Review of the HTC Vivid

Review of the HTC Vivid

HTC Vivid has been released just before the holidays in 2011, AT&T's new LGE-compatible smartphone may be garnering more attention for its name than for its features. (HTC's release of the new Vivid device prompted an immediate lawsuit by Vivid Entertainment, the adult-content media company, for trademark infringement). Amusing legal news aside, the HTC Vivid has been making waves in tech circles in its own right. The Vivid seems to mark a departure for HTC, beginning with its distinct appearance. In contrast to HTC's other recent smartphone offerings with soft, rounded cases, the Vivid is a crisp block of glossy black plastic, with a brushed metal slide-out panel covering the back.

The Vivid's innards are as much of a step forward as its angular outer shell. Sporting a dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8060 processor with 1 GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage plus a microSD slot for up to an additional 32 GB, the Vivid is both peppy and capacious. One common concern for phones in this category is whether the battery is robust enough to support all of that; in fact, the Vivid's 1,620mAh Li-ion battery may be one of its weaker points. HTC promises just 5.1 hours of battery life for WCDMA usage and 7.6 for GSM. Heavy users may need to plan on plugging in during the workday in order to make it through the evening.

Media capture, storage and playback have been a crucial component for recent smartphones, and the HTC Vivid is no exception. With sufficient storage space for photos, video clips, and even a few full-length movies, the Vivid comes with a 4.5-inch 960 x 540 qHD TFT Super LCD display for viewing it all with clarity. It sports the same Gorilla Glass as its contemporary the Droid Razr, but with a slightly larger screen. While the Vivid's speakers are run of the mill, you can always upgrade your sound experience with the 3.5mm headphone jack. You can also use the HDMI out to view photos and video on a larger screen, or stash files in your Network Attached Storage (NAS) to watch them on any other DLNA Certified device. The Vivid continues the dual camera trend, with both an 8-megapixel rear camera (with dual LED flash) and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing VGA camera. Because it's an HTC, it comes loaded with their proprietary camera software, including many filters and a particularly quick capture speed. The rear camera is capable of 1080p HD video recording.


The Vivid currently runs the Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread) OS, with an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich expected sometime in 2012. Gingerbread is wrapped in the custom HTC Sense 3.0 skin, resulting in a unique user interface relative to many non-HTC Android phones. Like other AT&T HTC devices, it comes preloaded with both AT&T and HTC apps, with access to Google's Android Market for additional apps. Although the Vivid does support LTE, AT&T's brand new LTE network is not available yet in most locations, meaning you're more likely to be running on HSPA+. However, AT&T is putting a priority on making LTE the new standard, and the ability to run on the faster network will become more valuable as LTE expands.