HTC Explorer Malaysia Review

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The HTC Explorer is so named not because it's a phone for Bear Grylls-style adventurers, but because it's for people exploring the world of smart phones for the first time. It's the cheapest smart phone in the HTC range, sitting below the Wildfire S, and it's been purposefully designed to be easy to use. We tried the phone out to see how easy it is to go exploring. 

HTC Explorer: Design

The phone has a rugged-feeling rubberised texture on the back. It's also very small, slotting neatly into a pocket. That does mean the screen is pretty small though, measuring 3.2-inches across, about the size of a credit card; such a diminutive display isn't great for surfing the Internet.

The HTC Explorer will be available in black or dark blue, but you can swap covers and make it purple, orange or white.

HTC Explorer: Internet

The HTC Explorer is aimed at those who haven't used a smart phone before. A smart phone is a step up from a handset that just does boring things like making calls and sending texts. The HTC Explorer helps you to browse the Web while out and about, letting  you check your emails and Facebook messages, and discover anything from the weather to the latest headlines and fun games.

HTC Explorer: OS

The HTC Explorer uses Google's Android software, which lets you download apps -- mini bits of software that undertake specific tasks, like accessing Facebook, displaying the weather, and showing maps, to name but a few examples. You simply find apps in the Android Market and download them over a Wi-Fi connection in a matter of moments. You can download as many apps as you like, or just stick with the apps that come pre-installed.

The HTC Explorer uses the latest version of Android, 2.3.5 Gingerbread (each update is named after a tasty snack). HTC adds its own features on top of Android with its proprietary Sense interface.

HTC Explorer: UI

The Sense interface makes for a straightforward user experience. The latest version is Sense 3.5, but the HTC Explorer uses the specially adapted Sense 3.5.a variant -- it's the same but without the fancy animations, so it works better on phones that don't have such fancy specs.

HTC has put plenty of effort into making the phone as easy to use as possible. For example, potentially confusing icons have often been replaced by words. In the email app, for instance, there are 'compose' and 'forward' options instead of symbols. Once you're familiar with the user interface, you can change it back to showing more aesthetically pleasing icons.

HTC Explorer: Performance

The HTC Explorer packs a modest 600MHz processor and a 3-megapixel camera. The processor will get you through your day, but the Explorer won't be as fast at Web browsing or running several apps simultaneously as a more powerful, pricier smart phone.

HTC Explorer: Connectivity

As a phone aimed at people on a budget, the HTC Explorer is designed to give you control over how much data you use. It's set up to run mainly on Wi-Fi, so you can access the Web without paying a fortune due to using 3G all the time on your mobile network.

If you have Wi-Fi at home, you can simply connect the Explorer to your network and surf the Web, send emails and watch online video. If you're out and about, you might have to pay to connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot, but there's free Wi-Fi to be found in many pubs, cafes and other places.

If you're not in range of a Wi-Fi hotspot, you'll have to connect to the Web using your mobile phone network. You'll probably have a certain amount of data included in your contract and, unless you watch loads of data-heavy videos, your data allowance will probably be more than enough.

HTC Explorer: Dashboard

But going over your allowance can be expensive, so the HTC Explorer has a dashboard to show what you've used. The data-management dashboard shows how many minutes you've spent chatting, how many messages you've sent and received, and how much data you've used.

The dashboard is helpful, but could be better -- it doesn't really explain what the totals mean, and there's no way of telling the phone what your allowances are so that you can get a more realistic picture of what you've used and what you've got left. The dashboard is also buried in the menu system and hard to find.

Conclusion:

The HTC Explorer is aimed at those using a smart phone for the first time. We reckon this straightforward Android handset could find plenty of fans.

HTC Explorer Specs & Price >