Top of its Class: The HTC 7 Mozart

The HTC line of mobile phones made its reputation by creating Android handsets with the Wildfire & Desire bringing a real challenge to the iPhone. But HTC has also proved itself with the HTC 7 Mozart. First announced in December 2010, the HTC 7 Mozart is one of the first phones to adopt the new Windows Phone 7 operating system. Popular for its 3.7 inch LCD touchscreen and sleek aluminium body that really stands out at first glance, it’s on the inside that this Windows phone really excels.

Because Microsoft demanded high standards for all of its mobile manufacturer partners, this Windows 7 phone has some stunning specs, beginning with the 8GB of on board storage. That is a whole lot of room and lets you download plenty of apps that can be run to perfection with the 1 GHz Snapdragon processor. That allows for great animation from screen to screen and app to app along with multitasking capabilities, the best of which might be HTC’s proprietary hub.

The HTC hub promises to save you from your phone as it beautifully displays only the most pertinent information when you want it so you can glance and go without spending precious minutes searching through hundreds of apps to find real time weather. If you open the app you still get the neat little flying animation and a host of other goodies.

There is also a search function which is totally integrated with the rest of the phone, the pay monthly mobile 3G and the WiFi internet. Thus if you search for "penguin", your mobile phone could not only provide you with Bing web results, the Air Penguin game available for download from the app store but it will also provide you with an address book contact for your friend nicknamed "Penguin" - all of these different results in one simple interface.

The 8 megapixel camera is where the Mozart does really well, however. Beautiful picture quality is accompanied by an ultra-bright Xenon flash that provides you with more realistic colours and better shots in low light. There is also an option to edit and manipulate your photographs straight from the playback function. And the 720p HD video recording looks great and transfers to your computer flawlessly with the USB cord provided.

So if you want to make clear calls, check in on Foursquare, or become the next Stephen Spielberg, the HTC 7 Mozart is at the top of its class in the smartphone category. With a well-designed user interface and a host of goodies to accompany it, it is hard to go wrong with this Windows phone.