HTC Snap review (Sprint)

Beyond e-mail, the rest of the HTC Snap's offerings are pretty much standard fare for a Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard phone (Microsoft Office Mobile, PIM tools), and the operating system is looking pretty stale. More than that, though, we're disappointed by some omissions, which become even more glaring when compared to Verizon's recently announced version of the Snap, the HTC Ozone. Unlike the Ozone, the Sprint HTC Snap lacks integrated Wi-Fi and dual-mode functionality for world roaming. We're less concerned about the latter but can't really understand the lack of Wi-Fi.

The Snap does work on Sprint's EV-DO Rev. A network, however. Currently, Sprint's 3G network covers 18,600 cities and 1,832 airports, and reaches 270 million people, and promises average download speeds of 600Kbps to 1.4Mbps and peak rates of up to 3.1Mbps, and average upload speeds of 350 to 500Kbps, peaking at 1.8Mbps. Like the Palm Treo Pro, the Snap comes with Internet Explorer Mobile 6, so the browser offers now offers the ability to switch between mobile and desktop versions of a site, pan support, multiple zoom levels, Adobe Flash Lite 3.1, and more.

The smartphone also has Windows Live integration for searching local businesses, checking traffic, movie times, and other services. You can also get similar capabilities, along with voice-guided turn-by-turn directions, with Sprint Navigation and the Snap's GPS/A-GPS. Other support Sprint services include Sprint NFL Mobile, Nascar Sprint Cup Mobile, Sprint TV, Sprint Music Store, and the Sprint software store.

Voice features of the HTC Snap include a speakerphone, speed dial, smart dialing, conference calling, and text and multimedia messaging. The contact book is limited only by the available memory, and there's room in each entry for multiple numbers, e-mail addresses, instant-messaging handles, and birthdays. For caller ID purposes, you can assign a picture, a group ID, or a custom ringtone. Bluetooth is also onboard with support for mono and stereo Bluetooth headsets, hands-free kits, personal are networking, object push, file transfer, and more.

On back, you'll find the smartphone's 2-megapixel camera.

Last but not least, the Snap is equipped with a 2-megapixel camera with various shooting modes, including video, MMS video, panorama, and picture theme. As usual, there are options to adjust the white balance, resolution, brightness, and quality. Even with these various settings, we were disappointed by the picture quality. While objects looked sharp, there was an orangish/brownish hue that ruined the image, and colors in outdoor shots were a bit washed out.

The picture quality of the Snap's 2-megapixel camera wasn't that great.

You can share your captured moments with friends and family via e-mail or multimedia message or view them in a slide show. The smartphone has 256MB Flash memory and 192MB RAM, while the microSD expansion slot can accept up to 16GB cards.

Performance
We tested the dual-band (CDMA 800/1,900MHz) HTC Snap in San Francisco using Sprint service and call quality was decent. There was a slight background hiss on our end, though it wasn't distracting enough to interrupt conversation, and we mostly enjoyed clear audio. Friends also said sound quality was mostly good, though there were a few times the phone cut off the last part of our sentences. We didn't have any dropped calls during our testing period, and we also had no problems using an airline's voice-automated response system. Speakerphone quality was satisfactory. The sound was better on our side of the conversation with good volume and with very little voice distortion; meanwhile, our callers reported some tinniness and echoing.

We successfully paired the smartphone with the Logitech Mobile Traveller Bluetooth headset and the Motorola S9 Bluetooth Active Headphones. The HTC Snap has a T3 Hearing Aid Compatibility rating.

Powered by a 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7625 processor, the Snap was quite a snappy little device. There was minimal delay or lag during our testing period. Using Sprint's 3G network, CNET's full site took 52 seconds to load, while CNN and ESPN's mobile site came up in 12 seconds and 5 seconds, respectively. Despite the enhancements in Internet Explorer Mobile 6, the browser is still really clunky to navigate, and we found it quite frustrating to use, especially in comparison to the competition.

The Snap's GPS capabilities were good. While it took about 5 minutes to get an initial read on our location, subsequent starts were faster and using Sprint Navigation, the smartphone was able to provide accurate directions and closely followed our tracks as we traveled around the city.

The HTC Snap comes with 1500mAh lithium ion battery with a rated talk time of 4 hours. The Snap provided 6.7 hours of continuous talk time in our battery drain tests. According to FCC radiation tests, the Snap has a digital SAR rating of 1.32 watts per kilogram.