2008 was, to say the least, a banner year for Windows Mobile hardware. Windows Mobile
software... well, that's another story; we're still patiently waiting for the same thorough overhaul we'd hoped for
years ago, but in the meantime, manufacturers have done an absolutely stellar job of taking the platform to its limits and packaging it in ways that could make any smartphone envious. For this first time, VGA screens (and beyond) have come to market en masse, and -- unlike the
8525s,
Tilts,
Moguls, and
XV6800s of yesteryear, the latest batch of QWERTY sliders look like they've actually got a lick of intelligent industrial design in their DNA.
So these puppies are similar, yes, but they're not the same -- so let's take a quick look at what separates the
Sprint Touch Pro, from the
Verizon Touch Pro, from the
AT&T Fuze, from the
Sony Ericsson X1 (whew!).
We're not going to spend any time on the software here for several reasons. First,
TouchFLO 3D and Sony Ericsson's
panel interface have both been thoroughly explored at this point. Two, although Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T have all added their own tweaks, cripples, and nuances, cooked ROMs are readily dropped on any of these devices to juice them to your taste. And three, Windows Mobile is... well, Windows Mobile. What more can be said that hasn't already been said? Instead, what we want to do here is take an intimate look at the hardware differences among each of the foursome. Three -- the two Touch Pros and the Fuze -- are theoretically the same device, so it's really amazing to us how a carrier's whims can influence the physical design of the end result.
Verizon's Touch Pro is the squarest (and arguably the most businesslike) of the bunch, but for whatever reason it's also the largest by a noticeable margin, so you end up with this huge border around the display. We were totally cool with the squareness, but the size difference is inexcusable -- especially considering that it has no appreciable bump in any key spec against its competitors. Hell, it actually has 96MB less RAM than its contemporary from Sprint.
The AT&T Fuze is the funkiest phone here, carrying over
One & Co's original vision for how this device is supposed to look. You know what we mean -- that controversial "diamond" faceted back. Other than the fact that it has a tendency to collect fingerprints and miscellaneous oily garbage, we really didn't mind it, and we don't think that it'd be a problem in a stiff corporate environment (in fact, we'd go so far to say that you don't want to work with people who
do have a problem with it).
We think the Touch Pro looks just great in black, but Sprint apparently wanted to stand out a bit, speccing its own model with an unstyled back and a rounded chrome and matte silver finish. It's not bad -- and it'd also have no problem flying in a heated boardroom meeting -- but we prefer the look of the Fuze (and we'd also prefer the Verizon Touch Pro if only it wasn't so dang big).
Finally, we have the superstar of the bunch: the mighty (and mighty expensive) X1 from Sony Ericsson. It's simply a stunning phone to look at; it's beautifully constructed, made mostly of metal, and the slide mechanism is addictively perfect (seriously, we'd be concerned about wearing it out from needlessly sliding it ad infinitum).
Appearances aside, let's turn our attention to comfort and usability. Our initial thought going into this was that the Fuze and the two Touch Pros would be virtually identical in this regard, but we were proven very, very wrong.
First off, the keyboards are night and day -- yes, even among Touch Pros. Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T have each selected very different layouts, and naturally, the layout has a marked effect on usability. Verizon's unit has two fewer columns of keys than either Sprint's or AT&T's, lacking dedicated caps lock and tab keys and trimming the shift and enter keys down from double-wides to single-wides. AT&T's is the only keyboard with a dedicated Windows key -- and it's also the only one to go with a function key-activated numeric keypad pattern for the digits instead of a dedicated row across the top. The net effect of this is that Verizon's keyboard is the most spacious -- but at the cost of functionality. Of the three, we personally prefer AT&T's layout the best (and we also found that the Fuze's keys had slightly better tactile response for whatever reason), but ultimately it's a matter of personal opinion -- and we're sure we could adapt to any of the three if we had to.
