When you look at the HTC 7 Trophy, the first thing that grabs you is the size of the 3.8inch screen. Standing 118.5mm tall by 61.5mm wide, the Trophy is certainly on the large side, but it certainly provides clear visibility when reading emails and surfing the net. The display offers excellent colour quality, and the overall look of the handset is reminiscent of the iPhone 3GS.
The Trophy carries all the features you would expect to get with a smartphone: as well as Microsoft Windows, users benefit from multi-touch input, a 5 megapixel camera, an HTML internet browser, and both3G and Wi-Fi capability. The touchscreen is also simple and sensitive to the touch, and the in-built applications load quickly. The user will enjoy the integrated features, such as Facebook, which is particularly user-friendly.
For business customers, the Trophy offers the complete Microsoft Office suite, including OneNote, Word, PowerPoint, and SharePoint Workspace, which enables the user to amend and e-mail files on the move. While it may be difficult to work for a concerted period of time on a screen this small, we found the applications simple and amenable when we trialled the product
The Trophy offers excellent e-mail functionality; Microsoft Exchange, Gmail and Hotmail can all be synchronised and incorporated without inconvenience.
At present, the Trophy can be acquired without charge on contracts between £17.29 to £35 per month (precise cost varies according to the tariff). Our research showed that Vodaphone offers a number of contact details for the Trophy, and these worked out significantly cheaper than those based on other smartphones.
While the Trophy can’t yet rival the iPhone when it comes to apps, its store is slowly increasing. Indeed it now incorporates a number of unique apps which distinguish it from rival smartphones; these include the HTC hub, which apes the clock and weather technology offered by Android phones.
On the negative side, one might expect the battery to last longer – if you use the phone frequently, you have to charge it up every day. The 8GB internal memory is also on the slight side, especially when one considers what other smartphones can offer. However, overall, the Trophy is great to use and feels impressively durable; all things considered, it is a worthy rival to the iPhone and other smartphone giants.