Initial Impressions: HTC Aria

Here are the initial impressions I had of the HTC Aria when I picked it up

1. Light
2. Small
3. Fast

It felt very light but sturdy. It was about the same size as the Curve. Screen obviously larger. The display looked incredibly sharp, especially as compared with my poky old Blackberry. The resolution looked great.

I'd played with the Droid Incredible and the Droid and this felt much better in my hand, even though it was a smaller phone.

The real test, of course, with someone like me - I have pretty big hands - in the virtual keyboard. This is the one big thing that was keeping me from getting a touchscreen phone, my giant ham fisted fingers (OK OK they aren't that big) cause me all sorts of grief when I use an iPhone or even the iPad. I consistently hit the wrong letters.

But, despite the keyboard and screen being smaller that the one on the iPhone, it was WAY more accurate. My fingers hit the right letters, and it was pretty fast, although I can tell right now that I will need to practice to get back to the same speed as my Curve.

The other thing which really struck me was the "apparent" speed. The interface looked very fast, even when compared to the iPhone 4 sitting right there. I tried swiping the screen and firing up apps on both at the same time and the Aria seemed to snap a lot faster. I'm sure that its just the way the interface is designed, and I'm sure that the iPhone could be made to look like its moving faster, but damn, side-by-side comparison made it look like the iPhone was a turtle compared to the Aria's hare.

We'll see. Didn't have much time to play with it but you will be hearing a lot more from me once I get the phone in my hot little, not so ham fisted hands... ;)