Nice review! I haven’t had a G1 or Tilt so I don’t think I will be thrown off by the keyboard layout. The battery does concern me, but I’m sure we’ll have the option of higher-capacity batteries soon enough. Well done, thanks.

Nice review!

The sluggishness you’re reporting leads me to think I should wait for the Xperia. It seems like there aren’t quite enough improvements over the Tilt to justify rushing out to get a Fuze… but it’s going to be hard, REAL hard.

Plus something tells me there may be something like a Touch HD Pro in the works…

The sluggishness is not game breaking and I’d expect to see similar sluggishness on the Xperia X1 and Touch HD as well. (I haven’t used either though) I have heard that newer roms on the xperia are performing better than early units people have used. Check out the video I am posting real soon too.

I’d expect a number of tweaks to come to tune and disable possibly unnecessary features…

I saw a couple videos of the Xperia and noted that the animation wasn’t as fluid as you might expect and that the interface did lag a bit.

Real good review. I figure by the time I get ready to upgrade my tilt (if I do, I bought a redfly and it makes the tilt even better) this is what I will want. I watched the video and as you say the screen is beautiful.

HTC is just really bad with rotation. The Tilt/TyTn II had the same problem, but if you go to XDA Developers and download some of their custom roms the rotation is lighting fast.

I pick up my Fuze yesterday and have to agree with pretty much everything.

The keyboard is okay (I’d actually love them to do a Suretype “Shadow” style device!) but the battery life sucks. From a full charge when I left home to 40% by 3pm… that’s a real worry. I get 3G coverage (might try tomorrow turning 3G off) and I had GPS on for the 20 mins to work to see how it behaved.

TouchFlo is slow, but the first thing I did was replace it with SPB Mobile Shell – IMO a much better UI and very speedy.

I *HATE* the ATT bloatware, from trial apps to an unmappable PTT button on the side of the device. Things like that spoil the experience for me.

I much prefer this phone to the Omnia and Epix (amazing the difference a real D-Pad makes) but not sure if it’s as good as the Treo Pro…. we’ll see

Oh, the one app I’d love for this device… a pedometer that uses the G-Sensor. That would be sweet ;)

I’d expect a plethora of OEM addons for this phone… specifically a 2600-3000mAh extended battery.

I bought one for my 8525 and it tripled the the day’s usability.. quite easily could go all day without worrying about the battery or for 2 days if used frugally.

How does battery life compare to Tilt? And is the keyboard much more cramped? I’m cheap and considering just getting a Tilt especially considering answers to these questions – keyboard size and battery ife might be deal breakers if Tilt is noticeably better…

Does the Fuze have better video playback? The Tilt’s lack of video drivers is extremely frustrating. Especially since I like to take videos. The 8525, I had no issues. Because of the video driver issue, the Tilt takes horse s**t videos. I wish these reviews would include video capture in addition to taking pictures. So how is it???

I’m a long time 8525 ( The Tilt’s little sister ) user and ended up buying the FUZE last night when I had intended on buying the Tilt. As far as battery life is concerned, it blows the 8525 out of the water…which might not be saying much. I could easily get through a day with plenty of battery to spare, where as the 8525 would be around 10% and struggling on the commute home. I had 3G on all day, but no GPS…I’ll probably pick up a car charger to use on an extra busy phone day….but battery wise anything is a plus coming from the 8525.

Sluggishness isn’t anything worse than my 8525…Half a second time delay is normal, and almost not apparent.

The only drawback…Phone isn’t really customizable…the giant clock on the main screen bugs the hell out of me…but can’t seem to find a way to tone it down or change anything but the background picture display. Almost seems like its the Fuzes way or the highway! Keyboard is slightly smaller and buttons aren’t raised like the 8525/Tilt…but you’ll get plenty use to it in time.

Display is completely beautiful and is only outshined by the sleekness of the phone. And the review is right…it somehow seems much smaller than the 8525/Tilt. Finally a smartphone that doesn’t look like a brick and is modern enough for a Harley-Davidson professional in her early 20s!

You can make the Today screern clock smaller. Just flick it up with your thumb and it will be much smaller on the today screen. I stumbled across this by accident and love it!

Great review! I especially appreciated the picture comparisons. I’ve put this on my Christmas list, so we’ll see how that turns out. I’m sure I’ll be spending a lot of time customizing the unit should it appear in my Xmas stocking. I’m eager to try out the TF3D and see how well a balance between functionality and performance I can get from it.

i love sony ericcson

Early adopter of the 8525 (that I loved). I went to my AT&T store yesterday to look for a new battery. Mine was dead-dead-dead.
To my surprise, I saw the FUZE that I didn’t even heard of. The store was out of batteries, it didn’t take much more to convince me to replace my good old 8525.
Here are my feedback:
- batterie life seems longer than 8525
- OS is a little sluggsih and you need to get use to the 3DFlow but it’s a sweet looking user interface
- I love the AT&T navigation system GPS, it’s linked to your Outlook contacts etc.. real great, no more need for a GPS navigator.
So far, I’m very happy about my purchase and I love the smaller form factor.
The sales guys tried to convince me to get a Blackberry Storm but the absence of touch screen killed it for me right of the bat (plus I don’t care much for the OS).

