Hands-On: HTC Amaze 4G, Samsung Galaxy S II 4G for T-Mobile
The HTC Amaze 4G is one of the most powerful and one of the fastest phones made by our friends over in Taiwan. It packs a raging 1.5GHz dual-core SnapDragon processor, and HSPA+ at 42Mbps. Add the 8-megapixel camera and qHD display, and you've got a winning combination.
It's a durned big phone. It is not nearly as svelte as the Samsung Galaxy S II 4G. The rounded edges and sides help make it feel comfortable to hold, but nothing can reduce the overall footprint and thicker waistline. It isn't all that heavy. There's a reason for that. There's noticeably more plastic in its design when compared to the nice aluminum materials we're used to seeing in HTC handsets. It doesn't feel cheap, but it doesn't feel as high-quality or high-end as some of HTC's older, more metallic models.
There are no controls on the left side of the phone save for the microUSB port. The right side has all sorts of action going on. The volume toggle is closest to the top. It hs a typical HTC design in that it is thin and mushy under the thumb. Below it, you'll notice a dedicated video camera key, which will launch the video camera from sleep if pressed. Below that is a dedicated camera button, which launches the camera from sleep mode without necessitating the phone to be unlocked first.
Both buttons feel great, and the reduced time to open the camera thanks to the shortcuts is also great.
The power/lock button and 3.5mm headset jack are on top, as expected. The button felt fine.
The Amaze 4G runs Sense 3.0, which has been in the market for a while now. It offers tons of tools that make the device easier to use. The lock screen has shortcuts to a handful of apps, and the amount of customization that is pissuble with HTC's software tools is nearlly limitless.
T-Mobile spent the bulk of our time together discussing the Amaze 4G's camera, which is indeed impressive. The camera's tools and controls mirror that of the HTC myTouch 4G Slide — which is to say they offer a *lot*. Some of the neat camera features include HDR, burst shot, automatic panoramas (called Sweep Shot), face/smile detection, and others.
What impressed me most was the speed of the camera. It focuses and fires off shots extremely fast, and gets you back to taking pictures quickly.
As with the Galaxy S II 4G, we were unable to really test the 42Mbps HSPA+ speeds offered by the Amaze 4G, but T-Mobile bragged that they used the phone to download a 1.5GB move via 4G in about 10 minutes.
Review: Samsung Galaxy S II for T-Mobile
Review: HTC Amaze 4G
Samsung Galaxy S II Coming To AT&T, T-Mobile
Samsung Galaxy S II Packs 21Mbps HSPA+ , Gingerbread
Samsung Galaxy S II / SGH-T989
HTC Amaze 4G