The X1, of course, is a different story altogether. While the keyboards on the Touch Pros are clearly designed for function, the X1 puts an emphasis on form -- and takes a hit in the usability department for it. The keys have surprisingly little feel considering that they're spaced apart, they're angled in bizarre, nonsensical ways, and the top row is too close to the screen for comfort. Ultimately, we were able to adapt a style that made our typing sufficiently quick and accurate, but if we had a choice, we'd take a Touch Pro keyboard ten times out of ten.
In terms of navigation, the Touch Pros all have essentially the same questionably-designed directional pad. It's impossible to know exactly where you're supposed to press the raised ring to actuate a direction, and when you do press it, there's an almost disconcerting creaking sensation (and sound, sometimes) that accompanies the press. It's cool that the whole surface is touch-sensitive, but at the end of the day, left, right, up, and down are your four most important commands, and the ring makes it more difficult than it should be. Interestingly, all three Touch Pros felt slightly different here, with the Fuze having the most satisfying actuation (though it still sucked). The X1 had a better d-pad, but we found the inner optical mouse difficult to use -- Samsung seems to be better at mastering this technology -- and the softkeys up above are almost painful to press because the silver bars stick way out from the surface of the phone for no particularly good reason.
And what of the displays? All four of these screens are humming along at a minimum of VGA resolution, which feels
great to finally be able to say. Anecodotal evidence suggests that the X1 was the dimmest of the four, but just by a hair; the bottom line is that you're going to be really satisfied feasting your eyes on any of them. Combined with Opera Mobile, it's an dream come true for interwebs addicts (read: every last one of us). We were bummed when we realized that the X1's screen -- though higher-res than the Touch Pros at WVGA -- is inset with a metal lip surrounding it, which significantly hampers usability with a finger alone. We'd almost call it a deal-breaker, actually; Sony Ericsson should know by now that flush screens are where the action's at these days.
The bottom line is this: with the exception of the X1, the phone you ultimately choose from this group is more likely to be determined by your current carrier than by your personal preference. Fortunately, we found that the differences between the three were minor enough so that you really shouldn't be too bummed out by that realization -- they all have their niggles, and we'd vote that the Fuze is just barely the best of the bunch -- but they're ultimately variations on the same damn theme. The X1, on the other hand, is in a league all its own; crazy pricey, crazy beautiful, and moderately more tricked-out than its brethren, it's the cream of the crop as WinMo goes. Would we pay $800 for it over a $300 subsidized Touch Pro, though? Without a stratospheric salary, that's a tough sale.
posted Dec 27th 2008 7:00PM
no dedicated number keys on the fuze is a big dealbreaker for me... which makes the lessened ram of the vzw a dealbreaker and the sprint model my winner.
i haven't had the pleasure of using the x1 but the increased resolution would be nice.
Of course VZW would lessen the RAM - they cripple most if not all of their devices anyways.
Try out the Fuze keypad. It's actually much better. You use punctuation much more than you use the numbers. Battery life is also better on the Fuze. The Fuze specs advertise 8 hours of talk time, while the Sprint Pro advertises 4(CDMA is usually more power hungry. The Sprint touch pro I was using also performed extremley hot during use, even hotter than my old ATT/Cingular 8525(The original TYTN).
So unless you got an old SERO account with Sprint or ATT coverage in your area is bad then go with the Fuze. The Verizon one just plain sucks. The Fuze is already a brick and the Verizon Touch Pro is like a brick house. Plus it has less RAM
As bad as the One and Co broken d-pad is on the FUZE, is the missing numbers row really all bad? After all, it's just setup exactly like the Kaiser/Tilt and nobody seems to be dying from that. Using the FUZE keyboard as much as I've had, I find I use symbols more during texts and emails than numbers anyways.
I wish At&t had not decided to pass on the X1, I would have happily paid any subsidized price they decided on. Sony camera, 3.5 jack, better screen, but at double the price as the fuze because you have to buy unlocked...
This smackdown sucks, sad to say. Some models are ignored in certain sections for no reason. The pictures are scattered through the article randomly, not matching up to the paragraphs at all; it's difficult to impossible to see what's being described. For some reason, we have no picture of the Verizon model in many of the pictures, or a picture of the back of the Verizon model when all other 3 are of the front of their respective phones. Bizarre :-(
That's Ziegler for you.
