Review: HTC Flyer Tablet – Great Features but without Honeycomb
When HTC announced that the Flyer would be running Android two.3.3, we were shocked – surely it tends to make sense to run the most recent tablet optimized version of Google’s UI?
But this is not vanilla Android. Instead it runs HTC Feeling 2.one (not three.0 such as the dual-core Sensation sadly), which continues to be especially optimised for tablets. So although it appears like a big smartphone, it does not really feel like a smartphone to make use of – in contrast to the very first Samsung Galaxy Tab.
There’s a slick 3D carousel of homescreens for you personally to flick via, while widgets like FriendStream, Contacts and Mail have been designed to match a large display, with most modifications evident whenever you flip the Flyer to landscape orientation.
In Mail you are able to see a dual-panel email see, with a checklist of messages on the left and contents of the email on the right. Nevertheless the bewildering array of buttons, indicates it is not as intuitive as the Honeycomb Mail app, exactly where the controls alter intelligently.
Contacts as well includes a dual-pane view in landscape format, exhibiting additional get in touch with particulars such as Twitter and Facebook accounts on the proper. You still get HTC’s social networking widget Friendstream exhibiting Twitter and Facebook feed on the left, with comments on the proper.
It’s definitely easy to make use of, you scroll down to see Notifications and Quick Settings and in the bottom, running across the bottom with the screen are App, Notes, Reader, View and Personalise options. Launch four applications through the lock screen simply by dragging them in to the circle.
The HTC Flyer sorely misses some crucial elements of Android three.0 Honeycomb, like the excellent You Tube app with its 3D wall and also the capability to drag and drop applications and shortcuts onto the screens.
HTC has included a single, rather than dual-core processor, but we never discovered the device sluggish at loading web pages. Actually in common use it is smooth and fast to use. On-board Flash support is welcome too.
With out a dual-core chip you won’t have the ability to entry the assortment of games obtainable for tablets such as the Motorola Xoom. HTC’s answer would be to include cloud-based gaming support OnLive. It hasn’t released yet, but when it does you’ll be able to play video games including Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and Lego Harry Potter.
The Flyer shares the same display resolution as the Blackberry Playbook, and playing back a choice of Hd clips, movement was sleek and colours organic, even though we noticed blacks and whites aren’t as pure because the iPad 2. Seven inches is really a good dimension to look at movies easily though. Off-angle viewing is Okay and visibility isn’t as well poor in bright sunlight.
HTC’s outfitted the Flyer with a 5-megapixel main camera, that is poor. Tapping the display to autofocus is a nice touch, even though detail is extremely soft, with small definition, especially at broad angle. Issues improve with close up shots although, that are a lot sharper.
There’s a great choice of tweakable functions, including: ISO, White Stability and Exposure Compensation, along with HTC filters: Distortion, Vignette and Classic.
The rear digital camera captures 720p films at 30fps, but while the action is smooth, it’s very soft, drop it to VGA and quality improves significantly. We’ve been disappointed with Hd film quality of a couple of HTC items and this is no exception.
With WiFi on and screen brightness to Automatic, we managed to get five hrs use, four hours or so of film playback and an hour or so of common use, including browsing. Having a lot of downloads, this may probably reduce.
HTC Flyer Specs
- OS: Android 2.2 with HTC Sense
- Processor:1.5Ghz processor
- RAM:1Gb
- Storage: 32Gb, microSD
- Screen: 7-inches 1024×600 pixels
- Connectivity: WiFi N, 3.5mm, Bluetooth 3.0, HSDPA
- Camera: 5-megapixel/ 1.3-megapixel
- Video:720p/li>
- Dimensions:122x13x195mm/420g
When HTC announced that the Flyer would be running Android two.3.3, we were shocked – surely it tends to make sense to run the most recent tablet optimized version of Google’s UI?
But this is not vanilla Android. Instead it runs HTC Feeling 2.one (not three.0 such as the dual-core Sensation sadly), which continues to be especially optimised for tablets. So although it appears like a big smartphone, it does not really feel like a smartphone to make use of – in contrast to the very first Samsung Galaxy Tab.
There’s a slick 3D carousel of homescreens for you personally to flick via, while widgets like FriendStream, Contacts and Mail have been designed to match a large display, with most modifications evident whenever you flip the Flyer to landscape orientation.
In Mail you are able to see a dual-panel email see, with a checklist of messages on the left and contents of the email on the right. Nevertheless the bewildering array of buttons, indicates it is not as intuitive as the Honeycomb Mail app, exactly where the controls alter intelligently.
Contacts as well includes a dual-pane view in landscape format, exhibiting additional get in touch with particulars such as Twitter and Facebook accounts on the proper. You still get HTC’s social networking widget Friendstream exhibiting Twitter and Facebook feed on the left, with comments on the proper.
It’s definitely easy to make use of, you scroll down to see Notifications and Quick Settings and in the bottom, running across the bottom with the screen are App, Notes, Reader, View and Personalise options. Launch four applications through the lock screen simply by dragging them in to the circle.
The HTC Flyer sorely misses some crucial elements of Android three.0 Honeycomb, like the excellent You Tube app with its 3D wall and also the capability to drag and drop applications and shortcuts onto the screens.
HTC has included a single, rather than dual-core processor, but we never discovered the device sluggish at loading web pages. Actually in common use it is smooth and fast to use. On-board Flash support is welcome too.
With out a dual-core chip you won’t have the ability to entry the assortment of games obtainable for tablets such as the Motorola Xoom. HTC’s answer would be to include cloud-based gaming support OnLive. It hasn’t released yet, but when it does you’ll be able to play video games including Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and Lego Harry Potter.
The Flyer shares the same display resolution as the Blackberry Playbook, and playing back a choice of Hd clips, movement was sleek and colours organic, even though we noticed blacks and whites aren’t as pure because the iPad 2. Seven inches is really a good dimension to look at movies easily though. Off-angle viewing is Okay and visibility isn’t as well poor in bright sunlight.
HTC’s outfitted the Flyer with a 5-megapixel main camera, that is poor. Tapping the display to autofocus is a nice touch, even though detail is extremely soft, with small definition, especially at broad angle. Issues improve with close up shots although, that are a lot sharper.
There’s a great choice of tweakable functions, including: ISO, White Stability and Exposure Compensation, along with HTC filters: Distortion, Vignette and Classic.
The rear digital camera captures 720p films at 30fps, but while the action is smooth, it’s very soft, drop it to VGA and quality improves significantly. We’ve been disappointed with Hd film quality of a couple of HTC items and this is no exception.
With WiFi on and screen brightness to Automatic, we managed to get five hrs use, four hours or so of film playback and an hour or so of common use, including browsing. Having a lot of downloads, this may probably reduce.
HTC Flyer Specs
- OS: Android 2.2 with HTC Sense
- Processor:1.5Ghz processor
- RAM:1Gb
- Storage: 32Gb, microSD
- Screen: 7-inches 1024×600 pixels
- Connectivity: WiFi N, 3.5mm, Bluetooth 3.0, HSDPA
- Camera: 5-megapixel/ 1.3-megapixel
- Video:720p/li>
- Dimensions:122x13x195mm/420g
