HD7 or Mozart 7

[jonnyH]

Next week I will be buying a new phone, I have been looking at the Mozart 7 and HD7 (currently edging more for the Mozart) but i do really like the HD7, issue is i am on OrangeUK so im fine with the Mozart but if i got the HD7 it would need unlocking. I'm wondering if unlocking smartphones is safe and if everything will still work properly after the unlock e.g. will i still be able to recieve updates even though its an o2 handset and im on Orange.

Also which phone do people think is better, both have thier pros and cons but i really cant decide

Cheers

JonnyH

[manosdoc]

http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_hd7-review-542.php

http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_7_mozart-3530.php

I'd go with Mozart.

HD7's screen is bad.

[Prince Charming]

I wouldn't say the HD7's screen is *bad*. It falls short of the vibrancy and black levels offered by other device screens, but it's still a great screen. As for unlocking handsets - you should be able to buy both the HD7 and the Mozart carrier free, check out Amazon.

[jonnyH]

just looked on Amazon, some people are selling the HD7 on the OrangeUK network, only seen them on o2 on the highstreet.

thanks for the feedback guys :)

[~Johnny]

I'd recommend going for the Mozart - better screen, much better camera, and importantly much better battery life. Its also a quite unique and good looking device in person.

[peacemf]

the camera isnt great on the mozart, little options with the camera settings too (no option to turn off autofocus for fast shots, blurring etc)

but id get the mozart because its smaller

[Princess Katie Pixie]

I rather pick the HTC HD7 with WIndows Phone 7.

[mad_onion]

I have omnia 7, that's on Orange. It's generally regarded as the best Windows Phone.

[jonnyH]

i wasnt aware that the Omnia 7 was on orange, just checked the Orange website and sure enough it is their, have not seen it on the highstreet though (in orange). I had considered the Omnia 7 but like the HD7 i wanst sure as i thought it would have to be unlocked. Also i want the HTC software on the phone as it was good on my Hero and the features they added to Windows Phone 7 sound quite nice.

my decision has become much tougher, i do like the look of the Omnia 7 and my previous saumsun phone was extremely reliable and well made.

[~Johnny]

i wasnt aware that the Omnia 7 was on orange, just checked the Orange website and sure enough it is their, have not seen it on the highstreet though (in orange). I had considered the Omnia 7 but like the HD7 i wanst sure as i thought it would have to be unlocked. Also i want the HTC software on the phone as it was good on my Hero and the features they added to Windows Phone 7 sound quite nice.

my decision has become much tougher, i do like the look of the Omnia 7 and my previous saumsun phone was extremely reliable and well made.

For what it's worth, I don't think the actual hardware on the Omnia 7 looks anywhere near as nice or as impressive as the HD7 or the Mozart. The Mozart in particular is something that stands out - the Omnia 7 doesn't have that stand out quality to it. Doesn't feel or look that premium either. But it works I guess!

HD7 & Mozart share the same, quite limited camera options, but the shots on the Mozart are a bit nicer, and of course Xenon flash. But, the Omnia 7 has far more camera options (including anti-shake, Wide Dynamic Range, and able to manually set your ISO upto 800). From personal experience also, the Omnia 7's screen is more susceptible to scratches.

Samsungs whole Galaxy S range (which I lump the Omnia 7 into as well) are all high spec, but they don't feel as well made or as premium as competitors' devices. Also, Omnia 7 supports HD Voice on Orange, for much better audio clarity.... if the other person has an HD voice phone too :p Which isn't very likey, but worth noting if any of your friends are liekly to have an HD voice phone (there's only about 3-4 phones that actually support it though at the moment)

<img><img>

[jonnyH]

for whats its worth? a dam lot more than what someone in a phone shop has to say. Hate sales people! full of crap.

[jakem1]

For what it's worth, I don't think the actual hardware on the Omnia 7 looks anywhere near as nice or as impressive as the HD7 or the Mozart. The Mozart in particular is something that stands out - the Omnia 7 doesn't have that stand out quality to it. Doesn't feel or look that premium either. But it works I guess!

HD7 & Mozart share the same, quite limited camera options, but the shots on the Mozart are a bit nicer, and of course Xenon flash. But, the Omnia 7 has far more camera options (including anti-shake, Wide Dynamic Range, and able to manually set your ISO upto 800). From personal experience also, the Omnia 7's screen is more susceptible to scratches.

