Opinions on the HTC Wildfire S?

Sasquatch76

Hi folks,

I'm about to buy my very first smartphone (yes, I'm usually late to the party) but before I pull the trigger, I'd like to ask past/present owners of the Wildfire S for their opinions on it.

I've read a few reviews online, but there were a couple of mixed ones in there, so I want to make sure this is the phone for me before spending my hard-earned.

The reasons I'm looking at this model in the first place are;

• size is perfect for me - not a fan of huge handsets, and video watching isn't a high priority.
• in my price range (Vodafone pre-pay by the way)
• Android 2.3
• I've seen HTC recommended above other manufacturers for their willingness to upgrade/update software/firmware etc (but not sure if true as I have no experince with them)??

After all that, I guess I'm just looking for reassurance on the phone's reliablility, responsiveness, build quality etc. How is the camera? What's the battery life like? I guess I'd just like to hear whether or not you had a positive experience using the Wildfire S.

Sincere thanks in advance

Davy

Mobiles > Android

seanybiker

My brother got that phone lately. I was messing about with it earlier. I liked it. I find HTC build quality very good(have the desire HD meself). Brother said the battery on it is fairly good. The camera seems pretty good on it aswell. Good start to android

Sasquatch76

Thanks for that seany

Any other input?

hawkwind23

its a good phone.
ive had mine about 8 months.
maybe once you start to get into it , more phone memory and phone storage could be a gripe.
also you cant download loads of apps and games as they arent compatable.
none of the bothers me really as i couldnt afford the extra few hundred quid for the desire.
so imo , its a great phone for the price and does what it says on the tin as a decent starter android phone.

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

irish_stevo815

I actually just got this phone yesterday, on Vodafone Pre Pay. It is my first Android phone and so far I gotta say i love it. Like the OP says, the size is perfect and the screen comes out very bright and colourful.
There is a lot of cool features with the HTC sense, like flipping the phone over to go the speaker phone during a call.
The camera is pretty good too. At 5mp and a very decent flash/zoom, some great quality pics and vids can be shot on the phone.
Online browsing/facebook/facebook/etc all see mvery quick and responsive.

Overall i would say that this phone is perfect for anyone looking for a reasonably priced Android phone. Only downside is the battery life, I'm still tweaking the settings to get the maximum life out of it. But then again, all android/smartphones are the same

BeciMester

Just bought one for the other half as a present. Handy little phone, responsive, with a good screen and well built. Can't comment on battery life yet, it's only 2 days old. She loves it.

Tip: buy it in Carphone Warehouse, you might get a SIM free one. All three fellas in there assured me it is SIM free anyway, haven't tested it yet though. However, they only offered me O2 and Meteor as available prepay alternatives. Doesn't hurt to ask.

Edit: it is SIM free, I've just tried a Hungarian T-Mobile SIM and it worked.

hawkwind23

well if its better than the one i have , what are you waiting for .
i must say i am wanting a desire now as i am now using the smartphone features more and more , it has become integrated into my daily life.
they are addictive wee things

Sasquatch76

Thanks for the feedback everyone; very convincing!! Will place the order online tomorrow, so should have it Tuesday

ripcord

Hi all,

I'm in the same situation as the OP - considering the Wildfire S as my first step into the android world. It seems people here have started to get experience with them - I would really appreciate any comments regarding the battery life. I generally only call and text - my current nokia has great battery life.

All reports welcome!

Daniel S

I know this is the Android forum, but at least have a look at this:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056263837

It's a steal at that price.

I'm getting one once I manage to sell my iPhone.

irish_stevo815

ripcord wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm in the same situation as the OP - considering the Wildfire S as my first step into the android world. It seems people here have started to get experience with them - I would really appreciate any comments regarding the battery life. I generally only call and text - my current nokia has great battery life.

All reports welcome!

well as far as i know, you're not gonna get long term battery life from any android phone. But as for the Wildfire S, just for calls and texts, and having wi-fi, bluetooth, 3g, etc switched off and minimum apps running you would be looking at charging it every 2 days or so. Other than that, it is a great phone

M three

Using a wildfire s for a week, have switchhed off blue tooth, wi fi and dont use the apps. Dont spend much time talking or texting and have found the battery very poor, have to charge it a least one per day.

Has anyone had to get a replacement battery from htc or know how to go about this?
Phone was new and in a sealed box and didnt see a warranty card and it doesnt have a manual.

corpo3030

I have this phone too, its great for the money, so simple to use, and I've found the battery life to be very reasonable for an Android, I find it better than my iPhone 3GS.

srsly78

My mum has the original Wildfire and loves it. Wildfire S should be even better.

