I Hate My Fuze, I Love My Fuze
I have been saying this over and over again since I got my HTC Fuze…
The Fuze is one of the flagship devices for AT&T and really the entire Windows Mobile Professional brand right now. It has all of the bells and whistles just like the AT&T Tilt did when it was released. To some, it is the next step in the evolution of a HTC Windows Mobile device. To others, it is a step backwards because it loses some functionality that the Tilt had…
I love the screen…VGA is perfect for this screen size. I love Windows Mobile 6.1 once stripped of TouchFLO 3D. I love the little tweaks like the HTC volume slider and notification area that allows you to touch options that needed a stylus before. I love the flush screen. I love the PTT button because it gives me quick access to a button to launch 2 different applications once tweaked properly. I love the level of customization that is available and the software that helps you customize for free. I love the accelerometer and being able to rotate the screen in every possible direction. I love the fact that the Fuze supports all of the latest wireless options as well as tethering to a computer for Internet on the go.
I hate the fact that the entire phone is the biggest fingerprint magnet I have ever seen. It is almost like HTC went to great lengths to make the Fuze keep fingerprints visible in all situations. I hate the direction pad…seriously…whoever thought this was a good design needs to be put in the corner with their head down for a long time. I hate the fact that there is a Home button that really serves no purpose…if I want to go to the Today Screen, I will hit the End key. I hate the fact that HTC can put standard headphone jack on the Palm Treo Pro and Xperia X1, but cannot put it on their own branded hardware.
Most of all…I hate the fact that my HTC Fuze has what is by far the worst reception of any mobile device I have ever used…and I have used a lot of them. I have been through 2 Fuzes, multiple radios, and read lots of forums only to come to the conclusion that HTC really dropped the ball on the Fuze radio.
But…I love the fact that even though AT&T or HTC dropped the ball, the Windows Mobile community, mainly XDA Devs, is able to provide users with options to add a radio from another device that will make the bad reception manageable even if it is not perfect. I love the fact that you can download ROMs that remove all of the crap that AT&T decided to stick in the Fuze that most people will never ever use. I love the fact that every time I start shopping for a replacement for my Fuze, someone at XDA Devs has solved or is close to solving the issue that makes me want to smash my Fuze into a million pieces.
I hate my Fuze and I love my Fuze. I have been reminded that when the Tilt came out, it was far from perfect, but the community made it into so much more than HTC or AT&T were capable of doing. I will be keeping my Fuze and tweaking it so that one day maybe it will be the device I know it is capable of.
Microsoft, AT&T (and all carriers), and HTC really should spend some quality time reading through the posts over at community sites like XDA Devs if they want to know how to make the Windows Mobile ecosystem better. Thank you to everyone that contributes to making Windows Mobile a better community. Your hard work is appreciated.
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good article. See I love my Fuze and have had very few of the problems you had. I use my fuze HEAVILY and just have adapted to the battery issue and made it much better with all of the xda tweaks. I NEVER had bad phone reception, but maybe that is just because of where I live.
Also, I recently purchased a thin hard skin that eliminated the silly finger print issue. You can see pictures of it I posted here – http://www.smartphonejunkie.com/showthread.php?t=178050 . So far this case is really great.
So far I love my fuze, but a lot of that is due to Mobile Shell and the endless programs and tweaks I have done. I do wish I could make some coding changes myself, but slowly but surely I am getting better at that also.
Great article. Perfectly titled.
I too love my Fuze and hate my Fuze.
Love-the VGA screen. It is a beautiful display. Crystal clear and sharp. A noticeable and major improvement.
Love-or at least don’t hate-the reception. I am having none of the reception problems you indicate, I’m running the stock ROM without bloat and stock Radio.
Love all the customizations that one can do.
Love-the size and profile of the device.
Hate-the weather tab in TF3D. Almost useless. I got addicted to WeatherPanel on my Tilt. I have continued to run TF3D on my Fuze, but I guess I can dispense with that and run WP on my Today screen and solve that. I am undecided whether to give up on TF3D. I see you have.
Hate-the battery life, or lack thereof.
Hate-I am missing the Tilt’s scroll wheel.
Hate-the fingerprint magnet the Fuze is. What were they thinking?
Don’t hate, but I preferred the Tilt’s 4 row slide out keyboard. The slightly bigger keys were easier to use.
All in all, I’m keeping it.
Superb article.
I am using the Touch Pro now, and my main problem is with the TouchFlo performance and the horrible d-pad.
Why on earth did they design it like that?
Here is my own detailed review of the Touch Pro:
http://mobilespoon.blogspot.com/2008/12/htc-touch-pro-thoughts-week-1.html
What app or apps are you using to get your Today Screen looking like that? It looks great.
> I hate the fact that there is a Home button that really
> serves no purpose…if I want to go to the Today Screen, I
> will hit the End key.
Hi! I have an ETen X500+ and in my device, the End key really brings the Today Screen. But the device beeps in the process. Is there a way to avoid these beeps?
Another thing: Is the long press of the End key supposed to do anything? To me it does nothing, but anyway, I don’t have a data plan.
Can I get the link to where you downloaded your customization. I have been looking for it in xda developer and did not see it.
Thanks!