AT&T Tilt Cell Phone Review
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Mark Brezinski Published on October 25, 2007 Comment on this |
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The Tilt is a Windows Mobile 6 phone that bears a striking resemblance to HTC's last offering in the U.S., the Mogul. Like the Mogul, it has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard that allows for some quick typing. It also features a 2.8-inch screen, which is larger than most, but not quite as large as the iPhone's display. Unlike the Mogul, however, the Tilt's screen can perform its namesake action by tilting upwards to a 45 degree angle. This means you can sit the device on a desk or airline tray table and use it like a laptop, as well as putting the device at a more comfortable angle for watching videos. This tilting does raise several issues, though: despite HTC's reassurance that it should survive a drop from a handheld height, the screen on our review unit broke after just a few days, leaving the screen to flip forward too far.
Other than that one setback in hardware, the Tilt proves itself to be a fairly capable device. Windows Mobile 6 is a good platform with a coherent layout and comprehensive software. Especially of note is the excellent Windows Media Player plug-in on the home screen. It allows most of the functionality of the music player and also provides easy access to the full player itself. One of the drawbacks of the operating system, however, is that it tends to be sluggish. Even with 128 MB of SRAM, the Tilt still suffers from lag — more so than we'd have expected.
The Tilt has an EDGE connection for data, but also supports UMTS/HSDPA where available. This means you'll get very fast transfer speeds. The Tilt also supports Wi-Fi connections, Bluetooth 2.0, and even infrared. It's a very well connected device.
The Tilt is offered by AT&T for $549.99 without a contract and $299.99 with a two-year contract after two $50 mail-in rebates.
Below are short descriptions of the review's sections and content. Clicking on a section's title jumps to that section.
Tour & Design - Here we discuss the tilting feature and the phone's overall appearance.
Audio Quality - The Tilt has good audio quality, but it won't handle the user's voice as well as it will an incoming caller's.
Imaging - While the camera on the Tilt isn't the best, you will find image handling software options, which are rare on phones.
Making/Receiving Calls - The Tilt handles calls well, but the time it takes to turn the phone could pose a problem.
Messaging - The Tilt provides some good e-mail and texting options, but we would've liked to see full integration of SMS and MMS messaging. AT&T has released several phones recently that have integrated the two, including its version of the Razr2, the other two versions of which did not have this integration.
Organizer - The calendar on the Tilt is excellent, and the rest of the organizer provides good functionality.
Multimedia - The music player plug-in on the home screen and Windows Media Mobile's good array of features make the Tilt a good media device. Unfortunately, however, the lag was especially bad when loading songs and videos.
Software - The included software is all standard for Windows Mobile phones, and shouldn't disappoint. Even if it does, the phone's extensibility allows you to fill in the gaps with third-party applications.
Battery Life - The Tilt's battery life was average overall.
Connectivity - As far as connectivity, the Tilt does very well, boasting options for Wi-Fi and the rarely-supported infrared.
Hardware - The Tilt's keyboard and screen size are the high points of its hardware. Its resolution is average, which is disappointing given the display's size.
Other Features - The Tilt has some good extras, such as GPS, PTT, and DUN capabilities.
Value & Comparisons - We felt the Tilt had enough features to merit its price, even in spite of its responsiveness issues.
[page title="Tour & Design"]
Front Closed
Much of the Tilt's face is screen. The area around it is a thin metallic plate. At the very top, to the left of AT&T's brand, is the speaker. At the bottom is the silver plastic d-pad array. The d-pad array is more packed than usual, fitting in a send and end key, two soft keys, the Windows key, shortcuts for IE and Messaging, and the OK key.
Front Open
Cracking open the Tilt reveals a full QWERTY pad, complete with arrows. At its top are two LED indicators for caps- and function-lock, and another set of soft keys.
Left
The left side has a small cluster of features near the top. The first is a Push-to-Talk key. The second is the jog dial, which you can actually push in like a button and acts like a secondary select key. The final feature is an OK key, which either selects the OK option in the top right or closes a program — it's similar to a back key. It also brings up the Start menu on the home screen.
Top
The top of the phone has no interesting features.
Bottom
On the bottom of he screen panel (below the controls) is the MicroSD card slot, covered with a rubber panel. Below that on the main body of the phone is the mini USB port. There is also a lanyard loop and a hole for the microphone.
Right
The right side of the phone has two buttons: power and shutter. The right side is also home to the stylus.
Back
The back of the phone has a rubbery cover and two notable features. The first is the external antenna port, which is covered with a rubber panel with GPS eched in it. This label is so named because it's also where the GPS receiver is, which is useful to know when you're trying to get a better signal. Below and to the right of this panel is the 3-megapixel camera lens.
Back Open
With the screen slid up, you can access the SIM card slot on the back of the screen.
