Mobile

In September 2009, HTC introduced the Tattoo, a lighter version of the Hero. Echoing the Sense interface but receiving a much smaller screen with Android, is it still fun to use? Let us see after several days of testing.

Like Hero, this new HTC Smartphone uses Android to benefit the Sense environment, which allows extensive customization of the interface. The user can also choose the body adapted to his style.

Overview

HTC Tattoo is all about you. It’s the first phone that can be customized inside and out. Decide how your phone looks, then decide what you want to look at: texts? twitter? your photos? When you’re done customizing HTC Tattoo, you’ll have a phone that speaks loudly about who you are and what you’re into.

Side finish: once again, HTC has a clean finish, pleasant to the eye and touch. Despite a plastic shell, not creak under the fingers. Same goes for the touchscreen which does not suffer, unless treated wild, no particular weakness. For probably a target of early adopters who want to install a Android smartphone, the silver finish, with a gradient of black, and the logo of the operating system from Google back to the Tattoo are young and apparatus connected.

Make it Mine

Your phone is by your side 24/7 and looks do matter. With HTC Tattoo, you don’t just pick the look; you make the look, by designing your own personal skin for the phone. Next, you decide what really matters to you on your phone. So if you’re into chatting, texting, and tweeting, you’ll put all your communication widgets and apps right on your front screen. If you’re into games, you’ll visit Android Market and download all the games you want. Put them right on the surface - ready to kill boredom whenever it tries to come out.

Stay Close

Do you have a friend who sends you 4 SMS/hour, 3 emails/day, updates his facebook status constantly and uploads pictures on Flickr that you just can’t miss. With HTC Tattoo staying on top of such friends and your other friends’ lives is dead easy. All you have to do is find a friendly face and your interactions are there, all in one place. So there is no more jumping from one app to another.

Discover the Unexpected

Sometimes there are no words to describe the cool surprises that happen in your life. Even basic functions like the dialer will make you smile on the HTC Tattoo. You can find a friend by dialing their phone number or simply by dialing their name.

If you’re into music, you’ll love the way you can organize all your tunes by album, artist or by playlists you create. And if you’re a photo fan, you’ll rave about the fact that your Album is not just the photos saved on your phone. It is also a gateway to online collections of you and your friends on Facebook or Flickr.

Finding needles in a haystack is no longer a problem with HTC Tattoo. The dedicated Search button sifts through tweets in Twitter?, locates friends in your contact list, finds emails in your inbox, searches through events in the calendar, and scours the web for info.

A well designed

At first glance, it is rather challenged by the small size of the touch screen: 7.11 cm. When testing recent HTC Touch2, we were rather disappointed by what appeared in Windows Mobile as a screen a little cramped. Well as Android, it is not. Typing comfort is maintained by a virtual keyboard as comfortable as the HTC Hero and a little better than the Magic (a case of a millimeter). Good point, when typing an e-mail, a window dedicated to viewing the text fills the entire screen. So we keep an eye on the whole, or substantially its entire message. An optimization that is remarkable and appreciated.

Android takes Sense

Returning quickly to the Sense interface of Tattoo, launched with the HTC Hero. This overlay software is not only much more appealing than the interface of Android basic, but it is also more complete. Normally limited to three screens, applications and widgets are spread over seven screens under Sense. Much space to have their weather information, check his e-mails, SMS or MMS's a simple finger movement or to leave a message on Facebook a few clicks.

This phone is just as swift an Android based device (HTC Magic) and you appreciate the richness of its features and customization options. It increased pleasure during an intensive daily use.

The mechanical buttons just as practical

In addition to the operating system well led, we can appreciate the presence of mechanical buttons under the screen. The circle is essential for multi-directional scrolling precisely one page of text on its length. However, even in heavy use, you will not regret the lack of stylus.

A powerful browser with Flash compatibility

There is nothing to complain about the functions of the global Internet device. E-mail or visit websites, everything is managed better. At best, for we must take into account the fact that the screen of 7 inches diagonal does not offer a breathtaking clarity. However thanks to a powerful and intelligent browser (as iPhone, Android platform and others), pages appear quickly and are suitable for transition to a direct reading. Needless to move the window from left to right to read an e-mail or telegram after a feed.

