Mobinaute Reviews the 3G Smartphone HTC Breeze (Qtek 8600)

[Kris Kumar]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.mobinaute.com/mobinaute/article.php?id=20060527112211' target='_blank'>http://www.mobinaute.com/mobinaute/article.php?id=20060527112211</a><br /><br /></div>The folks over at Mobinaute have managed to get there hands on the HTC Breeze, the 3G based Smartphone, which will be marketed as the Qtek 8600. There are lots of good photos in the review and now that I am looking at the real photos, it seems like a pretty decent handset. The thing that bothers me is that the unit is tri-band and it supports only 900/1800/1900 MHz. In the US the 850 Mhz is used by the carriers, so does this mean that HTC will have an 850/1800/1900 Mhz unit as well? <br /><br /> <img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/Kris-May06-Breeze.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/><br /><br />In case for some reason you do not understand French, here is the Google translation of the <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mobinaute.com%2Fmobinaute%2Farticle.php%3Fid%3D20060527112211&amp;langpair=fr%7Cen&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;oe=UTF-8&amp;prev=%2Flanguage_tools">article.</a> :lol:

[Mike Temporale]

I like the key layout, and I like the scroll wheel (that was a scroll wheel I saw, right? ) But something about the overall look of this device is just not right. Sorry, but this is one of the least attractive devices we've seen in a while. IMHO.

[surfer]

I hope 3 comes out with this unit here in Sweden. It would be the perfect device to switch too.

[thefunkunfaked]

First miniSD, now microSD..

I am impressed. I don't know if i could go back to a Smartphone now, but it looks very attractive. If Cingular picks it up, it will have to have the 850 band, without a question... but ahhh, I don't see that happening anytime soon.

[encece]

BLAH!

[Jerry Raia]

I like it. :) No music buttons! I hope it will come in quad band.

[Kris Kumar]

First miniSD, now microSD..


At least it can be removed and inserted without taking out the battery. That is a BIG plus. [I should have highlighted that in my main post. :oops:]

[Kris Kumar]

I like the key layout, and I like the scroll wheel (that was a scroll wheel I saw, right? )

I don't think it is a scroll wheel, based on the translated caption for the photo, it seems like the up-down-click button that the MPx100 had. The scroll-wheel wannabe, but not the same deal. :-(

And isn't it on the wrong side, if it is truely for scrolling thu mail even with down-down-down clicks, it should be on the right side, right? :? I think it is for just volume, just like the MPx100. :roll:

[encece]

Personally....I like the scroll-wheel-wanna-be better than a true scroll wheel. A true scroll when involves you to scroll down....move your thumb...scroll down...move your thumb. With this type...you just press and hold down without lifting your thumb. (How's that for lazy?!)

And even though I'm right handed, I hold and use the phone more with my left hand than right. So it would be a good layout for me.

QUESTION: Because I dont know.
What does this phone give us outher than the higher speed data?
Is it a faster phone?
Do we even have the network data systems in place in NA to acommodate this phone?
It's not really nice looking either.

[Kris Kumar]

The biggest advantage is the high speed network. The processor is faster (at 300Mhz) and has more memory (128 MB Flash), but data network speed is the biggest gain in my eyes.

And to take advantage of the high speed, you need a carrier that can offer UMTS based 3G network. Cingular has started delivering UMTS in some markets. (http://cingular.com/3g) I don't think T-Mobile has even started.