So I went to Low Yat Plaza meaning to get the screen fixed. That will cost me about RM150 (if I'm lucky). Bear in mind that it was only 2 weeks ago I got the home button replaced for RM80. That was the 2nd time too. Suddenly I thought instead of fixing the phone again for the umpteenth time, why don't I just swap the damn thing for a new one?
That's when I decided to throw caution to the wind and bought this HTC Wildfire Android phone. I actually only had a few phone in mind (and my budget), this one, the Samsung Galaxy Ace or a Blackberry. Sony Ericsson makes good phones too but the Xperia Mini is simply out of the question. In the end I decided to go with the Wildfire.
First impression I find this Android phone is not as intuitive or easy to use as the iPhone. I mean if a kindergarten kid can take just a day to master the iPhone, this Android phone will take a college graduate another whole day to fully utilize. The overall interface is quite okay but the transition and touch could feel rather sluggish at times. Physically, the Wildfire is smaller than the iPhone (obviously) and it felt lighter and fits more comfortably in my palm. The optical tracker button makes it convenient for you to scroll through items on the screen but used to take pictures can make them a little bit blurry since you need to actually press the button.
This entry-level smartphone from HTC comes with a small 3.2" QVGA screen with capacitive touch screen (thank God), Android 2.2 "Froyo" and a bunch of other standard specs like WiFi, Bluetooth, 5 mega-pixel camera with flash and HTC Sense. The onboard ROM is only 512MB but you can get up to 32GB of extra space with an external micro SD card. Application wise, the Android market got almost everything the App Store offers with a few exceptions like Instagram and similar iOS specific apps. Pictures and videos taken with this camera looks just okay, nothing spectacular but generally acceptable. The camera flash would come handy when you need to use a flashlight.
The Wildfire is available in the local market from RM600 to RM700 depending on where you bought them. This little smartphone is definitely no iPhone but at least its new and fully working unlike my old iPhone. Of course I can always save up and wait till I can afford a new iPhone but I really need to use a smartphone right now so this HTC Wildfire would do for now. Yes I have to admit that I have been an ardent fan of anything Apple before but that doesn't mean I won't pick another smartphone brand. I have always had a soft spot for Android since its inception years ago so now that I had the chance to use it, it didn't take me long to choose it over say Blackberry or Windows Phone 7. Now how do you root an Android phone?
