Coming hot on the heels of the
ultra-impressive G2, T-Mobile has returned to its
myTouch
series with the myTouch 4G. While the G2 is the natural enthusiast
flagship, the 4G represents a flagship in its own right of a skinned,
curated Android experience. If the G2 is the Droid 2 killer, T-Mobile
probably sees the myTouch as the iPhone 4 killer (even the name has a
similarity to the popular "iTouch" misnomer, and the 4G / 4 mirrors
T-Mobile's matchy matchy naming sense with the myTouch 3G / iPhone 3G...
we're just saying, is all). So, what does that mean in practice? Some
impressive functionality inside and out, including a front facing camera
for video calls, HSPA+ network speeds, and WiFi Calling. How does it
all play out in the real world? Let's find out.
Hardware
The myTouch 4G is very "premium." Unfortunately, it's "premium" in the
worst way. It screams over effort, has an incomprehensible jumble of
design languages and materials, feels simultaneously heavy and cheap in
the hand, and manages to bear a too-striking resemblance to the iPhone
3G to boot (at least in the white edition of this phone we have, the
handset also comes in red, plum, and black flavors). Lest you think we
just have iPhone on the brain, a non-techy family member actually made
the look-alike comment offhand, unprompted. What's sad is that there are
actually a lot of redeeming qualities to the external hardware that,
when taken one at a time, would be pretty welcome in a phone.
Take the brushed metal battery cover, for instance. It has an
ultramodern look and feel, and HTC (responsible for the hardware, though
they clearly departed from their traditional design language) heightens
this impression with a slightly darker metal up above, around the
camera. Unfortunately, this two-tone metal area is surrounded by white
plastic, which makes both elements look cheap and out of place. For
overall feel we actually love the hefty weight of the device (some might
differ, it's a personal preference), but there's a discontinuity of
contour everywhere that would make a car designer blush. If you run your
finger from screen, over a side edge, and onto the back you go from
glass to metal to plastic back to metal, with all sorts of odd angles
and abrupt edges en route. This might sound silly to be worried about,
but we found that with all this inconsistency the phone just never
"settled" into our hand in a satisfying way.
Another personal preference, but one which actually swings the other
way, are the large, clicky face buttons and the optical track pad which
doubles as a button as well. We just love clicking things. They're all
nestled in the "chin" of the device, an ode to the G1 / myTouch 3G
heritage, and a little touch that we love as well. Unfortunately, this
friendly set of buttons is marred slightly by T-Mobile's replacement of
the traditional search button with the "Genius Button" to enact voice
searches. We'll talk more about it in software, but basically we're
unenthused by this switcharoo.
Finally, don't even get us started on the horrific earpiece speaker grill.
Other hardware details that aren't so polarizing: an excellent camera
shutter button in the usual spot; a lock button in the usual spot, which
might be just slightly too recessed; and a volume rocker that's a
little "loose" and plastic, but otherwise unoffensive. There's the
typical micro-USB jack on the lower left-hand side, 3.5mm headphone jack
up top, and some intriguing docking pins of some sort one the middle of
the left side that seem primed for accessorizing.
Speaking of accessories, the myTouch 4G's retail packaging is actually
pretty swank. Once you get the simple cardboard sleeve off, it's simply a
zipper case with foam-lined spots for the USB wall plug adapter, USB
cable, headphones (with remote / mic), manuals, and, of course, the
phone.
Internals
Spec-wise, the myTouch 4G pretty much has it all. The 3.8-inch 800 x 480
really "pops" color and brightness-wise, although the viewing angles
don't quite match Super AMOLED or the best LCDs we've seen. It's also
very readable outdoors, though our current weather patterns didn't allow
for testing it under direct sunlight.
Under the hood there's the same second-gen 1GHz Qualcomm QSD8255 "Scorpion" Snapdragon processor that
powers the Desire HD,
and the same 768MB of RAM. A sizable 1400mAh battery provides plenty of
juice to get through a day of pretty hefty use. We even left it off a
charger overnight and still had some room in the tank to make it to noon
the next day. Of course, if you're doing anything that really taps into
the processor -- 3D gaming, or the oddly demanding Angry Birds (which
kills our iPhone battery as well, and makes both handsets run
inexplicably hot) -- you should probably keep your charger handy.
Storage-wise there's an 8GB microSD card included (which is nicely
accessible without removing the battery), and 4GB of built-in storage,
though there's only about 1GB of that available to the user.
The real standout feature is a front-facing camera, which still only a
few handsets on the market can lay claim to. Of course, the VGA sensor
won't do your ugly mug any favors. With HSPA+ onboard (what T-Mobile's
calling "4G" these days), T-Mobile is confidently pushing this phone as a
"video calls anywhere" number, and luckily HSDPA works fine as well --
which is extra-nice because HSPA+ signals are still pretty scarce in NY
where we tested this. Around back there's a 5 megapixel camera, complete
with LED flash, which is also usable for video calling.
