Product review: the HTC Flyer tablet

HTC Flyer
HTC Flyer

If you can’t wait to get your hands on Apple’s Ipad 2 and you want a tablet that does the job, and well, then HTC’s first tablet, the HTC Flyer, may just be the thing.

This tablet will excite HTC fans with its sleek aluminium body, pressure-sensitised pen interaction and HTC Sense user interface. HTC Sense user interface has a 3D home screen that uses an array of widgets and supports both Flash 10 (unlike the iPad and iPad 2) and HTML 5.

If you like recording videos of the kids, the HTC Flyer has a video download tool called HTC Watch and also HTC Scribe, a new digital ink feature.

When you’re ready to get down to business, you can use Evernote and Timemark for smart note-taking, picture drawing and audio data capturing.

The HTC Flyer is a compact little device, which is designed to fit in handbags or coat pockets. However, do not be fooled by its size – underneath its small exterior lies a powerful Qualcomm 1.5 GHz processor. Furthermore, it has 32 GB of ROM, 1 GB of RAM, HSPA+ support and two cameras. The rear camera is 5 megapixels and 1.3 mega pixels for the front-facing camera.

The HTC Flyer uses an Android 2.4 operating system, and has a 7-inch TFT touch-screen display and a range of connectivity options including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS and microUSB 2.0 (the iPad 2 does not have USB connection capabilities, so that’s a plus).

So how does the HTC Flyer rate against other tablets? With no previous tablet from HTC to match against, a comparison with the iPad – something that a lot of people will be buying because it is cheaper than the iPad 2, and has more or less similar features if you can ignore the smaller size and the camera and video capabilities – the benchmark known to all, is a useful exercise.

Dimension-wise, the Apple iPad is three inches larger than the HTC Flyer and heavier, with the iPad weighing 680g versus 415g for the Flyer. So the Flyer wins in terms of portability.

The HTC Flyer has four times more memory power and considerably faster processing speeds. These variables might change once the iPad 2 comes on to the scene however!

In terms of storage, the two devices are on a bit of a par. The maximum storage on both the Apple and HTC tablets is identical. The storage methods do differ however, each having their own benefits. The Flyer uses microSD cards and the iPad operates via a flash-only system. The choice is down to user preference.

When comparing imaging, there is not much of a comparison to be made. The HTC Flyer has a 5 megapixel rear camera and a 1.3 megapixel webcam; the Apple iPad has none!

The HTC Flyer does not stand up well against the iPad when it comes to battery life, which boasts an impressive 10 hours of video playback. The HTC Flyer will only give four hours of playback time.

The Flyer is going to be more expensive than the iPad, which is generally considered to represent good value. Only time and future reviews will tell whether the Flyer price will be an off-putting factor to customers.

Comments

No comments yet. Why don’t you start the discussion?

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.