HTC S620 Smartphone
- Screen Size (Diagonal): 2.4 inch
- Installed Memory: 64 MB
- Operating System: Windows Mobile
- Design: Mobile
- Style: Smartphone
- Network Type: GPRS EDGE
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Pretty good phone, horrible battery *UPDATED*
Pros
Smartphone, full QWERTY keyboard, slim size, soft-touch
Cons
Bad battery, touch-sensitive volume strip, bad alarm program
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Again, good phone for about a year, but then the battery will go out on you. Batteries are cheap though ($5 shipped).
Background
When I switched to T-Mobile, I had already gone through a few phones. I had gone from Nokia's to a Palm Treo 600 to a basic Samsung. At the time of the switch, I got an HTC SDA. It served me well. Very sturdy phone with a Windows Mobile system. Just a normal numeric keypad. When it came time to upgrade, I had a few criteria:
-No touchscreen. I had a horrible experience with the Treo touchscreen.
-A full QWERTY keyboard. The Treo had that going for it. It makes texting and typing much easier.
-No movable parts. So no sliders, no flip phones, nothing movable. It's just an extra place for the phone to break.
-Preferably Windows Mobile. It was a decent OS and I liked it.
Well, the only thing at the time that matched all those was the HTC s620, aka T-Mobile Dash.
Appearance/Construction
The Dash was a pretty sleek phone. Pretty thin considering what was under the shell. Windows Mobile 6.0. Full QWERTY keyboard. MicroSD card slot. 64MB memory. The phone was firmly built. It weighed less than the SDA, if I remember correctly. Most of the phone is covered in the soft-touch rubber that's pretty popular these days. This gives you a slight tackier surface so it doesn't slip out of your hands that easily. On the face of the phone, there's a brushed aluminum plate that accents the phone nicely. I was at the T-Mobile store recently, and the latest build of the Dash (not the Dash 3G) is all black now.
The screen is a decent size. If you've seen the SDA before, the screen is actually quite nice compared to it. Under the screen is the 5-way directional pad, soft keys, send key, end key, and the home and back keys. Under that is the keyboard.
On the left of the phone is the power button near the top. The left only has the touch-sensitive volume control strip. The bottom has the mini-USB port. Back of the phone has the camera and a mirror for self portraits. Speaker is located on the back as well.
Thoughts
Well, I've used the phone for about a year and a half. The first thing I hated about it was the volume strip. The strip is not a button type of control. It's touch-sensitive. You slide your finger to adjust volume. If you use the phone on your right ear, it's not too much of a problem. However, I used my left hand for phones. My face keeps pressing the volume strip, so half the time, the volume changes on me during a call. Not cool. I've tried deactivating the strip, but then I couldn't change volume anymore. I've tried playing with the "sensitivity" in the settings. No luck. So I've just grown accustomed to trying not to hit it.
Otherwise, the phone operated just fine. Windows Mobile was great. It was a familiar OS, so I had no trouble using the phone and the programs. The browser left much to be desired, especially if you've surfed the web from an iPhone or G1. Internet Explorer on Windows Mobile just doesn't cut it. But the email, the text messages, the phone, those are fine. I haven't downloaded much to the phone, so can't say much more about the apps. As for the alarm, DO NOT ever set the alarm. You can never turn it off. I don't know if this bug has been fixed, but I had to download a tool to shut off the alarm so it didn't ring everyday. Not cool.
Anyway, I used the phone for a while, being adequately satisfied. Then a year into it, my phone battery didn't last as long anymore. So I adjusted my Gmail to sync less often. It went from every five minutes to every ten. Then a couple months later, battery didn't last the day again. Ten minutes to 15 minutes. Then later, 15 to 30, now it's syncing to GMail every hour. Now I can barely make the day with my phone. The battery is HORRIBLE. It's barely one and a half years, and I find myself with a charger at home, a charger in my car, and a charger at work so I could keep my phone alive. What's worse is that even at 85% (so the phone says), the phone will abruptly die for no reason. Online forums seem to say a new battery will fix it, so that's what I did. I ordered a battery since my contract isn't up for upgrade yet. Unfortunately, it isn't here yet, so I can't say this problem will be fixed.
Conclusion
The Dash is a good phone for about a year. Then the battery will die. Again, not sure if a new battery will fix it. I'll update when I find out. But I've had the phone for 1.5 years and was somewhat happy with it for the first year. Okay phone if you need a smartphone for about a year before moving on. I'm thinking I'll move on to the myTouch 3G. We'll see.
***UPDATE***
So I got my replacement battery in the mail. After a quick full charge, I went about my day. Made a phone call almost immediately and was very happy to see that my battery was still at 100%. With the old one, I would've probably been down to 85% from one 5-minute call. Checked the phone a couple hours later. Approximately 90-something percent left. Checked it at 6AM the next day. 60%. I think it's safe to say my battery problems are over. I've already set my Gmail sync to every 15 minutes. I'm back in action!