Samsungs whole Galaxy S range (which I lump the Omnia 7 into as well) are all high spec, but they don't feel as well made or as premium as competitors' devices. Also, Omnia 7 supports HD Voice on Orange, for much better audio clarity.... if the other person has an HD voice phone too :p Which isn't very likey, but worth noting if any of your friends are liekly to have an HD voice phone (there's only about 3-4 phones that actually support it though at the moment)

<img><img>

I disagree. I really like the look of the Omnia 7 and think it's design works better with WP7 aesthetically than all the other phones that have been announced so far. It also feels REALLY nice in the hand (comfortable and solid) and the 4" screen is a perfect size. All the HTC phones look the same to me and look like all the Android phones that HTC currently have on the market. They don't seem to have put that much effort into this round of phones. Of course the big limitation of the Omnia is its 8GB of memory compared to the HD7's 16GB.

I guess it just comes down to personal opinion :)

[~Johnny]

I disagree. I really like the look of the Omnia 7 and think it's design works better with WP7 aesthetically than all the other phones that have been announced so far. It also feels REALLY nice in the hand (comfortable and solid) and the 4" screen is a perfect size. All the HTC phones look the same to me and look like all the Android phones that HTC currently have on the market. They don't seem to have put that much effort into this round of phones. Of course the big limitation of the Omnia is its 8GB of memory compared to the HD7's 16GB.

I guess it just comes down to personal opinion :)

Ah, they might generally look the same, but the 3 Windows Phone 7 HTC devices we have in the UK (Mozart, Trophy and HD7) all look discernably different from each other. Out of the my Omnia 7, my girlfriends Mozart, and my mothers Trophy, the general opinion layman opinions is the Mozart is the most initially appealing, with the Omnia coming in with a general "meh". Doesn't quite have the industrial look of the Zune HD, nor the svelte curvy looks the HTC's have.. It's not exactly bad looking, but on the Mozart you've got the awesome back cover and uni body design that fits snugly into your hand, the Trophy has it's nice rubbery back... and on our Omnia 7's we have some odd coloured gun metal type thing, with some plastic. 's don't think its overstated nor understated particularly, it's just there, Still I guess some people like it probably like that sort of thing.

If you are looking for an Orange phone by the way, you can also get the Optimus 7 on Orange. Best battery life of the bunch, and LG have some pretty unique and useful exclusive apps, and no capacitive buttons! (Ugh, why Samsung and HTC decided to stick with capacitive buttons I'll never know, the most annoying thing on Windows Phone 7 is accidentally hitting those buttons, especially when playing games in landscape) o.O I also think it's personally got the best design of the bunch, understated yet professional looking, and actually looks and feels like a high end phone :p.

<img><img>

[Owen W Veteran]

Do you not have any other choices? The Mozart is the best of the two, but I wouldn't pick either of those devices.

Personally, I think this isn't a question anyone but you can answer. Neither is better or worse, its down to opinion.

Go in store, try them both. Pick the one you like. We can't decide for you.

[~Johnny]

Do you not have any other choices? The Mozart is the best of the two, but I wouldn't pick either of those devices.

Personally, I think this isn't a question anyone but you can answer. Neither is better or worse, its down to opinion.

Go in store, try them both. Pick the one you like. We can't decide for you.

Aye, but we can point out things to look for when making your decision... but I think the biggest problem is here in the UK there are very few actual demo units you can try of any phone, let alone Windows Phone 7. Most display phones they let you touch in stores are non working dummy units - I've not actually seen a live Windows Phone 7 device on display in a shop yet, so actually getting to try before you buy is a bit hard unfortunately >.<<img>

[Digitalx]

quite often can ask the people at phone stores for personal demo of phones if they're not on display. My 2 cents would be just avoid the HD7 because the problems and issues so many people have had with it. Not to mention HTC's software can now run on any brand phone so if wish to get samsung device might as well go for it.

[MissingBonobo]

Move to the States, problem solved! Lol jk. I would personally stay away from the HD7 as the battery life is pretty bad from what I've seen.

[neo158]

quite often can ask the people at phone stores for personal demo of phones if they're not on display.

This.

That's exactly what I did before deciding on the HD7, it might not have the same screen as the Mozart, LCD vs SLCD, but the LCD display on the HD7 comes damn close in terms of colour reproduction.

I decided to get the HD7 simply because I wanted a big screen phone and even though the HD7 has had issues, most, if not all the hardware issues have been resolved with the revision 2 hardware. FYI the HD7 has the biggest screen of any WP7 device.

@MissingBonobo - The battery life is actually better compared to others because, even though it's only 1230mAh, LCD displays IMO use less power than AMOLED/SAMOLED/SAMOLED+ displays. My HTC Desire, on medium brightness, runs out of power long before my HD7 does.

Not only that but, as I have said before, HTC send out batteries uncalibrated. This means that the battery requires several power cycles before it reaches it's full capacity.

[ЀṾ]

Ive got a very curious question here..

