HTC Rhyme is a new generation communicator for women. The SIM card is used in mobile devices to store data that certifies the authenticity of mobile service subscribers

The Taiwanese manufacturer does not directly call its new HTC Rhyme smartphone a ladies' smartphone. However, the feminine note can be traced here in all aspects so clearly that there is no doubt about the gender orientation of this model. And the advertising video for this model features entirely female hands, famously operating a smartphone.

The “sleekness” and even some “effeminacy” of the shapes and pastel colors are supported by a set of accessories, the most unusual of which is unambiguously called Charm. In the fall we launched a new product called HTC Bliss, but in the end we got Rhyme. Although the characteristics of the device itself turned out to be quite consistent with those that were announced. Inside, this is a typical Android smartphone, almost the same as HTC Desire S, except for minor details. The technical marking of the model is S510b.

Scope of delivery and characteristics

Depending on the color of the device itself, the accessories included in the package may also differ in color, but their set is constant. In our HTC case Rhyme had a sand color, and the rest of the kit was distinguished by the snow-white execution of absolutely all the details. When purchasing, say, a lilac color option, all the accessories in the box will also be this color.

The complete list of accessories is as follows:

• smartphone HTC Rhyme
• case
• dock station
• USB cable
• wired hands free headset
• beacon keychain
• Charger with USB input
• user guide

The device comes in a white cardboard box with a single visible sign on the outside and plenty of compartments on the inside. In these compartments you will find a considerable number of interesting and useful gizmos - from headphones that will never get confused to a full-fledged docking station. There is also a snow-white leather case, and even a flashlight keychain on a cord. The equipment is more than rich, which, of course, could not but affect the overall cost of the device, but more on that later.

The characteristics of the HTC Rhyme S510b communicator are as follows:

• Scorpion processor 1 GHz, Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon chipset with Adreno 205 GPU
• Operating system Android 2.3.5
• Super LCD display, diagonal 3.7 inches, 480×800 pixels, capacitive, with multitouch
• RAM 768 MB, flash memory 4 GB (0.94 GB available)
• GSM communication 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, GPRS/EDGE
• Communication 3G UMTS 900/2100 MHz
• Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP and PBAP
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, DLNA, point Wi-Fi access
• GPS, AGPS
• Slot for microSDHC cards
• FM radio
• Position sensor
• Light sensor
• Magnetometer
• 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, 720p video recording
• Lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 1600 mAh
• Dimensions 119x60.8x10.9 mm
• Weight 130 g.

Design and appearance

In total, at the moment, the communicator is available in three colors: turquoise, lilac and sand. Sand Rhyme, which just appeared in our editorial office, has a light coffee shade, and this is perhaps the only color option for the new product that is suitable for the male half. It is the most neutral, but, as a result, it is not too bright and less noticeable. The other two, lilac and turquoise, definitely win against its background. However, color preferences are a purely individual matter, so we won’t focus on this. One has only to add that the use of soft-touch materials gives any of the three colors depth and matteness. So, due to its pastel shades, HTC Rhyme will stand out favorably in any showcase and attract the admiring glances of the fair sex. In terms of visual design, the designers of HTC Rhyme did an excellent job.

At first, however, a certain disharmony appears in the mind when you first look at the back surface of the device, but this feeling quickly passes. It appears to arise due to the visual division of the back of the smartphone into three unequal sections with different shades of color. These three components appeared here due to the fact that the metal body of the device itself has a closed frame that forms a jumper at the rear of the body. It is the middle of three assorted parts that make up the back surface. The other two are covers made of plastic using the soft-touch effect that is already well known to users and for some reason painted in different colors. Due to the matte finish of the case, there can be no question of any fingerprints except on the screen itself - the phone is absolutely not easily soiled.

The dimensions of the HTC Rhyme, despite the obvious feminine orientation, are not so small: the device is even slightly wider and half a centimeter longer than the same Desire S.

• HTC Desire S - 115x59.8x11.6mm
• HTC Rhyme - 119x60.8x10.9mm

To tell the truth, due to its considerable width and thin, curve-free body, the HTC Rhyme does not feel as comfortable in the hand as the Desire S. Due to the greater thickness and curvature of the body, it fits better into the palm, unlike the completely flat and thin Rhyme. In general, the design genius of the NTS developers is beginning to fail: the famous slight bend in the lower part, which reliably protected the screen from contact with the surface and felt comfortable in the hand, has disappeared somewhere. Now we have a completely flat and absolutely even block in all directions with rounded edges. As a result, the screen adheres entirely and gets scratched on any surface if the phone is lying “face down”, and if vice versa, then the hole for the external speaker is blocked, and the outgoing sound becomes barely audible.

Again, some dissonance between visual and physical perception arises when you take Rhyme in your hand and suddenly feel a weight that is unexpected for such a thin body. For some reason the communicator feels even heavier than it actually is.

There are not many control elements on the HTC Rhyme body, and their arrangement is not quite familiar for HTC. The two-position volume control rocker has moved to the right side of the device, and this is good news for left-handers. With this location of this key, holding the smartphone with your left hand has become more convenient.

The left side is also not left empty: a Micro-USB connector is located here, which for some reason is covered with a plug. The plug is ugly: it’s just a plastic hatch, and even with a notch for a nail - it looks untidy, visually cheapens the device, and it’s not clear why it was made at all. It would be better to leave the connector open and not be tricky.

At the top there are: a 3.5 mm headphone jack, an additional microphone and a power control button for the communicator, at the bottom there is only a microphone.

The front panel standardly contains four touch keys at the bottom for interacting with the operating system and programs, and at the top there is a front camera lens and sensors. The earpiece hole is just a thin, barely noticeable slit. Not a very elegant solution, and certainly not expensive. The large metal grille of the HTC Desire S looked much brighter and more attractive.

But another design detail, on the contrary, greatly enhances the appearance of the device. This is the frame under the glass around the screen, which is usually painted black and merges with the screen if it is turned off. In the case of HTC Rhyme, this frame has the same color as the body itself. In our case, it is light brown, like the body, and it looks really stylish.

The back of the smartphone, as mentioned above, consists of three parts: a metal jumper with embossed letters “htc” and two plastic covers. The upper part contains, in addition to the camera eye and flash, a three-pin connector for connecting to the docking station. The external call speaker is also located here, covered with a painted grille. The sound passing through this gap is muffled by the surface of the table, so the call may not be heard. Around the speaker grille there is clearly a lack of some kind of ledge that raises the body above the surface.

The bottom part is a cover covering the compartments for the SIM card and memory card. The battery here is non-removable, so it’s definitely not possible to replace it with a more powerful one, or even just replace it at home.

The cover itself is made of plastic with a fairly thick profile and is attached extremely tightly to its latches - a very reliable and solid solution, traditional for HTC.

The verdict on the appearance of the HTC Rhyme and its ease of use is ambiguous: on the one hand, everything suggests that the device was made with an eye on a female audience, and therefore with characteristic sophistication and grace of form. But in reality this only resulted in an unusual color palette. The device itself has lost its practicality. The dimensions of the phone are quite large, the bend at the bottom has disappeared, and the connector plug is completely puzzling. However, all these little things are so insignificant that for many they can simply go unnoticed. True, the sound of the device lying on the table is really strongly muffled by the surface, and this is no longer a trifle, but a serious drawback.

