You really can't go wrong with any of the 4 initial launch Windows Phone 7 smartphones in the US. Thanks to Microsoft's high minimum requirements and the quality of manufacturers on board, each smartphone is very fast and solidly built, features a 5 megapixel camera with HD video recording and has a high resolution 800 x 480 capacitive multi-touch display with accelerometer, ambient light sensor and proximity sensor. All have a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU, lots of storage, WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth and a GPS. In fact, since manufacturers stuck with Microsoft's basic specs, variation comes in form-factor tweaks and display improvements. The Samsung Focus on AT&T has a 4" Super AMOLED display and a super-slim design, the HTC HD7 on T-Mobile has a huge 4.3" display and chic design, the LG Quantum has a slide-out hardware keyboard (the only carrier-offered Windows 7 Phone with a hardware keyboard) and the Surround's claim to fame is its slide-out speaker bar with Dolby virtual surround and a kickstand that turns the phone into a baby boom box.
The enhanced audio features make sense since this is a Zune phone-- all Windows Phone 7 smartphones sync with the Zune desktop software and can partake of all Zune music and video offerings. That said, the speaker bar's slider mechanism makes the Surround as big and heavy as landscape QWERTY sliders, and while hardware keyboards have proven utility and consumer demand that offset detrimental added bulk, we're not so sure about speakers. Especially in a $199 with-contract smartphone that's priced more for adults than tweens and teens who are the likely candidates for out-loud music and video sharing with friends.
Happily, there's lots to like about the HTC Surround beyond its capable if not miraculous audio system. HTC has a strong fan base because they've made quality Windows Mobile and Android phones, and we know a lot of you will buy the HTC as your first Windows 7 phone even if you could care less about the speakers. In terms of build quality, the HTC is excellent: metals and plastics are solid and the slider is sturdy. The non-gloss back is a welcome escape from Samsung's fingerprint loving high end Android phones and the Focus: the HTC Surround looks professional and understated rather than glossy and plasticky. Unlike the HTC HD7 on T-Mobile, we wouldn't say the Surround is beautiful, and its design is utilitarian rather than sexy. Even the HD7 suffers a little since it's a recycled HTC HD2, but HTC's surface and materials tweaks have kept the design appealing.
