I revisited my very first smartphone

The Excessive Tech Laptop Company, higher referred to as HTC, as soon as ruled the Android roost when it got here to rivaling the iPhone. The Taiwanese telephone maker made a reputation for itself within the early 2010s, thanks partially to a few main elements: its knack for constructing high-quality bodily merchandise, its helpful Sense working system overlay, and its tight partnership with Google.

It is maybe no shock, then, that my first smartphone was an HTC-branded product. Within the 12 months 2011, I used to be gifted an HTC Wildfire S, which was a then-current entry-level telephone.

For context, the Wildfire S was launched at a time when HTC was starting to hit its stride, simply forward of Samsung swooping in and devouring a lot of the Android handset marketplace for itself.

It has been some 14 years since I first arrange the Wildfire S, and my authentic unit is fortunately nonetheless round and kicking. I not too long ago booted up the gadget once more, as I used to be curious to see whether or not time had been type to it.

Queue the nostalgia-fueled flashbacks: the recollections of clearing cache to unlock area for apps, the detachable battery launching out of the chassis upon impression after a drop, and far, rather more.

Associated

10 of the greatest HTC phones of all time and what made them so iconic

At its peak of prominence, HTC was by no means a family title. Nevertheless it’s arguably made a few of the greatest telephones the trade’s ever seen, and here is why.

Telephones of this measurement merely do not exist anymore

The HTC Wildfire S encompasses a tiny 3.2-inch show panel

Essentially the most placing factor concerning the HTC Wildfire S is its puny bodily measurement. Once I pulled my unit out of storage, I used to be stunned by its petite body, and by its equally miniature 3.2-inch show panel. By today’s standards, the Wildfire S is comically small, and I am baffled that I by no means considered it as significantly tiny again in 2011.

For a funds smartphone, the Wildfire S is surprisingly sturdy and well-built. Contemplating HTC’s pedigree, I actually should not be shocked — the matte plastic physique feels stable within the hand, the amount rocker, sleep/wake swap, and earpiece are manufactured from steel, and the unit does not creak or flex within the slightest.

A lot of HTC’s early design language DNA will be discovered entrance and heart on the Wildfire S: a front-facing model emblem, a particular chin, a side-mounted micro-USB port, and a entrance panel that is embedded organically into the chassis design.

Curiously, the telephone encompasses a small digicam hump, a few years earlier than optical protrusions would become a mainstay inside the cellular trade. What the telephone does have that trendy telephones do not, then again, is a detachable again cowl. The rear panel simply rips off, exposing a detachable 1,230mAh battery pack, a Mini-SIM tray, and a microSD card slot.

Associated

HTC’s new headset might be the ultimate wearable arcade

HTC’s new headset appears acquainted, however consists of main high quality of life enhancements that preserve it aggressive — together with a $999 price ticket.

Computationally, the HTC Wildfire S struggles to maintain up

The telephone feels sluggish, and its digicam is hardly usable

Powering issues on, and the telephone’s age instantly begins to indicate. You may depend the person pixels on its 320 x 480 decision LCD, and its Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 processor and 512MB of RAM combo struggles to maintain tempo.

I nearly instantly obtained a low storage warning, a ache level I keep in mind all too nicely from again within the day. Regardless of the inclusion of a complementary 2GB microSD card, the telephone’s inside 512MB of storage makes it tough to obtain and retailer absolutely anything with out partaking in some severe digital file juggling.

The telephone lacks a front-facing digicam, although it does ship with a single 5-megapixel rear-facing shooter. The lens consists of autofocus and a devoted LED flash module, which is good, however it will probably solely shoot in 480p decision at as much as 24 frames per second (fps). Photographs and movies taken on the gadget are predictably grainy and watercolor-infused.

Then again, the Wildfire S provides numerous notable {hardware} options which have since gone extinct on trendy smartphones. It was good to reacclimate myself with the trusty 3.5mm headphone jack, the built-in FM radio tuner is way appreciated, and the front-facing notification LED is neatly tucked away inside the telephone’s earpiece grille.

Associated

Remember when Google’s Nexus 5 turned the Android world on its head?

Again in 2013, Google teamed up with LG to launch the Nexus 5 — the telephone would briefly go on to set the Android world ablaze.

Android has come a good distance through the years

Android 2.3 Gingerbread was as soon as cutting-edge, however now it seems like a museum artifact

Pocket-lint / Google

Out of the field, the Wildfire S shipped with Android 2.3 Gingerbread, with HTC’s customized Sense UI 2.1 over prime. The telephone later obtained the two.3.5 software program replace, but it surely by no means made the leap to the subsequent main model of the Android OS.

On the time, Sense was a real promoting level for HTC telephones — a lot so, that the rear panel of my unit is flanked with a proud message proclaiming its inclusion. Android was notoriously tough across the edges within the early 2010s, and the Sense skin offered a visually refined and nice person expertise that arguably nonetheless appears good to today.

HTC’s iconic flip climate clock is confidently perched on the primary residence display screen web page, and I had forgotten simply how charming of a widget it really is. I additionally loved reverting to devoted capacitive navigation buttons, which I’ve all the time discovered enjoyable to make use of.

In fact, it is nearly unattainable to do something internet-related with the telephone nowadays. The telephone’s Android Market ( the precursor to in the present day’s Google Play Retailer) is unresponsive, the YouTube app throws up a community error message, and the web browser struggles to show web sites.

For as rudimentary because the software program package deal is — there is no multitasking or app switcher to talk of — I nonetheless discover the expertise to be a captivating one. The essential Android UI paradigm is current and accounted for: the fast settings and notifications menu, the app drawer, the Settings app format, and the house display screen all draw a transparent delineation between the previous and the current.

14 years on from launch, the HTC Wildfire S is in a completely unusable state. Apart from the rose-tinted recollections the handset offers me with, it stands as a testomony of simply how far the smartphone trade has are available just a few brief years. Utilizing the Wildifire S additionally jogs my memory how a lot I miss HTC as a telephone maker, and the way a lot I want they nonetheless had pores and skin within the Android recreation.

Associated

Remember when BlackBerry took on the iPad?

Again in 2011, BlackBerry was nonetheless an enormous participant within the cellular tech scene — it is a crying disgrace that its PlayBook pill by no means took off.