Performance

Thanks to a 3.5mm jack, the Wildfire can also double as pretty decent PMP. Audio quality via earphones is good – good clarity, nice bass and very good volume levels. Video playback is snappy, although the display would benefit with both a higher resolution, and a better contrast ratio. Basically, some of the darker colours blend, while shades of grey are missed; saying this is not exactly for the portable videophile, would be a gross understatement. Call clarity is good per se, with a few reservations. We didn’t have any serious issues in any of the zones, and even in zone three, there was some continuous noise and an occasional loss of coherence but no dropped calls. In zone two, at one point, we faced an issue with vocals on the other line taking on a mechanical timbre, and there was minor disturbance. Basically, most Nokia phones in this price bracket offer better clarity, although the Wildfire hasn't got the worst Android-based antenna we've tested.

The in-call volume using the earpiece is a little on the low side, and this makes for some interesting times in noisy areas. The handsfree unit offers good clarity, and more than makes up for the deficient volume of the earpiece. We tried the camera next. First up, we noticed that one cannot save to the inbuilt memory, making an inserted memory card a necessity for taking photos. The camera is very responsive, and with a five-megapixel sensor and an LED flash, for the most we faced no nasty surprises. Colours are decent, focussing is accurate, but slow. On default settings, with the flash off, the image tends to be a little bright, with good details. It’s not the best five-megapixel clicker ever to grace a cellphone, but we couldn’t seriously nit about anything. Battery life is decent, and although while heavy call usage, battery life trails off sharply, standby time was pretty good. With half an hour each of calls and browsing, we got through nearly three days on a single charge.

Conclusion

The Wildfire is good handset for those who aren’t looking for the very best touch-screen device around. It occupies a slot that is a couple of rungs lower than the top slew of touch devices, but offers a lot of features for the price. Interfacing is pretty good – something many touch-based cellphones cannot boast of. However, we have problems with poor display - the only component that feels like it’s built to the tightest of budgets. Priced at Rs. 16,590 (MRP), the Wildfire isn’t cheap, but it’s good value – Android 2.1, a good touch-screen with decent hardware, and good performance. If the lack lustre display resolution and contrast aren’t deterrents for you, the Wildfire will satisfy.

Specifications: CPU: 528 MHz Qualcomm MSM 7225; Display: 3.2-inches, 240 x 320 pixels, 16 million colours; Camera: 5-megapixel; Battery: 1300 mAh; Weight: 118 grams

Ratings:
Features: 7.5
Performance: 6.5
Build: 7.5
Value: 7
Overall: 7

Contact: Bright Point India
Phone No: 9910821100
E-mail ID: Nitin.Pandita@brightpoint.com
Website: www.htc.com/in
Price: Rs. 16,590