Designed for markets outside North America, the HTC Trophy isn't getting as much mention as some of the other Windows Phone 7 handsets. Not that we're saying WP7 smartphones are getting that much attention to begin with, but this particular handset does deserve some love.
Physically, the device doesn't bring much bells and whistles. If you like your phone to be attractive without drawing too much attention, this could very well be your style. The metallic-like bezel and soft-touch finish give it a nice, premium feel, despite having a primarily plastic make. Display is a 3.8-inch capacitive touchscreen with 480 x 800 resolution and excellent touch response. Images look bright and sharp, although quality tends to wash down under sunlight.
As a phone, the HTC Trophy makes for good calls. Conversations went through clear, although the sound seemed a little piercing with the volume turned max. Speakerphone quality is about average. Expect around 7 hours of talk time with the 1,300 mAh battery.
The quad-band world phone packs all the usual smartphone elements, including multiple voice calling options, basic and advanced messaging, WiFi, aGPS, Bluetooth and 3G. Do note that this isn't designed for North American use -- as such, it won't support 3G bands in the US.
We've done a review of Windows Phone 7 as an OS before, which you can check out to get a better idea of the platform. The phone handled all functions and apps well, so it's very capable on that end. Being an HTC release, it gets HTC Hub, where you can find the Sense UI widgets and apps.
For multimedia, it's an average performer, managing playback of 720p videos adequately. There's only 8GB of internal storage with no SD card expansion, though, so you'll probably be deleting media files regularly. The 5.0 megapixel camera worked well outside, but didn't do too well indoors, even with the LED flash. The good thing is, it comes with a pretty good photo enhancer app that you can use to clean up shots that need a makeover.
Overall, the HTC Trophy is a decidedly average smartphone that just works. Unlocked price is pretty good, as well, at around $400.
