It wasn’t too long ago that Verizon’s stance on Windows Phone 7 seemed one-sided, and not on the “good” side, either. While there were plenty of rumors about Verizon getting a Windows Phone 7-based device sometime this year, higher-ups at Big Red didn’t seem all that interested in the mobile platform. It didn’t take reading between the lines to speculate that maybe, just maybe, Verizon wouldn’t be launching a WP7 handset any time soon. But, the day has finally come (yesterday, technically), and the HTC Trophy is finally available for Verizon subscribers. But, is the Trophy the device that will sell Windows Phone 7 to Verizon customers?
The HTC Trophy features a 3.8-inch capacitive touchscreen display, the NoDo-equipped version of Windows Phone 7, and a 5MP camera on the back of the device. There’s a 1GHz processor under the hood, making everything tick along. And for those global travellers, the Trophy is a world phone. As with every other Windows Phone 7-based device out there, there aren’t a lot of features differentiating it from its kin. That’s Microsoft’s plan, though, so the fact that the features list (at least for the bullet-point list) isn’t all that lengthy isn’t shocking.
But while that features list may not be a problem for those who are already fans of Windows Phone 7, or know that Microsoft holds a tight grip on the hardware design for their mobile platform, selling the Trophy to a smartphone-seeking new customer may be a tough sell when compared to the other handsets that Verizon has on sale.
Furthermore, if someone is looking for the best Windows Phone 7 device they can find, especially for the money they’ll have to throw down at the time of the sale, I’m not sure the Trophy is the device that will pull people into the fold. For T-Mobile, the HTC HD7’s size (with a 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen) may be enough to pull customers away from the Trophy. On AT&T, the Samsung Focus has a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, plus all of the same features that the Trophy packs. (The HTC HD7S is coming, which has the same 4.3-inch display size as its T-Mobile cousin, but it packs a Super LCD instead.) And then there’s Sprint, which features the HTC Arrive.
The Arrive may be the closest to the Trophy in the fact that it’s not an aesthetically impressive device, especially compared to the competition. In fact, the HTC Arrive only has a 3.6-inch touchscreen display, versus the Trophy’s 3.8-inch display. However, the Arrive throws in the curveball with its slide-out physical QWERTY keyboard. For some customers, that physical keyboard is more than enough to sway them towards the Windows Phone 7 fold, even if it does feature the smallest display in the Windows Phone 7 arsenal.
The HTC Trophy, while a WP7 device, seems almost like a middle-of-the-road handset. Sure, it still features an impressive camera, an impressive processor inside the device, and a mobile platform that many people really like, but even compared to other Windows Phone 7-based devices out there, it doesn’t seem to me that Verizon is really trying to sell the platform, even if they have a phone ready to go.
But that’s not all that surprising, now is it? After all, we already know that Verizon’s higher-ups aren’t all that compelled by Microsoft’s latest mobile OS endeavor, so the fact that they’ve launched WP7 at all should be good enough for anyone already on Verizon’s network, and wanting to see what WP7 is all about. However, will the Trophy bring in new customers from other networks? I really doubt it. But I could be wrong and the Trophy could be the next smash-hit for Verizon. Anything is possible, right? What do you think of the Trophy’s place on Verizon’s network? Can it sell Windows Phone 7 to the Big Red subscribers? Let me know in the comments below.
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