HTC FUZE, excellent review http://tinyurl.com/6kyrys

I’m assuming that this isn’t a particular issue – but I’m new to WinMo devices and, especially, hacking my phone … but I’m getting a Fuze later this week and wanted to know about this … I’ve come across a lot of apps that can “tweak” the settings – in particular I came across one called The DiamondTF3D Config app. But, its “disclaimer” is that it ONLY works on the Sprint Touch Diamond – is that because there was no Fuze in existence (with the TF3D in place) before OR will it really be an issue if I want to configure my Fuze (not looking to buy a $300 brick of my own making)?

Soooo, my husband and i got new at&t phones for the service they provide…i bought the fuze and he got the incite by lg. i was not fully ready for a strictly touch screen phone, so the transition with a few buttons on the face and the slide keyboard…but when i sat down and compared the boxes of the two phones, the incite had a WAY better battery life and had all the same capabilities as the fuze, but for $150 more! i exchanged it and have a incite which is all touch and two phone buttons…it’s something i’m gonna have to learn quick!

I have a question about GPS. I read around some places that it’s included on this phone. Does that mean if you buy the phone you get GPS functionality (like the iPhone) or is there an extra charge per month for this service?

Hello James, the Fuze comes with GPS but you’ll have to pay 4.99 a month to get it activated through AT&T of course. I’ve tried it and wasn’t too impressed about it.

Google maps is far superior to any paid service, because it is free. There is no turn by turn yet but they are getting there.

That was amazing review! Ever since I got my Tilt earlier this year, this is the first website I check every time I have the itch to switch phones or just to see how other phones measure up to the Tilt.

The Fuze looks and sounds sexy enough until you got to the bit about a shorter battery life. I’m a heavy internet and email user, so my Tilt goes from a full charge at the beginning of a day to a %20 at the end of the day easily. If the Fuze can’t do better than that on one charge, I can definitely sit on my hands and wait on this one.

I dunno who told you the Fuze’s battery life was worse than the Tilt, but they were mistaken. The Fuze has a great battery life and I can easily go 2 days of normal calling and heavy texting use without a charge. The 8525 and the Tilt have retarded battery lives compared to the Fuze.

For a powerful pda phone, the htc fuze has weak led camera flash. I compared it to my n95’s powerful led camera flash. also, the fuze has a weak battery for heavy web surfing. I am thinking of returning my fuze to att and sticking with my n95 for now, until the nokia 5800 comes out. i like my smartphones with powerful led camera flashes.

The amount of misinformation posted in this comments section is laughable….

1. You do NOT have to pay for GPS service through AT&T in order to use the GPS.

2. You can remove all bloatware with a simple soft reset during initial customization. Google it, or do a search for “bloat remove fuze” on the AT&T forums.

3. Go into your today screen settings for the phone and you can disable TouchFLO if you really hate the look of it that much.

4. Battery life improves with use, just like it did on the Tilt and 8525. Also, it is a Lithium Ion battery type, so middle of the day charges don’t hurt anything.

5. It is no less customizable than any other WinMo phone. Don’t complain about sluggish performance and poor battery life until you’ve taken the time to learn the device and apply the proper tweaks. Oh, and before someone says, “I shouldn’t have to tweak blah, blah, blah”…… It’s WinMo, yes, you NEED to tweak for the most optimal user experience.

In December, I purchased an ATT Fuze. I conducted much research and most said it was better TILT. I like all the features “on-paper.” I spent the money to buy the top of the line.
However, I was quite dissatisfied and returned it. It locked numerous times, I lost much data, and generally disappointed. The touch screen was slow, did not react, and generally was frustrating.

I replaced it with a Samsung Epix, but will soon get a TILT. Most people to whom I spoke, particularly the ATT folks who whispered said “Get a Tilt.” Should I expect better results with the TILT?

Lou,

I use my Tilt daily and the ups definitely outnumber the downs. The dimensions are a little clunky but extremely functional. The keyboard is a breeze to work with and with the touch-flow SPB Shell software and a new dialer skin, navigation is a dream; I’m currently running WinMo 6.0 Professional. Browsers like SkyFire and Opera Mini are indispensable, the touch screen is responsive to a light nail touch, the screen orientation changes prety quickly when I slide the keyboard in or out, and the camera is extremely responsive.

