T-Mobile MyTouch 4G Slide

T-Mobile MyTouch 4G Slide Review: Best Phone Camera Ever

Earlier this month, T-Mobile appear the latest accession to its MyTouch family, the myTouch 4G Slide ($200 with a two-year contract, as of July 15, 2011). The specs attending appealing accepted for this summer's bulk of high-end smartphones: 4G connectivity, a 3.7-inch Air-conditioned LCD screen, Android 2.3 and a dual-core processor. All of this is abundant and everything, but what absolutely bent my eye were the camera's specs. In fact, T-Mobile claims that the Slide has the best avant-garde camera of any smartphone available. So how does the Slide authority up as both a buzz and a camera? Read on to acquisition out.

Slider Design

As the name implies, the HTC-built MyTouch 4G Slide has a slide-out abounding QWERTY keyboard in accession to a 3.7-inch WVGA air-conditioned LCD touchscreen. For a slider phone, I was afraid with how attenuate the Slide is at alone 0.54 inches thick. For comparison, the keyboard-less myTouch 4G is 0.43 inches thick. It weighs a acquiescent 6.5 ounces.

The keyboard's keys are accurately spaced and ample enough, but abominably they are a bit too collapsed for my liking. I begin myself application Swype on the blow keyboard added than the concrete keyboard.

Killer Camera

The Slide has an 8-megapixel camera and an HD camcorder that can shoot video in up to 1080p. It additionally has an arrangement of avant-garde features. As phones exhausted editor, my camera ability is appealing basic, so I went to our cameras exhausted editor, Tim Moynihan, to analyze some of these specs and appearance for me.

The Slide allegedly has aught bang lag, which sounds acceptable on paper, but it is article we absolutely bare to put to the test. According to Tim, the autofocus arrangement has to be appealing fast in adjustment to abduction non-blurry images after any delay. Looks like T-Mobile's claims are true; the Slide's camera was altogether abrupt and calmly handled every accountable we threw at it.

The camera has a abaft aflame sensor, which is adequately accepted in the best contempo crop of point and shoot cameras these days, which works able-bodied for low-light situations after charge for a flash. The Slide's F2.2 lens is a added breach than abounding contempo cameras, which additionally translates to bigger low-light cutting after the flash.

Sweep Shot example The SweepShot approach is agnate to Sony's Sweep Panorama mode, which is actual cool. You columnist the bang and move the camera from right-to-left, and the camera stitches calm a across-the-board angel instantly. This approach is abundantly fun to comedy with and the photos attending appealing acceptable (see example) admitting sometimes they don't stitch up accurately.

The ClearShot HDR approach is a lot like the iPhone's HDR feature. It snaps a accumulation of photos in accelerated assumption at altered acknowledgment levels, again "stacks" them in the camera to accompany out highlights in atramentous areas and actualize an HDR shot. In my opinion, HDR can either attending absolutely air-conditioned or absolutely camp and blurry. It is fun to comedy about with, admitting (take a attending at the example).

BurstShot is a absolutely altered affection for a buzz camera. This approach takes pictures in accelerated assumption as you authority the bang button bottomward (paparazzi style). BurstShot is advantageous for snapping photos of quick-moving objects, like kids and pets.

Macro approach lets you booty close-up shots of altar like the Furby, pictured here. You can get as abutting as about three inches to your article afore the camera starts to lose focus. Tim says that this is appealing good, but there are point-and-shoot cameras that can shoot alike closer.

Image affection is accomplished for a buzz camera. A lot of camera phones accept a difficult time administration colors. Tim said that the Slide is on a par with $200-to-$300 stand-alone point-and-shoot cameras. According to Tim, the camera's interface is the best blow interface he's apparent on a camera. It is accessible to navigate, responsive, and provides accessible advice for cutting in assorted environments.

Video affection was actual acceptable as well. In my accidental tests, the Slide handled quick-moving altar after any baloney or pixelation. We'll accept abounding camera and video analysis after-effects acquaint abutting week.

Sense and MyTouch Come Together

The user interface is array of a mash-up amid the latest adaptation of HTC Sense and the custom-built UI we saw on the T-Mobile MyTouch 4G. According to T-Mobile, the MyTouch rocks the aforementioned adaptation of Sense (Sense 3.0) as the HTC Sensation (also on HTC). The latest adaptation of Android, Gingerbread, is active beneath Sense.

You get a new customizable lock screen, which works analogously to the anew appear lock awning in iOS 5. You can aces a affair for your lock awning (the buzz offers absolutely a few of them to accept from) and again baddest four apps that you appointment best frequently. When you about-face on your phone, you'll see the four apps at the basal of the screen. To alleviate the screen, artlessly annoyance the amphitheater into position over an app, at which point you'll jump beeline to that app. Thanks to this feature, you don't accept to go through assorted airheaded to ability your e-mail or added frequently accessed items.

The new adaptation of Sense has a spruced-up Walls system, too. Rather than accepting to flick aback and alternating amid your walls, as you do in the banal Android operating system, you can flick the Slide's awning to accomplish the walls spin. The aftereffect is evocative of a alternating carousel. And like the earlier adaptation of Sense, you can compression anywhere in your homescreen to see thumbnail-size images of your walls.

The MyTouch 4G Slide comes with a few preloaded apps including T-Mobile Video Chat powered by Qik for the front-facing camera and Accumulation Argument by Bobsled, which lets you accelerate and accept argument letters with groups of friends.

Performance

Call affection over T-Mobile's arrangement in San Francisco was anxiously acceptable and I did not acquaintance any alone calls. My accompany on the added end of the band appear my articulation articulate a bit distant, but bright with no distortion.

T-Mobile's HSPA+ arrangement is anemic area our appointment is amid so I activated the Slide in a cardinal of altered locations about the city.

The Slide's dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor (the aforementioned you'll acquisition in the HTC Sensation and the HTC EVO 3D) calmly handled all the apps and media-heavy sites we threw at it. We additionally activated the buzz application Qualcomm's new benchmarking app, Vellamo. The Slide denticulate an 803, agreement it appropriate abaft the HTC Sensation, additionally on T-Mobile.