Battery Out
As it turns out, the entire back of the phone is the battery cover. This was somewhat confusing, as we didn't expect the entire thing to slide off since it has features on it. There actually isn't anything of note once you take off the cover and take out the battery.
In the Box (3.0)
In the box, next to the Tilt, you'll find a charger, mini USB cable, software, a few screen protectors, and a handful of leaflets and manuals.
Handling (5.0)
The Tilt is a fairly big phone, but still sat well in our hand, regardless of what grip we were using, both open and closed. Its weight will probably become an issue during longer calls, but the phone's rounded edges at least ensure you won't get jabbed. The back of the phone feels like hard rubber, and while its smooth surface won't offer the best grip, it will hold better than the plastic on the phone's sides.
Portability (4.0)
There's no getting around the Tilt's size. If you put it in your pocket, it'll be visible, regardless of how loose the article of clothing is. We therefore recommend you keep it in your sensibly-sized purse or bag — unless, of course, you don't mind large rectangular outcroppings on your upper thigh.
Aesthetics (4.0)
The Tilt isn't a very sleek phone. The larger touch screen immediately conjures up comparisons to the iPhone, which trounces it soundly in regards to beauty. It does have a bit of a professional look to it, but nothing along the lines of the E90, or the decidedly less-sleek BlackBerry 8800. The Tilt finds itself dipping a little into sleek and a little into business, but comes out as nothing special.
Durability (5.0)
The Tilt makes us a bit nervous. Its namesake tilting allows you to adjust the screen to whatever angle you prefer, but doesn't have a click or any signal once you've reached the end of the tilting zone. In fact, the hinges allow you to tilt the screen to a full 90 degree angle, though it won't stay. In fact, if we were more brave we could probably continue tilting the screen to points unknown, which will undoubtedly cause the phone to break. We really would've liked the phone to gives us a clear stopping point, rather than rely on the user's knowledge of the amount of stress plastic can handle without fracturing. As it is, however, the tilting screen feels very delicate, and you get a real sense you can snap it off easily. HTC, however, claims that they have drop-tested the Tilt, and that it will survive a drop from a handheld position without incident. Though we haven't stress-tested this claim, it just doesn't feel that robust.
When closed, however, the body of the phone seems sturdy. We twisted it around a bit and didn't hear any creaking. We'd recommend you cover the touch screen with some sort of protection, however, as it may be prone to scratching.
[page title="Audio Quality"]
We test audio quality with the same equipment used by manufacturers. As for hardware, we use a head and torso simulator, or HATS. We use the HATS to simulate the human mouth and ear. Our software is an electro-acoustic analysis program called SoundCheck. With HATS and SoundCheck, we can determine the quality of the audio your phones receive and send out. If you'd like to know more about our testing methods, click here.
Sound Receive Frequency Response (8.71)
The Tilt tends to do well with the frequencies it receives. As you can see in the graph, the blue line that represents the Tilt's performance falls between the red limits at all times. The dip in the middle means the Tilt tends to underemphasize mid-range tones. This is well within the limits, however, so it shouldn't be too noticeable.
| Cell Phone | AT&T Tilt | Nokia E90(Unlocked) | BlackBerry Curve 8320(on T-Mobile) |
| Score | 8.71 | 6.09 | 8.30 |
| Received Sound Frequency Response Graph (click to view) |  |
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| Cell Phone | HTC Mogul(on Sprint) | Palm Treo 750(on AT&T) | Apple iPhone(on AT&T) |
| Score | 7.33 | 8.24 | 7.58 |
| Received Sound Frequency Response Graph (click to view) |  |
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Sound Send Frequency Response (6.80)
As is evident in the graph, the Tilt doesn't handle its user's voice as well as those in incoming calls. Though the frequency response does not show any big peaks, it does overemphasize the lower frequencies (on the left of the graph), meaning that voices may sound overly bassy and boomy. The frequency response also drops off a bit quickly, meaning that some high frequencies aren't properly reproduced. This could make voices sound slightly clipped. But the result is definitely acceptable, if not great.
| Cell Phone | AT&T Tilt | Nokia E90(Unlocked) | BlackBerry Curve 8320(on T-Mobile) |
| Score | 6.80 | 5.74 | 7.51 |
| Received Sound Frequency Response Graph (click to view) |  |
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| Cell Phone | HTC Mogul(on Sprint) | Palm Treo 750(on AT&T) | Apple iPhone(on AT&T) |
| Score | 7.68 | 7.89 | 7.58 |
| Received Sound Frequency Response Graph (click to view) | |
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Handset Side Tone (9.42)
Side tone refers to the amount of your own voice the phone plays back to you. Subconsciously, if you can't hear your voice over the phone, you assume the person you're talking to can't hear it, either. The ideal side tone measurement is 18 decibels. The Tilt measured 17.42 decibels, which is very close to this ideal. Less than one decibel is a virtually imperceptible difference. You won't feel the need to yell or whisper on the Tilt.