One of our favorite little tidbits is the 802.11n WiFi, which blissfully
supports our 5GHz-only home router in addition to regular 2.4GHz
shenanigans (2.4GHz is horribly saturated in Manhattan).
Phone / speakerphone / call quality
This is an intensely mixed bag. The excellent connection we got on
T-Mobile meant people could hear us vastly better than they typically
can on a AT&T / Verizon / Sprint connection in our usual haunts.
This writer's apartment in particular is a sort of concrete bunker, and
T-Mobile blasts right through it (of course, your mileage may vary,
T-Mobile's network is well known for its inconsistent nature).
Better yet, T-Mobile has included WiFi Calling on this phone, which Just
Works. Basically, you just run the WiFi Calling app, register your
current WiFi network, and select if you prefer WiFi calls or cellular
calls in absence of the other, or want to go WiFi only. Then, for as
long as you're on the WiFi, your incoming and outgoing calls will be
routed through WiFi. Unfortunately, this app solution doesn't have any
sort of handoff method for moving to cellular if you leave the WiFi
area, but it's still a far sight better than resorting to tack-on VoIP
solutions when you can't get a signal.
So, with great connections at our back, everyone we spoke to on the
phone were positively ecstatic about our voice quality. Unfortunately,
they don't sound so good on our end. Basically, the earpiece (that ugly,
ugly earpiece) is too quiet. It's not like we can't hear people, but we
like to have the capacity to turn up the volume to an uncomfortable
level, in case we're in a noisy environment, or the person on the other
end is quiet for some reason. Sadly, the speakerphone is even worse. Not
only is it very quiet and rather tinny, but it distorts terribly at its
higher volume levels. Speakerphone music playback is painful as well.
The included headphone / headset is alright, and at least solves the
volume problem on our end, but the remote / mic that's built into the
cable is a little too low for optimal voice pickup.
Camera
The 5 megapixel camera is alright. Interestingly, it seems to do a
pretty good job with indoor lighting, but has a tendency to have a
too-slow shutter speed for overcast outdoor shots. We have some pretty
shaky hands, and had difficulty getting a sharp image of the scenery --
the heavy JPEG compression doesn't help, either.
At least the UI is very nice, with tap-to-focus, relatively in-depth
image adjustments (ISO, exposure, saturation, contrast) and some
built-in filters
The 720p video is becoming a must-have feature in this class of phone,
and we're happy to report that the myTouch handles it ably. You can
switch in-between camera and video modes nearly instantly, and recording
starts instantly as well. Footage is nicely saturated and not too
terribly compressed, and even quick pans and tilts look fine, although
there's no avoiding the regular shake of a non-stabilized handheld
camera like this. Check out a sample below:
Software
Ugh. Please, T-Mobile, make it stop. We can hear the gears turning in
the T-Mobile HQ's hive brain: "We'll make a mostly vanilla G2 with a
slide-out keyboard for those hardcore users, but Regular Joe Consumer?
He can't handle straight-up Android. Let's take this paintbrush loaded
up with plastic and cruft and inconsistencies and a little bit of HTC
Sense and smear it all over Froyo."
Does it sound like we're taking this a little too personally? Because we
are. Android has gotten too good for these shenanigans, and while the
basic consumer might never know the difference -- might even like some
of these HTC-built widgets and T-Mobile themes -- we can't unsee the
excellent elements of Froyo that have been trampled on to make way for
their inclusion. T-Mobile went to the trouble of putting seven different
themes on this device, each which packs a different background image, a
slight alteration of the UI's "chrome," and swaps the color of various
buttons and other elements. To be honest, we wouldn't be that offended
by all of this if there was just a blessed eighth option that said
"none." As it is, we're stuck with T-Mobile's idea of a good UI (which
naturally clashes with a half dozen other UI styles present in various
apps and the original Google look that peeks through now and then), and
the added weight it adds to the experience.
For instance, when you grab for the notification tray, there's a subtle
lag that breaks the illusion of pulling something down and sometimes
made us feel like we'd mis-touched -- despite the fact that the
processor on this phone is incredible, and blazed through regular
applications. Swiping between home screen areas can slow down slightly
at times, and the swipe gesture to unlock the phone (a downward pull on a
horizontal bar) feels unsatisfying and lacks the swipe-to-mute option.
Do we sound nitpicky? Good, let's continue. Another big gripe is the
loss of Google's own Calendar app for HTC's similar but inferior one. In
fact, HTC's calendar app versus Google's is sort of a case-in-point for
what we're talking about UI-wise. The week view on Google's version is
very "chromeless," you might even call it ugly. HTC spruces it up with
some rounded corners, pastel versions of the different calendar colors,
and gradients through each item to make events look a little bit like
pieces candy. The problem? HTC decided to excise the text out of every
single event, no matter how large, making the view basically useless.
This isn't a new problem for HTC Sense, but we're going to keep railing
against it until Google / manufacturers / Regular Joe Consumer wise up.
