HTC Wildfire

“The incoming call volume was good in the ear speaker, and the voice quality was acceptable. The other party was hearing us fine as far as strength, but the voice was distorted, especially high-pitched conversations. There is no videocalling on the HTC Wildfire as there isn't any front-facing camera, and no application to use the primary one is preinstalled. The loudspeaker is of average strength, and sounds tin and hollow. Battery life certainly benefits from the slower CPU and the unpretentious screen. With the default 1300mAh unit the phone is rated to clock in as a minimum 8 hours of talk time, even in 3G mode, which is very good for an Android handset. We think there should be a law forbidding phones with great design to be underpowered and paired to low-res screens. Joking aside, if we didn't have these gripes with the camera quality, the HTC Wildfire would be a decent first stop for inexpensive introduction to the world of Android touchscreen phones. We certainly enjoy the phone's proportions and battery life, though, plus HTC's tradition of coining phones with great design and superb build quality is exemplified fully in the HTC Wildfire, despite its low-range specs status.”

“Well, we didn't have high expectation for the Wildfire to begin with, and having played with it we were even less stoked. In general, this handset's seriously lacking in multimedia features, and then we have the screen problem plus the occasional lag. That said, we can't really walk away hating the Wildfire in its entirety -- the battery life's good, plus it is after all a £230 ($346) device if bought off the shelf, or for free on T-Mobile's £20 ($30) per month two-year contract. In comparison, the Legend's about £360 ($542) SIM-free, but it's also available for free on Vodafone's £20 plan with significantly fewer minutes. Needless to say, your choice will greatly depend on your phone usage and carrier preference, but we'd gladly sacrifice some call time and go for the faster AMOLED-donning Legend. If you're looking for a basic off-contract Android smartphone but still want the Desire / Nexus One look, then the Wildfire's the way to go”

“The HTC Wildfire doesn't skimp on smart-phone features, offering some of the best social-network integration that money can buy. There's really nothing about this handset that screams 'cheap phone' except the low-res screen. If you can't abide the screen, the Samsung Monte may be worth a look. It doesn't offer smart-phone software, but it provides a good user experience, with a decent display and plenty of features.”