HTC Fuze

Stylish smartphone hindered by keypad



WITH ITS GLOSSY lacquered finish, the HTC Fuze is one of AT&T's more stylish smartphones. It packs a 3G radio, a touch screen, built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and a full QWERTY keyboard.

Despite its design and formidable feature list, however, this $299 smartphone suffers from some notable hardware and software flaws. Measuring 2.8 inches, the Fuze's sharp VGA screen dominates the device and makes everything from Web browsing to watching videos an enjoyable experience. The phone's slide-out QWERTY keyboard, however, is cramped and makes everyday typing a little more involved.

To further complicate matters, the Fuze's keyboard lacks dedicated buttons for numbers. This unique layout takes some getting used to if you're accustomed to working with dedicated number keys. Although the Fuze is powered by Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, most of the time you're interacting with HTC's visually stunning TouchFLO 3D interface, a shell that runs on top of Microsoft's OS in an effort to make Windows Mobile more intuitive.



Functionally, it's miles ahead of Windows Mobile, but we noticed some lag when opening apps from within the TouchFLO shell. In addition, booting up I ITC's interface adds a few extra seconds to the phone's overall startup time, which is already long. Call quality was excellent, although the built-in speaker is weak. Browsing the Web was smooth and fast. The 3.2-megapixel camera features built-in autofocus and an LED flash, but test images appeared grainy and lacked detail. Battery life was dismal. With moderate 3G and Wi-Fi use, we barely made it through a 6-hour workday before we needed to recharge. For heavier use, a spare battery or additional charger is highly recommended. -Louis Ramirez

Computer Shopper May 2009