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The Rest of the Phone

The phone's physical design is pleasing, as well. At 4.1 by 2.1 by 0.6 inches and 5.3 ounces, the phone feels comfortable in the hand. It supports quad-band (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) GSM networks, as well as GPRS and EDGE, and has built-in Wi-Fi. Other specs include a 2.0-megapixel camera; a microSD Card slot (which supports up to 4GB media); 128MB of RAM and 256MB of ROM; and a crisp, generous 2.6-inch 320-by-240-pixel QVGA display. The slider mechanism is extremely smooth; it glides effortlessly with the touch of a finger.

Operating the 20-key keyboard with predictive text took some practice, but it may be partly due to my personal preference for dedicated QWERTY keyboards such as those in Palm Treo or the AT&T Tilt (also built by HTC), for example. To me, the keyboard isn't ideal for composing long messages, but it's still a better bet than tapping away at a normal alphanumeric keypad. Of note: The large keys are clearly labeled.

T-Mobile and HTC clearly paid attention to design, and it shows in the little details beyond the new home screen and the jog wheel. The USB and microSD slot cover flaps are easy to remove, yet fit firmly back in place when you're done; the universal back button is conveniently situated; and the programmable shortcuts button at the upper right side of the device helps you further personalize the device.

Plenty of Goodness, But Not Perfect

With all that I found to like about the Shadow, I was all the more disappointed to discover some of the phone's weaknesses. The biggest of those was the call quality. The test unit T-Mobile yielded tinny, slightly echoed audio through the handset's earpiece, almost as if the caller was on speakerphone (even though the speakerphone wasn't activated). Likewise, the people I spoke with commented that my voice sounded a bit high-pitched compared with how I sound via another handset used on T-Mobile's network. Although this audio issue is tolerable, I was surprised by the call quality's mediocrity given the impressive audio quality I've heard recently from other HTC phones (including Sprint's Touch and the AT&T Tilt.

Here's another gripe: The Shadow's front face is cleanly designed, with the jog wheel flanked by three buttons on either side. Sadly, the topmost of these buttons--the context-sensitive soft keys--are just a shade too flush with the handset. The difference I'm talking about is fractions of millimeters here, but I repeatedly found those buttons annoying to use as my finger jumped from the slightly more raised up Home and Back buttons.

Finally, I was disappointed in the camera's operation. Pictures looked reasonable for 2.0-megapixel device, but I found the shutter lag frustratingly slow. I'd press the dedicated camera shutter button to initiate a shot with no car visible in the picture, then by the time I'd see the image on-screen, I'd also see I'd captured a car smack in the middle of the frame. Saving pictures between shots was slow, too.

At launch, T-Mobile has the exclusive North American distribution rights to the Shadow (available in "sage green" and "copper brown" colors). My concerns about call quality aside, I'm not convinced that the phone alone will convince anyone to switch to T-Mobile. Still, the Shadow's impressive design certainly distinguishes it from the muddle of Windows Mobile smartphones. So long as perfect pitch audio isn't a requirement of your next smartphone, I'd recommend the Shadow (the audio issue may be annoying, but it didn't keep me from clearly communicating during calls). With the Shadow, calling a Windows Smartphone friendly is no longer an oxymoron.

T-Mobile Shadow

With the Shadow, T-Mobile delivers a smarter smartphone than most; however, its tinny call quality may be a concern.
$150 (with two-year contract)
Current prices (if available)