Screen and sound

The screen quality in HTC Rhyme is exactly the same as in HTC Desire S. The capacitive touchscreen Super LCD display has physical dimensions of 49x81 mm and a resolution of 480x800 pixels. There are no complaints about the screen itself: the viewing angles are maximum, and the brightness reserve is enough to keep this parameter at an average level or even leave this setting to the machine. Individual dots with this resolution and a diagonal of 3.7 inches are not visible to the eye. True, due to the fact that the smartphone itself is larger in size than the Desire S, especially in height, the screen does not occupy the entire surface and looks rather small on the front panel. Perhaps the frame of the color of the case itself also plays a role here, which visually makes the display even smaller.

The volume reserve of the external speaker is quite enough for any environment, if the phone is not lying “backwards” on the table (then the sound is quite muffled by the surface). And in your pocket or bag, the phone will sound loud enough not to miss an incoming call. The hearing speaker transmits speech loudly enough, the words of the interlocutor are clearly distinguishable. Perhaps the voice on the other end does not sound quite natural - all the shades are missing, but this does not affect the quality of speech perception.

Camera

The communicator is equipped with a matrix with a resolution of 5 megapixels. The camera has an autofocus system and LED flash. It is only controlled software— HTC Rhyme does not have a separate hardware camera control button. It is in this model that the manufacturer himself especially highlights the speed of taking a picture, noting that with the new instantaneous camera, the moment you press the shutter button is the same moment when the picture is taken. Indeed, the response speed is high, and considering that even when the screen is “locked” there is a function for quickly switching to shooting, it is very difficult to miss a good shot.

The camera takes pictures of quite acceptable quality, and this is more than enough for a smartphone. Sometimes, however, the automation fails, and the white balance is set incorrectly - the frames turn out to be outright blue. The camera control interface is rich in settings and access to any of them is intuitively easy in just a couple of clicks. At your fingertips is not only instant access to the general settings menu, but also to individual, especially frequently used functions. With one click you can also open a gallery of already taken pictures. As a result, we can say that controlling the camera of the HTC Rhyme communicator is one of the most convenient that can be found in phones.

The maximum image size is 2592×1552 pixels. By the way, the module is capable of recording video in HD resolution 720p at a speed of 30 frames per second. Quality of photos taken HTC camera Rhyme at standard settings can be seen by clicking on the thumbnails below. Autofocus works well - text from paper or the monitor is captured perfectly.

It is worth adding that the smartphone has a front camera. And although it is equipped only with a VGA matrix, the image is transmitted of such high quality that it allows you to use such a function as video calling without any shame about your appearance. And the communicator will also perform quite well as a pocket mirror, which will certainly please the fairer sex.

Software and Settings

The communicator runs the familiar version of the Android 2.3.5 operating system (Gingerbread). On top of it, to help the user, is installed shell own production of HTC Sense. This program does not need any special introduction. Over the course of several years, this add-on not only acquired the status of the best proprietary shell, but was also transferred more than once by enthusiasts to those mobile devices that the NTS company itself did not produce. The popularity and universal recognition of HTC Sense push many buyers to purchase a communicator from this Taiwanese brand precisely for its user-friendly interface.

On HTC Rhyme this shell has a slightly modified interface and is numbered 3.5. It differs from HTC Sense version 3.0, installed, for example, on the Desire S, first of all, in the redesigned desktop. Here it is equipped with only two lower buttons to access the program menu and phone functionality, and also contains five additional icons along its left vertical. These icons are multifunctional: when you click in the middle, they open the actual program that they are announcing. But when you press on the very edge, additional labels come out that demonstrate the last materials used. For example, here you can see the name of the author of the latest letter or the announcement of the latest SMS message, or they give fast access to play the last used music track.

The weather was also not forgotten: here the current time and the weather informer are included in the wallpaper picture so elegantly that a complete impression of one with it is created. This is a very nice solution, and it looks advantageous in relation to the standard “weather clock”, familiar from previous versions of HTC Sense.

The second difference is hidden in the “Switches” menu (quick settings). It’s not too significant; only access to turning the Wi-Fi module on/off and the general settings menu has changed. Unlike the usual version, here you need to get your finger into small squares, but for women’s fingers, obviously, this will not be difficult.

And inside - everything is the same, with the exception of a few new ones preinstalled programs. The most notable of them, which will appeal to many ladies, is Endomondo - a virtual fitness trainer that allows you to use already established or simulate your own training regimes. Naturally, you can show off your results to your friends by getting in touch with them within the framework of this program.

Notes - convenient program, which allows you not only to create and edit text and audio recordings, but also to integrate them with the popular Evernote service.

HTC Sense is famous for its personalization. There's a lot that can be changed or added to the shell interface using the tools provided by HTC Sense itself, and this personalization section has also received changes. They are, however, cosmetic in nature and are expressed in the fact that, unlike previous versions, where all the options were consolidated into one long column, separate sections with bookmarks appeared here.

Battery life and performance

The central processor of HTC Rhyme is a single-core Scorpion ARMv7 1 GHz based on the Qualcomm MSM8255 chipset of the second edition of Snapdragon. Support for graphics processing is provided by the Adreno 205 accelerator. All this is served by 768 MB random access memory. We saw similar hardware solutions in many communicators of last year, so there is nothing new or outstanding here. NTS Desire S has almost the same parameters.

The summary table presents the results of testing the performance of the review hero and other communicators who visited the editorial office. The results are average; HTC Rhyme did not show any records in any of the parameters.

	HTC Rhyme 1 GHz (Android 2.3)	Sony Ericsson Xperia mini pro 1 GHz (Android 2.3)	Samsung Galaxy S II 2×1.2 GHz (Android 2.3)	HTC Sensation 2×1.2 GHz (Android 2.3)	Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc 1 GHz (Android 2.3)	Samsung Galaxy S 1 GHz (Android 2.3)	Samsung Galaxy S 1 GHz (Android 2.1)
Graphics
Total graphics score	52.36792	487.65515	34.054173	63.32414	26.784534	30.028656	30.482296
Draw opacity bitmap (MPixels/sec)	17.886465	181.23894	11.17294	22.188517	8.943233	8.854302	9.3687105
Draw transparent bitmap (MPixels/sec)	14.143646	117.02857	9.655823	16.542812	7.4391575	9.512309	9.275363
CPU Whetstone
Total CPU score	1825.814	2258.528	3261.4143	2500.6213	2228.1846	1571.6143	771.9937
MWIPS DP	111.11111	149.25372	181.4882	162.86644	145.56041	97.84736	57.636887
MWIPS SP	160.51366	175.4386	296.7359	190.4762	174.52007	108.813934	60.79027
MFLOPS DP	8.984727	13.428502	12.005697	26.03444	12.867661	6.510691	7.3144784
MFLOPS SP	14.08658	17.23695	34.02756	34.39461	17.652456	14.372471	8.3832655
VAX MIPS DP	99.76154	134.85927	156.00337	143.94771	132.27618	111.43894	39.92782
VAX MIPS SP	112.84746	137.31831	225.92809	137.0819	136.2276	97.69196	40.446907
Memory
Total memory score	495.7207	645.8333	782.7169	792.86743	702.7458	647.3529	600.7096
Copy memory (Mb/sec)	450.4504	586.85443	711.23755	720.4611	638.5696	588.2353	545.8515
Filesystem
Total file system score	215.4625	167.95865	325.3547	213.823	227.13245	74.25825	143.54076
Creating 1000 empty files (sec)	0.824	2.963	0.256	1.342	4.456	13.402	41.504
Deleting 1000 empty files (sec)	0.238	1.391	0.13	0.408	2.875	25.047	27.346
Write 1M into file (M/sec)	76.3358	4.5745654	99.0099	13.513514	2.4113817	37.037037	3.068426
Read 1M from file (M/sec)	357.1428	333.33334	555.55554	416.66666	454.54544	112.35955	285.7143
SD card performance
Creating 250 empty files (sec)	4.6905	18.224	9.34	8.588	6.348	3.444	11.908
Deleting 250 empty files (sec)	6.072	56.308	12.42	4.772	5.904	3.0	13.684
Write 1M into file (M/sec)	14.409222	34.129692	23.364487	26.88172	44.052864	16.10306	20.833334
Read 1M from file (M/sec)	222.22223	400.0	312.5	357.14285	454.54544	344.82758	303.0303

In the Quadrant Standard test, HTC Rhyme scored 1638 points.

