Strong Areas Of The Aria
HTC Aria is AT&T’s recent addition to the growing smart phone industry.. At the top of the AT&T smart phone line, the Aria runs on the quick and responsive Android 2.1 platform and is a strong contender against the iPhone. Similar to the Droid, EVO, and Galaxy Series, the Aria packs loads of features such as GPS, Wi-Fi, and FM Radio, into its bright, crisp screen. However, unlike competing smart phones which have opted for bigger screens, the Aria opted to stick with a smaller screen, making this tiny 4.1×2.3x.46 phone one of the smallest of the Android series.
HTC Aria deviates from the recent “bigger is better” route that other smart phone producers have taken, creating a comfortable, compact phone that can be easily accessed in the user’s pocket. However, due to the small size, comparable to the HTC HDMini, the phone is more prone to being dropped, making HTC Aria Cases or HTC Aria Screen Protectors a great investment. Even with its smaller size, the phone still delivers brilliant picture and video on its bright, crisp, touch-screen.
The Aria’s design basically mimics that of the HTC HD Mini’s, yet it still rises as an enormous step up with the Android 2.1 platform, especially with the snappy and responsive touch-screen. The easily navigable phone delivers a custom keypad that easily outperforms other Android smart phones, however, due to the small size, still has problems during typing, texting, or emailing. Where the user will really enjoy the phone, is through its use of the HD Sense interface, featuring multi-touch capacity, and customizable menus. Equipped with HTC Aria accessories, such as headphones or a micro SD card, AT&T’s smart phone will exceed the expectations of consumers.
The Android phone, like other contending phones, comes loaded with prepackaged goodies from the Android interface as well as some apps from AT&T. However, this is where AT&T delivers short, and limits the phone as one of the mid-performers among the series. While other phones enjoy 3rd party applications, AT&T limits the Aria to the Android Marketplace. Furthermore, many of the gratuitous AT&T apps require monthly subscriptions to run, highly lowering the appeal of this phone when compared to other smart phones.
So, while the HTC Aria remains a high-performance smart phone in AT&T that’s not an iPhone, the limiting service and restrictions placed on the phone places it as a mid-performer in the Android Series. Basically, for now, the other carriers deliver better phones; phones with better battery life, better streaming quality, better cameras, and most importantly, 3rd party applications. So unless AT&T lifts its restrictions on the Android marketplace, the Aria will remain in the middle echelon of smart phones and will not overtake any of the top contenders anytime soon.