HTC S310: Mini Review

HTC S310
The HTC S310 Smartphone seems to be the company's attempt to bring a low cost smartphone to the market. Have they succeeded in making a good entry level Windows Mobile device? Read to find out


Manufacturer: HTC
Vendor: Expansys
Product: S310
Colour: Grey (also available in black and white)
Cost: £189.99 Incl VAT
Manufacturer Web Site: HTC
Vendor Product Web Site: Expansys




All Photographs can be clicked on to view a larger version

Overview

Being a gadget nut I am a fully paid up member of the faster, better, more club but in my work life I have to cater for all levels of user from those like myself to the techno haters. Unfortunately for me some of those technophobes need access to email and calendar information whilst they are out of the office too.

So when looking to furnish this group of users with a Windows Mobile device I had to alter my thinking. What I needed was a device that was simple to use without losing the functionality of mobile synchronisation and also be small and light enough to not seem to much of a jump from their old Nokia phone. The obvious answer was to look at Smartphones and perfectly timed to coincide with this search was the release by HTC of the S310, hailed in many quarters as a breathrough device in cost terms for WM. We have now been using these smartphones for a couple of months and whilst they are not the newest on the market they deserve at least a Mini review!

First Impressions

In the box there is the following:

• HTC S310
• Battery
• Stereo headset (plugs into mini USB port)
• Charger
• USB-Mini USB sync cable

Specifications
Taken from the official website

• Platform : Windows Mobile 5.0
• Dimensions : 108mm (L) x 47mm (W) x 18.5mm (T)
• Processor : TI OMAP 850, 200 MHz
• Memory (RAM) : 64MB
• Memory (ROM) : 64MB
• Screen : 2.0", 176x220 color TFT LCD. LED back light
• Communications : GSM Quad-band: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz. EDGE/GPRS: class B, Multi-slot standard class 10
• Bluetooth : Bluetooth 2.0
• Camera : 1.3 mega-pixel CMOS image sensor
• Power Adapter : AC input: 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60 Hz
• Battery : Removable and chargeable battery, 1150mAh
• Audio (Speaker) : In-built Speaker
• Audio (Additional) : MP3/ WMA / AMR/ AAC/ AAC+ (optional). Video Codec

Software
Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone is present and correct, and as stable as I've seen. The only additional apps I can spot are the ClearVue viewers which unlike other devices I've used are installed as standard (so no searching around for that CD after a hard reset). Whilst these viewers aren't a patch on the WM6 Standard Office suite they are certainly better than nothing.

Push email works as well as on any other WM5 device I've used once I had gotten used to the "Smartphone" OS I really found myself enjoying using the S310.

There isn't much more to say on the software front other than to reiterate how well the Smartphone OS works on this handset, the nice keypad coupled with the excellent navigation features of WM5 make the S310 a joy to use.

Design

The S310 passes the old 'how does it feel in the hand' test with flying colours. To put in simple terms, it feels like a phone! A great compact size and feels nice in the hand.

As anyone who has read my comments around the site will likely know, I am a pretty dyed in the wool Qwerty keypad advocate and I really struggled going back to the bad old days of txt typing. Having said that I do like the implentation of T9 on the S310 as having the drop down selection for alternative words is far more intuitive than having to cycle through the options.

The internal Mini SD card slot is a bit of pain but is also standard for this type of phone unfortunately and not an issue if you don't need to swap cards or use the one card in other devices/computers.

The screen is nice and bright although the resolution is a bit old school, but I suppose only realistic given the size and price point of the S310.

Comparisons

Pictured here alongside the HTC TyTN.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• • Really nice and neat design
  • Good call quality
  • Fast and reliable bluetooth
  • Comes with ClearVue readers pre-installed
  • Good price for a smartphone

Cons

• • Not WM6
  • Small low res screen
  • No 3G
  • No Wifi
  • No Qwerty keyboard!

Conclusion

At a very attractive sub £200 price point the S310 makes a great entry into the world of Windows Mobile for users who are new to the delights of push email and we have already converted a handful of our users into PDA phone users. This of course means that we can spread the wealth even further by re-distributing the smartphones to more new users.

However, I am probably doing the baby HTC Smartphone a disservice by focussing on new users as some of the old hands have been so impressed by the diminutive dimensions that thay've traded in the opposite direction.

Despite the lack of high end features such as a QVGA screen or WiFi, I really like the S310 and perversely it is the absence of those niceties that has convinced me once and for all that WM Smartphone is viable as a phone OS in its own right. Without the bells and whistles that we are used to the Smartphone becomes a smart phone!

The overall design of the S310 is great; it feels and looks like a normal mobile phone and the D pad, in something of a departure for HTC, is a delight to use (fortunately HTC carried this design onto the S310's big brother the S710). A good positive response and separate direction pad and action button should mean no more mis-selecting.

Assigning a score to this phone leaves me with something of a dilemma, its WM5 heart is now outdated and it lacks the features of its more expensive cousins but as far as design and cost are concerned the S310 is a triumph. Thank goodness for the 4WM review scoring system categories!