Review: HTC Flyer

HTC did not offer so many tablets during the past year (only 2), but I have to tell you straight, this one, as funny as it may seem to some is a must and let me explain you why.

First let put it in the context, I live in a big city and I use my tablet everywhere I go, office, public transportation, home…

The first tablet I owned was the Acer A500, a great tablet, cheap, a lot of custom ROMs out there to make it faster and bloatware free but the main issue was its size!!! Yes 10 inches is great when you are in your sofa browsing the web but now try the same standing in a bus… good luck with that!
So I sold it… and looked for something smaller.

The second chosen tablet was the Samsung Galaxy Tab (the original), it running with Gingerbread but don’t judge it on that it is fast! and allows you to do everything you may need, phone calls (you need a Bluetooth headset), web, email, watch a video in the plane, read in the bus, you can actually hold it with ONE HAND!
The size was just perfect for what I needed, so why did I change again? As I told you I use also my tablet in a professional environment. So, I start looking for a tablet that would give me more than a phone with a big screen and I found the HTC Flyer.

When I received my Flyer it was running Gingerbread with HTC SenseHTC Sense is a graphical user interface developed by HTC Corporation for mobile devices running Android, Brew and Windows Mobile. HTC has referred to HTC Sense as both a user interface in itself and also as a user experience layer. - Wikipedia - and already I was impressed. Fast, Sense actually is very practical in a professional environment, grouping together all the function your need and perfectly integrating with Exchange. The size is like the Galaxy Tad, the perfect compromise between mobility and practicality. Finally, what make the whole difference with the Galaxy tab: the STYLUS!!!

Steve Jobs hated the stylus and stated while presenting the first iPhone “Stylus… Who wants a stylus?…”. Dear Steve wherever you are, you were wrong again. I do want a stylus, and it seems the 700 000 people who bought the Galaxy Note also want one. There is indeed nothing more natural to take note, correct a document, over-light a text or simply draw a pictures whatever Apple fanboys can tell me, and if you think I am wrong, feel free to share it in the comment section.

But Let’s go back to the HTC Flyer, and let’s go back to what I don’t like or what could be improved. Maybe a better battery life to hold the charge for two full days, no tablet can do it so far but I dream of it. The button to be active even on HoneyComb, really Google, don’t copy Apple on this one, physical buttons do make a LOT of sense! a better CPU or a better OS, HC is just sluggish, hopefully ICS will correct this.

Now what I love and I believe you already understood by now, the size first, the 7 inches screen is simply what I need, it fits in a jeans pocket, you need only one hand to hold it. Then, the stylus also called the “Scribe Digital Pen” is a MUST tool for anybody who wants to take notes, draw, underline a text or simply have a kid writing or drawing without using 10 paper sheets. The screen resolution, some people will always want more, but why, to have a shorter battery life, no thanks. Here it is 1024 x 600 pixels you can do plenty on it, it is perfect to read, and you see pixels is you have a magnifying glass and are looking for them. Finally the charging port!!! Guest what? Even if HTC send you a specific cable (weird on this one) a classic micro-USB will do the work and pluging it to the computer will recharge it, slowly, very slowly but it will!

Verdict for the HTC Flyer

Pros		Cons
Rating:
Perfect 7″ size HTC Scribe technology Good battery life Very good screen quality Micro-USB compatible charging port		I want a two days battery-life HoneyComb! The capacitive buttons are inactive with HC The Stylus is not always sold with the tablet (depend on the version) No Flash for the camera
Verdict	A “must-have” who want a multi-functions tablet