HTC Rhyme Review

The new HTC Rhyme is a smart, sleek stylish phone for the young professional. Originally launched in the US in just the plum colour, the phone was generally perceived to be marketed at women but now the phone comes in three nature inspired colours – plum, stone and light blue – in an attempt to make the phone more “man-friendly”!

The HTC Rhyme boasts an aluminum unibody design with soft touch curved finish. It is 4.69 inches tall, 2.39 inches wide and .43 inches thick, perfect for those of us with smaller hands (women) who can’t quite manage the larger HTC-4.3”- phones. Despite only weighing 130g the phone is more solid than it feels, having dropped it already – for test purposes of course!- it was left with no scratches, and, despite the fact that it doesn’t have the Gorilla Glass, the screen didn’t crack. The screen is a sharp 3.7 inch WVGA touch screen perfect for those users looking to switch over from the iPhone who aren’t quite ready for the larger screens synonymous with the HTC. There is a built-in accelerometer which allows it to maintain incredible sharpness when turning the phone on it’s side.

There are 2 cameras on the HTC Rhyme, a 5 megapixel rear camera with LED Flash and a VGA front-facing camera, perfect for video calls. I was quite disappointed by the standard 5 megapixel camera and that it wasn’t an 8 megapixel camera which is in most other HTC smartphones.

The camera features most definitely make up for this. One of my favorite things about the HTC Rhyme is the ability to take panoramic photos. The camera can takes 3 pictures and merges them together to create one unified photograph, perfect for capturing that holiday sunset or the view from the top of the Empire State building! The face detection feature allows you to focus in on your subject improving it’s clarity. The instant shutter means that you never miss that moment but in case you’re worried that you will, the clever people in HTC have created a burst mode allowing you take 5 consecutive pictures. The high-dynamic-range mode takes 3 pictures at different exposures and puts them together, which means when you’re taking a photo of someone and the light is behind them the picture will still come out really well. There is also a range of effects to choose from when taking a picture, as there are with other HTC phones. They are easily uploaded to social networks by simply clicking the share button where all your social networking sites, emails and message applications are displayed. The pictures are saved straight to the included 8g SD Card not the 4g internal memory.

The HTC Rhyme is powered by Android Gingerbread 2.3 and the newest HTC Sense 3.5 which allows you to personalise your phone within an inch of it’s life, which the iPhone could definitely beneift from. Despite the Rhyme running both of these on a 1Ghz processor, the 768RAM helps to make it run smoothly with problems only arising when using certain applications requiring intensive flash videos or games. This means for the regular user there are no problems with speed or applications freezing.

The HTC Sense 3.5 has some enchancements which really clean up the look of the Rhyme, with imporovements to the animations, transparencies and 3D effects. It has a 3D homescreen carousel and a lock screen which boasts 4 shortcuts to your favourite applications allowing you to unlock your phone and go straight there!

The new home screen widget gets rid of the clutter of the previous designs and allows you add 5 apps with a shortcut quickview function which is great for taking a quick glance at a text or missed call when you’re in a meeting or class.

The real selling point of the HTC Rhyme are the unique accessories, the LED Charm, the bluetooth wireless docking station and the tangle-free headphones.
The LED notification charm is a great asset which at first I thought I would have no use for. I then began using it in the library when my phone was on silent and it was great, I always knew when I got a call or message. It would be great also in any situation where your phone has to be on silent so if you are waiting for an important call you won’t miss it. It clips easily to a bag or shirt so it is great when you’re out, if you’re like me and you always miss calls on a night out because you can’t hear your phone this will solve your problems! If you are worried about the fact that it plugs into your earphone socket it’s ok because you will hear when you get a message with those anyway!

The earphones included are flat rubber tangle-free earphones. Now, when they say tangle-free they really mean that it will tangle and get into knots but not into big tight ones that you can’t undo…I suppose it’s a bit difficult to shorten that into a catchy one-line selling point? Anyway below I included a picture of my earphones knotted but not too badly that it couldn’t be undone quickly. The sound quality is great on the earphones, they’re no comparison with Beats but they certainly are much better than the normal earphones included with the phone. The in-ear rubber covering wont fit everyone but HTC have included a second smaller pair just in case.

Lastly, my absolute FAVOURITE thing about the phone – even more so than the panoramic pictures- is the incredible wireless bluetooth docking system. This is what will make you buy the phone! You simply drop the phone into the dock and it begins charging and changes to a special dock mode. The dock mode can be customised allowing you access your music library, see the time and weather and your favourite apps. It acts as an alarm clock, music player and charger. There is a dim light function for when you’re charging your phone while you’re sleeping.

The HTC Rhyme is a great phone with an easily accessible design/layout. The included accessories, camera features and the quicklook functionality and app shortcuts on the lock screen really differentiate this phone from it’s competitors. I would definitely recommend it as the perfect Christmas gift.

Reviewed by Emma Waldron