| Cell Phone | Sidetone Measurement | Score |
| AT&T Tilt | 17.42 | 9.42 |
| Nokia E90 | 21.23 | 6.77 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 17.88 | 9.88 |
| HTC Mogul | 17.12 | 9.12 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 22.2 | 5.80 |
| Apple iPhone | 8.8 | 0.80 |
[page title="Imaging"]
Resolution (4.8)
For our resolution test, we point a phone at an industry standard resolution chart under precisely controlled lighting conditions and snap a series of pictures. We then run our results through Imatest, which determines the point at which the the chart's alternating black and white lines become a gray blur. The result is measured in the number of line widths per pixel height (lw/ph) the phone can discern, and indicates how much detail the camera can capture. The higher the number, the better the resolution.
The Tilt did well here, and was able to make out 1039 lw/ph horizontally and 1057 lw/ph vertically. This is about average; the 2 and 3 megapixle cameras we see on most cell phones score mid 1000's for their lw/ph. The pictures should be fine for viewing on the screen or on your computer, but we wouldn't recommend wasting photo paper to print them out.
| Cell Phone | AT&T Tilt | Nokia E90 | BlackBerry Curve 8320 |
| Score | 4.8 | 5.27 | 5.25 |
| lw/ph horizontal/vertical | 1039/1057 | 1089/992.9 | 1087/933 |
| Image of Resolution Chart (click to view) |  |
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| Cell Phone | HTC Mogul | Palm Treo 750 | Apple iPhone |
| Score | 3.57 | 3.57 | 4.18 |
| lw/ph horizontal/vertical | 895.9/831.6 | 859.9/773.4 | 970/879 |
| Image of Resolution Chart (click to view) |  |
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Color (5.5)
For our color test, we aim the phone at GretagMacbeth color chart. We again run our pictures through Imatest, but this time we attempt to discern how far off the colors are from where they should be.
In the graph, the distance between the square (ideal color) and the circle (camera's interpretation) represents just how badly the colors are represented. In this case, color accuracy isn't the best, but for a phone camera, it isn't bad. Lines that appear to radiate out from the center either represent colors being over or undersaturated; if the ideal is toward the outside and the actual depiction is toward the inside, the color is undersaturated, and vice versa. As you can see, the Tilt undersaturates colors, which is typical of cell phone cameras. What isn't typical is that the Tilt represents some purples as more blue than they should be. Some reds will also be slightly overemphasized, although this shouldn't be very noticeable.
| Cell Phone | AT&T Tilt | Nokia E90 | BlackBerry Curve 8320 |
| Score | 5.5 | 5.77 | 4.92 |
| Color Checker Chart (click to view) |  |
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| Cell Phone | HTC Mogul | Palm Treo 750 | Apple iPhone |
| Score | 1.82 | 6.69 | 5.22 |
| Color Checker Chart (click to view) |  |
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Noise (1.23)
We test noise by taking a series of pictures and running them through Imatest. This time, our pictures are again of the GretagMacbeth chart, but we set the lighting to various levels from 3000 lux to 60 lux. At each lighting level in our test spectrum, we use Imatest to analyze the noise levels. The Tilt actually seems pretty consistent in terms of noise. Cameras with higher megapixel counts tend to have more noise simply because more information is being captured. The Tilt didn't seem to have much issue here, though.
| Cell Phone | Score |
| AT&T Tilt | 1.23 |
| Nokia E90 | 1.34 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 1.41 |
| HTC Mogul | 1.45 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 1.35 |
| Apple iPhone | 1.20 |
Live Preview (6.0)
The Tilt's live preview takes up the entirety of the 2.8-inch screen, but is incredibly sluggish. The picture blurs and lags behind during even a slow pan. The colors appear to be accurate in respect to the captured image. There was also slight vertical gradation. In all, however, if it wasn't for the extreme sluggishness, especially in changing light, the Tilt would have a decent live preview. As it is, though, don't expect much coherency during action shots.
Unlocked Standby to First Shot (5.41)
As can be guessed from the title of this section, this score is based on how long it takes to capture an image if the phone starts in unlocked standby. To do this, we start a timer, then quickly take a picture of said timer with the phone. We used the captured image of the timer as the time. The Tilt was able to snap a picture in about 3.7 seconds. While a good time, it is a bit slow for a camera with a dedicated camera shortcut button. The reason the time is slow is due partially to lag and load time, but mostly because the Tilt has an autofocus lens, and the phone has to wait for this to focus before it can take the photo. Still, a little less than four seconds should be enough to capture most scenes; just wait until the kids are tired before you try and snap photos of them.
