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Inexpensive Windows Mobile smartphone
- Windows Mobile 6.5 software
- Responsive, high-resolution touch screen
- Push email
- Proprietary headphone jack requires bulky adaptor
- Cramped keyboard
How the Pure stacks up against the iPhone
The HTC Pure is one of the first smartphones to feature the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system, and all reviewers agree that it's a major improvement over WinMo 6.1. "The HTC Pure is a good deal for all the features you get and provides a solid alternative to the iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS," says Ginny Mies of PC World. The HTC Pure comes loaded with features for business users, including a Windows Office Mobile Suite to create and edit documents in Word, Excel and Powerpoint, as well as push email delivery and syncing with Outlook calendar, contacts and tasks.
The 3.2-inch WVGA touch screen, with 480-by-800-pixel resolution, gets generally high marks (it also works with an included stylus), but several reviewers say it's not as sensitive as the iPhone's multitouch screen. Like the iPhone, the Pure lacks a traditional QWERTY keyboard but does boast an on-screen keyboard that shifts from portrait to landscape, thanks to an accelerometer. While some users find the virtual keyboard cramped, others find the optional vibration and sound effects make for easy typing. The Pure gets relatively low marks for its media options, however: "If you're after a smartphone for web browsing and multimedia capabilities, we recommend sticking with the iPhone," says Bonnie Cha of CNET.
Interface and features
The Pure has a relatively small footprint, comparable to other touch-screen smartphones. HTC's TouchFLO 3-D interface uses finger gestures to navigate programs, surf the web and select contacts and photos. (Navigating Windows Mobile apps requires the included stylus.) There is a zoom bar just beneath the display and above the panel of control buttons (answer, start, back and end buttons). The Pure comes with two web browsers, Internet Explorer Mobile 6 and Opera 9.7, but most reviewers say IE is not as good as Opera for full HTML (non-mobile) sites. The Pure comes with a GPS receiver that is fitted with AT&T Navigator for directions, but it can also use third-party apps such as Google maps. You can access the Windows Mobile Marketplace, Microsoft's app store, and back up your phone's contents with Microsoft's free remote backup service.
Call quality receives mixed reviews, with some complaints about an annoying hiss during calls on AT&T's network. Talk time of 5.6 hours is generally praised, though it falls two hours short in one test. The Pure's 5-megapixel camera gets high marks, though some reviewers say they would have appreciated an LED flash. Unlike the iPhone, the Pure has a memory card slot for up to 16 GB of additional storage space. Most experts complain about the audio adaptor that's required in order to connect headphones for listening to music. Reviewers praise the Pure's lock feature, which allows users to keep track of missed calls and upcoming appointments, even when the phone is in locked position. "I need a physical keyboard, but if I could find a way to live without one, the Pure would be my Windows phone," says George Ponder of WMExperts.com.
The most detailed reviews are from CNET and MobileTechReview.com, while WMExperts.com and SlashGear.com have the most illustrations of the Pure's touch screen and physical layout.
Our Sources
The HTC Pure is a "solid Windows phone that does a good job of handling multimedia along with business uses," says Lisa Gade. She says the Pure lacks "the wow factor" of the HTC Imagio, but adds that it is relatively cheap for such a high-end smartphone.
Review: HTC Pure, Lisa Gade, Oct. 5, 2009
2. CNET
CNET's Bonnie Cha wishes the screen of the HTC Pure were more like the iPhone's but nonetheless says the "Pure's display worked just fine over our testing period." She calls the main page layout a "bit Zune-esque" but likes the Pure's TouchFLO user interface.
Review: HTC Pure (AT&T), Bonnie Cha, Oct. 6, 2009
The Pure can't "hold a candle to iPhone 3GS's" media player, the reviewers say. Of the two Web browsers on offer, they prefer Opera to Internet Explorer, whose rendering abilities "fall short." Picture quality on the 5-megapixel camera is reasonable, though recent Samsung and Sony devices have more advanced optics.
Review: AT&T HTC Windows Phone Review, Ewdison Then and Vincent Nguyen, Oct. 6, 2009
4. PC World
Reviewer Ginny Mies finds fault with the Pure's "multimedia panache" and says it retains Windows Mobile's "trademark sluggishness." She is also disappointed by call quality. Still, Mies thinks the Pure is a worthy, inexpensive alternative to the iPhone.
Review: HTC Pure (AT&T) Smartphone, Ginny Mies, Oct. 6, 2009
The Pure's on-screen keyboard may be difficult to use for those with big fingers, but the "responsiveness of the screen" helps prevent accidental keystrokes. Ponder is disappointed by the lack of a 3.5 mm headphone jack and says that the rubber cover over the USB port feels flimsy.
Review: Review: AT&T Pure, George Ponder, Oct. 6, 2009
6. PCMag.com
The Pure's screen feels a "bit less responsive" than the iPhone's and Microsoft hasn't done much to update the "frustrating" Windows media player. While the Pure improves on such offerings as the LG Incite, "it doesn't outmatch the iPhone in terms of the smoothness of its experience."
Review: Hands on With AT&T's HTC Pure, Sascha Segan , Oct. 5, 2009