Have to disagree that the pictures aren't matched up to the paragraphs. Why do they have to match one-for-one, anyway? And did you bother clicking through to the gallery?
Ah, I just realized you're Hugh Jass. I should've figured that out six months ago.
I, for one, had no problems with the post. If you need more pictures look at the damn gallery. And the pictures went pretty well with the paragraphs to me. With only slight differences in looks and names, the three Touch Pro's are not the easiest things to write a comparison for.
I think Chris did a great job, and I'm an acknowledged Sprint Touch Pro apologist. I love my touch pro.
I'm glad you mentioned the Cooked ROMs Chris, they're what make these devices amazing, not so much the stock ROMs. Seriously, give a few of them a try, and you'll see what I mean. Opera 9 (the latest 2xxxx or something build) is slick too, almost safari slick, even with flash.
the battle of the fatty's
all of the would make a perfect phone conbined
i would love the X1 for sprint .but i also would like the sprint pro with the body of the fuse
So what about the regular unlocked HTC Touch Pro that's around?
Sprint Touch Pro activated on VZW FTW.
Screw their crippling and the stupid placement of the M key.
WOOOOOOOOW!
I saw the pick and I can't believe how stupid that is. ZXCVBN(UP)M
Who was the idiot who decided to put the UP key between N and M!??!
I wouldn't have either. I hate the open/close/open/close to use the keyboard. Screw the screen size; QWERTY-bar all the way.
I do have to agree that the up, down, left, and right direction buttons on the Fuze (and very likely on the CDMA Touch Pros) is a complete nightmare. It makes the Fuze as hideous to navigate (or more) than a touchscreen-only phone.
Step 1: buy fuze
Step 2: unlock and sell on ebay
step 3: use profits to get an X1i and still use AT&T's 3G. Most cities use the 1900 band anyway.
Plus, the X1a is still not out at bestbuy, fry's, j and r, or sonystyle, and doesn't have the VGA video-capture. I haven't found any X1 users who complain about the keyboard/buttons, I have high hopes for my X1, priority mail just can't deliver fast enough :(
I love my Sprint Touch Pro with $5.00 EVDo Rev. A!! Thanks Sprint!
i love the fuze
the only complaint i have is that they took off the raised ring on the dpad so hitting left and right is very difficult
color is best and keyboard layout is best. number row isnt good its much better to have them together
I got the Fuze for Christmas from someone that mistook "Wow, that is a nice looking phone" for "Wow, it's almost Christmas, and you should really buy me that phone". I'm taking it back, but I can give my impressions of it before then:
It's smaller than it looks in pictures. It's about as thick as a deck of cards, and about as long as one as well.
As the article mentioned, it is a fingerprint and oil MAGNET. It's worse than the PSP by far, and that is saying something. It was so filthy after five minutes of use that I seriously looked at my hands and was bewildered that such filth could come from them.
The build quality is great overall. It seems like it could withstand a fall, and the slide mechanism has a nice "Thack" to it when you close it.Touchflo 3D is easy to use, and it works like it should. All of the business oriented WinMo features are there as well underneath the touchflo interface.
Now for why I'm not keeping it (other than the obvious reason which is that I already have a perfectly good phone):
The Fuze is subject to weird lag at times while doing things that normally don't lag (such as flipping through TouchFlo)
The speaker on the Fuze is ridiculously poor (The loudest ringtone could barely be heard through my pocket)
You absolutely need to use the stylus for all but the most basic of functions (WinMo clearly wasn't designed for a finger to navigate) which means anything that isn't TouchFlo
TERRIBLE Wi-Fi radio (I was RIGHT NEXT to the router and I didn't have a full strength signal. Give me a break)
Setting up Wi-Fi was a pain in the ass thanks to AT&T's hidden proxy. Phone didn't auto-configure DNS either like any other WiFi device would either (had to do it manually) the problem wasn't my router either, because other devices auto configure DNS just fine.
