[Hi Im Jeremy]

Im new to the Windows 7 phones and I was recently thinking about buying one. I have a bold 9700 right now and its a couple years olds; buttons are falling off and the top of my phone has fallen off. So i was wondering, what is the best windows mobile phone i can use on t-mobile: unlocked or an actual t-mobile phone?

[o4liberty]

I believe as of now the htc radar is the only Windows device tmo has.

[doxa sub750T]

They now have Nokia options as well, black and white Lumia 710. However, based on specs on paper, HTC Radar still looks like TMO best WP7 available.

[ubizmo]

The main drawback of the Radar is 8 GB of storage that can't be expanded, because there's no micro-SD slot. If you need more space than that, don't get the Radar.

I think T-Mobile US still has an older WP7 phone from HTC.

[doxa sub750T]

The main drawback of the Radar is 8 GB of storage that can't be expanded, because there's no micro-SD slot. If you need more space than that, don't get the Radar.

I think T-Mobile US still has an older WP7 phone from HTC.

Good point! And this comes down to whether the OP wants WP7 or WP7.5 (Mango OS). HTC HD7 may run 7.5 Mango, but you will need to search around on how to do it (if it is at all possible). Current HTC HD7 running on older 7.0 shows some issues of which most have been fixed in 7.5.

Keep in mind that there is a Skydrive option for additional storage in the cloud. Of course, if you use your mobile phone for a lot of media storage, i.e. Movie and Music, this can be an issue depending on what type of data plan you have or whether or not you have easy access to WiFi all the time!

So far, my wife is doing fine storing most media files on her Skydrive account. It is free and has about 20GB of storage space. She almost always has access to Wifi. Also, we have a 4G hotspot mobile from TMO, which helps.

The bottom line is to go out to TMO store and try them all to see which one fits you the best.

BTW, if you look at TMO phone review section, it is amazing how new WP7.5 outselling Blackberry platform! This is based on just my assumption over the amount of reviews. Within only a few months of tis release, there are more reviews on the Radar than 9900 already till date. Phone prices play big role here too. Regardless, RIM better act very quickly. I am quite positive that the release of 7.1 OS will solve a lot of the slow sale issue. Many people I know are waiting on it so that they can use WiFi calling feature. But the longer it takes...who knows...

Good luck with your choice.

[ubizmo]

Keep in mind that there is a Skydrive option for additional storage in the cloud. Of course, if you use your mobile phone for a lot of media storage, i.e. Movie and Music, this can be an issue depending on what type of data plan you have or whether or not you have easy access to WiFi all the time!

So far, my wife is doing fine storing most media files on her Skydrive account. It is free and has about 20GB of storage space. She almost always has access to Wifi. Also, we have a 4G hotspot mobile from TMO, which helps.

When I was checking out alternatives to BB, back in November, the SkyDrive option wasn't quite ready yet. Is there an app or something that integrates it now?

My general impression of the Radar was pretty favorable. I didn't have a problem with the 8 GB, since I figured cloud storage would be coming anyway. Also, I only have about 6 GB of stuff on my 16 GB micro-SD card now, and a lot of that isn't strictly needed. I'm not one who needs my entire music library in my pocket at all times.

My impression is that the Radar gets decent battery life, because it's a little stricter about multi-tasking than Android (or BB). But I'm not keen on the way the UI seems to be built around the "aggregated social feed" idea, much like MotoBlur. That was one of my reasons for not choosing it.

The other was the fact that you're stuck with the default keyboard. One of the things that Android does right is to let developers bring alternative keyboards, with various features. So, with Android you have a lot of choices, from Swype to Swype variants, and even auto-text. I think it's important for an all-touch device to give the user a lot of options. On a physical keyboard device like most BBs, it's not, since if you didn't like the keyboard you wouldn't get a BB in the first place (This, of course, isn't true of the all-touch BBs, which have the same shortcoming as the Radar).

At any rate, the Radar looks like a well designed phone. I did try one in the store, and it's fluid and pleasing to use, without being a power hog.

[doxa sub750T]

The Radar indeed has a few shortfalls like most other devices. Yes, Skydrive is available for DL in the market place. It works extremely well.

I managed to learn about the phone when I got it to replace my wife 9780. She did like it more than BBOS7 (9810) and of course her old 9780. The virtual KB works fairly well and I find typing with much less mistakes than 9810 in Portrait mode.

I agree with you that having other virtual KB apps would make a big different. But its butter smooth touch screen and no lag OS experiences make up for it.

Last but not least, battery is even better than the 9810 but not by a mile. My wife can get through the day on a very heavy usage; hours of web browsing, hours People app with bunches of texting, YouTube watching, under 2 hours of phone call and some Angry Bird. Unplug at around 9AM, by 11PM, it still has about 20% of battery left. Not too shabby.

I would never in any near future consider changing my BB platform to WP :-) But If I have to, I would consider this over Andriod iPhone would be my choice, but TMO does not have one....