Danno

Have the original, good phone generally...

Camera is a tad shakey, unless your hand is absolutely still the images come out blurred...
Below 30% charged reception drops, though a recent software update seems to have solved alot of it...
A good idea is to turn it off once or twice a week as it can become slow...
FM transmitters cause tunes to jump when in the car.

Other than that, I find it good for all my needs... MP3, facebook, wifi, bluetooth, texts and calls.

M three

M three wrote: »

Using a wildfire s for a week, have switchhed off blue tooth, wi fi and dont use the apps. Dont spend much time talking or texting and have found the battery very poor, have to charge it a least one per day.

Has anyone had to get a replacement battery from htc or know how to go about this?
Phone was new and in a sealed box and didnt see a warranty card and it doesnt have a manual.

Can anyone help with above please?

LinoRichie

BeciMester wrote: »

Just bought one for the other half as a present. Handy little phone, responsive, with a good screen and well built. Can't comment on battery life yet, it's only 2 days old. She loves it.

Tip: buy it in Carphone Warehouse, you might get a SIM free one. All three fellas in there assured me it is SIM free anyway, haven't tested it yet though. However, they only offered me O2 and Meteor as available prepay alternatives. Doesn't hurt to ask.

Edit: it is SIM free, I've just tried a Hungarian T-Mobile SIM and it worked.

I just rang Carphone Warehouse (in Dundrum) and they told me that there Wildfire S phones are locked to particular networks. Where did you get yours?

Anyone successfully unlock a Wildfire S?

x0l0x

Is Wildfire S Unlocked on Vodafone ???? ..... Could anyone confirm this please ??????

The Black Oil

I'm quite tempted to go for this phone on PAYG. Main concern is probably battery life. It seems impossible to escape this downfall on smartphones, but I guess it's all down to how you use it. I'd likely be using it in 2G mode most of the time, keeping wi-fi, bluetooth, etc off.

shadowninty

Its quite pricy, and HVGA (death) but other then that its a fine phone. If you feel a cheapskate you could get a ZTE Blade tho
I personally wouldn't swap my Blade for one (ok I might due to resale value :pac:), but I'd like a good camera

The Black Oil

Excuse the ignorance, but what do you mean by HVGA death - something lousy about the display/video capabilities? Still 50/50 on whether to try it or not.
The Blade's available through Argos in Norn Iron, yeah?

shadowninty

Blade In Argos NI yup.
HVGA is the resolution - 320x480
The Blade has WVGA - 480x800/854

I wouldn't like it for web browsing or videos, I like my long screens and high pixel density

The Black Oil

Ah right, thanks. Not too bothered about Youtube, have some videos on my iPod.

I guess it's a compromise, hard to get everything you want on one device.

LinoRichie

Just in response to my own question above.

I bought one of these on pay-as-you-go from the vodafone.ie site and it arrived unlocked.

Riesen_Meal

LinoRichie wrote: »

Just in response to my own question above.

I bought one of these on pay-as-you-go from the vodafone.ie site and it arrived unlocked.

Mine is unlocked aswell, purchased one month ago from Vodafone shop, might have done it from the emergency mode though, can't remember...

The internal memory on this phone is the only thing I find a bit **** really...

Oh and anyone having battery issues try juice defender on the marketplace, huge improvements since I installed last week....

shadowninty

Bootloader still not unlockable yeah?

The Black Oil

How do you know if it's unlocked? Mine's Vodafone PAYG, too.

I charged mine in full on Monday then turned it off. Moved from my old phone and got a new SIM on Tuesday, have been using it since then. Generally turn it off at night, have had a few calls, not really been texting, have downloaded a few apps and the battery still shows as being green. Happy with it so far, but it's early days.

Riesen_Meal

shadowninty wrote: »

Bootloader still not unlockable yeah?

As far as I know, looking at my options I can pay someone to s-off the phone for the eventual root in a few months....

shadowninty

Eventual? You think HTC will leak it? Cos theres no dev activity..
XTC clip yeah?

Riesen_Meal

shadowninty wrote: »

Eventual? You think HTC will leak it? Cos theres no dev activity..
XTC clip yeah?

Not too sure will HTC do it, but ill leave it a couple of months and see if any devs do anything, yeah hoping to get it s-offed with the xtc clip when I get a chance....