Last, but not least, my Fuze came defective. It will only play five seconds of a song before it cuts out. I've never heard of this problem before, so I'm fairly sure it's just my phone specifically (your mileage may vary)
On the plus side, I don't think the Fuze loses in style to any other WinMo phone (the X1 included). The web browser works great, and it is full HTML. The screen is a gorgeous 640x480 (or 480x640, depending on how you look at it) which probably contributes to the lag, but I'd say it's worth it. All in all, if I didn't already have an Iphone (no, I'm not comparing the Fuze to an Iphone, I'm simply stating the fact that I wasn't in need of a phone) I'd probably be very happy with the Fuze, with the exception of the terrible Wi-Fi performance. The Camera is in a completely different league from the Iphone, but it's not enough to keep me from returning the phone and buying something else with the 300 dollars.
The camera and the keyboard on the Fuze make me opine for an Iphone with a full qwerty keyboard and a decent camera. Or an Iphone with better battery life....or an Iphone with a higher res screen....or a G1. Can't win them all.
I forgot to mention that the phone does include the "removeproxy.cab" that gets rid of AT&T's proxy. It's not listed in the (thin...very thin) manual provided by AT&T, but it is there under programs > tools > Proxy The cab to return the proxy to normal is there as well.
I also neglected to mention that in my (rather limited) testing, the call quality was exceptional, with people reporting that they could hear me just fine. My hearing isn't the best, and as mentioned, the speaker on the Fuze is junk, but I could hear people I was talking to without a problem. The real problem with the speaker becomes apparent when you are in a crowd, and you don't hear your ringtone go off because it's so incredibly low. If the phone isn't up against your body (if you are a girl, this means in a purse, or if you are a dude, it means there is thick clothing in the way) you won't feel the vibration either.
It's really a nice phone. The camera, screen, and the keyboard are miles ahead of the Iphone (the Iphone's screen looks low res in comparison, even if it is larger in dimensions). It just isn't perfect, or anywhere near it.
Oh, and I keep seeing reviews of the Fuze where the Fuze comes in this sexy all black box....yeah...it doesn't. It comes in a very small, very standard looking orange and grey box with AT&T branding all over it. Is it just the review models that come in the sexy box? The author of the article could probably shed some light on this. Not that the box matters, but still, people should know what to expect.
who would pay $800 for sony over ipone 3g for $99.,?that would be idiotic.,please respond if u would,.,
Dude you people need to know how to flash roms to speed up your Fuze and gain 100megs of Ram And ever heard of warez and Spj my Fuze is A mini computer With mouse Software Free live Tv Xm radio Bit torrents DivxVista interface Wifi Router Live video Confrencing And Tons More Software you need to know how to Mod your Windows phone first Touch pro Aka Fuze is the Best Damn thing out
Yes, we've heard of "warez". It's illegal.
It is also unethical to screw a company out of the money their hard-working developers should get for the work they put into making those applications that "just work" and work well for what they were built for.
Please buy your apps and come back with some decent English, too. Have a nice day, now.
Because windows mobile is like an escalade and an iphone is a porsche.. Yea its faster and prettier but the functionality is VERY limited.. if all you need is web browsing, email, and you get all of your media thru itunes you would be an idiot not to get an iphone.. but if you need more advanced media and web functions the iphone WONT cut it.. We all know the iphone is missing a long list of features.. So dont pretend like the iphone is the end all of smartphones.. its kinda not even a smart phone my three year old a900 technically had more features and my free ninety nine samsung m520 can multitask and the iphone cant... I want skype, skyfire, wmwifi router, document editing, streaming video, physical keyboard, video cam w/ flash, stereo bluetooth, turn by turn navi, tv out, multitasking, and a few other features.. The iphone cant do ANY of those... Watching tv episodes on skyfire thru hulu.com is great...
