AT&T HTC Tilt PDA, Smart Phone Review

When I picked up this phone it was still a lot cheaper than getting an iPhone. The items that drew me to the phone were a full keyboard, large touch-screen, and Microsoft exchange sync via wireless capability. The iPhone at the time did not have the exchange feature which ruled it out for me. I have windows mobile 6.0 loaded on it now, but windows mobile 6.1 upgrade is a free download from AT&T.

Some of the cool features of the phone are a smart card port so you can store movies or mp3's. There is a download that lets you run flash movies like off of youtube.com. IT has built in 802.11g wifi.It has a gps receiver and syncs with google map software for full gps functionality on downside for it is that the gps takes a few minutes to sync to the satellites. Also has a 3 mega-pixel camera that can store pictures on the main memory or on the smartcard. Being that it is windows based too there are tons of downloadable apps for it. I have a large clock on mine with an alarm as I use it when traveling and at home. I also have some games that I bought and downloaded straight to the phone. I have ripped several movies down to store on the card and watched them on the plane a few times with a set of headphones. I downloaded an app to watch them.

Call quality is good and it has full 3g speed for data where it is supported. It handles Bluetooth well too. Another option is tethering for laptops. The usb cable that came with it that will let it tether if you have a good data plan.

Only downside to the phone is the size of it. It is about twice as thick as an iPhone and is heavier. Upside to that is the battery life, it is quite good. I can let it go for almost 3 days and it syncs all day and takes a few calls and will last. You can charge in the car, wall, or when it's plugged into the usb port of your computer. Another downside is the browser in windows 6 that is pretty bad as far as phone browsers go. The next versions of windows for smart phones are supposed to handle that problem though. From the testing I have done with beta browsers, the next versions are going to be quite a bit better with easier to use "zoom into the page" options.

I am digging this phone pretty well as it does all I ask and keeps on going. Being able to respond to emails from my work email and hotmail (need Microsoft Live installed) is handy when you are traveling or away from the office. I give it a definite thumbs-up for those people that are looking for something other than an iPhone. It is also supposed to have a windows 7 upgrade soon.