The smartphone has a non-removable lithium ion battery. However, its capacity is known and is equal to 1600 mAh. HTC Rhyme showed good durability results battery life, having lasted 19 hours in reading mode, and all 23 hours in MP3 listening mode, almost a day. IN standard mode The device easily survives a day of operation, so a sufficiently powerful battery ensures a quiet life with HTC Rhyme without having to look for a power outlet. The device is fully charged in 2.5 hours.

Accessories

And finally, we can’t help but mention accessories. There are several of them, and they all have different colors, which depend on the color of the phone itself. HTC Rhyme is equipped with a fairly high-quality headset with in-ear headphones and a flat wire. This wire does not get twisted into knots, and the earbuds produce quite acceptable sound.

The white leather case caused irritation for most users. Representatives of the fairer sex complain that at first it is impossible to remove the phone from this case - it is too tight. However, in appearance it is quite nice, and the girth of the body should weaken over time.

A docking station is an active stand for a phone that charges the phone while it is in it. To connect your phone to the stand, you don't need to insert it into the grooves or string it onto a plug - the POGO connector does everything itself. Three gold-plated, spring-loaded prongs touch three metal pads on the phone and make contact.

When placed on the stand, the phone automatically enters docking mode and can even automatically turn into a Wi-Fi hotspot if configured appropriately.

Externally, the stand is quite nice, but it has two drawbacks. Firstly, the phone screen is located almost horizontally in it, and even as a bedside clock it will not be visible from a lying position. There is no provision for adjusting the position of the phone in space. The stand itself is entirely covered with a thin mesh material, such as nylon, on which “puffs” appear over time, like on women’s tights. This can be clearly seen in the photo below. The fabric gets dirty quickly, and washing machine You can’t send it, and you can’t wipe it with a damp cloth - not a very practical solution.

The last accessory is the most unusual. This is a plastic flashlight cube on a cord that plays the role of a “beacon” signaling an incoming call or a new SMS message. It is not entirely clear where exactly this keychain should be placed; no fasteners are included with it. One thing is clear: if it is supposed to hang from a bag by a cord, then the phone can easily be stolen from it by this same cord. The cable plug from the key fob is connected to the 3.5 mm audio jack, so it is impossible to use headphones at the same time. Officially, this beacon is called Charm, and has a color that matches the phone itself. This is clearly a ladies' accessory, which once again confirms the orientation of HTC Rhyme as a product for women.

Results

The quality of communication modules in NTS Rhyme is at an acceptable level, the phone has a stable signal cellular network in places of poor reception. The voice of the interlocutor is clearly distinguishable in any environment. There were also no problems with Wi-Fi and satellite navigation. The power of the hardware is quite sufficient at the moment to perform most of the tasks. Desktops and lists scroll smoothly, without jerking. Applications open quickly, games from Android Market ( Google Play Store) work quickly and without the slightest slowdown.

Currently, the price for certified HTC Rhyme devices fluctuates around 18.5 thousand rubles. The price is clearly overpriced in comparison with the same HTC Desire S, despite the fact that in terms of hardware, the devices are similar. In this case, pricing is based largely on the image component and an expanded set of accessories. But I still wouldn’t want the addition of plastic trinkets to increase the cost of the purchase so much.

HTC Rhyme - the first truly ladies' smartphone

He is funny with different things. For example, with its obvious focus on a female audience. This is evidenced, for example, by its cheerful lilac-colored body (there is white, sand, and blue - the main thing is that there is no ubiquitous black) and the main accessory - a luminous cube. It looks like a lanyard with a 3.5mm mini-jack connector on one end and a small white cube on the other. At first, its purpose may be unclear, but everything changes when an incoming call or SMS is activated on the smartphone. Then the cube signals this with bright flashes of light. The practical purpose of this function remains a mystery, and one can only assume that the cube should stick out from a woman’s handbag and inform its owner and everyone around her that someone wants to communicate with her in voice or text form.

An original keychain with light indication will help you find your smartphone in your purse

On the other hand, this accessory can also be a means of protecting against phone theft in a cafe - instead of putting the phone on the table, you can use this “alarm.” Although, for example, Bluetooth key fobs with a similar function can do the same thing in most other devices no worse.

Non-full metal jacket

When talking about the “all-metal body”, the creators are slightly disingenuous. If we step back from the advertising slogans, it turns out that only the frame of the smartphone is metal, the visible part of which consists of a border around the screen and the middle part of the rear. Yes, the back surface of Rhyme is made traditionally for HTC smartphones from three segments - but this time not beveled, as, for example, in the HTC 7 Mozart (which, by the way, also looks quite elegant), but rectangular. And even multi-colored.

A generous selection of color options will appeal to fashionistas

In general, the materials from which the rear part of the Rhyme is made give rise to criticism - or rather, not even the materials themselves, but their color palette. For example, the light upper part gets dirty very quickly (and the dark lower part, in general, too) and loses any decent appearance in just a couple of weeks. It is quite difficult to wipe or lighten a dirty surface, and no one knows how to do it. The material feels like suede, but it's unlikely that your suede boot product can be used on this smartphone. All active elements of the rear part are concentrated at the top: this is a five-megapixel photo/video camera with flash, a speaker and three golden dots intended for connecting a docking station. The bottom cover is removable; a SIM card and a micro-SD memory card (up to 32 GB, as usual) are installed under it.

The HTC Rhyme headset handles music playback well

Among the unusual elements of the case, we should note the micro-USB connector on the left side, which is very tightly covered with a plug (which is partly due to the docking station, which we will talk about later), asymmetrical holes for the front camera (0.3 MP) and light and proximity sensors, as well as the color of the screen edge - instead of traditional black, we finally see light gray, and it looks very organic. The four touch buttons under the screen do not offer anything unusual, everything is standard: “Home”, “Settings”, “Back” and “Search”. The dimensions of HTC Rhyme are almost the same as those of HTC Desire S - 119x60.8x10.85 mm, weight - 132 g versus 115x59.8x11.63 mm and similar weight for Desire S.

In general, it is comfortable and looks unusual and nice - many thanks to him for the design, since his appearance is subjectively even nicer than that of Huawei Honor(), whose design we praised a couple of weeks ago.

The placement of buttons and connectors is well thought out; HTC Rhyme fits perfectly in a woman’s hand

Details

The configuration of the "Rhyme" is quite average, the device is not of the top category, but this does not particularly hinder it. The power of a gigahertz single-core processor is quite enough, standard operations are completed quite quickly. From this we can conclude that since the Rhyme has a gigahertz processor (as in Huawei Honor, and in), and the RAM is one and a half times more than many - 768 MB - then the problem may lie precisely in it. And also in competent software support, which we will talk about in more detail in a few minutes.

