The first Wildfire from HTC spread almost like its moniker, so popular did its blend of HTC Sense, durable form factor and affordable pricing prove. Now that it's burnt out, however, it needs a successor to carry the torch. Rising from the ashes is the Wildfire S.
The handset carries on the legacy well enough, with an impressively solid chassis, great social features and responsive touchscreen. The market's changed since the first Wildfire blazed its trail into history, though. With dual-core 'superphones' to contend with, it's hard to consider a 600Mhz processor hot stuff.
And while HTC's Sense interface proves as compelling as ever, the lack of grunt means missing out on Flash support for iPlayer and the like.
All that wouldn't matter if the Wildfire S only required liberating a token sum from your account, but you'll need a fair few sheets burning a hole in your pocket (around £220 SIM-free, or £15 a month) to lay claim to this little fella.
In the highly competitive market of 2011, that makes the Wildfire S a tricky proposition. Beginners will be well-served by the Wildfire S's rounded package, but you can certainly get a lot more for not much extra cash.
The handset carries on the legacy well enough, with an impressively solid chassis, great social features and responsive touchscreen. The market's changed since the first Wildfire blazed its trail into history, though. With dual-core 'superphones' to contend with, it's hard to consider a 600Mhz processor hot stuff.
And while HTC's Sense interface proves as compelling as ever, the lack of grunt means missing out on Flash support for iPlayer and the like.
All that wouldn't matter if the Wildfire S only required liberating a token sum from your account, but you'll need a fair few sheets burning a hole in your pocket (around £220 SIM-free, or £15 a month) to lay claim to this little fella.
In the highly competitive market of 2011, that makes the Wildfire S a tricky proposition. Beginners will be well-served by the Wildfire S's rounded package, but you can certainly get a lot more for not much extra cash.
Design
HTC has refreshed the design substantially, giving the Wildfire S the same workmanlike black and chrome look as seen in the excellent HTC Desire S. There are no physical buttons on the front of the phone, with HTC opting for four capacitive touch-buttons. These are your standard Android Home, Menu, Back and Search options. They're responsive, plus HTC has put in a little vibration feedback to reassure your brain that your finger did indeed just hit the right spot. HTC has removed the optical trackpad, which has allowed it to make the Widlfire S a little shorter than last year's model. It's a very tiny phone and also manages to be lighter – 105g versus the original's 118g. The 3.2-inch screen runs at 320x480 resolution, so obviously isn't going to be as sharp as displays found on more expensive phones. But it is pleasingly solid, nice and glassy and responsive to even the lightest of touches. Given that the old HTC Wildfire had a screen outputting at a shameful 240x320, this is still a big step up. It's not particularly sharp, mind – there's a noticeable mesh over everything if you look closely.
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