The Verizon XV6900, which is also known as the HTC Touch, is a beautiful phone at first glance and boasts a sleek design with a glossy white paint job that sets it apart from other editions of the same phone carried by other wireless providers. This model is the progress in HTC models featured by Verizon (comparison chart).
Verizon has also made some subtle changes to the TouchFlo interface – the red accents and full color icons are much more appealing than the monochrome theme on other providers’ versions of the phone.
Though one of the main complaints that users have about this particular phone in general is that it tends to be unresponsive to touch (which is a definite hindrance for a ‘touch phone’), the Verizon XV9600 has proven pretty reliable when it comes to responsiveness. The interface that was created for the Verizon XV9600 is also more user friendly than the standard underlying Window Mobile interface, with its convenient icons and touch menus.
While the overall design of the Verizon XV9600 is good, the real question is how well the device functions as a phone. Users report that the call quality is good and that calls tend to be clear and static free. Even in areas where there is only one or two bars of reception, calls are not affected. Calling features such as an easy to activate speakerphone and Bluetooth for handsfree calling are included. A pretty cool feature that is included with the Verizon XV9600 is the contact screen, where you can arrange photos of your nine favorite contacts in grid form for easy access.
Internal memory is limited but this device does have a microSD slot that will support up to 8GB microSD memory cards. The access door was a bit difficult to open (you have to take the rear battery cover panel off before prying the side door open to reveal the microSD slot).
One of the disappointments of the Verizon XV9600 HTC Touch phone comes in the form of instant messaging. There is no dedicated IM client built into the phone. The keyboard is difficult to use, especially if you have larger hands; and the auto completion feature is less than intuitive.
Another disappointing feature of the Verizon XV9600 is its multimedia capabilities, or lack thereof. Though the phone will allow you basic control of tracks playing in Windows Media Player, it is not the best music or video player. Plus, sadly, the Verizon XV9600 does not support the highly popular V Cast service.
If you will be surfing the Internet on the Verizon XV9600, the experience is adequate. Some of the pages do not load properly and the included Internet Explorer browser is not the fastest or most capable for viewing the Internet. Overall, though, it works okay.
Since many people who purchase the HTC Touch use it for business purposes, scheduling and productivity are of concern. You will be happy to know that you can view all of the standard items such as Office documents. However, once again, the keyboard may be a bit of a problem if you are going to do any extensive typing.
Overall the Verizon XV9600 is a pretty decent phone. Though some features are a bit lacking, its performance is solid. If you are willing to compromise on some features, such as instant messaging, and you do not need your phone to be a media player, then the Verizon XV9600 will probably work pretty well for you.
This is a nice phone but the exciting ones are just coming out.