HTC Explorer Sim Free Smartphone

I bought this as a replacement for my Galaxy Nexus when it had to go to the shop for repair. I wanted an android phone as everything would be synced from the cloud and so it did. For the price this is a great little phone. There is however only one downside which is the internal memory is too low. I know a lot of apps can be moved to the SD card , but there are still quite a few apps that cannot and there is a limit on how many of those can be installed because of the restriction in the size of internal memory. If that could be increased this would be an excellent entry level android phone.

I decided to buy the htc Explorer as a cheap option to join the world of android phones as my budget was pretty tight. Overall I think that it is a great phone to have, and don't let me put you off getting one, but here are the few issues I have had with the phone: However, being a 17 year old teenager I was very disappointed with the internal memory of the phone which I did not really take into account before hand. Although I have a memory card for it, I soon came to find that most of the apps available on the market, certainly the most used such as Facebook, Twitter, BBC news ect. are all required to be stored on the internal memory, which, after software necessary for the phone to function is installed, only leaves around 90mb available for such apps. With some apps you are able to download them and move to the SD card but if you have already used your 90mb of internal memory then you can not download it in order to transfer it over. It is pretty sad that there is no option to save it to the external memory card when downloading apps. I have also noted that because of this lack of storage, software updates for the actual phone can not be downloaded if your apps fill you internal memory. I have only had this phone for a month and already there has been 1 update for the software which is 25mb in size which leaves me wondering 'how many more will there be over the time I have this phone?' One final thing is that because of the low spec 3mp camera BAR SCANNING apps to compare prices of items online do not work, or at least I have not found one on the market that has of yet. When buying the phone I thought that I would not need it as I don't regularly use cameras on the phone but now it seems Im missing out on apps which require high spec cameras or even forward facing cameras which this phone does not have.

An entry level, low end Android phone which does much more than you expect considering its low price. Pros -Stunning performance for most of every day tasks (browsing, mail, games). -No need for external case, its "rubber" exterior can protect it from a fall ( tested :D ) -HTC quality phone Cons -Battery life: Two days maximum with almost no usage except some calls, less than one day with excessive wireless/3g usage. Example: battery drop to less than 50% (from fully charged) after 1 hour of gaming -Internal memory: i thought that the small amount of memory would not be a problem since it has a memory card, but it seems that this is not true, many must-have applications (Facebook, Twitter, Google Maps and much more) can not be moved to sd card. Apart from that, most applications don't have an option for save data location which are stored in internal memory so you should clear your application data/cache once in a while. This also has seems to be a problem while updating an application, for example if you have a 20Mb application installed (either on internal memory or in sd card) and you want to update it having 15Mb of internal memory free, this can not happen since there is not enough empty space fot the application to be downloaded even though this space will be emptied after application is updated. Finally keep in mind that even if an application can be moved to sd card, some of its contents remain in the internal memory.

This 'phone was bought for my wife (Happy Christmas!), who has many great abilities; 'embracing technology' however not currently being one of them. That said, I wanted her to be able to have many of the facilities she enjoys on her PC at home whilst on the move, as well as making her normal 'phoning and texting easier than on her existing ('but I know how to use this one') ancient Nokia. A real challenge! As is standard with HTC, the Explorer runs Android with their own superb 'HTC Sense' overlay. In most ways it is similar to my own HTC Sensation, but somewhat smaller (just 4" x 2" x 0.5") and with a very carefully reduced function set. It fits really snugly in the hand and has a delightfully textured case making it a joy just to hold. The designers have deliberately aimed at the beginner's market, with a simple main homescreen devoid of any Apps. Instead a simple column of five icons gives direct access to common functions such as Messages, Camera, etc., whilst two others at the bottom allow direct access to the 'phone function and to the Apps collection. There are another six homescreens, two of which are preconfigured for Email and Social Networks, so these funtions are also just a single stroke away, and there is plenty of room left for customisation, when the User feels up to it. Of course there are necessary compromises (eg. size) but these have been really carefully thought through and implemented, resulting in a handy sized smartphone that is simple to operate, yet still reasonably fast and powerful. The designers need to be applauded. Also, possibly due to the smaller screen size, it manages a couple of days or more easily on a single charge, whereas most larger smartphones need charging daily. Obviously it is not the world' best 'phone in terms of featureset, screen size or raw power, but what it does (which is most things) it does really well, and in an intuitive manner that is easy for a smartphone novice to quickly master. Let's face it, three weeks after Christmas and my wife is fully at ease with it. What greater compliment could HTC want?