| Cell Phone | Time (sec) | Score |
| AT&T Tilt | 3.70 | 5.41 |
| Nokia E90 | 7.55 | 2.65 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 2.90 | 6.90 |
| HTC Mogul | 3.30 | 6.06 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 5.77 | 3.47 |
| Apple iPhone | 2.43 | 8.23 |
Shot to Shot Time (4.08)
Here we time how long it takes to snap pictures sequentially. If available, we use Burst mode. The Tilt does have Burst mode, but it could still capture 1.36 frames per second (fps). This is a good score, even better when you take the autofocus into consideration. Phones without Burst mode typically don't even break the 0.5 fps mark. We also liked how you could take between one and 30 pictures at a time depending on how long you held the shutter key.
| Cell Phone | FPS | Score |
| AT&T Tilt | 1.36 | 4.08 |
| Nokia E90 | 0.61 | 1.83 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 0.35 | 1.05 |
| HTC Mogul | 1.70 | 5.70 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 0.61 | 1.83 |
| Apple iPhone | 0.40 | 1.20 |
Shutter to Shot Time (1.22)
For shutter to shot time, we simply start a timer at the same time we take a picture of it. The resulting capture displays the amount of time it took for the camera to actually take the picture. Again, the Tilt's autofocus lens hurt it a bit here, as it took 1.64 seconds to snap a picture. This is a bit slow, so if you're looking for fast sequential captures, turn on Burst mode. Autofocus always causes a delay before the first picture in the series, however.
| Cell Phone | Time (sec) | Score |
| AT&T Tilt | 1.64 | 1.22 |
| Nokia E90 | 0.25 | 8.10 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 0.43 | 4.65 |
| HTC Mogul | 0.21 | 9.52 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 0.88 | 2.27 |
| Apple iPhone | 0.40 | 5.00 |
Interface (7.0)
The Tilt's camera interface is a bit more simplified compared to other Windows Mobile phones. It consists of a series of transparent buttons around the edge of the screen. These include your current Capture mode, zoom magnification, a shortcut to the album, a counter of how many pictures you have left to take, and a menu. You can tap most of these objects to open up small options lists. Tapping the main portion of the screen provides a small menu of shortcuts, including white balance and self-timer. Up and down on the d-pad (or left and right since the phone is on its side) or the scroll wheel cycle through capture modes, while left and right affects zoom. We thought everything was really well laid out, the menus contained pertinent items, and nothing was deeply hidden. The Tilt is an improvement on the typical Windows Mobile interface.
Photo Album Software Internal (7.0)
Manual Control (2.0)
The Tilt allows you to fool around with quite a few variables, but unfortunately very few actually count as manual controls. There are a few Scene modes, such as Night and Sports. You can also control white balance, exposure compensation and metering, as well as adjust contrast, saturation, hue, and sharpness.
Zoom (0.0)
The Tilt features digital zoom, which is useless. Digital zoom simply crops the image and stretches the result, meaning your image will be at a lower resolution. We don't award points for digital zoom.
Focus (5.0)
The Tilt has an autofocus lens. This means distance away from the lens won't affect an image's sharpness. It also means your pictures will take a bit longer to take than with a fixed-focus lens.
Flash (0.0)
Oddly, the Tilt doesn't have any sort of flash. Most phones with an autofocus lens tend to include an LED light, which can be useful if you like to hang around in dark places. If you do and own a Tilt, take a torch.
Metering (4.0)
The Tilt has two options for metering: Center (which takes more notice of the center of the image when evaluating the lighting) and Average (which looks at the whole image). Though this isn't much in the way of choices, most phones lack any options at all, so this is good to see.
White Balance (2.0)
There are a few presets for white balance: Auto, Daylight, Night, Incandescent, and Fluorescent. There are no manual settings, though.
Image Handling (6.0)
Video
Overall Video Score (5.0)
The Tilt can capture video at four resolutions: 352 x 288, 320 x 240, 176 x 144, and 128 x 96. The former of these is probably good enough quality to view on a computer, but most likely wouldn't fare well on a TV. Colors are represented as well as they are with the camera. The Tilt's video might not be the best, but it is certainly ahead of many other phones. If you're looking for video to show off to freinds and neighbors, buy a camcorder. But the video the Tilt shoots is decent enough for candid shots.
Video Resolution (3.25)
We test video resolution essentially the same way as still resolution. We take a short video capture of the same chart, and run the same set of Imatest tests on random frames we pull from our clip. Video resolution is virtually always far worse than what you'd see in the same phone's still captures. Furthermore, phones tend to have horrible video capture quality. While both can be said to some degree for the Tilt, relative to other phones' performances, it didn't do that badly. The one exception is Nokia's E90, which has one of the best video capture scores we've yet to record. The videos should be good enough to view on the phone or include in MMS messages, but enlarging its captures any more, such as playing them on a computer or television — wouldn't be worth it.
| Cell Phone | lw/ph horizontal/vertical | Score |
| AT&T Tilt | 183.2/177.3 | 3.25 |
| Nokia E90 | 351.4/345.2 | 12.13 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | N/A | 0.0 |
| HTC Mogul | 220.9/137.8 | 3.04 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 132.4/184.6 | 2.44 |
| Apple iPhone | N/A | 0.0 |
Video Compression (4.0)
Video can be captured in H.263 or MPEG4 formats. Most phones don't allow any options for compression.