X1 ($800)- unlocked, new, has a keyboard, Sony build quality, Sony camera, WinMo (some people like it...)
iPhone ($99)- locked to ATT, pre-owned, does NOT have a keyboard, Apple build (which is still good, but i dont think it rivals Sony), Apple camera (which sucks, and i mean that in the nicest possible way), OS X Mobile (some people like this better, some don't)
also, this article is in no way related to Apple or the iPhone, so why mention it?
Dude Next Time get your Facts Right I never Stated That I use Cracked Software im Saying there are other Way's to Better a ppc With 3rd party Apps. As A Admin at Xda Spj And Geeks I know this And as Far as the last post I was Simply Typing To Fast ....So Go Get a Life..
dude, you are so NOT an admin on any of those sites.
You sound like a kid playing the name dropping game.
You know your only supposed to capitalize the first letter of a sentence or certain nouns. Not every word...
Also, when you have a noun that begins with a vowel, like, in your case, "Admin," you use an instead of a as the pronoun.
Lastly, in terms of commenting on Engadget, reply to comments, don't keep posting new threads, cause it just gets confusing.
I think nobody mention about the weird Verizon keyboard with the arrow keys located begtween the N and M. Make you wonder what goes in the head of those people at Verizon.
I was expecting to hear them say something more about the keyboard, too.
@ Dakota,
You don't know a hut about what you're talking about. XDA-Developers burn their brains to improve HTC phones with their agreement. And they barely ask for a donation so you can enjoy a faster, less buggy and more powerful phone than the one that came out the factory.
How is my English, teacher!!! Do you feel superior when someone makes a typo?
lol Name Droping Ok Sure Noobs..
It's sad that these sites think everything at&t drop is god. Stop ball hogging the network you use and right a fair review.
1. The FUZE look better then the Sprint Pro? I think the chrome bring more definition to the phone. Nothing stands out to me that the FUZE is better looking.
2. Keyboard on FUZE better then the Pros? Are you serious? Its clearly a tie.
Touch Pros: Dedicated number row
FUZE : Better feel when pressing keys. ( and really how much better does it feel then the Pro? Really? ) Secondly, who the hell care about a dedicated Windows key. ( Who use that key, honestly? Who? )
Looks pretty even to me,
3. The backing of the phone comparison had me laugh and from here I knew this was an unfair review. So you mean to tell me you would prefer an backing that I quote " it has a tendency to collect fingerprints and miscellaneous oily garbage, we really didn't mind it" then a backing that doesn't collect finger prints or oil ( guess you like dropping your heavy, oily, slippery, PPC)?
I played with both the FUZE and Touch Pro BTW.
Stop taking bribes from AT&T or stop giving your own specific carrier praise because you happen to use the same network.
You mean reviews have inherent bias and opinions? My god, whats next? The Oscar's are political?! Say it ain't so!
Eric you are a huge tool. Chris Ziegler thinks that the all black looks better than the silver, and he prefers the cool diamond back to the solid color back on the Sprint version. How does this merit you saying he is not writing a fair review? He is just giving his opinion. IMO the Sprint Touch Pro looks way worse, too. The keyboards are evidently different. Chris likes the keyboard on the Fuze for a couple of different reason that he stated. He also says, "Ultimately it's a matter of personal opinion -- and we're sure we could adapt to any of the three if we had to." So shut the hell up; it's an opinion.
You need to stop taking brides from Sprint. It is obvious that you are hyping their product just because you use that network (notice how fucking dumb this sounds).
Also you all can look at the pictures of the keyboards and look down at the keyboard you are using on a laptop or desktop and tell me which one closely resembles. Lol look how much the Sprint Pro come close.
I guess people prefer a Windows key over a Tab key. Haha this is classic. Great comparison review, you did a great job. Haha, right. SMH.
Clearly you like the Sprint Touch Pro, but why do you have to be such a douche about it?