The screen of the gadget is quite simple: it is a Super LCD with a resolution of 480x800 pixels and a diagonal of 3.7”. Simple, but effective - there are no problems with color reproduction, with responsiveness (including multi-touch), and the colors are not as “piercing” as on the Samsung Omnia W () - they are as soft and calm as the device itself. In general, the screen is a plus for the device. Rhyme has 1 GB of internal memory, of which about 800 MB is initially available to the user, so having a microSD memory card is an absolute necessity. Almost all wireless standards are supported, including 3G, Bluetooth 3.0 and DLNA (for wireless transmission files to a device equipped with the same protocol). Wi-Fi is also supported by almost all standards, except for the five-gigahertz 802.11a, and, of course, Internet sharing is allowed.

Super LCD display of HTC Rhyme: everything the future owner needs to know can be expressed in a nutshell - the screen is good

The HTC Rhyme has a 1600 mAh battery. Unlike other top gadgets from the same HTC, this capacity easily lasts for a day and a half active work. That is, all day long you can use the gadget as you wish: shoot and watch videos, navigate, surf the Internet, play games, listen to music, and so on. The battery will withstand everything, it is very capacious. I just want to add: they can, if they want!

Either in new version, or specifically in Rhyme, but with GPS in the smartphone they were clearly too clever. By default, this function is disabled, and can now only be enabled from the Settings->Coordinates menu. The ability to control GPS from the top drop-down menu, where it was previously, has been removed in this version. Thus, at first you may think that there is no GPS at all in Rhyme - until you launch Google Maps, which will kindly prompt you to turn on the GPS receiver. Yandex.Maps, which is typical, does not understand what we are talking about at all and does not offer to do the same. As for the operation of the function itself, it cannot be called super-fast: a “cold” start occurs within 10 seconds, and it can take a minute to “swing” the satellite.

Additional accessories will make communication easier wherever you are: driving, at work or in the gym

What's up, doc?

The docking station is an interesting new product that turns your smartphone into a mini desktop multimedia center. This docking station is a rectangular platform, covered with fabric, inclined towards the user, on the back of which there is a micro-USB connector, which is used to power the dock and connect it to a PC. It should be noted that without this cable the docking station will not work - because there is nowhere else to get power from. The smartphone itself is connected to the station using a connector similar to Apple MagSafe: there are three golden dots on the back wall of the Rhyme, and three magnetic pins on the top of the docking station. The smartphone is simply placed on the pad, magnetized to it and the screen magically changes.

Instead of the standard vertical HTC lock window, a completely different window appears with different functions. It becomes horizontally oriented and about half of it is occupied by a large digital clock with date and weather. The second half is given over to the player control buttons - and this is not just so, since the docking station is also a mini-speaker that can play music. Of course, there is no need to talk about the quality of the THX standard here; the speaker on the dock is quite low-quality, but it is suitable as musical accompaniment on a home or office desk. Unfortunately, it is not possible to plug in headphones while the smartphone is on the docking station, since their connector is completely blocked by the high walls of the Rhyme “cradle”.

The complete HTC Rhyme docking station will turn your smartphone into a miniature one music Center

Another important note regarding the docking station concerns the principle of its operation. The fact is that the screen of the smartphone remains constantly on and the backlight simply turns off periodically - which can be turned on again by touching the screen. You can also turn it off manually by touching the brightness control in the lower right corner (which also appears only when the gadget is in its “house”). Oddly enough, this does not cause any inconvenience; on the contrary, consider that you now have a digital desktop clock. It's just a pity that you can't turn on the radio - it would be very appropriate. But all other applications are available (including the phone, which uses the docking station speaker as a speaker for calls, which is very convenient), and this opens up a wide field for activity.

However, dock mode works autonomously to some extent. This means that you cannot switch to the “Disk Drive”, “Modem” or “Charge Only” modes - there is simply no such option. Thus, if you want to transfer some data from internal memory or a micro-SD card to a computer, you need to disconnect the cable from the dock and insert it into the micro-USB connector in the phone body itself. This is a minus that can be forgiven due to the novelty of the docking station itself and its operating modes.

The space between the contacts of the address book and numeric keypad In addition, Bluetooth remains enabled even after the dock is disconnected

I would also like to talk about the telephone keyboard and the call mode in general: it’s all extremely inconveniently implemented, a good quarter of the screen is occupied big buttons“Contacts”, “Groups”, etc., and the keyboard is given 20 percent. The call button generally resembles that of a QWERTY keyboard - in size. The left side of the screen is devoted to the list of recent calls. I would like to complete this review with a second fly in the ointment - the minus of the docking mode is that it automatically turns on Bluetooth every time the phone is placed in the “cradle”, and this cannot be changed in any way. Worse yet, Bluetooth remains turned on even when you remove the device from the station.

And lastly, it’s absolutely not worth charging your phone using a docking station, since you can spend the whole day doing it. Charging from the network alternating current in the case of this device remains the fastest, although not the only, option.

The current trend in smartphones is maximum convenience and simplicity, according to the needs of the target audience, HTC Rhyme demonstrates this approach to the fullest

Android and its enemies

Offered as a base operating system Android versions 2.3.5, which is “ennobled” by its own HTC Sense shell of the new version 3.5. What has changed in the new product from the user's point of view? Controversial issue.

Meet HTC Sense version 3.5

At first glance, compared to Sense on the company’s smartphones that have been selling for a long time, the changes have taken place for the worse. The proprietary weather-time widget now occupies not half or a quarter of the screen, but the entire main screen, and more than 70% of its surface remains unoccupied by anything: now time and weather huddle somewhere below, and on the left are five frequently used shortcuts, according to experts HTC applications: Mail, Messages, Music, Camera and Market. The HTC staff and I can agree on the last two, but the first three are a big question. And what’s most interesting is that all this cannot be changed (and even if it is possible, then this possibility is hidden very far away and is completely unobvious).

Therefore, this widget goes straight to the trash, and its place is taken by one of the many analogues from the Market (for example, Animated Weather), which treats space on the screen with great respect. Of course, the HTC widget can be pushed onto one of the adjacent screens, but then it loses all meaning. The screen itself has also undergone changes: instead of the traditional four buttons at the bottom of the screen, there are now two buttons located on the sides of the screen: the application launch button and the phone panel.

The controversial changes affected system settings

The top drop-down menu of the phone can “boast” some rather unpleasant “upgrades”: from the “Switches” tab, the line that allows you to turn on and off the GPS receiver with “one click” has disappeared, and a similar line related to Wi-Fi has completely disappeared and has been replaced by an information line . Plus, there were added rather useless volume controls (for those who don’t know about the side swing for adjusting it) and an informer for the free space on the memory card. The “Notifications” tab, fortunately, has not undergone any changes, and thank you for that. The smartphone has Swype, but it doesn’t work everywhere and recognition leaves much to be desired. You can use strokes on the keyboard only in typing windows - and queries, say, in Google or Market, you will have to point your finger at each letter in the old fashioned way.

The general application menu has undergone purely cosmetic changes that do not affect functionality (except that the appearance of the “Downloaded” tab made this menu vaguely similar to that of LG Optimus). The window for adding elements to the main screen has also changed purely visually: now each group of personalization elements is on its own separate tab. This, again, did not add convenience, but it may have made Sense easier to understand for beginners.