Interface (7.0)
The interface for video capture is the same as still capture. The only minor changes are due to the medium change — such as adding in compression options — and the remaining picture tally is replaced with a timer. Again, the interface is simple to use and menus are intelligently laid out.
Manual Control (0.0)
Video capture has the same controls as still capture: white balance, Exposure compensation, metering, contrast, saturation, hue, and sharpness. Unfortunately, none of these options are robust enough to merit points.
Zoom (0.0)
Again, the Tilt only features digital zoom, which we don't award points for.
Editing (0.0)
The Tilt doesn't come packaged with any video editing software.
Modes (6.0)
Scene and Metering modes survive the transition from still capture to video. Also, although it isn't specifically mentioned, the 176 x 144-resolution allows you to capture video for MMS, as long as you go easy on the clip's length.
[page title="Making/Receiving Calls"]
Dialing Speed (3.59)
| Cell Phone | Time (sec) | Score |
| AT&T Tilt | 5.57 | 3.59 |
| Nokia E90 | 2.36 | 8.47 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 3.16 | 6.33 |
| HTC Mogul | 6.16 | 3.25 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 4.25 | 4.71 |
| Apple iPhone | 3.96 | 5.05 |
Talk and End Buttons (7.0)
The talk and end buttons are located at the top left and right corners of the d-pad array. Buttons in corners are preferred, as their position is often the easiest to find. As with all the d-pad buttons, the talk and end buttons have good snap to them, so you'll know when you've hit them. They're also a good size, so dexterity shouldn't be an issue. Unlike on most other phones, the talk and end buttons only really perform their namesake functions; they don't perform differently if you hold them down.
Call Management (7.5)
The Tilt manages calls just as well as any other phone with Windows Mobile 6. Call history can be filtered by incoming, outgoing, or missed calls. Clicking on an entry shows you the entire history of that number. Here, each call is listed with the date, time, and duration. Tapping an item on this list calls the number. You can also add the number as a contact via the menu screen. There still isn't a counter for your total minutes or data, which is an odd omission; most phones have several "total" counters — one for lifetime minutes used or data transferred, and one you can reset to better keep up with a monthly allowance.
There are myriad options available while in a call, such as mute, hold, and accessing things like your contact list and the notes application. We wished there was an option to record the call, but this functionality isn't included in most phones, so its absence isn't a huge deal.
Startup to Call (1.55)
Advanced phones never do well in this test, where we measure how long the phone takes to go from being turned completely off (as if you had jsut inserted the battery) to hitting the call button to make a call. They often have incredibly long startup times and lag considerably for a few seconds after booting up. This is most certainly the case with the Tilt, as it was only able to get a call going in about 64.55 seconds. A great majority of this speed run consisted of us waiting for the phone to boot up, then waiting for the phone to get past the lag, register the number we had input a few seconds earlier, and begin the call. We could certainly see phones like the Tilt being used as a horror movie device, with the victim screaming at it to hurry up as the villain closes in on him or her, waving a chainsaw. Many advanced phones take more than a minute to perform this test, and the horror movie of the Tilt would end up with the hapless caller being sliced and diced before they could call the plucky heroine for help.
| Cell Phone | Time (sec) | Score |
| AT&T Tilt | 64.55 | 1.55 |
| Nokia E90 | 32.12 | 3.11 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 7.12 | 14.04 |
| HTC Mogul | 55.00 | 1.82 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 42.26 | 2.37 |
| Apple iPhone | 26.12 | 3.83 |
Ring Volume (8.57)
To test ring volume, we hold the phone's speaker two inches away from a sound pressure meter and run through the ringtones. In this case, the list of ringtones was fairly extensive. After slogging through the huge list, we determined the loudest part of the loudest tone to be 85.7 decibels. This is actually a bit on the quiet side, but we assure you hearing the ringtones won't be an issue. We're not sure if it was just our model, but playing any of the built-in, band-performed music at the highest volume will elicit a horrible vibrating sound. This is sure to get your attention.
| Cell Phone | Volume (decibels) | Score |
| AT&T Tilt | 85.7 | 8.57 |
| Nokia E90 | 85.4 | 8.54 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 85.6 | 8.56 |
| HTC Mogul | 85.7 | 8.57 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 83.2 | 8.32 |
| Apple iPhone | 84.9 | 8.49 |
Ringtone Customizability (8.0)
The Tilt offers good options for ringtone customizability, allowing you to use MP3, AAC, and WMA files, provided you drop them into the ringtone folder via the File Manager. This is a refreshing feature, as even the iPhone still won't let you use your own ringtones, charging a buck for a song, and then another buck to cut it down to size. The Tilt also allows you to set your voice notes as ringtones, so you can yell at yourself to answer the phone.
