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HTC Pure Review: In The Mobile World, Being A PC Is Not Much Fun


The HTC Pure retails for $199.99 before a $50 dollar rebate from AT&T. Courtesty of AT&T

Recently, I got a hold of an AT&T HTC Pure -- a 3G phone powered by Windows mobile 6.5. The specs were promising: high-speed network, touch screen interface, 5 megapixel camera, apps, radio tuner and an on-screen keyboard.

Because full immersion is required for a proper evaluation, I did the unspeakable: I yanked the SIM card from my iPhone and inserted it into the Pure.

I was now a PC.

But I found out, quickly, that being a being a PC isn't that much fun.

The Pure has two major shortcomings that make it unwieldy, especially for a longtime iPhone user. First, the touch screen isn't terribly sensitive: scrolling and selecting are cumbersome and do not always yield the intended result. The touch screen performs better with the provided stylus, but pulling out the stylus is inconvenient if you are in a rush.

Second, the software is confusing. There are too many sub-folders and too many options. Superfluous steps are required to perform simple tasks. Thankfully, there is one feature buried deeply in the abyss of this OS, which improved my experience impressively: The Touch-FLO 3D interface built by HTC.