Endomondo- special program HTC Rhyme for sports

There have also been more applications. In addition to what has already become popular apps for file sharing Dropbox, you can find Endomondo (a program for sports activities), Tango messenger (analogous to Skype for smartphones on Windows Phone, which Skype still hasn’t received) and an application for collecting statistics called “Usage Monitor”. You can also note a number of new and updated branded widgets, of which there are even more.

In addition, the browser has also undergone changes, but these changes are rather cosmetic, since the functionality remains the same, and the browser in Android 4 () is as close to the moon as it is to the moon. The last notable change is the merging of contacts, which includes information from social networks, which allows you to see it on one screen, for example, incoming call. Of course, it's unlikely that anyone will read it before clicking the green answer button, but thanks to HTC for at least that.

The metal body of HTC Rhyme makes the body moderately heavier, making the appearance more noble

Overall, the most noticeable change in HTC Sense is the dock screen, which we talked about a little earlier. And in the end, we can conclude that the new interface has become prettier, but much more inconvenient than the previous one - quite recognizable and intuitive little things that made life easier for the user have disappeared, and instead of them, complicated and even frankly unnecessary elements have appeared, but at least - “little things”. It is clear that the phone is aimed at ladies, but still...

Motor and camera

Changes have also been made to the camera interface, but, again, they are mostly cosmetic. The icons have become prettier, the font has become more convenient, access to the effects menu and gallery from the interface has changed - now these two elements are “clustered” at the top end. Toggle switches for switching from photo to video and from the front camera to the rear were combined under one icon (which doubled the number of iterations - that’s right, another tip to the new Sense). The number of settings has been preserved, there are more than enough of them: many scenes, effects and shooting modes, which, by the way, happens very quickly. It's just a shame that you can't shoot by touching the screen.

HTC Rhyme competitors

WiFi; Bluetooth 3.0	WiFi; Bluetooth 3.0	WiFi; Bluetooth 2.1, NFC
WxHxD 60.8x119x10.8 mm	WxHxD 66x125x8.5 mm	WxHxD 61x116x12 mm
Weight: 132 g	116 g	135 g
Battery: 1600 mAh	1650 mAh	1450 mAh
22,000 rub.	25,000 rub.	24,000 rub.

On a five-point scale, the quality of the photo is somewhere around a four with a minus. Basically everything is the same: “overstuffed”, but this time this disadvantage is supplemented by not very good color rendition; the photographs are sorely lacking in contrast. However, autofocus works in a split second, although not always 100% correctly - in this parameter the Rhyme camera is slightly ahead of its competitors. True, when shooting indoors, the stabilizer generally limps on both legs, and this is quite sad.

Never before have simple digital watches been so expensive

The average price for a licensed one is 21,000 rubles (a “gray” device can be bought for 3-4 thousand rubles cheaper), and this, frankly, is quite expensive, since dual-core smartphones from both HTC itself and its main competitors are sold for the same price. LG and Samsung. Such a high cost can be attributed to the “freshness” of the device, which went on sale just a few weeks ago, and therefore it is likely that in a couple of months the price for it will drop to the level of the “gray” Rhyme today - and then it will be reasonable enough to plan his purchase.

The “female” smartphone HTC Rhyme is worthy of women: attractive and original

The device is worthy of a price of 16-17 thousand rubles (and no higher), since it has an original and bold design, holds a charge for a long time, is pleasant to the touch and offers a fairly convenient and multifunctional docking station. But at the same time, it has rather modest hardware functionality, which determines its real price. And, of course, the new HTC Sense is very disappointing with unnecessary changes, but very soon the new Android 4 operating system is expected. In this case, there is a high probability that the shell will either be improved or a new version will be released for the new OS.

In any case, the gadget turned out to be interesting and attractive from all sides - no matter how you look at it.

Contents of delivery:

• Smartphone
• Charging block
• USB to microUSB cable
• Wired stereo headset with music and call control buttons
• Flashlight indicator on the wire for 3.5 mm jack (HTC Charm)
• Case
• Charging cup with Bluetooth (dock)

Positioning

HTC Rhyme is not directly called a phone for girls, although words like “stylish”, “elegant” and others appear in the description of the device. However, with all his appearance, small details The device demonstrates what is suitable for girls. This includes the shape of the case with smoothly transitioning planes, and the color scheme of the device, where all three colors are made in soft and warm colors, and the selection of design themes in the same color scheme, unobtrusive and calm. In addition, HTC Rhyme comes with a good set of accessories, most of which, again, will be useful specifically for the owner of such a device.

Let's look at HTC Rhyme and try to understand how successful the company was in its experiment with creating a smartphone for, albeit unobtrusively, but well-defined audience - girls.

Design

In my opinion, HTC Rhyme looks strange. On the one hand, it has a very simple and “smooth” body shape, pleasant color options, on the other hand, additional elements and some body details are not hidden from your view, and this introduces a certain misunderstanding into the design logic. For example, light and proximity sensors, the front camera - they are clearly visible on the light front side of the device.

The smartphone is available for sale in three color options: sand, light blue and lilac. For sand and light blue devices, the accessories are white, and the flashlight (HTC Charm) is also white; for the lilac model, the accessories are lilac. In Russia, at first only sand and light blue HTC Rhyme will be presented, and lilac will probably appear later.

The sand-colored smartphone is the most neutral and, in my opinion, is suitable for both women and men. In reality, its color is difficult to guess; personally, I would call it coffee or just an off-white phone.

Housing materials

The base of the case is an aluminum frame, but in terms of space occupied, this is not the main material of the case. The device actually has a solid aluminum part, this is a frame around the screen, which smoothly transitions into a small strip of metal on the back of the smartphone. But there are more plastic parts (visible) in it. The upper and lower areas of the rear side of the case are made of matte plastic with a soft-touch effect. Moreover, the upper part is lighter, and the lower part is darker. The top plastic area is non-removable, and underneath the bottom there are slots for a memory card and a SIM card. The battery in the smartphone cannot be removed.

The device is pleasant to hold in your hand due to the combination of materials, it does not slip, and even with wet hands you will not be afraid of dropping it. During a conversation, the smartphone also fits perfectly in the hand.

Assembly

There are no complaints about the build quality. The cover, which hides the slots for a memory card and a SIM card, stays tightly in place and does not wobble, and there are no other removable elements here.

Dimensions

In terms of dimensions, HTC Rhyme resembles HTC Desire S, that is, it compact smartphone against the backdrop of the current generation of flagships and even more so such devices as the HTC Titan or Galaxy Nexus. Let's compare the dimensions of some models:

• Samsung Galaxy SII- 125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5 mm, 116 g
• Apple iPhone 4S– 115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3 mm, 140 g
• HTC Desire S– 115 x 59.8 x 11.6 mm, 130 g
• HTC Rhyme– 116.8 x 61 x 10.1 mm, 130 g

The smartphone is convenient to carry in any pocket, even in the breast pocket of a shirt or skinny jeans; it does not particularly “remind itself” due to the shape of the body and, in general, relatively small sizes.

