Topic: Mobility

Seven reasons I chose the HTC Radar 4G over the Nokia Lumia 710

Summary: The Radar 4G and Lumia 710 are both excellent low cost Windows Phone devices on T-Mobile USA. After spending time with both, I am using the Radar 4G as my primary device for several reasons.

By Matthew Miller for Smartphones and Cell Phones | January 16, 2012 -- 05:15 GMT (21:15 PST)

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Unfortunately, there are very few Windows Phone choices on T-Mobile USA and thus I have stuck with my HTC HD7 and Dell Venue Pro for over a year. They are still solid WP devices, but I have been looking for something different and have now settled on one device while I wait for a rumored high end Nokia Lumia 900 that may be coming sometime this year.

A couple of months ago I took a look at the HTC Radar 4G and recently wrote up some first impressions of the Nokia Lumia 710. I recently paid over $750 for a Samsung Galaxy Nexus (yes, that is a bit crazy but part of my job to get the latest and greatest), but I have now pretty much given up on it and am back to Windows Phone nearly full time on T-Mobile. I personally find the Windows Phone platform to be much more efficient for daily usage and have decided this is my personal platform of choice.

After using the Nokia Lumia 710 and HTC Radar 4G off and on over the last week or two I have decided that the HTC Radar 4G is the Windows Phone for me and am sticking with it until something better comes along. I have removed devices and now have the Radar 4G setup as one of the phones supported by my Zune Pass too. I really though the Lumia 710 would have been my phone of choice and if T-Mobile and Nokia would have just released the Nokia Lumia 800 with T-Mobile USA support then that would likely have been my phone of choice.

Here are the reasons I chose the HTC Radar 4G over the Nokia Lumia 710:

Display size: The Radar 4G has a slightly bigger display, 3.8 vs 3.7 inches, but even that small of a difference has an impact and I like 3.8 to 4 inches on Windows Phone at 800x480 pixels resolution.
Form factor and quality: The Radar aluminum shell is much nicer than the plastic and soft touch of the Lumia 710. The 710 display is the worst I have ever seen at collecting fingerprints and face grease and it does not clean off easily. The Radar looks great in white and feels like a very expensive phone.
Larger capacity battery: The Radar has an integrated 1520 mAh battery while the Lumia 710 has a removable 1300 mAh one. I get better battery life on the Radar, but you can have spares for the Lumia too.
Capacitive buttons: I am used to capacitive buttons and cannot get used to the weird move Nokia made with a physical button bar on the Lumia 710. I keep tapping it with no actions being taken.
HTC utilities: The HTC Attentive Phone utilities let you enable options to reduce the ringer volume when you pick it up, increase ring volume when in your pocket, flip over to turn on the speaker, and flip to mute the ringer. These are very useful utilities for a phone.
WiFi hotspot: The HTC Radar 4G supports the WiFi hotspot functionality found in the Mango WP software. The Lumia 710 may eventually get this in an update, but the Radar has it now.
Front facing camera: I know this is not the most important feature, but it does work with Tango on the Radar right now and with Skype eventually coming out it could be a big deal.

The Lumia 710 is a decent device, especially at only $50, and it does have an advantage over the Radar 4G. The Nokia Lumia 710 comes with Nokia Maps so you can get full offline GPS navigation with the device. There are 3rd party programs for Windows Phone so you can get this on the Radar 4G too, but if navigation with your phone is important then the Lumia 710 may be the one to consider.

Both of these are generally consider low to mid range Windows Phone devices due to their slower processor speeds, slower data limit (14.4 Mbps HSPA+ radios instead of 21 or 42) smaller internal memory capacity (8GB only), and low price. However, I am finding the 25 GB of Skydrive available for free to make up for the lack of storage capability and even with 25+ apps loaded on the Radar 4G I still have over 1.5 GB left (out of about 6.5 GB available). I also stream music through Zune or Slacker Radio and am starting to feel that 8GB may be just fine on Windows Phone.

Why am I even considering one of these instead of sticking with my HD7 or Dell Venue Pro? The HD7 camera is horrible, battery life is limited, and these two devices have better displays too. The DVP is a big device and the camera is barely usable.

I hope that the Lumia 710 and Radar 4G low prices and excellent performance encourage people to try out Windows Phone since I find the platform to be my personal favorite and believe it is a system someone needs to try to believe in. The customer reviews for both of these devices are outstanding with both currently earning 5 star ratings on the T-Mobile site. I look forward to more Windows Phone news at Mobile World Congress and CTIA over the next few months and am hopeful we will see even more compelling hardware for T-Mobile USA.

