HTC Aria
Phone Scoop Review
Jun 18, 2010 by Philip Berne
The HTC Aria is a slick little Android phone, easily the most pocketable of the bunch. Did it sacrifice too many features to keep its small stature? Find out in our in-depth review. read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
Android at&t Sleeper
I was hesitant to get this phone after reading many of the reviews about the Aria on here, but I got it anyway and I must say, so far... I'm pleasantly surprised.
Being the second Android phone to enter the at&t line-up, I think it's a good start for HTC. With that being said, we all know that the Samsung Captivate (Galaxy) will be the flagship Android for at&t to start, but this phone is excellent for a mid-entry level smartphone.
First off, I used it all day and did not experience one dropped call. Secondly, after charging the battery full out of the box, then letting it run all the way down, my next charge was more worthy of a battery hungry smartphone and lasted all day without a problem.
The design is excellent. Perfect size for a business phone to slip right into your pocket, undetected. My favorite part is how they designed the battery cover to cover the entire outer edges of the phone so if you drop it and nick it up, the battery cover can easily & cheaply be replaced.
The in-call volume and speaker phone could be of better quality, but I don't feel it's nearly as detrimental as many on here make it seem... or maybe I have super hearing.
All in all, for the money, I think this is a great start to pull away from the dreaded Winblows Mobile phones and enter the Android realm.
PROS:
> Signal retention
> Good, vibrant screen
> Phone design - Rugged but sleek
> In-call sound quality (volume can use help, but quality is good)
> Very user friendly
> Bluetooth works to perfection
> Screen response is good
> Battery life is not too horrible
> Very user friendly
CONS:
> Some glitches in the software. Location for weather and other services not always accurate
> Speakerphone (and media speaker) is cheap and tinny.
> Don't understand need for "trackball" when it's touchscreen
> Battery life is not spectacular either
> While screen looks good, still seems that HTC uses cheap material resulting in dead/stuck pixels
> Must use optical button to take picture
Amazing!
HTC finally has a decent platform to put on their amazing devices! Tilt II with android...ok that's dumb but a few of you know what i'm talking about. Speaker is weak but that's coming from a spoiled blackberry user.
Fantastic!
I'll start this off by saying that if you are a spec nut and won't give this the time of day, then you should go hands on with it. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how well it runs.
PROS:
Size-only a pro if you don't want a huge phone.
Excellent call quality.
HTC's Sense UI is sweet!
Display looks great on screen this size.
Easy to customize.
Very good onscreen keyboard, especially landscape.
Looks like an Evo meets Incredible...only mini.
Excellent build quality.
CONS:
No camera flash
No loading of unsigned apps (Thanks, AT&T)
For me, that's it for the Cons.
If you want a huge display on AT&T then wait for Samsung's Captivate. If not, I don't think you can go wrong with the Aria.
iPhone Replacer
I got this phone the day it launched and I have to say, I LOVE it! For the processor speed, it runs at a very fast pace.
Pros:
Fast
Easy to use
Small
Android 2.1 w/ Sense
Optical Track pad
Capacitive Buttons
Battery life
Widgets
Cons:
The keyboard is somewhat hard to get used to
Coming from iPhone to this is a hard, but good move. Android is so much more advanced than iPhone these days, even in phones as small as this. Overall, I really enjoy this phone and it is exactly what I was hoping it would be!
A Nice Device
My opinion...
Form factor: good (and no buttons on right side to get pressed when you pick it up (returned my Backflip because of that!). Nice no-slip case surface.
System & Speed: Android 2.1 is very good. More standard apps included.
Desktop: 7 with custom scenes
Audio: not very good without ear phone
Display; very good and has two-finger pinch-zoom as well as swipe optical
Third party apps (and my development apps): Really easy to install using MotoDev's (Eclipse front end) - all I did was plug the phone into USB and it showed up in Device Mgmt. window. Installed my apps w/o problem!!
Battery: With battery consuming features off except when using them (Wifi, bluetooth, GPS...) about 5 days.
Camera/camcorder: good (no flash)
FM radio: excellent (ear phone required - it provides the antenna)
Typing: small but usable in Portrait position, great (large) in Landscape position.
I do recommend it.
Surprisingly Good
I was tired of the walled garden of the iphone- beautiful scenery, but a 20 foot fence with barbed wire, figuratively speaking. I wanted an android and the backflip looked questionable. Then here comes the Aria...
PROS
Surprisingly quick
responsive touch screen
HTC sense UI is surprisingly good
CONS
Cannot load 3rd-party apps
Battery life is good but could be better (probably a function of android)
Great Phone
This phone is a great phone i have had every smartphone you can think of and this one is up there if you look a just specs you wouldnt think it would be up there in the same breathe as incredible but its real fast and has a better battery life that i have seen out of any htc so i give it a 5.
Nice Phone if you DO Not Upgrade!!
If you want your android in a smaller package, well this is about the smallest. It is a relief carrying this instead of a widebody phone.
And No Carrier IQ detected!
Downsides are a slow-ish processor (only 600mhz) and inability to run full Flash Video. otherwise it runs the full slate of Android apps, at least those which ATT approves - which brings me to the point.
This came with 2.1 and ATT offers a 2.2 upgrade. Do not - I repeat, DO NOT - watch my lips move D O N O T do this upgrade!!! Not only will it run slower, you will never be able to root this device.
HTC Aria on non-stock 2.2 Froyo is a winner
As the title states.
Previous reviewer may no have been familiar with Android. I have seen this platform evolve over the last 2.5 years and have used different devices. HTC has got it right with price versus features and performance.
I have this phone from a trade with a Palm Pre Plus with 2.1 WebOS and the Aria blows that away even with the Palm's more elegant multitasking. With non AT&T ROM you get Wireless tethering as it was intended with out an extra charge. Live wall papers that for some reason AT&T had disabled.
I can RDP and use logmein almost at the sametime. Battery life is OK ( i have 2 so it gets me through the day), I'm a heavy user and constantly email and websurf (4 pages open usually and I have 6 emails account all set on push).
Size is easily pocketable. I miss the flash for he camera (on my pre I used that as a flashlight).
Moving on to bigger and possibly better things. Getting a Dell Streak 5 hopefully modded will yield a better convergence device.