Non-Audio Alerts (10.0)
The Tilt has a pretty good vibration, and we were able to feel it shaking around in our pocket. There are also on-screen pop-ups and a tiny LED that attempts to alert you. Of course, if you can see the screen, chances are you'll be able to hear or feel the phone vibrating. Overall, though, the Tilt's non-audio alerts were refreshing, as a majority of the phones we review offer substandard functionality here.
[page title="Messaging"]
Supported E-mail Services (8.0)
The Tilt supports POP3 and IMAP4 e-mail accounts. It will also automatically configure settings for a few popular e-mail services, such as AOL, Yahoo!, Gmail, and Hotmail.
Push E-mail (8.0)
The Tilt supports several different types of push e-mail clients: BlackBerry Connect, XPress, and Exchange. BlackBerry Connect grants your Windows Mobile phone the push e-mail power all BlackBerry devices are equipped with. XPress is AT&T's proprietary push e-mail client, but we personally prefer the way BlackBerry handles it. The last is Exchange, which requires a dedicated server that Microsoft will be happy to sell you.
Multiple E-mail Accounts (10.0)
The Tilt can handle at least five e-mail accounts, which should be enough for even the most prolific e-mailers.
HTML and Attachments (12.0)
Windows Mobile 6 contains the ability to view HTML-encoded e-mail, something previous iterations of the OS were unable to do. There are just a handful of phones that support this, so Windows Mobile finds itself in an elite pack.
As for e-mail attachments, the Tilt was able to view our test Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files. It was also able to handle ZIP files, thanks to the built-in ZIP manager. This excellent advanced e-mail support puts the Tilt and other Windows Mobile 6 phones at the front of the pack for users who want to be able to view and edit documents on the road.
E-mail Customizations (2.0)
Windows Mobile devices don't offer much in the way of e-mail customization. The only option it gives you is the ability to add a signature to your outgoing messages.
Time to a New Message (3.1)
The reason we perform timing tests is to exemplify the complexity of a given action. Time is usually a good indicator of how convoluted it is to, for example, get a new e-mail message to appear when the phone starts in an unlocked standby. We perform several timing trials and average our results.
You can expect to have a new e-mail dialogue pop up in about 6.45 seconds, which is fairly slow. You actually have to navigate a few menus here, which is not a strong suit of the lag-prone Windows Mobile operating system. Even with a dedicated shortcut key to the e-mail messaging client, the Tilt still manages to be slow.
| Cell Phone | Time (sec) | Score |
| AT&T Tilt | 6.45 | 3.1 |
| Nokia E90 | 3.43 | 5.83 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 1.70 | 11.76 |
| HTC Mogul | 6.22 | 3.22 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 2.23 | 8.97 |
| Apple iPhone | 1.90 | 10.53 |
E-mail Usability (11.0)
Supported IM Services (0.0)
MMS Support (7.0)
The Tilt supports MMS well, but you unfortunately must choose SMS or MMS before you begin writing a message. SMS and MMS do share inboxes, though. You can send an MMS from the photo album or from the camera application, as well as creating one from scratch via the messaging application. We would've liked to see MMS and SMS totally integrated, especially since AT&T has done this with a few recent phones, including their iteration of the Razr2.
SMS Smiley Face Interpretation (0.0)
The Tilt doesn't support smiley faces, and your colon-parenthesis combinations will remain in ASCII form.
SMS/MMS Ease of Use (7.0)
Time to a New SMS Message (12.66)
The Tilt has one of the most easily-accessible messaging programs we've reviewed. All you have to do is tap the icon on the home screen that shows a phone with a letter in front of it. There's no navigation necessary; just tap that icon and wait for the application to load. As such, the only thing we were really timing was the time it took for the phone to boot up the application, which was about 0.79 seconds. We really can't think of a way for a new SMS being easier to open than this.
| Cell Phone | Time (sec) | Score |
| AT&T Tilt | 0.79 | 12.66 |
| Nokia E90 | 1.99 | 5.03 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 4.22 | 2.37 |
| HTC Mogul | 5.46 | 1.83 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 2.36 | 4.24 |
| Apple iPhone | 2.62 | 3.82 |
[page title="Organizer"]
Synchronization (6.33)
The Tilt can sync up with your computer via ActiveSync or Vista's Windows Mobile Device Center. Synchronizing is as easy as installing the software, connecting the phone to your PC via Bluetooth or USB, and running the sync program. We didn't have any trouble doing this.