How is it that 2 phones (Mozart & HD7) from the same company (HTC) screens are different in terms of vibrancy, color, etc? is it coz they have the same resolution or so and the HD7's screen is bigger then the mozart's so it loses its bright color vibrancy?

im a fan of big screen phones too and wanted to buy the HTC Desire HD or the HD7. im currently using an iPhone 3G and i LOVE the colors, brightness & vibrancy of the iPhone 3G's screen. I dont want to switch to a phone which isnt close to the iPhone 3G's amazing screen.

[jakem1]

Ive got a very curious question here..

How is it that 2 phones (Mozart & HD7) from the same company (HTC) screens are different in terms of vibrancy, color, etc? is it coz they have the same resolution or so and the HD7's screen is bigger then the mozart's so it loses its bright color vibrancy?

im a fan of big screen phones too and wanted to buy the HTC Desire HD or the HD7. im currently using an iPhone 3G and i LOVE the colors, brightness & vibrancy of the iPhone 3G's screen. I dont want to switch to a phone which isnt close to the iPhone 3G's amazing screen.

As neo158 said above, the two phones use different screen tech (LCD on the HD7 and SLCD on the Mozart) which accounts for the differences. Additionally the pixel density on the Mozart is higher because it sports the same 800x480 resolution on a smaller screen. Both phones have a higher resolution than your iPhone.

[~Johnny]

Ive got a very curious question here..

How is it that 2 phones (Mozart & HD7) from the same company (HTC) screens are different in terms of vibrancy, color, etc? is it coz they have the same resolution or so and the HD7's screen is bigger then the mozart's so it loses its bright color vibrancy?

im a fan of big screen phones too and wanted to buy the HTC Desire HD or the HD7. im currently using an iPhone 3G and i LOVE the colors, brightness & vibrancy of the iPhone 3G's screen. I dont want to switch to a phone which isnt close to the iPhone 3G's amazing screen.

As he says, though HTC make the phones, they source the screens from different places, and they're using different technologies. The only suitable 4.3" panels being manufactured at the moment tend to be LCD, whilst on the other hand, the main panel size for current SLCD screens tends to be 3.8", the size the Mozart uses, so the Mozart gets the *technically* better screen. They're both screens comparable to your iPhone 3G (other than the colour banding, but if you don't think about it you won't notice it most of the time), the Mozart will be notably better, but the HD7's won't go making you think your 3G's screen is amazingly better at any rate. There's something to be said for having such a big screen, even if it has to compromise slightly on the spec.

<img>

[MissingBonobo]

@MissingBonobo - The battery life is actually better compared to others because, even though it's only 1230mAh, LCD displays IMO use less power than AMOLED/SAMOLED/SAMOLED+ displays. My HTC Desire, on medium brightness, runs out of power long before my HD7 does.

Not only that but, as I have said before, HTC send out batteries uncalibrated. This means that the battery requires several power cycles before it reaches it's full capacity.

I was unaware of their uncalibrated state, I'll have to tell my friend about it (he has the HD7, I have the Focus).

I'm not saying the HD7 is a terrible device, it's not, and frankly HTC's apps are AWESOME compared to my Samsung apps (omgwtfbbqbad).

But on the battery life, we've both had our devices for over a month, and I consistently get better battery life than him. I'll let him know about it being uncalibrated and we'll see if that'll help him.

I am envious of his slightly larger screen though =/

Cheers :D

[jonnyH]

Thanks for all your feedback guys :)

I am going to take the HD7 out of the equation now as from what you guys have said i don't want potentially crappy battery life. I am really liking the look of both the Mozart 7 and the Omnia 7 but i leaning more towards the Mozart 7 as i know HTC make good phones that feel nice to hold and have a good bit of weight to them plus HTC bundle some nice apps with the phones :)

one of the things i don't like about the Omnia 7 though is how blocky it is and how it feels in the hand but then it has that lovely bright, slightly larger screen .... ARGH!

[neo158]

Not to mention HTC's software can now run on any brand phone so if wish to get samsung device might as well go for it.

Only if the software is hacked to remove the device check, in which case you would need to sideload the application anyway.

I would assume this works the other way as well, Samsung's software can be hacked to run on HTC devices.

[Digitalx]

The difference in screen tech is simple.

HD7 uses standard TN panel (same as cheap run of the mill desktop monitors) which maybe now capable of displaying equal amount of colours etc. What it does lack in is efficient brightness and viewing angles etc.

SLCD uses (S-)PVA technology which is on par with IPS panels. It gives more vibrant and sharper colour reproduction with more efficient brightness and blacks over standard TN panels. [keep in mind, they're still both inferior to S/AMOLED]

Efficiency(performance:battery life) is subjective though, directly comparing the original HTC desire with AMOLED and current "2nd gen" SLCD ones which I have, the AMOLED still has slightly longer general battery life while on full brightness over SLCD.