TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      South Africa’s ‘silent revolution’ as those with cash go solar

      15 August 2022

      SA coal giant Seriti Resources in pivot to renewables

      15 August 2022

      Tencent, TikTok share details of prized algorithms with Beijing

      15 August 2022

      Fixing SA’s power crisis is not complex: it simply takes the will to do better

      12 August 2022

      Consortium makes unsolicited bid for state’s 40% stake in Telkom

      12 August 2022
    • World

      Institutions eye crypto but retail investors remain nervous

      15 August 2022

      Tencent woes mount, even after $560-billion selloff

      12 August 2022

      Huawei just booked its first sales rise since US blacklisting

      12 August 2022

      Apple remains upbeat about iPhone sales even as Android world suffers

      12 August 2022

      Ether at two-month high as upgrade to blockchain passes major test

      12 August 2022
    • In-depth

      African unicorn Flutterwave battles fires on multiple fronts

      11 August 2022

      The length of Earth’s days has been increasing – and no one knows why

      7 August 2022

      As Facebook fades, the Mad Men of advertising stage a comeback

      2 August 2022

      Crypto breaks the rules. That’s the point

      27 July 2022

      E-mail scams are getting chillingly personal

      17 July 2022
    • Podcasts

      Qush on infosec: why prevention is always better than cure

      11 August 2022

      e4’s Adri Führi on encouraging more women into tech careers

      10 August 2022

      How South Africa can woo more women into tech

      4 August 2022

      Book and check-in via WhatsApp? FlySafair is on it

      28 July 2022

      Interview: Why Dell’s next-gen PowerEdge servers change the game

      28 July 2022
    • Opinion

      No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

      11 July 2022

      Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

      8 July 2022

      South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

      4 July 2022

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022

      Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

      13 June 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»Gadgets & Reviews»HTC Tattoo: a Hero for the cash-strapped

    HTC Tattoo: a Hero for the cash-strapped

    Gadgets & Reviews By Editor29 January 2010
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email

    HTC TattooHistorically, Taiwan’s HTC has focused its energies on developing Windows Mobile-based smartphones. But in the past year or so, the handset manufacturer has been two-timing Microsoft by making more and more phones that run rival Google’s Android operating system.

    The Tattoo, its latest Android offering, is meant as an entry-level touch-screen alternative to more expensive options like the top-end HTC Hero, released in 2009.

    The Tattoo, which retails for R4 599, is smaller than the R6 788 Hero and uses a resistive touch screen rather than the pricier capacitive touch screen. This means it doesn’t respond to multi-touch gestures — people used to this way of interacting with their phones will find the Tattoo’s screen frustrating.

    The 2,8-inch display itself also leaves a lot to be desired. It’s not viewable at all in direct sunlight. And it’s low 240×320-pixel resolution means it’s not as crisp as higher end devices.

    Another problem is the strange use of the tactile buttons at the bottom of the screen. The large circular “joystick” at the base of the phone doesn’t awaken the device from sleep when pressed. To do that, one presses the “menu button”. That’s not intuitive. And most people use the “call-end” button to return to the home screen. On the Tattoo, that switches off the display and locks the screen.

    Then there’s the challenge of writing text messages on the Tattoo’s small screen. The on-screen keys are far too small, so you’ll forever be hitting backspace to correct yourself. The predictive text system is also far from great and it’s not obvious how to switch it off.

    On the plus side, the Tattoo is well built. The 113g device is sturdy and feels solid in the hand despite its small size.

    It runs the same HTC Sense user interface as the Hero. It has seven customisable screens that you can quickly flick through with a swipe of a finger.

    Integration with Google services like Gmail, Google Talk and Google Maps is excellent, as you’d expect in an Android-powered device. Twitter integration is also superb.

    The Tattoo has a solid feature set for a phone that costs relatively little (next to the Hero or the Apple iPhone, that is). There’s an assisted GPS, an accelerometer, a digital compass and Wi-Fi support. It also has an FM tuner — the audio jack is industry standard 3,5mm — and it supports 3G HSPA data.

    If you really want an Android-based touch-screen phone and the Hero is just too expensive, then give the Tattoo some consideration. But we’d recommend saving up the extra two grand to get the Hero instead. It’s worth stumping up the extra cash for the Hero’s superior screen.  — Duncan McLeod, TechCentral

    • Subscribe to our free daily newsletter
    • Follow us on Twitter or on Facebook
    Apple Hero HTC HTC Hero HTC Tattoo iPhone Tattoo
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleFaritec still in talks over financial rescue
    Next Article Up in the meh

    Related Posts

    Apple remains upbeat about iPhone sales even as Android world suffers

    12 August 2022

    Samsung unveils its latest foldable smartphones

    10 August 2022

    iPadOS release delayed in unusual move by Apple

    4 August 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    Seven reasons your business needs IP surveillance cameras

    15 August 2022

    5G your life for faster, more reliable home or mobile connectivity

    15 August 2022

    World’s fastest compact firewall for hyperscale data centres, 5G networks

    15 August 2022
    Opinion

    No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

    11 July 2022

    Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

    8 July 2022

    South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

    4 July 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.