Specification
- CPU Speed = 1.5 GHz
- RAM = 1GB
- Internal Storage = 32 GB
- Network = HSPA/WCDMA/GSM/GPRS/EDGE
- Connectifity = WiFI / Bluetooth
- Internal GPS
- Camera = 5 megapixel (main/back) , 1.3 megapixel (front) ,
more spesification go to
HTC Flyer site
REVIEW
Over the past couple of years, HTC has rapidly built up an enviable reputation (and bank balance) in the smartphone space with a succession of feature-rich, smartly designed, and innovative handsets. The HD2 introduced us to the 4.3-inch form factor, the EVO 4G ushered in the era of 720p video recording, and the Legend wrapped itself inside a never-before-seen aluminum unibody enclosure.
Today, the company's Android assembly line is turning out yet another groundbreaking device, though this one's closer in size to the Athena than the Aria. Yes, we're talking about the 7-inch Flyer, the most unique of this year's Android tablet offerings, opting for a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, a sturdy aluminum construction that doesn't even try to compete in the race for extreme thinness, and a Magic Pen to make you forget it's running Gingerbread and not Honeycomb (yet). Also set for release under the EVO View 4G moniker on Sprint in the US, this tablet is the sum of a set of bold choices on the part of HTC. To see how well those decisions have come off, click past the break for our full review.
Hardware
Thinking back to the first time we saw the Flyer in person -- at a pre-MWC briefing back in February -- we have to say this tablet didn't make the happiest of first impressions. It's a weighty old thing (420 grams / 14.8 ounces) that looked thick even before we laid eyes on the subsequent iPad 2 and Samsung Galaxy Tab super-slimsters. In fact, we had a 7-inch Galaxy Tab on hand and the Flyer was instantly humbled by the slicker, lighter, and far more refined slate from Samsung. HTC's choice of a tri-color palette also dashes any chances of the Flyer appearing sophisticated. The white plastic elements at the top and bottom don't really blend in well with either the grey aluminum shell or the black bezel around the screen. Adding insult to injury, the lower one of those plastic inserts actually protrudes from the body, giving an already chunky tablet some extra junk in the trunk.
The Flyer's curved sides are classic HTC and help make it easy and comfortable to handle. You might end up with stronger forearms from the effort of holding it up, but you won't be causing yourself injury from awkward or annoying ergonomics. Taking it out for a day-long stroll around London, we found this slate a joy to tote around in one hand or -- as unbelievable as it may sound -- stashing it in a pocket. Contrary to any of the 8.9-,9.7- or 10.1-inch tablets that are currently staking a claim as the mainstream's favorite form factor, the 7-inch Flyer is truly portable enough to carry around without either a dedicated carrying case or some other pouch to slot it into. Even so, HTC has decided to bundle a sparkly white case in the retail package, which is of an above-average quality, fits snugly around the tablet, and provides an all-important holder for the Magic Pen accessory. Some might (rightly) argue that they'd rather have a cheaper tablet than more goodies in the box, but the Flyer's case provides an extra layer of protection and a very neat way to transport it together with the stylus. The flap is kept closed by nature's own awesome technology: magnets.
Display
HTC won't confirm this for us, but we're almost certain we're looking at another Super LCD on the Flyer. Color fidelity at oblique angles is too good for this to be just some run-of-the-mill TFT display. We enjoyed our use of the Flyer immensely, it has plenty of brightness (which never overwhelms the picture), vibrancy, and sharpness to go around. Going outdoors was an especial highlight, as the Flyer dialed things up and did a superb job of overcoming natural light to provide us with great usability. Web browsing, movie playback, Angry Birds, nothing was hampered unduly by the influence of the sun. We also haven't been able to spot flaws of any sort, whether they be an inconsistent backlight, improper color reproduction, or touchscreen sensitivity deficits. It's just a very, very good screen. If you look closely enough, you'll spot a grid of dots uniformly applied to the entire display, which we're guessing is there as part of the N-Trig stylus recognition hardware setup. You'll only spot that array with the tablet turned off, though, as it becomes imperceptible once the lights come on.
You get 1024 x 600 pixels to play around with, a reasonable number given the Flyer's size, though it doesn't move things forward from the Samsung Galaxy Tab of yesteryear.
Bateray Life
Really, really impressive. We unplugged the Flyer at 9AM one morning, spent the full day throwing everything we could think of at it -- push updates from Gmail, Twitter, Facebook, and a news feed of Engadget and BBC updates, plus extensive camera testing, web browsing, music playback, and a solid hour of Angry Birds Rio gameplay -- and by 9PM in the evening we still had over 20 percent of juice left. For a 3G device whose cellular connection was regularly put to use, that was a spectacular performance.
