HTC 7 Mozart Windows Phone 7 smartphone review

Score

3.8 stars
"Good"

(How we score)

Fast processor, fresh UI, clean design

No microSD card slot, fiddly/slow camera, no task manager

Summary

Being one of the first HTC Windows Phone 7 handsets, the 7 Mozart fills the role of "music handset", which is reflected in its name. Despite this, the Mozart does little to distance itself from its sibling, the Trophy, which appears to be no less equipped for music, yet is touted as the gaming handset of the bunch.

The Mozart's main strength over the Trophy is its 8 megapixel camera and accompanying Xenon flash. However, in reality the bump in megapixels did little to improve the Mozart's photo quality, and the xenon flash gives many photos an unwanted blue tint. Otherwise, the only other difference from the Trophy is the smaller display offered by the Mozart, which still offers the same WVGA resolution as its sibling, despite the smaller (by 0.1 inch) size.

As smartphones go, the Mozart is a very capable performer, with a 1GHz processor, 8GB of built-in storage, and a large capacitive touch screen. The Windows Phone 7 user interface that it uses is fresh and different from rival UIs, so it's certainly worth a look if you're not keen on other recent smartphone offerings, and it's a definite improvement on the old Windows Mobile UI.

You'll find a video tour of the HTC 7 Mozart after the Table of Contents, below. [To be added soon - editor]