On the bundled application front, T-Mobile goes for the "more the
merrier" angle, with games, productivity applications, and T-Mobile's
own "My Account" and "App Pack" additions. Here are the notables:
Swype: It's set as the default keyboard, though you can
revert to the Android original if you'd like. Opinions in the staff are
split over Swype, but it's definitely grown on this writer over time.
WiFi Calling: We already talked about this above, but we just wanted to mention it again because we love it so much.
Media Room: A nice UI for browsing through your music
and video library, FM radio, and Slacker all in one place. We're still
surprised Google doesn't offer something better by default, but this is
one place where it's nice to have a third party step in.
Screen Sharing: A DLNA media pushing app from Twonky.
Faves: A pretty ho-hum implementation of T-Mobile's
famous / infamous Fave Five service. We probably wouldn't mention it if
it wasn't bolted to the bottom of the home screen to the right of the
app drawer.
Genius Button: This is an unfortunate carry-over from
the myTouch Slide. In place of the typical search button, there's a
stylized "G" that launches a voice-controlled app. The voice control is
powered by Nuance, the guys behind Dragon Naturally Speaking, and to
their credit, it's some of the best voice recognition around. It
differentiates between affect and effect, and even recognizes
"Engadget." Unfortunately, we just don't want voice recognition in lieu
of good old fashioned text searches. There's no easy way to switch the
button to a search button that we've found, which would be an acceptable
compromise, and instead we've got a nice gimmick to show off to
friends, but are short a core feature of Android in payment.
Video Chat: A slightly-branded version of Qik.
Obviously, this is one of the phone's most important features, and we're
glad that it doesn't feel entirely tacked on, despite the 3rd party
creator. Most importantly, it ties into the HTC social network
amalgamation functionality (which is mostly useless otherwise... we
prefer the actual Twitter and Facebook applications, thanks). The phone
finds Facebook profiles that might match up with phone numbers or email
addresses you have in your address book, and asks you to "link" them by
hand. It's not a hard process, but we were surprised when it popped up
again for another round. Only, this time it was for adding Qik users we
already knew. Once you've added someone to your Qik buddy list, you get a
concise list of contacts from within Qik that only shows the people
that have Qik, with a video icon next to them and (here's the best part)
a green lit-up icon if they're online! If you make a call with someone
that's not on your buddy list, you can add them after the fact, and then
the magical-contact-linker will prompt you to associate the Qik buddy
with a contact card if it pulls up a match. FaceTime should really take
notes.
Calling-wise, Qik was quick to establish a connection over 3G. For an
incoming Qik call, the phone rings just like a regular phone call, even
if it's locked. Unfortunately, Qik seems to have a capped quality level
that presents pretty blocky video to both ends, even if you have WiFi.
Hopefully this will improve in the future. For now, it works, and you
can indeed brag to your iPhone friends that you can make video calls
wherever without a jailbreak or other hackery. Better yet, we like the
fact that we already know a lot of people with Qik video chat-capable
devices, and that they aren't all using the same device. Check out a
demo below:
One last thing that should be noted is that most applications perform
brilliantly on this phone. The browsing experience is pretty much
butter, even with the embedded Flash, with almost iPhone-level
pinch-to-zoom and scrolling responsiveness. In other apps we noticed
that some of the typical lag we had come to expect in that particular
application's performance was all but erased. Kudos to Qualcomm for the
processor, and a grudging thanks to T-Mobile and HTC for not putting so
very much cruft on here to actually slow down the handset -- though we'd
love to see how much it would scream with stock Froyo.
Network performance
We've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that we
typically get blazing fast internet, on par with a low-to-mid-level home
broadband connection (2 to 3Mbps down and 1.3Mbps up, with similar
speeds on our laptop when tethered with the phone over WiFi). There's
actually little difference in browsing between our cell connection and
WiFi. Video calls are as clear as Qik can make them at this point (not
very clear), and our voice call quality is perfect.
The bad news? As far as we can tell, we've rarely strayed from HSDPA.
Basically, T-Mobile has a very good "3.5G" network in NY, which is
either vastly underutilized or just plain good. This excites us for the
potential HSPA+, and indeed, we've probably bumped into it unwittingly
on occasion (you have to dive pretty deep into the phone to know what
sort of connection you're getting, the menu bar simply displays an "H"
next to the signal bars). Still, when buying a "4G" phone you have to be
aware to what extent a "4G" network exists to support it, and T-Mobile
has a ways to go.
Wrap-up
Overall, the myTouch 4G hits almost every checkbox when it comes to
features and functionality, but sadly misses the mark completely when it
comes to aesthetic and "purity" of the Android vision. In T-Mobile's
attempt to make a consumer-friendly phone, we'd argue they've driven in
the other direction. Luckily, many of our qualms with the phone can be
chalked up to personal preference, and a power user could potentially
finagle a stock Android ROM onto here, so we'd encourage any prospective
buyers to check out the phone for themselves before we fend them off
entirely. For the rest of us, we'll keep dreaming of the Nexus Two that
this phone most assuredly isn't.