[Hi Im Jeremy]

Thanks for the replies. and yes I meant phones with the mango OS

[Duvi]

All devices that came out on WP 7 is capable of upgrading to 7.5. If you want one that has it from the factory, then the Radar by HTC or Lumia 710 by Nokia would be your only two real options through T-mobile.

I haven't checked for the unlocked ones that have the AWS bands though.

[crystinonfire]

I just switched from a 9700 to the HTC Radar. The main selling point was its battery life. Coming from a blackberry, I wanted the phone that would last the longest between charges. The Radar definitely beats the Nokia 710 in that department.

[BoldtotheMax]

Thinking on the Nokia 710 for my wife. She has such a craptastic Android and has a sour taste in her mouth and I would get a 9900, but she loves touchscreens and the whole bicking thing is scarying me. Dont want the headache of having to switch out and dl everything back onto the new one. Talk about a PITA! That and the fact it is so dam expenisve on T-Mobile. It is actually the most expensive phone.......I honestly dont get it.

So trying to save some moola and still get a nice phone for her. This seems to fit the bill. I may check the radar out too, but not sure if I want to spend that much.

I can get the 710 for 19.99 and with tax and everything, would be under 100 bucks. I can deal with that, especially if she likes the phone and dont have many issues with it. Would be nice to try a different platform myself and what better way to get her one and see if I should switch, lol!

[jlarkins08]

I have the nokia lumia 710 and I love it considering I am a heavy blackberry user for 5 years.. But I decided this year I would try another OS for my everyday personal phone use.. I have to say that windows has made a drastic change to they're operating system and its a good one.. I love the simplicity of the OS and the integration of social networking makes it a whole lot easier to stay connected.. I must say tho I miss my led light and bb notification system.. Rim has that down pat!! If you want a change and not take the android way then windows is a great alternative. Don't expect having a lot of apps to download, windows needs apps and I mean NEEDS to catch up to android and iOS to compete..


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

[BoldtotheMax]

I have the nokia lumia 710 and I love it considering I am a heavy blackberry user for 5 years.. But I decided this year I would try another OS for my everyday personal phone use.. I have to say that windows has made a drastic change to they're operating system and its a good one.. I love the simplicity of the OS and the integration of social networking makes it a whole lot easier to stay connected.. I must say tho I miss my led light and bb notification system.. Rim has that down pat!! If you want a change and not take the android way then windows is a great alternative. Don't expect having a lot of apps to download, windows needs apps and I mean NEEDS to catch up to android and iOS to compete..


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

Its a nice phone. Just picked it up today and don't have a lot of hands on time with it yet, but did set it up for her and so far she likes it, but is used to how android does things.

I like how I could move over everything through BT off old phone to new one. Some phones that is a huge PITA, but not with Mango 7. 5.

Smooth, everyone talked about it, didn't believe it. It is true, it is like butter.

I will report back on it when I get more time with it, but it is definitely sweet!

I do wish it had more free apps as most that are free off Android cost on WM app market. That and wish it had a SD card.

Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk

[JNM]

The HD7 would still be the best Windows Phone on T-Mobile were it not for two small problems:

1. They no longer offer it ( )
2. The LCD is not as good as it should have been

If you can find one for a seriously discounted price it is a really impressive phone and you'll end up with the performance of the Radar and a larger screen.

However, the RADAR is currently the best Windows Phone on T-Mobile. It is quite small, has a great screen that is pretty high resolution for the size, is faster than the HD7 was, and offers great battery life. It may just be the smoothest experience in operating a phone that I have been able to enjoy. For myself, I greatly prefer a larger screen, but using the Radar for over a week alongside my Galaxy Nexus I certainly am reminded of just how good Windows Phone really is...especially for work.

[ubizmo]

The Nokia 710 and HTC Radar are so similar, but from what I've read, it breaks down as follows:

Screen visibility in direct sun: 710 wins.

Battery life: Radar wins.

Included software: HTC has "hub", which has an Android-like aspect, and a lot of people like it. 710 has Nokia Drive, which is supposedly pretty good navigation, and free. But there's a $5 app called "GPS ON" that gets decent reviews.

Specs: 710 wins, but it seems pretty meaningless, since actual performance is so similar on the two devices. Both very smooth. Radar has slightly larger screen.

Camera: Radar has some camera features, such as panorama and rapid-shot, that 710 lacks. Probably a win for Radar.

I think the SkyDrive app makes the 8 GB without SD less of an issue on both of these devices.

After playing with them for a while, I have to say that it's an impressively smooth and integrated experience. Microsoft has done a good job. Instead of joining the Android "spec wars", they've emulated the iPhone's philosophy that it should "just work". The apps aren't there yet, but the signs are that there's a lot of developer interest in the platform.

If I decide to leave BB, the Radar or something similar will probably be my next port of call.