HTC Vivid

performance, screen, usability, price, design

reception

76% of the reviews on Amazon.com give this product a positive rating.

Quad-band GSM and tri-band 3G support ; 21 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA ; LTE network compatibility ; 4.5" capacitive LCD touchscreen with qHD resolution (540 x 960 pixels); Gorilla glass ; Android OS v2.3.4 Gingerbread with HTC Sense 3.0 ; 1.2 GHz...

Screen performance is not on par with the best offerings ; At 177 grams, the device is downright heavy ; The glossy finish plastic is fingerprint and dust magnet; especially on the black version ; No dedicated camera button

Back in April when we caught the first look of the HTC Sensation 4G, we were thrilled by its design and complete feature set. It was obvious that HTC had put a massive effort into developing it.

Beautiful qHD display ; Great 8MP camera with an f/2.2 lens ; Blazing LTE speeds

Uninspired, cheap-looking design ; Unnecessarily heavy ; Meager battery life

With the HTC Vivid, AT&T's leaping into the brave new world of LTE. If cost is your concern, this will be the "true" 4G handset for you. Otherwise, just stick to the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket.

Gorgeous, high-resolution screen. Very fast LTE data speeds. Robust contact management.

Heavy. A little sluggish. Ineffective voice dialing. Spotty AT&T LTE coverage (for now).

Inside is a 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 APQ8060 dual-core processor. It performed in the middle of the pack for dual-core phones, though its Nenamark 2 frame rate score (at 30 fps) was barely half that of the Skyrocket's; this isn't as good a gaming...

Crisp, easy to read qHD screen ; Decent battery life (when 4G isn't running) ; 4G ; 8MP f/2.2 camera

Heat generated from back of device ; Uncomfortable and heavy form factor ; Poor speaker volume ; Light leakage from top and bottom of screen

While the HTC Vivid is a decent performer on all fronts and has 4G capabilities (where available), the price for said performance just isn't on par with other devices on the market today. That said, some do like a little heft to their devices, and...

You now have a choice of LTE Android phones on AT&T, and all of them are a good choice. Specs are similar, performance is similar, hell they even look similar. If you're a fan of HTC Sense, it's a no brainer -- get the Vivid. If you're not, look at one...

If I didn’t mind the look of the Vivid, it would be a phone I could carry regularly. As it stands, unfortunately, HTC designed this phone right out of the running for me.

The HTC Vivid is a respectable phone for AT&T to bring to market as one of its first two LTE handsets. The hardware looks and feels great, though it's a bit thick and weighty. Those are caveats that any current 4G LTE device comes with, however. It...

Snappy performance across the board ; Surprisingly good battery life ; Excellent build quality and heft

A bit on the thicker side ; HTC Sense may not be for everyone ; Heavy use of plastics make it smudgy

Unfortunately, the stand-out feature wasn't one I could enjoy while testing the HTC Vivid. AT&T LTE is expanding rather quickly, but was not in NYC during my testing period, and I couldn't make it to Boston or Washington, D.C. during that time, either....