After some thoughts, it did seem pretty unfair to take points away from the phone because of the battery. The phone performs pretty well. Calls are clear and speakerphone is decent. Keyboard is easy to use, at least for me. Anyway, I adjusted my ratings a bit to accommodate for the bad battery. I still think it's a decent phone, but be prepared to buy a replacement battery after a year. It's about $5 shipped now if you go aftermarket, so it won't hurt that much.
When I switched to T-Mobile, I had already gone through a few phones. I had gone from Nokia's to a Palm Treo 600 to a basic Samsung. At the time of the switch, I got an HTC SDA. It served me well. Very sturdy phone with a Windows Mobile system. Just a normal numeric keypad. When it came time to upgrade, I had a few criteria:
-No touchscreen. I had a horrible experience with the Treo touchscreen.
-A full QWERTY keyboard. The Treo had that going for it. It makes texting and typing much easier.
-No movable parts. So no sliders, no flip phones, nothing movable. It's just an extra place for the phone to break.
-Preferably Windows Mobile. It was a decent OS and I liked it.
Well, the only thing at the time that matched all those was the HTC s620, aka T-Mobile Dash.
Appearance/Construction
The Dash was a pretty sleek phone. Pretty thin considering what was under the shell. Windows Mobile 6.0. Full QWERTY keyboard. MicroSD card slot. 64MB memory. The phone was firmly built. It weighed less than the SDA, if I remember correctly. Most of the phone is covered in the soft-touch rubber that's pretty popular these days. This gives you a slight tackier surface so it doesn't slip out of your hands that easily. On the face of the phone, there's a brushed aluminum plate that accents the phone nicely. I was at the T-Mobile store recently, and the latest build of the Dash (not the Dash 3G) is all black now.
The screen is a decent size. If you've seen the SDA before, the screen is actually quite nice compared to it. Under the screen is the 5-way directional pad, soft keys, send key, end key, and the home and back keys. Under that is the keyboard.
On the left of the phone is the power button near the top. The left only has the touch-sensitive volume control strip. The bottom has the mini-USB port. Back of the phone has the camera and a mirror for self portraits. Speaker is located on the back as well.
Thoughts
Well, I've used the phone for about a year and a half. The first thing I hated about it was the volume strip. The strip is not a button type of control. It's touch-sensitive. You slide your finger to adjust volume. If you use the phone on your right ear, it's not too much of a problem. However, I used my left hand for phones. My face keeps pressing the volume strip, so half the time, the volume changes on me during a call. Not cool. I've tried deactivating the strip, but then I couldn't change volume anymore. I've tried playing with the "sensitivity" in the settings. No luck. So I've just grown accustomed to trying not to hit it.
Otherwise, the phone operated just fine. Windows Mobile was great. It was a familiar OS, so I had no trouble using the phone and the programs. The browser left much to be desired, especially if you've surfed the web from an iPhone or G1. Internet Explorer on Windows Mobile just doesn't cut it. But the email, the text messages, the phone, those are fine. I haven't downloaded much to the phone, so can't say much more about the apps. As for the alarm, DO NOT ever set the alarm. You can never turn it off. I don't know if this bug has been fixed, but I had to download a tool to shut off the alarm so it didn't ring everyday. Not cool.
Anyway, I used the phone for a while, being adequately satisfied. Then a year into it, my phone battery didn't last as long anymore. So I adjusted my Gmail to sync less often. It went from every five minutes to every ten. Then a couple months later, battery didn't last the day again. Ten minutes to 15 minutes. Then later, 15 to 30, now it's syncing to GMail every hour. Now I can barely make the day with my phone. The battery is HORRIBLE. It's barely one and a half years, and I find myself with a charger at home, a charger in my car, and a charger at work so I could keep my phone alive. What's worse is that even at 85% (so the phone says), the phone will abruptly die for no reason. Online forums seem to say a new battery will fix it, so that's what I did. I ordered a battery since my contract isn't up for upgrade yet. Unfortunately, it isn't here yet, so I can't say this problem will be fixed.
Conclusion
The Dash is a good phone for about a year. Then the battery will die. Again, not sure if a new battery will fix it. I'll update when I find out. But I've had the phone for 1.5 years and was somewhat happy with it for the first year. Okay phone if you need a smartphone for about a year before moving on. I'm thinking I'll move on to the myTouch 3G. We'll see.
***UPDATE***
So I got my replacement battery in the mail. After a quick full charge, I went about my day. Made a phone call almost immediately and was very happy to see that my battery was still at 100%. With the old one, I would've probably been down to 85% from one 5-minute call. Checked the phone a couple hours later. Approximately 90-something percent left. Checked it at 6AM the next day. 60%. I think it's safe to say my battery problems are over. I've already set my Gmail sync to every 15 minutes. I'm back in action!
After some thoughts, it did seem pretty unfair to take points away from the phone because of the battery. The phone performs pretty well. Calls are clear and speakerphone is decent. Keyboard is easy to use, at least for me. Anyway, I adjusted my ratings a bit to accommodate for the bad battery. I still think it's a decent phone, but be prepared to buy a replacement battery after a year. It's about $5 shipped now if you go aftermarket, so it won't hurt that much.
