HTC Wildfire S review

The basics

The HTC Wildfire S is a delightful and affordable smartphone that crams a hefty range of features into a compact package dressed in a tough, great-looking unibody design. A 5-megapixel camera with LED flash, up to 32GB of storage, easy social network integration and web browsing makes the HTC Wildfire S one of the most capable budget smartphones around.

The good

It’s easy to judge budget smartphones as inferior to more costly handsets, but in the HTC Wildfire S we have a smartphone that offers features similar to pricier models. We love the unibody design that combines form and function. A 512MB internal memory can easily be upped to 32GB using a microSD card, offering plenty of room for music, photos and video.

The HTC Wildfire S’ 3.2-inch screen offers plenty of room for web browsing while keeping things compact. A friend-stream integrates all your social networking contacts into one contacts page.

And the 5-megapixel camera is not to be sniffed at. Higher end smartphones may pack more of the pixels in, but the snapper here performs consistently. The LED flash is great for taking snaps in darker conditions when needed.

One nice little feature we noticed is the ability to fiddle with the music controls from the lock screen, so that you can easily skip or pause tracks without having to unlock the phone. Smart thinking.

The bad

The bad

The dinky size isn’t for everyone. One downside to the smooth unibody is getting used to holding the thing without accidentally dropping it. You also cannot play Flash video. And even when playing non-Flash video, the HTC Wildfire S tends to struggle. Web browsing could also feel a little quicker, so overall media performance feels limited.

The bottom line

The HTC Wildfire S may not be up there with the pricier handsets, but as a budget handset, the HTC Wildfire offers a handsome alternative with all the features you need to stay in touch, browse the web and listen to the odd tune.