My two years with AT&T were up and I was notified in my accounts page that I was due for an upgrade, if I so chose to sign up for another 2 year contract. Standard fare. With so many options, I had quite a dilemma on my hands.
My last phone, the AT&T 8525 aka the HTC Hermes was a great phone, but slow. I read and sent Gmail using a keyboard. I listened to my one playlist of MP3s. I connected to Orb to watch my recorded television shows and movies. I read RSS feeds. I looked up medical information on UptoDate and Epocrates. And, I occasionally opened up Skyfire to read a full on article or two. I loved the phone enough to put on a fat extended battery and wear it on my belt or on the waistband of my scrubs day in and day out.
When it came time to select a new phone, I was tempted to try out a Blackberry, the iPhone, the G1 and the HTC Fuze. But, alas each of them had their flaws, including the HTC Fuze. However, what became quite obvious was that, of the listed activities above, only the HTC Fuze could accomplish the majority of them without a hitch. Further, only a Windows Mobile phone lets you customize or hack your phone to the nth degree, while the remainder of the platforms locks you into the stagnant complacency of herded cattle.
The iPhone is certainly a sexy phone. However, within the bowels of a hospital where reception is poor, the poorer battery life of the iPhone was a serious detractor. Safari certainly reigns supreme, but Opera Mobile is a very close second. And, with Apple’s staunch no-on-Flash stance, Opera Mobile is poised to take over. No medical software currently runs on this device. And, lastly, being locked into an Apple dominated world really tossed the iPhone out of the running. Look at how there is still no cut and paste.
Only kiddies are going to run around listening to music and watching videos on a day to day basis. Adults like to send email, texts, and run productivity applications. With no keyboard, I don’t care how many forefingers you have, you will not beat a keyboard.
The Blackberry with its linear menus, poor browsing experience, and lack of software fared poorly in my mind as well. This is an email device. To attempt to do anything more on it is really a waste of time. And, conceptually, the Storm interface should have raised red flags earlier. Press AND click?! Throw efficiency out the door along with its lousy browser.
The G1 is still suffering from growing pains. Charging international customers for roaming despite turning off the 3G? Come on. The platform is exciting, but the phone is wholly unremarkable at the moment. However, I would certainly re-evaluate the G1 in another two years.
This left the HTC Fuze as the only serious contender for a place at my waist. The only downside of the HTC Fuze is its smaller screen. But, it renders in beautiful VGA and performs all of my required activities with no issues. Smaller, faster, and sexier than the HTC Hermes, the HTC Fuze was a no brainer. Tweaked, as only a Windows Mobile phone can be tweaked, by the wonderful folks at xda-developers, the HTC Fuze is your absolute best bet for the near future.
