The HTC Flyer Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on June 21, 2011 4:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Tablets
- HTC
- Android 2.3
- Mobile
- Flyer
Final Words
If you view tablets like the iPad 2 or Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 as being the target for perfection, something like the Flyer will come as a disappointment. If you're like me however, and view tablets as a line of products still in their infancy then there's room to discuss something like the Flyer.
Most Android tablets get the job done when it comes to web browsing, email, music and video playback. I believe these are some of the biggest selling points for buying a tablet today and an ASUS Eee Pad or a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 does a good job here.
HTC's Flyer delivers a decent experience in these same areas. Web browsing is better on a larger tablet, but if you want portability the Flyer is nicer to carry around with you. Performance is competitive, although battery life definitely suffers as a result of the Flyer's relatively small battery. Where HTC expands on the Android tablet experience is in its personalization via Sense and and the Scribe accessory.
Whether or not you like Sense really boils down to personal preference. The customization junkies out there will likely appreciate what it is and in many areas HTC has improved over the stock Android (at least Gingerbread) experience. Although the Flyer doesn't run Honeycomb, it's not all that missed as a result of what HTC has done.
HTC Scribe turns the Flyer into a note taking specific productivity device. I have a feeling that after reading about the Flyer you'll know right away if it's the right type of device for you. It's not the holy grail of a productivity oriented tablet, but it does carve itself out a niche in the productivity segment. A sensible feature set and integration with Evernote making Scribe a real selling point of the Flyer. It's a shame that the Scribe isn't bundled with the Flyer and will set you back an extra $80 on top of the $499 you need to pay to get the tablet in the first place.
How well did HTC do with thinking outside of the box on this one? Everything from the form factor to the SoC choices flies in the face of every other Android tablet we've reviewed this year - and I can't really say that HTC was wrong in anything it decided to do here. I don't believe that there's one tablet for everyone, and I do hope to see a more general purpose tablet from HTC in the future as well, but for what it's intended to do, the Flyer is functional, portable and a competitive performer.
While personally I believe the best bet with any tablet is to wait and see how the next generation turns out - if you're a part of the niche that the Flyer addresses, I don't believe you'll be disappointed.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
26 Comments
View All Comments
wintermute000 - Tuesday, June 21, 2011 - link
unfortunately with ipad parity pricing its a fail. no 3G option either, what's the point of 7" portability if its not always on. If it had 3G for 500USD you're at least in the ballpark.I say this as a happy original SG tab owner (here in Oz, they dropped the full 3G toting version to 300USD briefly, sold like hotcakes, guess why). It really made me appreciate the 7" form factor in combination with always on internet (gingerbread surprisingly isn't too bad as a tablet OS, aside from some apps that were never meant for the bigger res). But its too expensive.
wonder if the bootloader is locked. If not the 3G version could be a nice value 2nd hand pickup in 6-9 months
Shadowmaster625 - Tuesday, June 21, 2011 - link
What point is there in racing to get a $500 tablet on the market. The only people who are going to buy these things are the really dumb suckers. The same people who are most likely to be wiped out by the market changes coming over the next few years. $500 is way way wayyyy too much to be spending on what is little more than a toy. I hope all these companies fail, because the entire $500 tablet market is a malinvestment.bhima - Tuesday, June 21, 2011 - link
I can't believe they don't include the pen for that money though. It has to be hard to decide to purchase any android tab thats over the asking price of the asus transformer.ripBear - Tuesday, June 21, 2011 - link
SenseUI was created to solve shortcommings of Windows Mobile. HTC ported it to Android in order to create a unique offer in this platform based on the positive reviews it got from WinMo implementation.RandomUsername3245 - Tuesday, June 21, 2011 - link
Advertizing with audio that is enabled by a simple mouse-over means Anandtech.com has been removed from my Flashblock Whitelist.Anand Lal Shimpi - Tuesday, June 21, 2011 - link
None of our direct ads have mouse-over audio (it's a policy of ours), this must've been a network ad. Do you have any details on the ad you saw? A screenshot, description, linked URL, etc... If you can email me anything you have (anand AT anandtech DOT com) I'll send it on to our ad partner that can hopefully get it scrubbed from the site entirely.Take care,
Anand
LostPassword - Tuesday, June 21, 2011 - link
if this thing can't even come out with honeycomb out the box, good luck getting updates.taltamir - Tuesday, June 21, 2011 - link
Puns are awesome, but you really shouldn't inform the readers every time you make one. Yes, we get it. And if we don't then that's ok too. Putting a (hey look I made a pun) after every one just detracts from the writing.Impulses - Tuesday, June 21, 2011 - link
I didn't mind this... Although they felt like the comments editors sometimes introduce into their writer's articles, except here I think it was just Anand commenting upon himself. :pNihility - Tuesday, June 21, 2011 - link
It was tasteful. No problems with it here.