A few negatives are new camera flash, copy-paste availability is minimal, and the biggest trump card is low battery life. Even when I use the lowest screen brightness and only have one program open at a time, by the end of a full day of web surfing, GPS mapping, reading feeds, and Twittering on-and-off I’m left with maybe 20% battery life.

I was thinking about upgrading to an HTC Fuze the first moment I got but after your post I’m reconsidering.

Hope that helped,

-Marilyn

Marilyn:

Thank you for your input. I had to make the decision on the 30th day to give the FUZE the maximum benefit and still give the time for ATT to accept the return.

Like I mentioned, the FUZE is great “on-paper” and it is possible the problem may be the Windows Mobile? WE will see on the Windows Mobile.

FUZE was very slow to react in the TOUCH mode, the clock time returned to DST daily, each time I removed the FUZE from the holster, it dialed a phone contact, and periodically, I lost the GPS (free) connection I had with Intelligolf.com and paid-navigation software.

If you do upgrade to FUZE, keep your TILT as a back-up. You can return the FUZE in 30 days, then, return to the TILT.

I was not a TILT user prior to the FUZE, so I will wait 30 days to pass judgment on the TILT, Windows Mobile, etc. Buying the TILT does seem I am stepping backwards, but most people to whom I spoke, chiefly the ATT folks who whispered “Get a Tilt.”

It will be interesting to secure FUZE reports from other FUZE owners. We will wait and see.

LOU

I currently own A Fuze and i absolutly love it! I upgraded from an 8125(the tilts extremly younger son lol) and the battery is not that much different. It last about 6-8 hours on a regular day with out charging it during the day. The keyboard takes a while to get used to but i love now that i am used to it!
All in all i think the Fuze is a very good investment!

Dut

DUT:

Thank you for your input. To be quite candid, I still think the FUZE is good, on-paper.
I did like the all the keyboards, vertical, horizontal on-screen, and the sliding one, as well.
The FUZE locked on me numerous times, the FUZE was slow to react after “touching,” and I did loose data. The battery was a bit short, but livable. I had mini-USBs thru-out, so I could constantly re-charge.

I will be quite interested in reviewing Marilyn’s and your input in 30-60 days. I do hope I am wrong and you have a great review. That will encourage me for a future purchase. Good luck, Dut.
LOU

I have the 8925 tilt/ only complaint is the service (AT&T) not real sure if it is the tower service (tower 1/4 mile away) or the phone. Can not use the e-mail feature because I never have over 2 bars and it takes at least 3 to work with attachments which is the bulk of what I do. Happy with the k/b and other features could not justify upgrading unless the service was better. JB

After researching smartphones for months, I decided to go with the Fuze. Despite everyone else in my company going with the iphone 3G, I have not been dissapointed. This phone is awesome and I have not been able to put it down since I got it. I was used to charging my Treo 750 on a daily basis so the battery life is not an issues for me. Little pricey but worth every penny so far.

Dwight N:

Awesome! I’m glad you finally settled on a phone. You definitely seem like you’ve put a lot of thought into your choice, so I’m really going to take a second look at the HTC Fuze when the price go down a bit.

Take care!

~Marilyn

ALL:

I am pleased to review the input-info on the FUZE. I do hope all of you experience success with the FUZE. I did replace my FUZE with HTC Tilt and to be candid, I like the TILT. AS I mentioed earlier, as few sales people in the store did hint that it was a good idea to go to the TILT. I think when HTC reads all the comments, it will make some adjustments to the FUZE and it will be better.
Good luck to all the FUZE owners and I hope I was wrong. It will be good to hear your comments in a few months.

All –

Upgraded from the 8125 to the Fuze, and couldn’t be happier! Much better looking, smaller, better screen and LOTS more memory. 8125 slowed WAY down when running. For those worried about price – got to Amazon. Got mine for $99 including shipping after $25 rebate. Much better than from AT&T. Battery life is fine, but I still have to get used to the touchflo (sometimes i move around and it flips resolution on me).

I got the Fuze as a “courtesy replacement” after three Tilts went toes-up after between 2 weeks and 2.5 months’ use. Loved the Tilt (other than the fact that I always had to carry the Treo it replaced as a back-up and was not able to remove my personal data from the totally dead Tilt before returning it to AT&T. Not so fond of the Fuze, and it’s too early to tell whether it’s as unreliable as the Tilt.
1. Screen goes black as soon as you connect on a phone call, which makes getting through a phone tree tedious (hit the power button, click on “keypad,” enter one digit, repeat sequence for each digit). HTC tech support says “that’s not a flaw, that’s a feature.” BUT, if you use it with an earpiece, it disables that problem — not something HTC will tell you.
2. TouchFlo “Today” screen is not editable. So, for example, you cannot rearrange the little icons to group together the ones you use most often. This guarantees that the icon for AT&T’s bloatware will be among the first group you see.
3. You can disable TouchFlo, but the Today screen customizations are much more limited than with the Tilt. The menu screen includes an “options” button that is totally inert; it would have been the place to have the things I would like on my Today screen. There are some hacks available to give more options, but HTC’s moderator on its user forum warns that will void the warranty.
4. Almost impossible to use one-handed, so forget checking your voicemail as you walk through the airport. You WILL have to put your bags down and find a place where you can work two-handed.
5. Shows fingerprints like crazy; it will look grungy at all times if you don’t get a silicone “skin” for it.
All in all, it has some “wow” features that will impress a teenager, but it’s not much of a business phone for anyone who does business away from a desk.

