The HTC 7 Mozart strives to set itself apart from the WindowsPhone 7 pack with a xenon flash and 8-megapixel camera. But that's really just gravy on top of a solid, shapely phone that offers asimple, slick user interface. If you buy the Mozart, you'll have to waitfor Microsoft's app store to fill up, and the operating system has a few earlyquirks, but the Mozart sings a happy tune overall.
HTC 7 Mozart
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
The Mozart is available for free on a £32.50-per-monthcontract, exclusively on Orange. You can also buy it SIM-free for around £470.
Have we met before?
The Mozart has the challenge of differentiating itself fromthe other phones that launched alongside Windows Phone 7. Because ofMicrosoft's strict minimum specs, each launch phone has around 8GB of memory, a 1GHz processor, at least a 5-megapixelcamera, and a large screen.
Since all Windows Phone 7 handsets have the same userinterface, we invite you to read our fullreview of the new OS. In anutshell, we think it's very finger-friendly and simple, buthas plenty of room to grow. The Xbox Live, Zune music and Officefeatures are already crave-worthy, but the app store has plenty ofcatching up to do.
Both HTC and Orange have contributed to the OS in the only way they've been able to -- by slapping some of their ownapps on there. None of them are worth buying the phone forspecifically, although the Orange Wednesdays app is definitely worthhaving. Not only does it offer a quick way to grab two-for-one cinema tickets, it does a great job of displaying movie reviews, trailers,show times and nearby cinemas.
Although the Mozart has a 1GHz processor, we found it slightlyless perky than the HTC HD7. Occasionally, the screendidn't unlock on our first swipe, and apps didn't open asquickly as we expected. It's not a terrible problem, but it does slow down theswoopy Windows Phone 7 OS somewhat.
Taking the shot
The Mozart sings a slightly different tune to rival Windows Phone 7 handsets, thanks to its8-megapixelcamera and xenon flash. This type of flash is brighter and delivers betterresults than the LED photo light typically found on mobilephones, but it will drain the battery faster and can take a secondto warm up.
Indeed, in our tests, the Mozart's camera wasn't particularly fast to capture shots, with or without the flash. We found thedelay between pressing the dedicated camera button and capturing an image to be longer than with some of the Mozart's competitors, likethe Android-based HTCDesire HD, although we still think you'll see an improvementif you're upgrading from an older camera phone.
Thexenon flash also can't be using for shooting video, since it can't beleft on like an LED can. In general, however, LED lights are sounflattering and harsh that we prefer to leave them off anyway.
To test the xenon flash, we retreated into the dark,mysterious cave that is the CNET UK TV testing room. We pitted the Mozartagainst a Desire HD, which has an 8-megapixel camera with two LED lights. (For more on the DesireHD's camera, check out our Desire HD camera test.) We also pitted the Mozart against adecent compact camera, the FujifilmFinePix J150w.
We've collated the images so you can compare themmore easily. Click the pictures below to see larger versions, or click the following links to see the original, full-sized camera photo, Mozart photo and Desire HD photo. All the photos were taken under fully automatic settings.
In the photos above, although the camera soundly beats both phones, and does abetter job of exposing Ian's massive napkin collection, the Mozart's xenonflash trounces the Desire HD's LED lights. Although the colour isn'taccurate, the flash is less harsh and delivers a better image overall.It's worth noting that, with the flash turned off, the Mozartrefused to even take a shot in very dark conditions, while theDesire HD made a valiant effort to focus.
Thankfully, it's not dark all the time in the UK, so we took some shotsin good light, too, shown below. Click these links for the full-size camera photo, Mozart photo, and Desire HD photo.
In this shot of an Intel employee sharing a cupcake with a Mountie, the Mozart's poor colour reproduction is lessforgivable. We also prefer the sharper definition of the Desire HD shot. We gave the Mozart plenty of chances to get the shot infocus.
Overall, we weren't thrilled with the Mozart's camera,although the xenon flash is definitely an advantage. For shots in goodlight, we'd put it on par with the rest of the high-end smart phonesout there. If you love taking shots in the dark, the Mozart couldedge out the competition.
Music to our ears
With a name like Mozart, we had high hopes for this phone'smusical abilities. It comes with a pair of flimsy free earbuds, but wetested it with a pair of fabulous AudioTechnica ATH-W1000 headphones, and we were perfectly happywith the Mozart's performance. The SRS Wow HD sound algorithm can take thecredit for sound that feels accurate and warm. The onlydownside could be the volume -- we had to keep it pumped up to maximumto get our rock on. It's possible to buy headphone amps, but we'd rather be able to notch the volume up on the phone.
The Windows Phone 7 music player, like the rest of the OS, has a fresh design with plenty of white space. It looks good and feels fun to swipe around with your fingers,but we do have a few complaints. For example, when listening to aplaylist, we found it too easy to skip through songs by touching thescreen while the player was still displayed, or when we were scrubbingforwards or backwards in a song. We also would have liked to be able toscrub through songs with a slider, rather than just using thefast-forward and rewind buttons, although they helpfully speed up scrubbing asyou hold them down.
Finally, we weren't thrilled with the tiny music player that'sdisplayed at the top of the screen when you're listening to music anddoing something else. As far as we can see, you can only bring it up byhitting the volume buttons, not by tapping or scrolling. At least you can skipor pause from the mini-player, but you can't tap it to open the fullplayer. We have a similar complaint about the status symbols that showup when you swipe the top of the screen -- seeing the Wi-Fi strength isgreat, but we'd love to be able to tap to open the Wi-Fi settings, forexample.
The Mozart has 8GB of storage, and no more -- Windows Phone 7 doesn't support using extramemory cards. If you think you'll want to pack more music and videoonto your phone, it may be worth looking at a handset withexpandable memory, like the HTCDesire.
On the plus side, we love the Zune software that helps yousync music with your phone and your computer, although it did take afew attempts for us to get connected via USB. You can even sync yourphone wirelessly, if it's on the same Wi-Fi network as your PC. TheZune store on the phone also makes buying music on the move straightforward, and you can stream music too if you pay for a £9-per-month Zunesubscription.
Conclusion
We hoped the HTC 7 Mozart would blow us away with its cameraand music prowess, but our feet remained firmly on theground. The phone's xenon flash should help out when you're in a dark club or on a spelunking trip, though. Overall, the Mozart is a perfectly sound,solid showcase for Windows Phone 7. Its decent pay-monthly price and pocket-friendlysize should tempt those who find the HD7 too big and expensive, evenif the Mozart feels fractionally less responsive.
When it comes to apps, the iPhone and Android platforms have a massive head start over Windows Phone 7, but Microsoft's OS is still fun and finger-friendly. Add a pair of decent headphonesand a Zune account, and the Mozart will keep you entertained just likeits Austrian namesake.
Edited by Charles Kloet