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HTC Wildfire Review

It’s a little hard to size up a smartphone like the HTC Wildfire when you’ve been using its better sibling (HTC Desire) and given it good marks. Check out our full review of the HTC Wildfire after the jump.

However, if you take into consideration the price point at which the Wildfire has been set, it would definitely be a good contender for an entry-level Android phone.

Then again, when you compare the specs of the HTC Hero against the Wildfire, you’d realize they’re like fraternal twins, separated only by wide gap in the retail price (~Php15k vs. Php22k) and an odd form factor.

The Wildfire follows the same great design and construction as most of HTC’s Android smartphones to date — thin, sleek with a combination of matte and glossy finish all around. The plastic back panel also has a band of brushed-metal finish on the middle part to give it an elegant design accent.

The bottom section has a bit of a subtly curved end — not as much as the Legend or Hero but more like that of the Desire. The circular optical trackpad is smack in the center at the bottom end with a row of touchpad-engraved buttons just above it — similar to the ones we’ve seen on the Google Nexus One.

The display is bright but not too crisp and while that LCD screen does the job well, I missed the AMOLED display quality of the Desire or even the resolution of the Legend or the Hero. Still, the brightness level of the screen looks better than any of the units in the Xperia X10 line we’ve tried.

The Wildfire is HTC’s comes with Android 2.1 Eclair pre-installed and despite the conservative processing power, the handset seems snappy and fairly responsive. You get 7 panels or homescreens on the HTC Sense UI. Check the short video clip below and how it looks like.

The smaller screen real estate did have an impact on the on-screen virtual keyboard — looks a bit cramp so texting could be a challenge if you’re used to bigger screens. You get used to it in time though so it’s not a big issue.

HTC Wildfire specs:
Qualcomm MSM 7225 528MHz processor
3.2″ TFT display @ 240×320 pixels
384MB RAM, 512MB ROM
up to 32GB via microSD
WiFi 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth 2.1 w/ A2DP
3G/HSDPA 7.2 Mbps
5MP autofocus camera w/ LED flash
FM Radio with RDS
GPS w/ aGPS support
1300mAh Li-Ion battery

The specs on the Wildfire is actually decent and complete with all the necessary connectivity options. There’s not much internal storage here (384MB) but expansion via microSD up to 32GB is possible (card sold separately).


The HTC Wildfire comes in a variety of colors — black, brown, red and white. We especially liked the red one.

The built-in 5MP camera isn’t impressive but somewhat decent. The AF works but has a hard time to focus on subjects especially on low light conditions. Video capture didn’t perform as well too. It’s got the same over-all performance as the HTC Desire we tested here.

Battery life is also not impressive. The unit barely lasts 2 days on a single charge with light internet use and normal voice/SMS use.

What really made the HTC Wildfire and attractive smartphone, aside from the solid construction and design, is the price-point of the handset. The introductory price is almost half that of it’s better sibling, the HTC Desire. Even the similarly spec-ed HTC Hero was first sold at Php33,999 back in December.

The Wildfire’s suggested retail price of Php17,500 (with some stores selling it for as low as Php15,000) makes it an attractive buy for an entry-level Android handset. It’s not the cheapest in its category but the combination of a good set of specs and solid design puts it near the top of the heap for an affordable Android smartphone.

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Avatar for Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

113 Responses

  1. Avatar for otrebzki otrebzki says:

    pwde ba i-update to sa Froyo sir Yuga? tnx…

  2. Avatar for islacom islacom says:

    share ko lang before I had set my eyes on the HTC WILDFIRE, but after re-assessing the Better HTC Desire, I’m all set to buy the Desire, I already found 2 shops selling the best price for the Desire.
    Froyo 2.2 just sweetened the deal

  3. Avatar for nebula nebula says:

    yung htc desire basta 2.2 pwede na 720p video recording

  4. Avatar for HTC Fan HTC Fan says:

    Hi, I’m actually torn between this reasonably priced phone and the HTC Legend. I’m really just after the thread messaging, Friend Stream and home screens of the HTC series.

    Would you recommend this pretty red one, or do you think the extra thousand pesos would be really worth it on the HTC Legend?

    I’d appreciate your honest feedback, Mr. Yuga.

    P.S. I’m also a fan of your blog, since you update quite frequently.

  5. Avatar for NonesenseLife NonesenseLife says:

    hi,can you help me sir abe.cause im planning to buy something this xmas and im pretty confuse what to chose a netbook or a smartphone like this

    tnx in advance.

  6. Avatar for Tetchie Tetchie says:

    I’m upgrading my phone to this! Though Samsung Galaxy Spica is a little cheaper….I think I won’t regret choosing wildfire!

  7. Avatar for hapi hapi says:

    @yuga – thanks Sir Yuga….

    More power to Yugatech

  8. Avatar for Abe Olandres Abe Olandres says:

    @mark villegas – actually, the resolution is already good compared to a lot of smartphones. It’s a let down IF you compare it to AMOLED only.

  9. Avatar for Mark Villegas Mark Villegas says:

    Sir Yuga

    Some said that its resolution is kinda of a let down. I’m planning on jumping from a symbian phone into an android.. How is the resolution compared to a Nokia e63?

    Masyado bang pixellated yang wildfire?

    Thanks

  10. Avatar for Abe Olandres Abe Olandres says:

    @hapi – Galaxy S for features, Desire for look and UI.

  11. Avatar for hapi hapi says:

    Sir Yuga,

    Ciao! just want to ask you personnal opinion, if you are to choose between htc desire and the new samsung galaxy s, which one would it be? I’m trying to check different reviews for both phones, unfortunately, i find them mixed.

    Hope to hear from you, i don’t want to regret when i buy one of these smartphones only to find out later that its not worth the price.

    Thanks

  12. Avatar for manong manong says:

    crappy since it only shoots cif 15fps video and doesn’t have a 2nd camera for “facetime”…

  13. Avatar for manong manong says:

    well, the cheaper androids from samsung and lg are either not capacitive or don’t have multi-touch feature…

    though i won’t buy this coz of the crappy camera…

    the wait is still on for the “perfect” 15k android phone…

  14. Avatar for Sunofa Sunofa says:

    my hero kind of lags most of the time…
    Wildfire with the same specs as hero might also lag…

  15. Avatar for hubes hubes says:

    does this model have number keypad for texting?

  16. Avatar for simplynice93 simplynice93 says:

    @yuga – Thanks sir abe for the reply! I’m not thinking twice anymore. :D

  17. Avatar for Abe Olandres Abe Olandres says:

    @chl – Samsung has 2 Android handsets under 15k while LG has one.

    @simplynice93 – almost all Android smartphones I’ve used don’t last more than 2 days.

  18. Avatar for simplynice93 simplynice93 says:

    I almost decided to get a HTC wildfire but thanks to your review, i might think twice on getting this phone. To me, battery life is very important. I once had a nokia phone before that i need to charge after a day of use. Very frustrating..

  19. Avatar for chl chl says:

    Gives a pretty good idea where prices are heading Vs. specs though. Any idea what LG and Samsung next act will be?

  20. Avatar for Jon Jon says:

    It being able to last almost 2 days is kind of impressive, compared to other Android phones out there.

    It really is a good buy. I’d get it myself if it weren’t for the small screen and the slower processor.

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