Another good point, the browser of Tattoo is compatible with Flash movies very much used on the Web. While admittedly, the displaying of pages depends on the quality of the 3G network, but, connected to an access point Wi-Fi, the result is rather pleasant.

Apart from this, for the mail client that it supports, as easily and effectively, is Microsoft Exchange in addition to POP and IMAP accounts.

Photos and videos not so ridiculous

The photo sensor integrated to Tattoo does not at all proved to be ridiculous. Images captured 2048 x 1536 pixels are admittedly difficult to use for photo prints in 10 x 15 cm. However, to liven up a Facebook page in the photo still send the youngest by e-mail without using a PC, the device is more than enough. Despite a flat with him very little of these details, the colors are fairly accurate and noise rather quiet, even indoors, provided that the room is well lighted.

Only constraint, the subject as the photographer must remain immobile to limit the risk of blurring. If the integrated GPS receiver is very convenient to navigate in Google Maps, to find a restaurant nearby, for example, it is also to share geo-tagged photos. The same applies to videos filmed in 320 x 240 pixels. This is not the best, but for recreational use it’s quite correct.

Finally, note that we find nothing to complain about the quality of the microphone and earpiece. All our calls have gone very well. If we had to reload three times the terminal five days of use, it is quite normal given that our tests seek 3G, Wi-Fi, etc. and thus greatly weaken the battery. However, given that it is recharged from an ordinary USB port, it rarely falls out of fuel, even in intensive use.

Product Highlights

• Express yourself with changeable covers and customization possibilities that make your phone truly unique.
• Stay close to your peeps with Facebook, Twitter and Flickr woven into the heart of your phone.
• Share your life adventures via easy photo and video uploads to your favorite social networking sites.
• Listen to your favorite tunes on the go with your music library organized by artist, album or the playlists you create.

HTC Tattoo Smartphone Specification

• Processor: Qualcomm MSM7225, 528 MHz
• Platform: Android 1.6
• Memory: ROM: 512 MB; RAM: 256 MB
• Dimensions (LxWxT): 106 x 55.2 x 14 mm (4.17 x 2.17 x 0.55 inches)
• Weight: 113 grams (3.99 ounces) with battery
• Display: 2.8-inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen with 240x320 QVGA resolution
• Network:
  1. HSDPA/WCDMA:
     • Europe/Asia: 900/2100 MHz
     • Up to 384 kbps up-link and 7.2 Mbps down-link speeds
  2. Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:
     • 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
• Device Control: 4-Way navigation control with Enter button
• GPS: Internal GPS antenna
• Connectivity:
  • Bluetooth 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate and A2DP for wireless stereo headsets
  • Wi-Fi: IEEE 802.11 b/g
  • HTC ExtUSB (11-pin mini-USB 2.0)
  • 3.5 mm audio jack
• Camera: 3.2 megapixel color camera
• Audio supported formats: MP3, AAC(AAC, AAC+, AAC-LC), AMR-NB, WAV, MIDI and Windows Media Audio 9
• Video supported formats: MPEG-4, H.263, H.264 and Windows Media Video 9
• Battery:
  1. Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery with 1100 mAh capacity
  2. Talk time:
     • Up to 342 minutes for WCDMA
     • Up to 390 minutes for GSM
  3. Standby time:
     • Up to 520 hours for WCDMA
     • Up to 340 hours for GSM
• Expansion Slot: microSD memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
• AC Adapter: Voltage range/frequency - 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60 Hz; DC output - 5V and 1A
• Special Features: G-sensor; Digital Compass; FM Radio

Conclusion

The Tattoo looks like a small phone without pretension. And yet, with its interface Sense and responsiveness of the Android kernel, it behaves quite well in the end, whatever the purpose. The Tattoo loads everything you need to use intensive pleasant. People forget very quickly the small size of the screen to take full advantage of mechanical buttons located under the camera and good reactivity of the slab. Finally, the product is successful and stylish. To put everyone's hands!