As was just stated, you can sync the Tilt via Bluetooth or USB. Synchronization encompasses your contacts, appointments, tasks, and bookmarks, as well as any files. The ability to synchronize virtually anything is very good functionality.
The Tilt can be synchronized using the aforementioned ActiveSync or Windows Mobile Device Center. Both programs use Outlook, so you'll need it to sync up your files straight out of the box. If you use a Mac, try Missing Synch
Alerts (8.0)
Windows Mobile 6 phones have good alert functionality. When your appointment or task becomes due, a window pops up at the bottom of the screen. When it does, the left soft button dismisses it, and the right soft button opens a menu. The menu contains a fairly elaborate set of snooze options. You can have the Tilt remind you again five minutes before the event, or snooze for five, 10, or 15 minutes, an hour, or a day. There are also options to dismiss all and view the event. The only part we were a bit let down on is if you miss the initial alarm. The phone won't auto-snooze or continue to sound its alarm for a long period of time, but it will alert you again at the start of the event. On the whole, though, the Tilt has good alerts that you aren't likely to miss.
Over the Air PIM Sync (2.0)
The Tilt can synchronize over the air via ActiveSync, which covers your PIM information. If you have access to an Exchange server, you can also configure the Tilt to synch with this.
Address Book
Adding Contacts (5.07)
| Cell Phone | Time (sec) | Score |
| AT&T Tilt | 19.74 | 5.07 |
| Nokia E90 | 17.48 | 5.72 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 14.10 | 7.09 |
| HTC Mogul | 14.70 | 6.80 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 16.10 | 6.21 |
| Apple iPhone | 20.86 | 4.79 |
Looking/Sorting/Search (6.0)
Fields (8.2)
Speed Dial/Voice tags/Voice command (4.67)
The Tilt supports speed dial — up to 99 different numbers can be assigned. We were also pleased to see support for voice dialing via voice tags. This allows you to record your own voice tag for each contact, ensuring it is an accurate system. Unlike some Windows Mobile devices, the Tilt does not come with Microsoft's voice command software. We don't consider this to be a major drawback, however, as we have not been impressed with the accuracy of this software in previous tests.
Calendar
Adding Calendar Items (13.40)
We again measure time here, testing how long it takes to add a calendar item. Our sample calendar item simply consists of a title, Lunch, a time range (noon to 1 p.m.), and a reminder (15 minutes before). Fortunately for the Tilt, it automatically gave our event this time range and reminder. Therefore, all we had to do was open a new appointment and name it. This took about 7.46 seconds, which is relatively fast. Given how little we actually had to do, however, it isn't very impressive; a lot of the time was spent waiting for the Tilt to catch up.
| Cell Phone | Time (sec) | Score |
| AT&T Tilt | 13.40 | 7.46 |
| Nokia E90 | 16.37 | 6.11 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 6.04 | 16.56 |
| HTC Mogul | 7.22 | 13.85 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 6.76 | 14.79 |
| Apple iPhone | 18.92 | 5.29 |
Calendar Views (7.13)
The Tilt's calendar, like all other Windows Mobile phone, has five different views: day, week, month, year, and agenda. You can cycle through them by pressing the left soft button, which was much easier than the usual menu dive necessary in most phones.
Overall, we appreciate the range of calendar views available on the Mogul and really appreciate the improvements made to the agenda and weekly views. Power users will find the Mogul's calendar application gives them powerful tools to organize their time.
Fields (11.0)
To Do/Tasks
Adding To Do/Task (5.63)
Again, we turn to our trusty timer to find out how easy it is to add a task on the Tilt. We were able to input our sample task in about 17.77 seconds, which is an average score. As we had to traverse menus, we again noticed the lag. As with most of the Tilt's software, you'll spend the majority of your time waiting as opposed to fumbling through an awkward interface; everything is arranged coherently and can be easily accessed.
| Cell Phone | Time (sec) | Score |
| AT&T Tilt | 17.77 | 5.63 |
| Nokia E90 | 10.07 | 9.93 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 14.80 | 6.76 |
| HTC Mogul | 16.02 | 6.24 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 16.90 | 5.92 |
| Apple iPhone | N/A: Can't make tasks | 0.0 |
ToDo/Task Sorting and Prioritizing (7.0)
The Tilt allows you to sort your tasks by status, priority, or either the start or due date. In addition, you can filter tasks by category. Overall, this is better task management than you'll find on BlackBerry or Series 60 devices.
