First Looks: HTC HD7 has a big but not-so-bright display

The HTC HD7, available from T-Mobile for $200 with a two-year contract and after rebates, is an updated version of the HD2, a high-ranking smart phone with a gargantuan 4.3-inch, high-resolution, touch-screen display and a 5-megapixel camera with HD-recording capability. The HD7 is a fine phone that improves on its predecessor—but it lacks several features that would put in on a par with some of its competitors.

The HD7 comes with 16GB of internal storage, which is more than enough for most smart-phone users. And the smart phone runs Windows Phone 7, an operating system that really shone on the Samsung Focus I recently reviewed.

Here are more first impressions.

Display. T-Mobile promotes this phone as a multimedia powerhouse. Indeed, its compatible apps include T-Mobile TV and Netflix for streaming video. But the HD7's screen, while big, doesn't seem as sharp or as bright as many of the newer smart phones I've examined. Photos and videos appeared a bit washed out. In sunlight, screen content virtually disappears.

The selection of games on X-Box Live were rather limited, and rather basic—not the high-octane, sensory-overload games available on the set-top version of X-Box. But they were fun, and the HD7's generous screen real estate comes in handy when you're zapping alien bugs in the game The Harvest, for example. One neat feature: The camera's bezel swings out to prop up the phone for viewing videos hands-free.

Interface. Though the HD7 is noticeably different than the Focus, which has a 4-inch screen, both phones function similarly because of the relatively tight controls placed on the Windows Phone 7 interface. But HTC 7 users can get a respite from Windows Phone 7's layout by launching the HTC Hub.

The Hub looks like HTC's Sense interface, complete with a large digital clock widget on top of its home screen. Instead of showing you a stack of tiles, the Hub interface presents apps over several pages under various categories. And while you're in it, you can add apps, including Xbox Live games, widgets to monitor the stock market, and a free app that turns the phone's LED flash into a flashlight.

Data entry. I've already praised the Windows Phone 7 keyboard from using on the Samsung Focus. Among other features, it offers multiple word suggestions as you type.

Because of the HD7's larger screen, entering text was a tad easier than it was on the Samsung Focus. You can also perform voice searches, which seemed reasonably accurate during informal trials in sometimes noisy rooms. But as with the Focus, you can't perform universal searches—you can search only within the application you are currently using, such as the Web, e-mail, and so on. And oddly, you can't use voice search to find content in the Zune Marketplace.

Bottom line: The HTC HD7 is a well-designed smart phone with a with a gigantic screen that's well-suited for data entry, playing games, streaming videos, and viewing Web pages. But after seeing the sharper and brighter display of another Windows Phone 7, the Samsung Focus, I couldn't help but feel disappointed.

It also would be great if Microsoft would enhance the Windows Phone 7 platform by adding universal search, text cut-and-paste, and computer-tethering support—three handy features that are now standard on the leading smart-phone platforms.

A final note: Yesterday, the blog Electronista reported that the HTC HD7 may have reception problems if held in a certain manner, in areas of weak reception. As we did with the early accounts of reception issues with the Apple iPhone 4, which eventually grew so widespread that we tested for the problem, we'll monitor any further such reports on the HD7 and act as needed should they become sufficiently prevalent and credible.

—Mike Gikas