While not as powerful as the massive HTC TITAN, the Taiwanese manufacturer’s second Windows Phone is a great mid-range handset. The beautiful silvery-white device is “crafted from a single piece of polished metal” which surrounds the 3.8-inch WVGA TFT capacitive touch screen.
For the most part, the Radar’s hardware is 33-50% less powerful than the TITAN. The Radar comes with a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 processor, 512MB of RAM, a front-facing camera, and a 5MP camera with a BSI sensor, f2.2 lens, autofocus, and LED flash. The usual sensors are included, but the TITAN’s gyroscope and digital compass are nowhere to be found.
Our only major complaint is with the 8GB of internal storage, which is even more limiting than the 16GB included in the Radar’s counterpart. Of course, this is somewhat negated by the refreshingly long ten hours of battery life. Interestingly, the Radar’s 20 days of power on standby is significantly longer than the 15 days included with the TITAN.
The Radar, like its big brother, will come with 5.1 surround sound speakers, tethering, Bluetooth 2.1, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, and GPS. Windows Phone 7.5 “Mango” and a selection of HTC services like Video On Demand, Watch, and Hub will also be included out of the box.
Microsoft has committed to a somewhat vague October release timeframe, but Bloomberg has chimed in with more details. The HTC Radar should hit stores on October 1 for $199 with a two-year contract or $569 off contract.
