/crack thing out there which I tried but it didn't work for me yet. 3) The original HTC has an angled back, and Verizon's has a flat one. I wish I had the angled one, because I think it gives you a better grip on the phone. 4) I believe there is also an FM feature that is disabled unless you subscribe.
So what's the good news? The phone is pretty good overall. Most of the interface is big enough that it can be operated with your fingers instead of the stylus. The dialer is friendly for a touch screen dialer. It's kind of a sacrifice not having the actual dialing buttons of non-touch-screen phones, but it's all the other technology that makes it worth it. Internet is decent, email is reliable. The camera is nice with the bright flash light. There are apps out there to use your phone as a flash light too. And overall, the phone functions better that it's predecessor, the Tilt.

I've had this for two weeks. It is a feature packed device with a fabulous optical mouse, but has issues with battery life and video camera use. While some aren't big fans of the Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system, it works fine by me and syncs flawlessly with my laptop. I would rate this phone a 7.5 out of 10.

The REALLY good features:

> Optical mouse (unbelievable -- best I've used; also has option to use stylus or touchscreen). Makes navigating this phone a pleasure.
> Keyboard is easy to use, backlit
> Use-ability for work --- i.e., calendar, emails and contacts
> Thin enough to easily slip into my pocket and go un-noticed by others.

The not-so good:

> Battery life is pretty limited (typical complaint for this type of phone). Need to charge every night, and sometimes during the day.
> Voice quality is OK, with occassional dropped calls
> Video quality is suspect --- doesn't work well in moderate lighting conditions. My previous LG phone (with same camera specifications) performed much better.

This review is for you if you are comparing between a phone with a Qwerty keyboard on the front with the HTC Touch pro. I have had the Samsung Blackjack that has a qwerty keyboard on the front for a while and switched to the HTC Touch pro. The touch screen and slide out qwerty keyboard offer some advantages but Verizon and HTC seem to have messed it up. Below is a comparison:

The good:
1. On phones with qwerty keyboard on front, if the number you wish to dial is specified using letters, such as 800-323-ABCD, there is no way to convert the ABCD to actual numbers. On touch pro, the on-screen numeric keypad has the letters on top of the numbers.

2. Touch pro has dedicated number keys on the slide out qwerty keyboard and that is very useful for typing email/text msg.

The bad:

3. Touch pro's touch screen turns on when a call is being received: thus when pulling out the phone from the pocket, you inadvertently touch some part of the screen which messes with receiving the call.

4. If the screen is set to lock after some time, you cannot see the mail accounts and calendar events without unlocking the screen (on blackjack these things are visible even on a locked screen).

6. When touching the "Contacts" button on Touch-pro, the screen shows 2-3 contacts only as the lower portion of the screen is hidden by a keypad display
a. Also, the keypad displayed is the numeric keypad. I would want the qwerty keypad instead, to type the name of the contact I want!

7. You cannot turn on speakerphone when a call is received if the screen is locked.

8. If the received call is from an automated system that asks you to press some number key for some task, this cannot be done if the screen is locked. My airline often calls me using an automated system when there is a flight status change and after playing the brief message, asks to press some number for more options.

9. Stopwatch application is missing.

10. Calculator application is missing.

11. The alarm is not usable. If the screen is locked, there is no way to snooze or dismiss the alarm. If you do unlock the screen first (with the alarm ringing all the while) there is still no snooze button. Rather there is a "Reminder" button which when touched, opens the alarm dismiss window. It is only then, if you press dismiss, will the alarm stop.
a. It is very hard to set the alarm in the first place. You access it in some hidden menu under settings and the buttons that appear on the touchscreen are really tiny to use.

And the ugly:
1. Has happened a couple of times that pressing the top power button did not turn on the screen and I had to remove and reinsert the battery to get the phone back to working.

2. On the iPhone when the screen is locked, there is a keypad to enter unlock password AND a button to make emergency calls. On the Touch pro, when the screen is locked, there is only a keypad to enter your password and an unlock button to press after entering the password. The text on top says emergency calls can be made but its not intuitive how. (It is in fact possible to make emergency calls, its just not as intuitive as on the iPhone)

3. The phone says it has GPS and it seems from online documentation that the GPS is unlocked, but neither GoogleMaps nor BingMaps could actually acquire GPS satellites using the built in GPS (I tried several times in different outdoor locations).

4. In general the icons on the screen are very small (1/4th to 1/6th the size of typical icons on the iPhone) and hence very difficult to touch. The touch-pro does includes a stylus to compensate for this weakness but then you have to use both hands and it looks rather old fashioned to use a stylus.

I have had the HTC Touch pro through Verizon for approximately one year. This is the worst phone that I have ever used. It is slow and unstable. It changes screen randomly, opens applications without being prompted, makes calls on its own. The Touchflo program is unavailable when using Verizon's Wireless Sync program. Verizon replaced the phone once, but the reploacement functioned exactly as the original phone. If you're considering this phone, reconsider.

Great list of features, mediocre implementation
GSM/CDMA, wi-fi, multimedia

The phone boasts an incredible list of features. However, each feature functions in an mediocre way.
Reception -- mediocre
Battery (real) life -- so-so -- barely 1 day
voce quality -- mediocre
Speakerphone -- poor
communication with Bluetooth -- slow
camera is mediocre even for it's poor 2MPix
GPS / LBS -- locked and undocumented. GoogleMaps application manages to pinpoint location just Sometimes...
Pointer works well, but touch-screen quality is poor, especially at edges. Can't scroll...
Screen glares badly
Response (to clicks) is slow
Often runs out of memory. Imagine, you trying to turn on the camera and get "collecting memory" "failed to start"
It's difficult to talk without touching screen-touchpointer and getting navigated away.
Have to press sleep button after dialing...
There are also issues with Windows, but it's a different story.

I recommend downloading SKYFIRE browser which makes life much better. Flash plug-in works in it.

During my research in preparing to purchase the Samsung Saga i770, I used Verizon's web site, Amazon's description of this phone, the on-line User Guide and contacted Samsung directly on 5/28/09. I found a discrepancy regarding the expandable memory capacity. Verizon and Amazon's web sites state that the Saga has the option of expanding to 16GB. According to the Saga's User Guide and Samsung representative, the Saga's memory expansion is only (up to) 8GB.

After playing with the in-store Saga device, I am pleased with all of its features and capabilities so far and still plan on purchasing it. My only 'con' is that the phone's sound quality could be improved.

REVIEW UPDATE - On May 29, 2009, I was contacted by a Verizon Wireless rep notifying me that the software on this phone/device had been updated to handle the 16GB memory. Unfortunately, this was completed after the above-referenced manual had been printed. I have since purchased this device and, so far, am very pleased with it with minor exceptions...submitted 6/23/09.

Oh my god. This is a punishment not a phone. If you were given this phone you should reject the gift with hatred in your eyes. If work wants you to use it you should take the phone then give everyone your personal cell phone number and just be grateful you have a fracking job. I think this is the best example of why Microsoft is not in the phone business anymore.