HTC Fuze (AT&T)

Editors’ note: Parts of this review were taken from the HTC Touch Pro review.

HTC is making some fairly popular products these days: Its Touch Pro, a QWERTY-keyboard version of the Touch Diamond, was picked up by Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and AT&T, the latter of which rebranded it the Fuze. At $299 (with a two-year contract and after rebates), it’s not a cheap phone, but business users and Windows Mobile fans will like the productivity and entertainment features it brings to the table.

Design

AT&T’s Fuze hews closer to HTC’s original design than the Sprint Touch Pro; we’re glad to see the faceted diamond pattern on the back of the phone, instead of the staid flat back on Sprint’s version. The Fuze is slightly smaller than the Sprint Touch Pro, with less-rounded corners and no chrome accents.

The AT&T Fuze feels bulky and thick but is well built. Measuring 4.0 x 2.0 x 0.7 inches, it’s a tad smaller than the AT&T Tilt and Sprint Mogul, but those HTC devices lack the chic design of the Fuze. At 5.8 ounces, the Fuze was always noticeable in our pockets but comfortable to hold during phone calls.

The front of the Fuze is glossy and gets littered with fingerprints easily. Its face has the same controls as the Touch Diamond: Home, Return, Call, and End, as well as a center selection button that doubles as a four-way directional pad. You can also control the device by using the included stylus in conjunction with the large 2.8-inch, 640 x 480-pixel touchscreen. Each stylus tap was accurate out of the box, and we appreciated that it could be stored in the bottom right corner of the Touch Pro. On the other hand, we wish we didn’t need to use a stylus at all.

The ports and buttons of the phone are the same as the Diamond, too. Volume controls are on the left side, a power button on the top, and a mini-USB jack on the bottom. Pop open the back to find a microSD Card slot on the left. We wish the phone had been designed so that the card can be removed without taking the cover off.

The Fuze comes with a charger, an extra stylus, a USB cable, a carrying case, and a bulky adapter for adding a 3.5mm headphone jack and for charging and syncing via USB at the same time.

Keyboard

The Fuze’s keyboard is configured somewhat differently than the Sprint Touch Pro. Instead of a dedicated row of numbers at the top of the keyboard, the Fuze has a set of symbols, including the @ sign. Numbers are arranged as on a keypad and activated using the function button. The keyboard also feels marginally more comfortable to type on than the Sprint Touch Pro; it was easier for us to type at a rapid pace.

User Interface

HTC’s TouchFLO 3D interface loads on top of Windows Mobile; this feature-rich UI lets you finger-swipe through each main-menu choice. We prefer this overlay instead of Windows Mobile’s stock Today screen, because it brings all our most-used content forward, such as contacts, messages, music, photos, and even weather. The Pro features the same 528-MHz processor as the Diamond, though, so the sluggishness of the UI was still noticeable from time to time when we tried to flip through the ribbon menu quickly. Once you leave the TouchFLO shell, you’ll find yourself inside the plain but business-friendly Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional environment.

AT&T’s implementation of the TouchFLO 3D interface is much more drab than Sprint’s: Instead of white icons on a black background, AT&T uses gray icons on a white background. Even though the menu structure is similar, it looks duller.