AT&T Tilt Cell Phone Review
By Alfredo Padilla
Reviewed.com Editorial Staff
Published on November 13, 2007
The AT&T Tilt is the latest Windows Mobile phone with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and a new angle on the screen; literally. The 2.8-inch touch screen angles up so that it is at a 45 degree angle to the keyboard, rather like a small laptop. The Tilt is a complex smart phone that will be attractive to those looking for the ultimate all-in-one device. Those looking for “just a phone” should probably look elsewhere. It feels solid, but we are a little worried about how well the tilting feature will stand up to a lot of use.
Making a call on the Tilt isn’t as easy as a regular phone because it lacks an easily accessible keypad. This means you have to use the touch screen keypad, which can’t be used without actually looking at the screen. Anyone who likes to dial by touch will find this annoying. As a Windows Mobile device, the Tilt has powerful contacts and organizational features, and can synchronize with a desktop computer.
The Tilt displayed mixed performance in our audio tests. The quality of the sound received by the phone was very good, but we found the sound sent to others was overly bassy and clipped. Side tone, the small amount of your voice piped back into your ear so you can tell how loud you’re speaking, was good.
The Tilt comes with a 3-megapixel auto-focus camera. In our tests the camera performed fairly well, for a cell phone. It won’t replace a digital camera, but you can take photos with it you won’t be ashamed of. The Tilt also has solid music and video capabilities. You will need to invest in a Micro SD expansion card if you want to put a lot of music or videos on it, but if given a large enough card it can replace an iPod nano. The Tilt supports DRM-protected music from stores like Napster or Rhapsody and DRM-protected video from Amazon’s Unboxed store, however it won’t work with iTunes content.
The Tilt runs the latest version of Windows Mobile, which is a powerful operating system that provides a plethora of functionality. There is a very good messaging program built in for e-mail and text messaging, however the Web browser on the phone isn’t as good as the one on the iPhone. The Tilt uses AT&T’s high-speed data network, though, so browsing speeds are very good. Wi-Fi is on board, as well. There’s also a wide variety of third-party programs you can install, if you want additional functionality. GPS functionality is also on included to help you get around.
The Tilt lasted for a decent five hours in our talk time test. This isn’t as good as BlackBerry devices that can last for as many as 10 hours, but should be sufficient for most users. Music playback time was almost seven hours, but if you’re browsing the Web you’d better be quick, because the Tilt only lasted three hours in our test. This is likely due to the fact that it uses AT&T’s high-speed data network, which is very battery hungry.
The AT&T Tilt is a powerful cell phone that should be on the short list of options for those looking for a true all-in-one phone. Heavy e-mail and text users will appreciate the comfortable QWERTY keyboard and signature tilt screen, while business users will make good use of the powerful organizational capabilities. The Tilt isn’t as good as the iPhone on the multimedia front, but holds its own, and we liked the fact that it has a decent camera. Since it’s so complex, buyers should be aware that there is a learning curve. The Tilt is a little on the pricey side at $299.99 with a two-year contract, but is still $100 less than an iPhone.For a more in-depth review, visit the HTC Tilt Review at our partner WirelessInfo.com
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