HTC S710 Review - Introduction & Design

Introduction & Design

HTC does only one thing, they produce cellular devices, and luckily for the HTC 710 they do that one thing extremely well. The HTC 710 not only provides its users with all the features of the newly released Windows Mobile 6.0, it does so in a design that is much smaller than earlier models of HTC devices, think the Cingular 8525 but smaller, sleeker and more practical.

Much like the T-Mobile Wing, the HTC S710 combines the power of a quad-band GSM phone, and soon the power of the Sprint CDMA network, with the know how and tested practices of the HTC brand. The phone is small, yet functions with even more usability of a larger Motorola Q, while offering a unique candy bar design never before found in a side loaded sliding qwerty keyboard.

Even with its smaller size, the HTC 710 never sacrifices its functionality, in fact the HTC 710 actually capitalizes on its small dimensions (3.97 inches x 1.96 inches x .69 inches) by implementing the first candy bar styling phone to feature a side loaded sliding qwerty style keyboard, while keeping the thickness of the phone at a respective .69 inches. The phone also weighs in at a manageable weight of only 16 grams.

The model I chose to review provided by MobilePlanet  came in a black design with silver/chrome front keys. While it wasn’t the most striking color design I have seen, the unique size made up for the lack of an ooh and ahh factor found in the phones color scheme.

At first glance the phone appears to be nothing more than a candy bar cellular device. The phone features a front panel numeric keypad with two distinct soft keys, which point on the left to the Windows Start Button and on the right to the phones messaging system. The front display also features a back arrow and home keys for easy navigation. Finally a directional keypad is offered for navigating throughout the Windows Mobile Interface and other third party applications that are easily loadable to the device.

Further investigation reveals a Micro SD slot located on the right side of the device, the slot offers easy access to the memory slot. The right side of the phone also features a camera button at the top of the phone.

The left side of the device also has a hidden second slot, this slot however is meant for the phones Sim Card. I specifically enjoyed the Sim card being located on the side of the phone, mainly because it saved me from having to dig out the battery when placing the card in the reader, or removing the card for other uses. On the top left there is also an up and down arrow, this is used specifically for volume control functionality. While the phone also features an easy to use one touch button function for voice tag usage.

The top of the phone features a multifunctional button for turning the device on and off, while also used for accessing the phones connectivity menu and for swapping between profiles, while the bottom of the phone features a USB connection for charging and syncing.

On the back of the phone you’ll find a 2.0 mega pixel camera with very little thrills, but it gets the job done.
Finally, pushing on the side of the phone reveals a sliding keyboard, and while the phone may be fairly small in dimensions, the keyboard was actually fairly spacious with a high level of usability. The keyboard also features blue backlight keys for easy access in low light areas.

Aside from the phones aesthetic happenings, the device offers an excellent build factor. The phone definitely lives up to the high build standards set forth by HTC’s entire line of devices. The phone has no gaps, no rubbing of parts, and thanks to a well built slider device, no issues opening and closing the phones unique, and first of its kind, side loaded sliding qwerty keyboard.

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