Controls

Like other new devices from the company, it uses a touch unit of four keys under the screen. On the left is the “Home” key, it is used to return to the central screen or to call up a window with eight running applications (holding the button). If you tap the button on the center screen, a matrix of all HTC Sense desktops will appear so you can quickly jump to any of them. The next button, "Menu", is used to call context menu(holding the key opens or hides the on-screen keyboard). Next is the Back button to go back one screen. The last touch key is “Search”. Pressing this button opens the search window, and holding it brings up the voice search window. The touch-sensitive key block has a neat white backlight; when you touch the buttons, they vibrate slightly.

The screen off key is located on the top end, on the right side. It is slightly raised relative to the body (by half a millimeter), making it convenient to press. When you hold down this key, a menu appears with the ability to turn off the smartphone, put it in Airplane mode and reboot. There is also a 3.5 mm mini-jack for connecting headphones, a headset or a HTC Charm flashlight.

The volume key is located at the top of the right edge, almost flush with the surface of the case. This button seemed inconvenient to me, it’s difficult to find it during a conversation, and the point here is not even that the volume key is usually on the left on HTC smartphones, but that the button is too inexpressive against the background of the plane and does not protrude at all above the surface of the case.

On the front side, in the upper part, there is a speaker covered with a mesh. Below and to the left of the speaker are a light sensor and a proximity sensor. On the right side there is a view of the front VGA camera, which can be used for video conversations. Indicator light on the right area inside the earpiece, it flashes green if there are missed calls, unread texts or mail messages or other notifications, lights up red when connected to a PC or green when the battery is fully charged (when the smartphone is still connected to charging). When the battery level is low it flashes red, when charging it lights up red.

The microUSB connector for charging the smartphone and connecting it to a PC is located on the left edge and is closed with a cap. Slots for a microSD memory card and a SIM card are located under the battery cover, at the bottom. You can replace the memory card without turning off the device, but to do this you will first have to remove the cover.

Screen

HTC Rhyme uses a capacitive touchscreen S-LCD display, exactly the same as in HTC Desire S. Screen diagonal 3.7'', resolution 800x480 pixels (WVGA), physical dimensions 80.5x48 mm. The display displays up to 16 million colors and has a good brightness reserve. The colors on the display are vibrant and rich, while the picture looks natural.

The viewing angles are maximum, even with a strong deviation the image is not distorted. At minimum screen brightness, it is comfortable to read books in complete darkness, using a white or black background, it doesn’t matter. In the sun the screen becomes blind, but still remains readable.

In general, we can say about the screen that it performs all its functions, and at the same time is of high quality. This is not super-technological and maximum picture clarity, as in the Apple iPhone 4S or SGS II, but the display is pleasant to look at, it has no grain, and all the characteristics are at a high level.

Camera

The smartphone has two cameras, the main one is 5 MP and the front one is 0.3 MP. The eye of the main camera is located in a small (0.5 mm) recess, with a thin golden ring running around it.

The camera interface is exactly the same as in HTC Desire S. In viewfinder mode, a panel with basic information is displayed on the right side of the screen - the selected shooting mode (photo or video), flash status (auto, manual, off), and on the left - buttons for selecting effects and switching to the gallery.

When you rotate the smartphone, the icons on the panel also turn over (in all four directions, by the way), and the interface is displayed for portrait and landscape modes.

Photo. Standard (4:3) and widescreen (5:3 aspect ratio) resolutions are available for photos:

• 5 M (Wide) – 2592x1552
• 3M (Wide) – 2048x1216
• 1M (Wide) – 1280x768
• L (Wide) – 640x384

White balance:

• Incandescent lamp
• Daylight lamp
• Daylight
• Cloudy

As in other devices of the company, there is a panel with a graphical display of various effects with which you can take a picture. In addition to the described settings, you can change the level of sharpness, saturation, contrast and exposure, the ISO value (from 100 to 800), you can turn off the shutter sound, show or hide the grid in viewfinder mode on the screen, a timer, and also enable shooting with geotags using GPS.

You can evaluate the quality of photos in different modes yourself using multiple example images below. In my opinion, in terms of photo quality, the device is not far behind the original HTC Desire and is even inferior to the updated Desire S. But this is my subjective opinion.

Macro:

Shooting text:

Example of zoom operation:

Panorama:

Video. Recorded in 3GP format (h.264 codec) at a speed of 29-30 frames per second. Audio is recorded using the aac codec.

The following resolutions are available for video:

• HD 720p – 1280x720
• WVGA – 800x480
• VGA – 640x480
• L – 320x240
• MMS – 176x144

In addition, there is a slow-motion video recording mode - Slow motion(2x). If you write a video in it, it turns out slow and with delays, as if the video being played slows down on a smartphone.

The settings in video mode are the same as those in photo mode. Among the features, I would like to note the inclusion/disabling of sound recording; during video shooting, you can change the focus by simply touching the area on which you want to focus the camera with your finger on the screen. There is no tracking autofocus during video shooting. At any video resolution, scaling is possible in real time, that is, during the shooting process.

You can immediately edit the captured video, or rather, cut out one section from it and leave it (everything else is deleted).

Autonomous operation

The device uses a Li-Ion battery with a capacity of 1600 mAh. Considering the company's progress, albeit slow, in terms of operating time in new devices, I expected that it would also be noticeable in HTC Rhyme. Alas, in practice the model is no different in battery life from the HTC Desire S, for example.

My typical operating system for the device looks like this. Take it off the charger in the morning, turn on the music and go somewhere. During the day I listen to music for a total of 3-5 hours. Push-mail is constantly running on the device for two mail accounts, sometimes I read something on the Internet (this is about an hour per day open browser) and call. Calls take approximately 40-60 minutes. The HTC Rhyme stayed in this mode until the evening, that is, the entire working day, but I couldn’t get more than a day out of it, even if I didn’t listen to music on the smartphone, but just made calls on it, read email and went online.

The smartphone has a settings item called “Energy Saving”. There are parameters that can be turned off to help save some battery power. In addition, when the smartphone’s charge level drops below 15% (the number can be adjusted), the device itself prompts you to switch to power saving mode, turns off all interfaces except the network, automatic backlight adjustment and other things.

Performance

The device is built on the Qualcomm MSM8255 platform with a processor clocked at 1 GHz. The smartphone has 768 MB of RAM and 4 GB of internal memory, of which about 700-800 MB is available to the user for storing data and installing new programs. This volume is enough to install all the necessary software on your smartphone; moreover, on Android 2.3, some programs can be installed on a memory card, so there should be no problems with a lack of space, even for those who like to install new software every day.

Like Desire S and other devices from the company, the smartphone supports video playback in DivX and Xvid codecs out of the box. In addition, the following formats and codecs are supported: 3gp, .3g2, .mp4, .wmv ( Windows Media Video 9), .avi (MP4 ASP and MP3), .xvid (MP4 ASP and MP3). In reality, for comfortable video viewing, it is better to immediately install an alternative player (for example, RockPlayer).

The operating speed of the device is excellent, there are no slowdowns or hesitations during operation.

Interfaces

The smartphone operates in GSM (850/900/1800/1900) and UMTS (900/2100) networks. Both high-speed data transfer standards are supported - EDGE and HSDPA. Enable and disable different modules connections can be made in the settings menu, through one of the system panel tabs called up from above, or using widgets. There is a widget with a strip of icons for switching interfaces, there are separate button widgets, as well as a standard Android widget.

To synchronize with a PC and transfer data, the included microUSB cable. USB 2.0 interface. When connected to a computer, a menu appears in which you can select one of five connection types: charging only, disk drive (memory visible microSD cards), HTC Sync, Internet modem (using the device as a modem) and connecting to a PC to access the network via a computer.

