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HTC Rezound Review Htcpedia news:
Today I am going to be reviewing the Rezound from HTC. This is HTC's latest Android flagship phone from Verizon. I got this phone three weeks ago on launch day and have been putting it through its paces since then. As you can see from the specifications below, this is one of, if not the best, smartphones on the market today. It has not been getting the marketing hype like the Droid RAZR by Motorola has been getting, but in my opinion the HTC Rezound is the best smartphone Verizon Wireless is offering this holiday season. Lets talk a little about the phone itself. HTC Rezound Specifications
 Performance Everything about the HTC Rezound screams usability due to the 1.5 GHz dual-core CPU and the 1 GB RAM. Screen transitions are smooth and I have noticed zero lag when navigating through the menus. The biggest performance difference/surprise for me is when I am updating and installing Apps from the market. On my recently retired HTC Droid Incredible, whenever I had more than three or four updates running at the same time, the phone would become virtually unusable until the apps were completely done installing. The lag was almost completely unbearable (it reminded me of trying to use a Windows XP computer with 64MB of RAM) and caused me to skip updates most of the times. Skipping updates can really be detrimental to your phone's performance. You never know which updates are fixing your installed apps and putting off the update process is never a good idea. For those of you who have a lot of apps installed on the phone this can be a huge pain. I currently have 138 apps on my HTC Rezound and just last week I got a notification to update nine of them. I was very curious to see how it would perform since I remembered all too well times I tried to update that many on my Incredible and the phone became completely unresponsive for upwards of ten minutes. When I hit the 'update' notification and the market opened I actually held my breath when I hit the 'update all' button. To my complete surprise and delight all nine were downloaded and installed within seconds! I didn't even have time to try to perform any other tasks before it finished! This one scenario proves all I personally need to know about the performance of my HTC Rezound. Software For anyone familiar with HTC phones and the Sense UI this will be more of the same that we already love, only better. From everyone's favorite weather widget to Friendstream, all the HTC apps we've come to expect are there. The improvements that I have noticed in my three weeks with this phone are numerous, of course you have to remember that I am coming from the HTC Incredible which is running Sense 1.0. Users of phones like the HTC EVO 3D and the HTC Sensation (which both run Sense 3.0) will be more familiar with this version of Sense. The differences between 3.0 and 3.5 are more in line with general optimization, the reports are this version of Sense is smoother than its predecessor. Without being more familiar with the HTC EVO 3D and HTC Sensation I cannot really comment on specific differences in the two versions of Sense, but please feel free to ask any questions in the comments below.  The information available to users from the various menu settings can seem daunting. The fact of the matter is that HTC has really given users all the tools they need to know every inch of their device. None of the information/settings/menus available are essential to the average user's everyday use, but the information provided can really be helpful to 'power' users. I continue to discover new menus every time I use my device; when looking in the 'SD & Phone Storage' menu there is an option to 'make more space' listed under 'SD card' and under 'internal storage.' The former showing temporary files from HTC apps, applications on SD card with check boxes to uninstall multiple apps at once, and a list of media dived by the app it comes from, also with check boxes to delete multiple files at once. Screen shot below.  The latter has options to clear cache in rarely used apps or all apps, then gives users more options upon hitting 'next' to move apps to SD, hit 'next' one more time to get options for clearing out old messages and changing email settings. Users that are very storage oriented will love the ease with which you can manage your apps, caches, media, and temporary files. This barely scratches the surface of what is possible with Sense 3.5. Anyone else know of any cool, little known, or extremely useful settings? - please share them in the comments. Camera HTC has really hit a home run with the camera on the HTC Rezound. The improvements on the software side along with a much better sensor make taking all kinds of pictures a real joy. I personally love the panorama setting for stitching together some really beautiful shots. The other setting I have used most often is the 'action burst' which takes 5 pictures in around two seconds. Also included are several different effects such as: Vignette, Vintage, Grayscale, and Negative. By playing with the different settings, scenes, and effects it is possible to produce some real quality pictures.  