HTC Mogul Cell Phone Review - Value & Comparisons
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Alfredo Padilla Published on July 23, 2007 Comment on this |
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Value (7.0)
As of this writing the HTC Mogul is available from Sprint for $299.99 with a two year contract after a $100 mail in rebate. Without a contract you will need to pay $549.99. The in contract price is pretty reasonable for a phone with the Mogul's extensive functionality. It compares well with other high end smartphones with the XV6700 from Verizon, BlackBerry 8800 from AT&T and T-Mobile Wing all priced at the same level. When you consider that the Mogul is a direct upgrade of the XV6700 (known as the PPC-6700 on Sprint) the price becomes even more reasonable. It's certainly more reasonably priced than the Apple iPhone ($499 or $599). It's out of contract price is a little harder to swallow, but not out of line for an unsubsidized smart phone. The Nokia N95 for example retails for $750.
Comparisons
T-Mobile Wing - The T-Mobile Wing shares a lot with the Mogul. Both are manufactured by HTC and have the slide out QWERTY keyboard design initially made popular with the HTC Wizard. Both are the latest generation device, run Windows Mobile 6 and include a 2 megapixel camera. The biggest difference between the two devices is responsiveness. The Mogul's 400 Mhz processor really makes a difference as it displays very little lag. This is in sharp contrast to the T-Mobile Wing where constant lag renders the device almost unusable. The Mogul also has a couple of other minor differences from the Mogul, including a scroll wheel and a doubling of built in storage. However it is the lack of lag that leads us to recommend the Mogul over the Wing for anyone who needs a reliable device. 
BlackBerry 8800 - The HTC Mogul and BlackBerry 8800 are both examples of the latest feature laden iteration of their respective platforms. Both handsets provide a solid range of functionality for business users, including push email and excellent PIM applications. Despite the recent addition of multimedia features to BlackBerry devices like the 8800, the Mogul and Windows Media Player Mobile provide a much more powerful multimedia experience. The Mogul also benefits from better Exchange Server integration and the ability to display HTML encoded email. If these things are important to you we'd recommend going with the Mogul. The BlackBerry 8800 however benefits from the fact that the BlackBerry OS is easier to learn, more responsive and much more stable than Windows Mobile. These things are probably of particular importance to Business users who need their device to just work.
Helio Ocean - The Helio Ocean and HTC Mogul share a similar form factor, with the Ocean adding a second slide out keypad for dialing numbers. This is about as far as the similarities go however. The Ocean, despite having many features of a smart phone, lacks the more advanced functionality found on true smart phones, including push email, Exchange server integration and powerful PIM apps. The Mogul has all of these in spades. The Mogul also has the ability to extend its capabilities with native third party applications. Even in the area of multimedia, a place where you might expect a "cool" phone like the Ocean to beat out the Mogul we found that the Mogul's multimedia features were as good or better than the Mogul's. A few places where the Mogul is beaten out by the Ocean however is in the quality of pictures taken by its camera and the presence of GPS, which the Mogul lacks. For serious business users or smart phone power users the Mogul is the way to go here, but for those who don't need all that extra functionality you'd probably be fine with the Ocean.
Nokia N95 - The Nokia N95 and HTC Mogul are very different phones, despite the fact that they are both smart phones. The N95 is very much a consumer oriented device while the Mogul is aimed more at business users. The biggest difference between the two in terms of functionality is the N95's lack of a QWERTY keyboard. This may be a deal breaker for power texters, especially given the terrible keypad on the N95. The Nokia N95 beats out the Mogul in terms of specs though, with GPS built in and a 5 megapixel camera that leaves the Mogul's terrible camera in the dust. Both phones run powerful smart phone operating systems, however the N95's limited RAM means that you can't always access all of its impressive features. The first question you should ask yourself when deciding between these two devices is: what type of user am I? If the answer is a corporate user that needs Push email and powerful PIM apps, go with the Mogul. If the answer is a gadget geek that wants the ultimate all in one device, despite some drawbacks, go with the N95. Of course you might also want to ask yourself if you're willing to pony up the $450 - $200 additional bucks it will take to get the N95.
Apple iPhone - How could we not compare the Mogul to the iPhone, after all I'm sure that this is on the short list of anyone whose considering a high end phone nowadays. Despite Steve Jobs comparing the iPhone in his keynote to a variety of smart phones, the truth is that at this point the iPhone just doesn't belong in the same class as phones like the Mogul from a features perspective (the lack of third party software ensures that). It's email and PIM applications are not going to cut it for many business users, and the lack of Exchange support will seal the deal there. However the iPhone does bring many things to the table that the Mogul lacks. Chief amongst these is that the iPhone is a much more powerful multimedia device. The four to eight gigabytes of storage also leaves the Mogul in the dust. Generally if you need a powerful business device, or if you're married to third party programs you should choose the Mogul. If you want a "cool" phone that provides somewhat limited functionality but great multimedia features and a unique user interface the iPhone is for you. As with the N95 you'll also want to consider the difference in price, with the Mogul available for as little as $299.99 and the iPhone starting at $200 more.
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