Built-in module Bluetooth 3.0 (A2DP, EDR). Most common profiles are supported. Sound quality when listening to music through wireless headphones, to my ears, not bad, in progress using HTC Rhyme I listened to music on it through Creative WP-300 wireless headphones and was pleased.

Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n). The operation of the Wi-Fi module did not cause any complaints. On your smartphone, you can configure rules for Wi-Fi to go into sleep mode, use only a static IP address when connecting, and add security certificates. HTC Rhyme also has a "Maximum Wi-Fi performance" setting, but I didn't notice any difference in the performance of this interface with the setting enabled and disabled. When using Wi-Fi, the device practically does not heat up.

Wi-Fi router . In HTC Rhyme, as in smartphones based on Android based 2.2 and higher, the function of “sharing” 2G/3G Internet connection via Wi-Fi is implemented. It works as follows. In the settings of wireless interfaces, the “Wi-Fi router” option is enabled and its settings are opened, where the user is asked to select the network name, password, and connection type (WEP, WPA, WPA2). In addition, you can set the maximum number of connections to your smartphone or separately block or allow each new connection.

Below these settings, select the desired access point (APN) through which the device will access the Internet, then turn on routing. It turns out that you can connect to the Internet, for example, from your laptop through routing on Rhyme, and use a GPRS/EDGE or UMTS/HSDPA connection, which is pre-configured on your smartphone, to access the network. The function can be used at the dacha, perhaps on business trips, in a hotel where for some reason there is no Wi-Fi, but there is a local SIM card with relatively inexpensive 2G/3G traffic. By the way, it can be very convenient to turn on a Wi-Fi router while sitting in a cafe with a laptop.

Navigation

The smartphone uses a GPSOne chip on the Qualcomm platform. It takes 10-15 seconds to find satellites (testing was done using the Maverick program, available in the Market).

For navigation, the device has a navigation program HTC Navigation based on Route 66, as well as Google Maps And Google Navigation. At Google help Maps allows you to get directions, search for addresses by street names or places. With Google Navigation you can use navigation with route guidance and voice guidance.

A little about HTC Navigation. Launch occurs using the Location application. This is a full-fledged navigation software with support for points of interest (POI), a route log and the ability to plot routes. An overview map of Russia and a demo 30-day map of Russian cities are available on the smartphone. After this period, you can buy the full version of the map or any other regions. The purchase is made directly through the program interface, using bank card(VISA, Master Card, American Express, Diners Club). You can also buy cards online on the developer’s website, and then simply enter a special voucher code into the device and download the already purchased card. It’s nice that you can choose one of several license options when purchasing, for 30 days, for a year or perpetual. You can estimate the price range yourself using the example of the cost of Russian cards (5.99 USD for 30 days, 24.98 USD for a year, 37.99 perpetual license).

Text and voice input of text

HTC Rhyme uses HTC's standard on-screen QWERTY keyboard. This is one of the best implementations of on-screen keyboards among all Android devices, and among smartphones in general. The only drawback that persists over time is this. When entering in Latin, additional characters can be entered simply by holding down one or another key (symbols are drawn directly on the buttons with letters and are entered by holding), and when entering in Cyrillic, in order to enter some not-so-common character, you must first go to the character input menu , which is not very convenient.

Each time you press an on-screen button on the keyboard, the device vibrates slightly, this simplifies input, makes it more realistic, and helps you get used to the on-screen keyboard. Switching the language is done by pressing one key, quickly and easily; by holding the same button you can call up voice dialing of messages.

On-screen keyboard can be hidden by holding down the “Menu” key or by pressing a special button. In order to move the cursor within the text, you need to hold your finger on any piece of text, after which something like a magnifying glass appears. The idea is clearly borrowed from the Apple iPhone, but that doesn’t make it any less convenient. When you hold your finger on the text for a few seconds, a pop-up window appears with a larger portion of the text and a cursor. You can move the cursor without any problems, the fragment will move. When you lift your finger from the screen, extra menu, with which you can select a fragment of text or the entire text. Or do nothing with the text.

The updated keyboard does not have a quick button to go to settings. To enter the keyboard settings you need to run General settings, look for “Language and Keyboard” there, and only then you get to where you need to go. In addition to the full-size QWERTY keyboard, you can enter text using compact keyboards. You can see them below.

The keyboard has a personal dictionary, where the device saves new words that you often use. The dictionary can be edited and also synchronized with backup copy on the memory card.

In the wake of the popularity of Siri, I would also like to note that HTC Rhyme, like other Android-based devices, has voice search and voice dialing. So, you can dictate messages to your smartphone and then immediately send them by pressing one key.

Software

The smartphone runs Android 2.3 OS and HTC Sense 3.5 is used as the interface. Externally, the interface looks somewhat unusual in this device; there are only two buttons at the bottom instead of three in the standard Sense view, and there is a special widget with side icons. In my opinion, the widget is not very convenient, and it takes up the entire screen.

The lock ring has changed slightly in appearance compared to Sense 3.0, but the rest of the lock screen functions have not changed.

The number of desktops can now be changed, that is, you cannot delete unnecessary ones or add new tables (if there are already 7 of them). Also, desktops can be swapped.

In the new version of Sense, almost all programs that HTC has made for its interface ( mail client, calendar, contacts, and so on), a clear system for working with tabs has appeared. Now tabs inside programs can be swapped or removed from the screen, or added by holding your finger on the tab for a couple of seconds or by calling the “Edit tabs” menu option.

I will try to tell you about all the features of the new version of HTC Sense in a separate article, but I won’t talk about the timing of its release yet (so as not to jinx it, it’s a joke).

Accessories

Let's talk separately about accessories; they occupy an important part in HTC Rhyme. All the accessories that we will talk about below are included with the smartphone, that is, included in its price.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a complete headset, so I’ll just show you official photos of it and tell you that there are buttons on the wire to control music and calls.

Next is the cover. An ordinary leatherette case (it seems), I didn’t find it very beautiful or elegant. It is difficult to insert a smartphone into it, and even more difficult to take it out. However, if you use the case every day, it will wear out.

Next comes the flashlight indicator, or Charm, as HTC calls it. This is a cube on a wire that connects to a 3.5mm jack and flashes a bright light during a call or when there is a new text message. During a call, it flashes until you pick up or the call ends. When a new text message arrives, the flashlight blinks for about five minutes and then goes off.

The accessory is interesting; it can be attached, for example, to a handbag, so that it is outside and its blinking is clearly visible; for this purpose there is a paperclip near the cube. There are no settings for Charm yet, which is a little disappointing; you can’t choose the frequency and type of flashing, and it would also be nice to be able to choose a color. But the main thing is that the accessory itself was invented and is already included in the kit for one of the devices. I think in the future, if users are interested in it, HTC will make it more functional.

Charging cup, or docking station, as the company calls it. This is a relatively small white box in which a smartphone is placed in a recess. The recess is located at an angle, there are three protruding contacts and “points” for them on the back of the smartphone. Due to which the device in this accessory is charged.

The downside is that it is inconvenient to remove the smartphone from the glass; you have to pry it off with your fingernail or come up with another method. There is no recess or anything like that to make it easier to pull out the device. When the smartphone is placed in this container, it turns on the docking station and Bluetooth mode, it connects to the charging cup. This was done so that when the smartphone is in the charging cup, both the device and the accessory ring. The idea is good and also useful, the charging cup makes a very loud sound like those used in home phones, so it is difficult to miss it, even if you are in another room. The downside is that you can’t choose a ringtone, there is only one.

