HTC Touch Viva

Feel the exhilaration of your first touch all over again. the HTC Touch Viva comprises the best elements of the touch screen experience in a device that's designed to put this latest, intuitive mobile phone technology in the hands of everyone with a passion for communication. The compact design houses an ultra-sensitive touch screen for navigation through contacts, media and web pages with new TouchFLO... the latest in HTC's unique touch screen interface technology. Effortless to use and working in perfect harmony with the phone's main functions, the Touch Viva offers you the perfect welcome to touch-screen control. Visit your favorite websites, enjoy YouTube videos and make the most of Google Maps when you really need to call on them. when you’re already out and about! With a built in RSS feed to keep you abreast of the latest developments in the world of media, as well the capability to send and receive Outlook email with Microsoft Office documents instantly. you'll have a truly connected device at your fingertips.

Size and weight:

It measures 104.5 x 59 x 15.8 mm & weighs of 110 g.

Network and connectivity:

It has a network of 2G GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900. And the connectivity features are GPRS (Class 10, 32 - 48 kbps), EDGE (Class 10, 236.8 kbps), WLAN Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), Bluetooth (v2.0 with A2DP), USB (miniUSB).

Memory and Display:

The screen on the Viva isn't flush with the case (unlike its more expensive siblings), but instead it's recessed slightly which gives it a more old fashioned and less stylish look. However, the screen itself isn't all that bad. Although it's a standard touchscreen rather than a capacitive one, it's pretty responsive to finger presses so you don't have to constantly dab at it to get it to register commands. The resolution, at 320 x 240, is relatively low by today's smartphone standards, but as the screen is bright and relatively small, text and graphics still look reasonably sharp. There's not much in the way of onboard memory either, with just 128 MB RAM & 256 MB ROM, though there's a microSD slot underneath the battery.

Camera and Video:

The camera is only of the 2 megapixel variety, so lagging well behind the Touch HD's 5 megapixel snapper (which actually isn't as good as it should be). There's no flash and it doesn't handle movement well but brightly lit still pics come out okay. It's unlikely you'll bother much with the video camera though, since blurring seems to be the norm rather than the exception. Viewing your still pics afterwards however is a joy since the HTC pic browser lets you zoom in or out by drawing circles with your finger around the point you want to zoom in on, and you can move on to the next pic by brushing your finger across the screen.

Entertainment Features:

The music player is similar to other Touches and it's a fine piece of software, kicking out a decent whack via the loudspeaker. But there's no headphones, and no 3.5mm headphone jack which would have made it easier to add your own pair, so you'll need to get a mini USB adaptor if you want to use this device for music. When it comes to viewing media, the Viva lets you scroll through pictures by flicking them across the screen, and you can zoom in and out of them by rotating your finger on the screen. This method isn't as smooth as using the iPhone's pinching motion, but it works. Video playback looks okay, but the screen isn't the sharpest we've ever seen. The latest HTC software allows you to surf the web, watch you tube, log on to Google maps, and use the built in RSS feed to keep you up to date on the latest news developments. Battery life is pretty good for this class of phone, and it gave us a good three days of moderate use before recharging.