Hands-On Time With the Vox Brothers - HTC S710 (GSM) and S720 (CDMA)

[Kris Kumar]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://tinyurl.com/yt52fg' target='_blank'>http://tinyurl.com/yt52fg</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Yesterday afternoon I was fortunate enough to be invited by HTC to a small gathering of press people to look at new HTC devices. It was an informal discussion setting, so I wasn't taking many notes: the real purpose was to show us the two new devices that they had announced, the HTC Advantage and the HTC Shift. They also passed around some new phones I hadn't seen before - one was the HTC S720, a CDMA phone that looks similar to the Vox and will be released by Telus in Canada. There's another phone, with a steel blue finish, that I can't identify. I've sent out emails asking for more information on each phone but I haven't heard anything back yet. For now, here are a series of photos comparing the new phones to my current phone, a T-Mobile Dash."</i><br /><br /> <img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/Kris-mar2007-htcs720.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/> <br /><br />We have heard a lot, and seen a lot of photos of the HTC S710 (Vox). It is an amazing QWERTY-slider smartphone for the GSM networks. At the CTIA 2007 HTC surprised everyone by introducing to the attendees S710's brother the HTC S720, which is a CDMA device that supports the fast EV-DO data networks. Telus in Canada is supposed to be <a href="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13973">launching</a> it, but we can be sure that this smartphone will be hitting the American store shelves. The only question is - who will get this awesome device, Verizon or Sprint? Anyway, Jason got to spend some time with the upcoming HTC devices at the CTIA 2007. He got some side angle shots that clearly shows the size difference between the Vox family and the T-Mobile Dash.

[Mike Temporale]

Although I don't want to compare it to the SMT5600, there's something about holding the Vox in your hand that makes you think - SMT5600, only better. I'm not saying it's the same size and weight as the 5600, just that it really reminds me of it.

[Kris Kumar]

Although I don't want to compare it to the SMT5600, there's something about holding the Vox in your hand that makes you think - SMT5600, only better. I'm not saying it's the same size and weight as the 5600, just that it really reminds me of it.

As always hardware is evolving. SMT5600 a couple of years ago was hailed as a marvel of miniaturization. Now the Vox is the same size, packs a bigger screen and manages to have a QWERTY keyboard. Wow! 8O

Somehow I feel that it is not generating the same buzz as the iPhone. Okay, that is a bit far fetched. But I am waiting to see how the carriers will market the Vox family. Samsung and Moto have spent plenty of money on co-marketing the BlackJacks and the Qs. Wish HTC would do the same. These are amazing devices. More people need to see these devices on TV.

[Bernardo]

I was in Singapore two weeks ago, and actually got to play with this device. My current phone is a Cingular 2125 (HTC "Faraday"). If you strike the little bump at the top of the 2125, the Vox is the same height, width, and thickness, though just slightly heavier. I'm one who has avoided using a PDA phone, because I found it to be just too clunky for a device that was, for me, at least, primarily used as a phone most of the time. This device is what I've been waiting for. With the keyboard retracted, it feels like a nicer phone than the Faraday, and with the keyboard extended, it's much more usable than T9 typing :-).

If Cingular doesn't carry it in the US, I'll be buying one in Singapore (by law, all devices must be unlocked there), and slipping my Cingular SIM into it...

I'm a Windows Mobile kinda guy (I work for Microsoft, so I'd better be!), and I'd been seriously thinking about an iPhone, but this device seals the deal for me...I'm staying!