UPDATE: I was just informed that Mark Guim from The Nokia Blog posted the video below yesterday that offers a very nice video comparison of these two devices. In addition to the HTC Hub, I think the HTC utilities I mentioned above are even more compelling.

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19 comments

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RE: Seven reasons I chose the HTC Radar 4G over the Nokia Lumia 710

might be a good replacement for my htc mozart

ozinanoypi
16 January, 2012 06:41

Reply Vote
- RE: Seven reasons I chose the HTC Radar 4G over the Nokia Lumia 710
  
  @ozinanoypi :
  I was thinking along the same lines, but I think my next WP needs to have a 1.4 GHz processor.
  
  jaykayess
  19 January, 2012 23:15
  
  Reply Vote
RE: Seven reasons I chose the HTC Radar 4G over the Nokia Lumia 710

I have an HTC HD7 and HTC Sensation running CM7.1. I have really like the Windows Phone OS and have found that for the most part there are some good quality apps available. But my biggest frustration with WP7 is the speed of the OS. Multi-tasking works fine, but apps like email and twitter (Ive used Rowi, Official, Mehdo, Birdsong, etc) don't sync as fast or take a longer time to load than what I am used to on Android.

Matt, can you tell a notable difference of the speed of the OS on newer hardware? Because the impression I get is that I'm not waiting on hardware, rather I'm waiting on services to run in real-time?

jonesdavide
16 January, 2012 07:57

Reply Vote
My thoughts

I think that the nokia devices are too ugly to buy. Maybe the reason they can't make a splash in the United States is because they try to press european design in the United States.

x21x
16 January, 2012 07:59

Reply Vote
- RE: Seven reasons I chose the HTC Radar 4G over the Nokia Lumia 710
  
  @x21x
  
  You're crazy pal...the Lumia 800 and 900 are probably some of the best devices to hit the market. When they launch in the States people will buy them. I only agree with your statement if you're talking about the 710 because the protruding buttons was a bad move by Nokia but the flip side to this is cost. The phone goes for $49.99 which is why it has a limited feature set but it still runs WP7.5 which is the best mobile OS to date. Live Tiles rock over anything the competition has and for ease of use nobody can touch Windows Phone.
  
  Rob.sharp
  19 January, 2012 11:39
  
  Reply Vote
Its Academic

Its like saying what I chose for Dinner on the Titanic..............

WP7 is sinking fast, and 2 drowning men (nokia and MS) clinging onto each other, both will drown.

Plus I fear upcoming suits against Microsoft for infringement over its tiles/metro interface which it has clearly lifted directly from this..............

http://www.babycity.co.uk/baby-gifts/electronic-interactive-toys-my-first-phone/fisher-price/fisher-price-fun-sounds-flip-phone-pd-2508.html

DejaVu2
16 January, 2012 08:01

Reply Vote
- RE: Seven reasons I chose the HTC Radar 4G over the Nokia Lumia 710
  
  @garyc2011
  
  It's always much easier to follow the leader than blaze your own path.
  
  Turd Furgeson
  19 January, 2012 12:04
  
  Reply Vote
RE: Seven reasons I chose the HTC Radar 4G over the Nokia Lumia 710

I've been considering Windows Phone for a while and was most surprised that the 700 did not have a front facing camera. I haven't done the research on other manufacturers offerings, but it seems to me that a FFC would be "standard equipment" for ANY new smart phone.
Good article, will wait for the Lumia 900 or see if any new qwerty sliders are on the horizon.

KenD90027
16 January, 2012 09:58

Reply Vote
Now for the Advantages of the Nokia Lumia 710

1. True Second Generation CPU of 1.4 GHz (1 GHz in the Radar) 2. Lumia 710 has an integrated digital compass (None in the Radar) 3. Physical buttons can be very much an advantage while Capacitive buttons are easily/accidentally pressed. 4. Nokia Navigation app is very good. 5. Available in Black (on T-Mobile) 6. Replacable battery (as you mentioned) although I honestly prefer the longer life of the Radar. 7. Much better black levels on Lumia 710
8. Lumia 710 has a Noise Cancelling Microphone

valkyrie-mt
17 January, 2012 07:40

Reply Vote
RE: Seven reasons I chose the HTC Radar 4G over the Nokia Lumia 710

To sum up my thoughts. No reason for me to buy either at this point. Maybe 900 when it comes out in U.S. on AT&T (or possibly T-mobile as rumour shortly after AT&T launch, especially if T-mobile gets a clue and offers an attractively priced unlimited plan to help them gain market share). Still struggling to know why I would want Windows Phone over Andoid the comment "I personally find the Windows Phone platform to be much more efficient for daily usage " is a bit ethereal for me.

