Usability & Performance
T-Mobile and HTC deserve a lot of credit for the work they did customizing Shadow’s user interface. Windows Mobile 6 is something of a beast to behold, and Shadow’s top-level UI all but masks it from the average user’s view. The Shadow home screen features a vertical row of icons down the left side - scrolling through them gets you just about everywhere you’d want to go on the phone, from messaging options to WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity management. Configuring HotSpot access and pairing with Bluetooth devices was a snap with Shadow.
It’s easy to dig down to the standard WinMob menu scheme if you want to (and not all that hard to accidentally wind up there), but Shadow’s custom UI is much easier to use, and this isn’t a power user’s smartphone. For myFaves, Email/messaging, and Web browsing, the custom menu system will suit most Shadow users just fine. Though Shadow isn’t as powerful, hardware-wise, as current high-end smartphones, I didn’t encounter any real performance issues while testing it. Menus were generally responsive and as long as I didn’t try to run more than two or three applications at once, Email, Web browsing, and media playback were all satisfactory. As with any Windows Mobile handset, I highly recommend ditching IE and downloading Opera Mobile or Mini (or the new Torch Mobile browser) for your Web surfing.
Shadow performed quite well as a phone, grabbing a good signal and producing loud, clear sounds through both its earpiece and speakerphone. The handset doesn’t support T-Mobile’s HotSpot@Home calling plans, but is myFaves compatible, and a recent software update adds support for “Audio Postcards,” which so far as I can tell are just MMS messages with a fancy name.
The built-in 2 MP camera captures video but lacks a flash of any sort, and performs about as well as most other mid-range cameraphones out there: It’s not great, but it’s fine in decent lighting. HTC’s proprietary headphone system is a bit annoying, but USB earbuds are included in the package and stereo Bluetooth support allows for wireless enjoyment of your multimedia - and while “only” capable of 65,000 colors, Shadow’s QVGA display performed pretty well during video playback.
Next: Conclusion »
4.5