Fields (9.0)
Notes
Adding Notes (3.63)
The Tilt took an average of 13.79 seconds to type out our test note. The notes application is actually conveniently located in the Start menu, and the interface certainly helped achieve this time. The only reason this time is a bit slow is because of the bouts of lag during menu navigation. The predictive text helped counteract the lag, but we had to be careful about when we used it. The first time we typed in our sample note, the words would appear after about half the letters were typed; the second time, they appeared after the first letter. To keep our trials consistent, we typed out the same amount of letters each time.
| Cell Phone | Time (sec) | Score |
| AT&T Tilt | 3.63 | 13.79 |
| Nokia E90 | 16.73 | 2.99 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 12.20 | 4.10 |
| HTC Mogul | 12.56 | 3.98 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 11.65 | 4.29 |
| Apple iPhone | 12.66 | 3.95 |
Note Interface (3.0)
Note Formatting (2.0)
The Tilt isn't very big on formatting notes. You can zoom in and out, but that's the closest you'll get to changing the font size. Again, while the drawing and voice note integration are nice extras, we feel Windows Mobile should have included all the basic features first before moving on to more advanced ones.
Voice Memo (3.0)
As alluded to, voice notes are integrated into the notes program. You open up the recorder via the menu button. You can either make pure voice notes, or insert sound clips into text notes. This is a bit cumbersome, and while we appreciate the integration, we would have preferred a separate voice notes program.
[page title="Multimedia"]
Accessing Music Software (3.66)
Given the Tilt's great plug-in that essentially gives you a media player on the home screen, we were very disappointed in this score. All you have to do to get a song playing is click the play button. That's the extent of interaction. At this point, we had to wait 5.47 seconds for the song to actually load and play. Again, the Tilt is hamstrung by the slow response; the software is well organized, but slow to actually do anything.
| Cell Phone | Time (sec) | Score |
| AT&T Tilt | 5.47 | 3.66 |
| Nokia E90 | 7.31 | 2.74 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 7.62 | 2.62 |
| HTC Mogul | 6.06 | 3.30 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 4.36 | 4.59 |
| Apple iPhone | 3.10 | 6.45 |
Dedicated Music Controls (1.0)
The Tilt doesn't have any dedicated, hardware-based music controls. It does, however, have a plug-in that essentially integrates the music player into the home screen.
Music Software Functionality and Organization (6.2)
Online Song Downloading (0.0)
Unfortunately, as this is an AT&T phone, the Tilt doesn't support online song downloading yet.
Streaming (2.0)
Like all Windows Mobile phones, the Tilt supports streaming Windows Media files. It can't handle streaming MP3 or Real files, however.
Podcast Support (0.0)
The Tilt doesn't have any software that supports podcasts.
Music Sync with PC (11.0)
There are two viable ways to sync the Tilt with your PC. The first is to simply connect it as a mass-storage device, either via USB or Bluetooth, and then sync it up with Windows Media Player. The second is to install the included software and use ActiveSync.
Music Formats and DRM (4.0)
The Tilt will play AAC, WMA and MP3 files, as well as Microsoft's own PlaysForSure DRM. It won't support any other DRM files, so music bought through iTunes won't work on this device.
Music Interruption (10.0)
The Tilt performs admirably with music interruption. When a call comes in, your music is paused. When your call ends, music playback resumes. The only additional feature we would've liked to see was a fade-in, as abrupt, loud music startles us. But we're sensitive like that.
Video
Video Software Access (1.96)
Normally phones take a second or two to start playing a video file. This load time is a bit more exaggerated on the Tilt. It took us 10.18 seconds to get a video playing, due to menu delving and the aforementioned loading time.
| Cell Phone | Time (sec) | Score |
| AT&T Tilt | 10.18 | 1.96 |
| Nokia E90 | 7.55 | 2.65 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 8.08 | 2.48 |
| HTC Mogul | 7.64 | 2.62 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 6.88 | 2.91 |
| Apple iPhone | 3.20 | 6.25 |
Video Controls (7.0)
Video Software & Organization (6.5)
As the Tilt uses Windows Media Player Mobile for audio and video playback, the library software is solid. It's also exactly the same as the music software, meaning it supports automatic updating as well as sync-able ratings. You can watch videos in portrait or landscape, as well as full screen. On the organizational side, you can sort your videos by title or genre. You can still synchronize your (Windows Media Player) playlists; most phones don't support playlists for videos. Overall, this is decent functionality that seems impressive compared to the dearth of video software features offered on most phones.
Video Sync with PC (7.0)
As with music, there are two synchronization options: the ActiveSync software or connecting the phone to your PC and using Windows Media Player to sync.
Video Formats (5.0)
The Tilt could play all of our 3GP test video files regardless of the encoded bitrates It could also play our MP4 file that was encoded with H264. It also supported Windows Media Video files. It did not play any Real, Flash, or QuickTime files.
Video DRM (5.0)
Of course, as a Windows Mobile phone, the Tilt can play Windows Media DRM. It doesn't support any other DRM, however.
Video Playback Smoothness (10.0)
We test video playback smoothness by playing (or attempting to play) a series of test videos