Hey Eric I have a Fuze And for one The Unlocked UK Touch Pro Rubber Back Fits on The Us Fuze if you Diden't Know.Now unlike the Sprint Version Are Verizon Those Models Are made All Funky And The unbranded Touch pro Back won't Fit on Them So The Fuze is Number one So no more finger print's.....For the Fuze
PLEASE STOP CAPITALISING ALL THE FIRST LETTER OF ALL WORDS!!!!!!!
It's just so annoying!!!!
Sounds like Eric is a Sprint Fan boy who's upset his poor little wireless company can't catch a break.
#1. The reason why people love the Fuze's look over the Sprint Touch Pro is simply because the Fuze is an exact copy of the original GSM HTC Touch Pro design that people have been raving about since the Diamond was announced. Sprint adding a chrome outer body was unneccessary and just adds length and width to a device that is already rather big and thick.
#2. The Windows Key matters. Being able to type a huge e-mail and being able to select other programs WHILE in Landscape mode without having to bring your finger to the Touchscreen is ingenius. as far as a dedicated numbers keyrow is concerned, yea, I miss it, but half the time numbers are concerned...I have a touch screen to use for a dialer and when I use the keyboard, it's for texting. and I use symbols alot more then numbers in texting so it makes sense to me.
#3. Yea it's a fingerprint magnet; but what good looking device, gadget or car ISN'T? I have my HTC Fuze Wipe that completely rids the phone of fingerprints, smudges and dust so it looks brand new.
Am I glad the Touch Pro is on all the U.S. Carriers? yep.
Is the Sprint Touch Pro better? Nope.
End of Story.
Cristian, I am happy you are annoyed with Eric's clear Sprint fanboyism like myself. His opinion is one thing and Chris's is another. So clearly Chris must be biased and dumb, while Eric's is correct? Nahh, I dont think so.
The FUZE is number one? Ill say its even between the Sprint and AT&T versions.
Are you saying just because you can buy a back from overseas that is rubberized and probally cost 15 to 30 dollars make the FUZE number one. Haha dont flatter yourself. Once again I'm laughing.
The only thing holding Verizons Pro back is the lack of ram and how they crippled alot of features. It's sad when Verizon customers are buying the Sprint version of the phone. Also there is even an AT&T rep that has a Sprint Pro due to not the phone but there service. So which Pro is better? Haha. Keep the Jokes coming.
There is an obvious even match between the phones. Just give it up.
0/10
Learn to speak english properly before you try to troll.
Ok, maybe you need to comprehend english before you say something, fh.
I am not dissing Chris I just felt that this review was biased. No dissrespect.
Eric your right. For once I have never seen a review that involves ATT's network or products that engadget always favor ATT. I have said it before engadget is so biased towards att and is funny how engadget always finds a way to talk s**t about sprint.
On the looks Sprint Pro looks so much sexier from the front those chrome edges and a little bit rounded, from the back i have to say is weird looking at it in gray color but is not slippery or you don't get any fingerprints there. Not to put the fuze down it still looks nice but i would pick the pro.
The decision is just based on the network you want to be on. If you like paying high prices (double) for slower 3g and less 3g coverage then choose ATT or if sprint sucks in your area then choose att or the carrier that is on your area.
But if you live in a city where both att and sprint are good whats the point of paying double the price? Unless you really are a fan of att. Not to mention what else you can do with sprint like watch tv, turn by turn, etc already included in a plan much cheaper than att but i won't get into that even thouhg, all of this is true but it will make me look biased towards Sprint.
@that'swhatshesaid,.y mention the iphone? R u freakin kidding it's the most dominating touchscreen phone , it is the standard by which smartphones are now measured. Every cell manufacturer has brought out their version of iphonekiller n failed,.y mention it? N now $99. Until Sony has fully released $800 cell phone n has been tried n tested ,.it's all talk ,.believe it will tank here in USA ,.save this email n read it in three months,as much as I love Sony,.I'm a Sony fanboi,.they got the wrong formula ,.
T Hom, shut the hell up dude. I said the phones were even how am I choosing sides. Your an idiot.
Why won't AT&T pick up the X1? I can't justify $800 but I'd jump on it for anything under $400.
Urghh