Conclusion

During two weeks of use, I had no complaints about the quality of speech transmission, the volume of the conversational speaker is not bad, the volume of the ringing speaker is slightly above average. The vibration alert is also average in strength, but when walking, if the device is in your trouser pocket, you may not feel it.

In Russia, the HTC Rhyme smartphone should appear in the first week of November at a price of 23,000 - 24,000 rubles. Let's take a pause here and think about the price tag. The new product will cost the same as the company’s flagship - HTC Sensation or Samsung Galaxy S II. The original Apple iPhone 4 with 16 GB of memory on board costs, by the way, not much more - 25,000-26,000 rubles.

You can very roughly calculate the cost of the accessories that come with the device, focusing on the price tags of similar or the same accessories for HTC. Case – 15 pounds (~750 rubles). The headset is also 15 pounds (~750 rubles). Flashlight indicator (Charm) – 9 pounds (~450 rubles). I didn’t find a charging cup specifically for HTC Rhyme there, but a docking station for HTC Titan, for example, costs 30 pounds (~1,500 rubles). It’s clear that these accessories cost (will cost) a little more for us, so let’s throw in another 1,000 rubles. As a result, everything that is included in the package of the HTC Rhyme smartphone will separately cost about 4,500 rubles. That is, the device itself in this case costs about 19,500 rubles. We can say that this cost is also due to a rich set of accessories, and partly this will be true, but an HTC Desire S smartphone with similar characteristics today costs an average of 16,000-17,000 rubles, that is, noticeably cheaper.

So it turns out that HTC Rhyme is exactly the device for those who want to get a full set of accessories included. It seems to me that the flashlight indicator (Charm) will be useful only for girls, but the charging glass is a really convenient and versatile thing. As for positioning, here we return to the beginning of the review; in my opinion, the sand-colored smartphone is universal, it does not look like an exclusively girl’s device and will be appropriate for both a man’s hand and a girl’s. Yes, as usual for HTC, the smartphone is overpriced, but this time we get a good set of accessories for that amount, that is, a complete product with everything you need.

Characteristics:

• Class: smartphone
• Form factor: monoblock
• Case materials: metal, matte plastic with soft-touch
• Operating system: Android 2.3, HTC Sense 3.5 proprietary interface
• Network: GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS/HSDPA 900/2100
• Processor: 1 GHz on Qualcomm MSM8255 platform
• RAM: 768 MB
• Storage memory: 4 GB (~800 MB available) + microSD card slot
• Interfaces: Wi-Fi (b/g/n/), Bluetooth 3.0 (A2DP), microUSB connector (USB 2.0) for charging/synchronization, 3.5 mm for headset
• Screen: capacitive, S-LCD 3.7” with a resolution of 800x480 pixels (WVGA), automatic adjustment backlight level
• Camera: 5 MP with autofocus, video is recorded in 720p resolution (1280x720 pixels), led flash(works as a flashlight), front VGA camera
• Navigation: GPS on Qualcomm platform gpsOne chip (A-GPS support)
• Additionally: accelerometer, light sensor, proximity sensor, FM radio
• Battery: removable Li-Ion with a capacity of 1600 mAh
• Dimensions: 116.8 x 61 x 10.1 mm
• Weight: 130 g.

Present to your attention HTC review Rhyme- another amazing smartphone from HTC. With its sophisticated design, HTC Rhyme is more than a phone - it's a stunning addition to your life. Stylish accessories - such as a wired headset and a docking station - can easily be turned into an alarm clock or music center. This device, having an excellent and quite stylish appearance can easily please the owners of the fairer sex.

Appearance and assembly

The HTC Rhyme's body has an attractive curved shape, and is made using aluminum and plastic with a matte finish. Using this technique means that the device will not slip out even in wet hands.

A pretty good feature of HTC Rhyme is the built-in accumulator battery. Consequently, in the event of a possible accidental fall of the device, loss or damage to the battery is absolutely excluded. All the internals are well hidden inside the case, and the build quality itself confirms the HTC brand.

The 3.7-inch capacitive S-LCD display with a resolution of 800×480 pixels has sufficient brightness and makes it easy to see the image on the screen in bright daylight. In addition, the picture on the display is not distorted in any way when changing the viewing angle.

Software stuffing

The HTC Rhyme smartphone runs on operating system Android version 2.3 with the proprietary HTC Sense 3.5 shell. The phone's software, with the exception of its own HTC Sense, is naturally similar to Android version 2.3, plus the smart phone has its own navigation program, HTC Navigation. HTC Navigation is a full-fledged navigator program with support for interface points and the ability to plot a route. The built-in GPSOne chip allows you to find satellites in 10-15 seconds.

Accessories HTC Rhyme

Accessories occupy a special place in HTC Rhyme. Developing this smartphone, HTC took care of good design and thoughtful functionality. Accessories for HTC Rhyme include a complete headset, a branded case with the HTC logo, and a ring indicator made in the form of a cube. This gadget, which connects to a 3.5 connector, allows you to identify an incoming call, or incoming message, if, for example, the phone is in your pocket on silent mode. It is quite difficult to judge the actual usefulness of this “trick”, since a phone in silent mode is almost always on “vibrate”, so let everyone draw a conclusion for themselves.

A separate accessory included with the HTC Rhyme is a docking station that will help recharge your smartphone if it runs out of power. In general, the idea of ​​​​using docking panels is quite good - because it eliminates the use of various wires that constantly get tangled. One more interesting feature docking station is that when the smartphone is in charging mode, and if there is an incoming call, not only the phone itself, but also the docking station starts ringing. Thus, the volume of the device doubles.

Official presentation of the smartphone:

What else can be said about HTC Rhyme - this phone is the undoubted favorite in the world stylish smartphones, and certainly he deserves special attention from women.

Specifications

Screen
Screen type	color Super LCD, 16.78 million colors, touch
Touch screen type	multi-touch, capacitive
Diagonal	3.7 inches
Image Size	480x800 pixels
Automatic screen rotation	There is
Calls
Ringtones type	polyphonic, MP3 ringtones
Vibration alert	There is
Multimedia capabilities
Camera	5 million pixels, 2592×1944, LED flash
Camera functions	autofocus
Recognition	faces, smiles
Recording videos	yes (3GP/MP4)
Max. video resolution	1280×720
Geo Tagging	There is
Playing video	.3GP, .3G2, .MP4, .M4V, .MBR, .WMV, .AVI, .XVID
Audio	.aac, .amr, .ogg, .m4a, .mid, .mp3, .wav, .wma, FM radio
Dictaphone	There is
Games	There is
Java applications	There is
Headphone jack	3.5 mm
Connection
Interfaces	USB, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, DLNA
Satellite navigation	GPS
A-GPS system	There is
Access to the Internet	WAP, GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, HSUPA, POP/SMTP client
Modem	There is
Synchronization with computer	There is
Memory and processor
CPU	1000 MHz
Built-in memory capacity	4000 MB
Memory card slot	microSD™
Amount of random access memory (RAM)	768 MB
Volume of permanent memory	512 MB
Messages
MMS	There is
Nutrition
Battery type	Li-Ion
Battery capacity	1600 mAh
Talk time	8:00 h:min/WCDMA, 10:20 h:min/GSM
Waiting time	340 h/WCDMA, 295 h/GSM