Looking at Android's battery-tracking graph, the camera was the main culprit for eating into the Flyer's energy reserves. It looks to be one of the few tasks that require the tablet to run at full throttle, and the briskness with which it depleted the battery illustrates how taxing that 1.4GHz speed is. All the same, we managed to get 12 action-packed hours out of the Flyer's cell and have no doubt it'll last for two days' worth of regular use. HTC also throws in an optional sleep mode, which shuts down wireless radios when the tablet's locked. You can set specific time periods for when this is on (e.g. 11PM to 6AM) and the tradeoff for extended battery life is obviously that you won't receive any push alerts without turning the tablet on. Of course, if you're actually sleeping during that period, that's no downer at all. Naturally, this is in addition to the company's familiar power saver feature that tweaks screen brightness and other settings when a given threshold of battery reserves is passed.
Software
If you weren't already struck by the thought that the Flyer looks an awful lot like a scaled-up Desire HD, booting into its familiar Sense UI will be sure to give you that sensation. HTC opted to build the Flyer's software atop Android 2.3, the latest in Google's smartphone stable, and not the tablet-oriented Android 3.0. In conversations with the company, we've heard that justified as a matter of expedience, as HTC didn't have enough time with the Honeycomb code to integrate its Sense UI paradigm and had to revert to the next best thing. The fallout from this decision is that using the Flyer is an inevitably similar experience to using an HTC Gingerbread phone, though we've come to find that's not a particularly bad thing at all.
Setting aside the improvements just introduced by Google in Android 3.1, we've been of the view that Honeycomb remains unpolished and in need of extra work to optimize responsiveness and better exploit the added real estate afforded by tablets relative to smartphones. Those are things that will surely come over time, but until they do, Android slate buyers are left to answer the question of what they should do in the interim. Motorola will tell you to run the standard Honeycomb and like it, Samsung will tell you that TouchWiz 4.0 will make everything better, and HTC will urge you to use Gingerbread until it can cook up the right Honeycomb recipe. We can't yet speak authoritatively on how Samsung's skinned Honeycomb tastes, but from our experience with the Flyer, we'd argue HTC's implementation is preferable to stock Android 3.0 installations. It's faster to respond, feels more refined, and though it has significant weaknesses of its own, the unfortunately immature Honeycomb doesn't offer a stark enough contrast to highlight them as it should. Lest you find all this poor consolation for HTC failing to ship the Flyer with the latest firmware on board, an update to Android 3.x has been promised for this summer, so this tablet won't be hanging out in smartphone software territory for an excessive period of time.
The really important thing to say is that the user experience on the Flyer already works, and very well at that. It features version 3.0 of Sense, which brings an enhanced lockscreen that will display a lushly animated weather update up top and a set of four shortcuts at the bottom. The latter allow instant access to your favored apps -- you just drag an icon into HTC's so-called activation circle and then a couple more animations spin up and spirit you away into whatever app you selected. We keep wondering why more sophisticated lockscreens like this aren't already standard fare in touchscreen devices and HTC's implementation makes us ponder that question all the more. It's executed with precision and makes rapid use of the tablet a cinch.
Once you unlock your way past the greeting screen, eight homescreens literally spin into view. In spite of the increased 1024 x 600 resolution, HTC is still offering you a grid of sixteen discrete slots per homescreen, which can be occupied by apps, folders, shortcuts, or widgets. There's almost nothing here that you won't find on HTC's Android Gingerbread phones, which isn't a terrible thing in and of itself, but more widgets and programs optimized for the Flyer's size would have been appreciated. As it stands, it just provides an extremely usable, mostly responsive user experience that some will find all too familiar.
Animated and 3D graphics are really emphasized in HTC's latest UI. You're still gazing at the same old clock-and-weather widget as the one you saw on the Hero nearly two years ago, but now when you slide away from it, its homescreen turns away in a manner imitating a carousel and faux 3D elements are exposed in the "side" of that widget, lending it a bit more realism and luster. We don't know how to feel about HTC making the Flyer's interface quite so graphically intensive. On the one hand, it adds an extra layer of polish that makes use of the tablet feel modern and snazzy, but on the other, those flourishes do consume system resources without adding anything in terms of function. Worst of all, in spite of the Flyer being highly responsive in most circumstances, we found lag and stuttery animations creeping in on us after some extended use, which we're inclined to blame on the extra veneer of prettiness. We most often found the tablet slower than ideal when we were unlocking into an app, as it had to animate both the motion of that app icon and pulsating animation around the activation ring.
Source / credit : www.engadget.com/2011/05/16/htc-flyer-review/
