HTC Wildfire review

In everyday use this manifests itself in a number of ways. Menus often stutter or don’t respond instantaneously to the touch. Pinch-zooming complex pages in the browser is frequently a little stop-start. And occasionally tapping out numbers or text feels laggy too. It isn’t perfect, that much is clear.

The camera begins to lift the gloom and is able to produce decent, if a little soft, snaps. It boasts a 5-megapixel resolution, an LED flash and even touch-focus to ensure you’re focusing on the right subject. Don’t buy it as a replacement camcorder, though – the video function’s maximum resolution is a paltry 240 x 320.

We had no problems with call quality, and battery life isn’t bad either. We measured 60% remaining after we had run it through our 24-hour test, which puts it on a level with the iPhone 4 and HTC Desire. Heavy users will need to charge the phone once a day, but you’ll be able to get two or more days use out of it if you’re careful.

The clouds shadowing the Wildfire are finally banished by the price. Buy an HTC Wildfire SIM-free and it will only set you back £195 exc VAT; get it on contract and you’ll pay peanuts. It’s available for £30 on a £15 per month, 24-month contract for 300 minutes of calls, unlimited texts and 1GB data.

That’s undoubtedly a good deal, and it’s good enough to win the Wildfire a spot atop our A List budget smartphone category. Although the screen can’t match the Galaxy Portal’s for quality or resolution, and performance is on the slow side, the fact that it runs Android 2.1 out of the box, costs so little and Sense UI is so good edges it in front.

Author: Jonathan Bray