jkohut
17 January, 2012 10:37

Reply Vote
- RE: Seven reasons I chose the HTC Radar 4G over the Nokia Lumia 710
 
 @jkohut Check out the author's earlier posts, where he's explained the reasons. Also see the comment by grumpywriter and some others below.
 
 jaykayess
 19 January, 2012 23:17
 
 Reply Vote
RE: Seven reasons I chose the HTC Radar 4G over the Nokia Lumia 710

The key take away here for me is the OS. I finally tried the windows phone os and was really surprised at how good it is. I was an apple fanatic for a few years and then did the android dance as well but my choice is now the windows phones. The simple looking but live tiles on the home screen give very relevant and easy to access information. My favorite is pinning tiles to the home screen which again, are live and constantly updating themselves - for me it is my family - if my mom sends me an email it used to always get lost in my 150+ unread inbox, now it is there on my homescreen within the family tile. I love it. While the Lumia has the faster processor, it didn't look like there was a noticable difference so together with the larger battery and HTC hub, I'd go with the Titan 4G - especially with the wifi sharability. It would be interesting to hear the difference between the two microphones given the noise cancelation of the Nokia. Finally - its great to see that Microsoft is serious about this new OS and from the numbers, it is growing every month - let's just hope that they can get people to look at it becase in the end, competition is good for us, the consumers.

grumpywriter
18 January, 2012 11:42

Reply Vote
RE: Seven reasons I chose the HTC Radar 4G over the Nokia Lumia 710

I *really* like WP7 and the 710 in particular. I like the smoothness and reliablity of the OS and the Little Nokia has superb design. The screen especially is superbly visible, even in daylight. Nokia Drive is excellent and, gasp, one can remove prepinstaled apps if one wants to save space. One cannot do that on Android now without rooting the device!

Marilith
19 January, 2012 13:16

Reply Vote
RE: Seven reasons I chose the HTC Radar 4G over the Nokia Lumia 710

Two issues, I am still puzzled why Nokia rolled out two phones without a front camera. Such a bummer in just a few months before proper videoconferencing apps hit.
Secondly, I am bothered by the limited storage on the phones. My HD7 has only 8
GB and that is quite useless compared to the 64GB on my GF's Iphone 4S. Local storage, not cloud!

DanCun
19 January, 2012 14:26

Reply Vote
- RE: Seven reasons I chose the HTC Radar 4G over the Nokia Lumia 710
  
  @daniel.cunder@... It is possible to remove the local storage and pop in a 32Gb. You'll lose all your data and you'll have to reset the phone. But it's worth it :)
  
  DreyerSmit
  17 February, 2012 02:26
  
  Reply Vote
RE: Seven reasons I chose the HTC Radar 4G over the Nokia Lumia 710

all of this is yet another reminder that PCnet, PC Magazine, are forever tied to Windows. You just cannot break free from the stranglehold.

Black Barack
20 January, 2012 02:59

Reply Vote
RE: Seven reasons I chose the HTC Radar 4G over the Nokia Lumia 710

Either one, who cares? You just cannot lose when pick the LoseDoze Fone Operating System (O/S). After all, it is the one and only O/S that allows the user to install the internet and browse the web and point and click and cut and paste and multitask and do all of the things that are so DIFFICULT if not outright IMPOSSIBLE to with any other phone O/S.

HackerJ
20 January, 2012 14:28

Reply Vote
RE: Seven reasons I chose the HTC Radar 4G over the Nokia Lumia 710

NEED A PAINTING EDITOR HERE TO DRAW A GOOD PHONE AND SCHEMATIC>>>>
>>>>LIKE A ROLLUP PHONE TWO PARTS ONE INCH DIA EACH FIVE INCH LONG>>>>
>>>>ROLL OUT TO 12 INCHES X 5 IN SOLAR POWERED 8CORES ONEMILAWATEACH>>
128G MEMORYORMORE>>>DREAMUPSOMETHING????

lawrence hordy
20 January, 2012 16:21

Reply Vote
IE has no forward button!!

I tried the Radar at a tmobile store and internet explorer does not have a forward button, it does not even have an option to enable one. THAT is BAD. I was considering replacing my Galaxy with one, but I just can't. :|

sylvangale
26 February, 2012 14:47

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