Hardware/Build quality This category is always the most subjective in my opinion and as such I will not spend too much time on it. Everyone will have different thoughts and opinions about how the hardware performs and how good the build quality is. The speaker is loud when using it for calls and music sounds adequate for my needs. I admit to not even taking the iBeats headphones out of the box yet, so the music side of things I cannot speak much on.  The screen is, for me, the number one selling point of this phone. The 4.3" full 720p screen produces visuals that are simply amazing. The phone comes pre-loaded with two HD videos, an Ellie Goulding video and a live video from LMFAO which really showcase the stunning visuals this phone is capable of. HD YouTube videos are a joy to watch, especially when using Verizon's blazing fast 4G LTE network. No other phone can match the quality of the HTC Rezound's screen as far as the actual resolution goes (1280x720). Even the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Nexus, which boasts the same resolution but on a slightly bigger screen, will be hard pressed to produce the same quality of visuals. The phone feels good in my hand without a case. If I had any complaints it would be that I do need to adjust my grip to reach the top of the screen when pulling down the notification bar. This has the potential to be a problem for users with smaller hands; the same can be said of all 4"+ sized phones though. It is my experience that the HTC Rezound fits in my hand better than any of the other new phones, such as the Motorola RAZR, HTC Thunderbolt, and X2.  Overall the phone feels like it was well put together, very sturdy. The power button and volume rocker are a little more recessed than I am used to and that has been taking some getting used to. If anyone has experience with the HTC Sensation or HTC EVO 3D please let us know in the comments if the same is true with those devices. In conclusion I must say that this is the best phone I have ever owned. I would recommend this phone to anyone, tech savvy or not. Verizon and HTC have a real hit on their hands. Rate this: 1 2 3 4 5 Rate Shopping for official HTC Accessories?
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Comments (23) By Chad69 December 05, 2011 12:47 PM This is a awesome review, and it influenced me to get this phone! Information was very helpful. Thanks!! (Reply) By mhotovec December 06, 2011 05:52 AM Great review. It makes me wish I was eligible for an upgrade on my current plan! (Reply) By NightAngel79 December 06, 2011 09:22 AM You should be pretty close to an upgrade, right? :) (Reply) By El_Presidente December 06, 2011 07:53 AM Very nice review. I get the impression you were pretty biased though :p. (Reply) By Xyro December 06, 2011 04:18 PM I dunno about having a larger screen - reaching the top left corner of the DHD's screen can be a little tricky already. (Reply) By El_Presidente December 07, 2011 07:38 AM I'm trying to convince myself that if I get a phone with a bigger screen then I won't need a tablet. By rapt_in_roses December 06, 2011 02:45 PM This article, written by my son, is way over my head, but he sure seems to know what he is talking about. Good job, kid. All I know about this phone is that it takes excellent quality pictures - the best I have ever seen from a phone. (Reply) By sra December 06, 2011 03:38 PM OMG please add disqus comments! I created an account just to leave a comment on this article. (Reply) By NightAngel79 December 06, 2011 05:38 PM Couldn't agree more about Disqus, though once signed up here it is way to hit up the forums. (Reply) By DroidAV8R December 06, 2011 03:55 PM Great review, NA! I agree 100%. The screen is stunning, and performance is flat out amazing. Best phone currently offered by Verizon, hands down. (Reply) By NightAngel79 December 06, 2011 05:55 PM Yea everything (almost) I been hearing about them is positive. They look awfully pretty in the box though! Lol (Reply) By Xyro December 06, 2011 04:30 PM Good review! The only thing I would have considered discussing is battery life. It varies a lot from person to person yes, but it's still worth a quick mention IMO. (Reply) By NightAngel79 December 06, 2011 05:37 PM Thanks for confirming Xyro. I suspect a case will help. And will try to get a battery life article out soon, figured this one was long enough for now :p (Reply) By Daverk December 07, 2011 12:29 AM Using a desire hd here in Ireland, is there an equivalent set for us here? (Reply) By NightAngel79 December 07, 2011 06:58 AM Presently I would have to say no. I'd imagine that you will see something that rivals this phone soon on your side of the pond. Hopefully 720p screens will start showing their faces around in more phones. This screen is so beautiful I'd hate for more people to not enjoy the visuals. (Reply) By bigbam77_2007 December 07, 2011 11:07 AM Excellent review and compelling argument to ^grAde my phone. (Reply) 
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March 04, 2012 05:39 AM 
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March 06, 2012 09:50 AM Ice Cream Sandwich-Yes, HTC Sense 4.0-Not for HTC Sensation Users 
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April 06, 2012 11:27 AM Time To Celebrate HTC Rezound Users-Ice Cream Sandwich Is Yours 
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