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At this point, I think I've driven the pun phrase "the Arrive has arrived" into the ground. At any rate, the HTC Arrive is in my hands, and after about 24 hours of use, it's…about the same as the other Windows Phone 7 devices, save for a physical QWERTY keyboard. That aside, it's nice to see the CDMA Windows Phone - formerly known as the HTC 7 Pro - with official carrier branding. The HTC Arrive lands at Sprint on March 20th, and will cost $199.99 with a two-year agreement.
I've spent part of last night and this afternoon working with the phone, and here's what I've discovered thus far:
- The phone comes with an AC adapter module, USB cable, and earbuds. The usual HTC trimmings.
- HTC always does a nice job with the "fit and finish" of their products, and the Arrive is no exception. I'm digging the design, from the metal battery cover to the design beside the camera. When opened, the 3.6-inch display is angled for easy viewing on a table.
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- The Arrive is powered by a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, and so far, the device has been very speedy in day-to-day tasks. Granted, multitasking hasn't graced the OS just yet, but the overall experience has been a good one, with no lagging whatsoever.
- Arrive totes the same virtual QWERTY that the other Windows Phone devices come with, and while it offers a similar experience, I found that the "click" sound was ever-so-slightly behind the actual press of my finger. It hasn't affected actual use - I've been able to use the virtual QWERTY with ease - but it is mildly irritating nonetheless. The physical keyboard has been great thus far. It's a five row QWERTY with a dedicated row for numbers, and another for the space bar and commonly used symbols. The island keys are large and are reminiscent of the Touch Pro 2.
- Copy and paste is obviously a benefit, though it's a very underdeveloped version. Once the original copy is pasted, you're not able to use it again. Instead, you have to physically select the text again. Obviously, it's a benefit over not having it at all, but one would think that they could have developed it a bit further.
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- Like the other Windows Phone 7 devices, the Arrive comes with a 5-megapixel camera with 720p HD video recording capabilities. I'm working to get a 720p video sample on the site (can't upload directly), so be on the lookout for it soon.
- So far, call quality has been pretty good. The earpiece is nice and loud,and I haven't dropped any calls yet.
- The Arrive ships with a 1,500 mAh battery, and while I haven't had time to run any battery tests or get any concrete figures, the past 24 hours have been on par with what I experienced with the HTC Surround and LG Quantum. It's not going to blow through a day and into another with heavy use, but with the occasional call, text message, e-mail, and an internet session here and there, it should make it into the evening.
That's all for now. Check out the unboxing, and keep it locked on the site for the full review!