I’m verrrry disappointed with the Fuze – My tilt was only OK and the improvement is worse.
-Slooowwwer than molasses
-weird type sizes that can’t be changed
-And what’s with this new screen key type pad !!!!

@tilt That’s definitely valuable insight! I have the Tilt and it’s a pretty reliable phone, although the update to Windows Mobile 6.1 was a mini-nightmare. Any one ever mention that you can’t create a restore file with SpriteBackup on one OS version and then restore it onto a newer version of an OS? I found that out the hard way.

Good to know that the HTC Fuze may not be my next smartphone. I’ll stick with my Tilt a little longer, at least until the Touch Pro 2.

~Marilyn

I just upgraded last week to a Fuze from my old Cingular 8525, which was starting to wear out. My wife has a Tilt which she loves and the Tilt always impressed me with it’s power and battery life compared to my 8525. So I got a Fuze, and it’s a little ‘klugy’: the screen seems much less sensitive than the 8525 or the Tilt, and it seizes up more than the 8525 did. My wife liked the looks and wanted to upgrade, but based on a week with the Fuze, I agree with the review: don’t dump your Tilt for a Fuze. Actually, the Tilt, IMHO, is one of the all-time great pda-phones ever.

What am I doing wrong? I HATE my Fuze — worst phone I've ever had :(

I wear my phone on a belt clip — it lays screen in, and horizontal (PTT button pointing down). When I get a call I pick it up (it's now vertical) and try to push the answer button. About 60% of the time the screen then rotates 90 degrees to landscape mode (even though I'm holding the phone in portrait style — ie vertically). As soon as it does that, all buttons (both on the screen, and the physical answer button) don't work. I just sit there and watch the call go to voice mail. Arrrggh!

I have a couple of reminder alarms. Normally they pop-up at the bottom of the screen and you push Dismiss with your thumb. Starting yesterday the alarm goes off, but the pop-up doesn't appear. It just rings and rings and rings. Arrgggh! I finally popped the battery out.

Wish I still had my $20 Samsung phone from 2002 :(

IM GETTING THIS PHONE

You should, it's pretty nice!

i currently have the fuze. and i hate it. i was given this phone by my dad whom payed full price, no rebate or anything. i wasnt satisfied with it in the first month, and i assumed mine had a malfunction, so then i called the htc company and requested a new one. they sent me a new one and when i received the phone it was very slow and glitchy and would always mess up. and the keyboard will just randomly stop working and i have to turn the entire phone off and turn it on and let it sit there for three min before it starts working again. also, if im ever in a location where i dont receive service, it displays the exclamation point after the service bar, and it wont reconnect to the satellite until you move to a service location, and you also have to restart the phone. Buying this phone is like carrying around a massive 1948 computer in your pocket…its as heavy, and as slow. As a competitor in a world of fast technology, it fails. the only way i would ever recommend this product, is if you are currently trying to expand your patience. the phone does have many good features, and i believe that it was an amazing idea…but the problem is, they didnt supply it with speed. i had a standard phone before this for 4 years, Samsung A940, and from that phone, i learned that when you push a button, the phone is supposed to respond to that action…at least within 45 second..with the fuze, youll be looking at the clock for 5 minutes. i would look into other phones that have similar features. creating this phone was either a hit or miss……they missed the target by a long shot.

Useless piece of c**p. Worst phone I've ever had. Extremely slow and ends up non-responsive 2-3 times a week so I have to pull the battery. Message window sometimes suddenly revert to meny page w/o reason. It have more than once happened that the phone locks up during incoming call and I have to reboot the phone. Start-up time is about 5min so make sure you have a backup for emergency. Time to toss it in the bin.

Useless piece of c**p. Worst phone I've ever had. Extremely slow and ends up non-responsive 2-3 times a week so I have to pull the battery. Message window sometimes suddenly revert to meny page w/o reason. It have more than once happened that the phone locks up during incoming call and I have to reboot the phone. Start-up time is about 5min so make sure you have a backup for emergency. Time to toss it in the bin.

I also love Sony Ericcson too. Great desing, camera and music.