Exxodium

Quick notes on the Arrive

So, yesterday. I somehow managed to score an extra $200 yesterday, went into the Sprint store, and picked up an Arrive. Here are my first impressions.

Hardware

• The hinge mechanism is really solid if it’s open or closed, but in between, it just feels flimsy. Other than that, solid build quality all around.
• This phone is pretty heavy. Then again, it’s constructed like a tank.
• The lock button is a bit too far to the left, but I’m sure I’ll adjust to it.
• Battery life, despite Sprint’s estimates, is very solid.
• The Zune software for syncing to your phone feels really bloated and overcomplicated.
• The speakerphone is really LOUD. And clear.
• This phone uses standard glass. No strengthened glass whatsoever. HTC, what the crap were you thinking? (As such, despite being babied, my phone has a nice scratch in the screen. Thankfully it’s not noticeable.)
• The hinge has to be either opened or closed in one swift motion. If you hesitate even a little bit, that thing will jam pretty quick.

Software

• When I play music, being able to view a bio on demand is pretty cool.
• No turn-by-turn in Bing Maps (though this will be fixed in Mango)
• Annoying, almost dealbreaking flaw: Typing out a long text message. When you hit that 160 character point, the phone just stops accepting input. No throwing the additional characters into a second message, not even a warning or anything. The phone just stops. I’ve no idea if Mango addresses this. I hope it does.
• No custom ringtones. But compared to how dumb Android was being about it, I think I’ll be fine with it.
• WP7 feels really fast all around, even though this is technically last-generation hardware it’s running atop of. (Google, are you listening?)
• The text messaging application doesn’t support drafting. So if, say, your finger brushes against the start button while you’re trying to tap Send, WHOOP, there goes your entire text, lost to the ether.

Right now, the only two things I’d change about this phone are the hinge and that annoying 160-character text limit. There are ways around it (in fact, all of Sprint’s Android phones sidestep it easily).

All I want on the hinge is something much like the Touch Pro2, where you had the option of using the phone as a traditional slider, or tilting the screen up.