Got the phone. Seemed great then one day stopped working. I emailed the company and returned it to them, they kept it for weeks and said it was the battery but at the same time said it worked fine charging in the PC.....makes no sense. Anyway they refused to fix it or give me a refund and returned it. I tried in PC and guess what...nothing they lied to me. Customer service from Cash Converters is VERY BAD and even a little rude. I think they should invest in sending their employees on a customer service course. It may improve peoples opinions of the company????? OVERALL crap phone and crap service. Thank you for taking my £45 and giving me a broken phone

I bought this phone about one month and a half ago and the earpiece has stopped working already. There was no reason for it to stop working so htc suggested to deinstall all applications installed...but nothing. It is just not working. So if i want to hold a conversation with my new phone i have to use the speaker, how annoying is that! The phone overall is good but it has let me down.

everything you need from a modern phone for work . email internet. clear screen. looks smart and all you expect from a phone plus the bonus of being as cheap as an old brick. htc on a budget with no down side

I was due an upgrade on my contract phone so i searched around and found this to be the best deal on the market. I had a quick look at the specifications but i'd heard good reviews about HTC phones in general. So i didn't think to much about them. It is my first android phone and i was pleased with all the apps they could offer. However I felt that there were flaws in the phones performance overall. The first flaw i encountered was the battery life with wireless and the mobile network turned on, on a regular basis. It drained like a sieve so i had to charge it pretty much every evening. I found a way of overcoming this though which was to create shortcuts to turn these functions on and off on the home screen. I still didn't think this was very practical as turning these settings on and off is slow. The second problem i had was the size of the screen for typing. With the full qwerty keyboard it lacked space to be able to be agile enough to press the buttons accurately, although i did like the predictions that the phone could make. This was not the only problem with the screen. At some points the touch screen would crash completely and would not respond so the phone had to be turned off and on again which was a hassle. Also when the screen got damp in the rain or from dampness on your hands the touch would not respond in the right place leaving you pressing all different sorts of buttons. Another sore point was the internal memory. It is appalling. With all the phones software it left about 100Mb of space for apps which made a problem for the majority of big apps (including facebook, twitter etc.) not being able to be put on the memory card made it difficult to maintain enough space for updates or data for these larger apps. Leaving me deleting tis data on a regular basis. Overall i managed because i could find ways around these problems but it wasn't hassle free and at times it was frustrating. However the features built into the phone were well thought about and are easily navigable. I would recommend saving up a bit and buying a higher spec phone.

This little phone is a marvel. It has most of the bells and whistles much more expensive phones have but for fraction of their price. Also, it has the latest Sense 3.5 layered over Android 2.3.5. User interface is therefore first class. You will learn how to use it in no time. There's a lot of applications built in: web browser, navigation, social networking, Google search, address book with deep integration with all your contacts across various media, audio and video players and recorders, Android market, calendar and organizer, e-mail clients, etc. Connectivity is brilliant: Bluetooth 3.0, GPS, several modes for connecting to your PC, Wi-Fi, micro USB. GSM connectivity covers most bands: quad-band 2G and dual-band 3G. Also, the phone is fully unlocked, unbranded, SIM-free; you can check the software information to prove that (software revision/build number is *.401.*). Build quality is surprisingly good for this price range, mixture of aluminum and rubberized body give a sense of holding much more expensive device in your hand. Battery life could definitely be better, but it's not a deal-breaker. The response is snappy, considering the hardware inside. Screen is very good and clear, and covers almost whole front face of the phone. Camera is of modest quality. Audio quality is good. Video playback is limited, but this is not what this phone is really made for. Memory is big enough for several additional applications/gadgets and there's a microSD slot if you need more space. To summarize - there are definitely better phones out there. But not for this price. All in all, this was one of my best investments ever (and I have much more expensive phones to compare it with). Highly recommended.

package reached in time. superb phone. amazon rocks. but no one has time to write big reviews so kindly remove word limit of reviews

It's ok. It's a good phone. But it has very low internal memory. So there's a couple of extra stuff you need to do in order to gain memory for apps.

I purchased this phone for based on price, size and past reviews of HTC products. The appearance and battery performance, are just fine. The main problem is its internal storage, which fills up so incredibly fast, even if all of your apps are on your SD card. I constantly get a message that there is not enough memory. I keep clearing my cache and it doesn't help.I put in an 8 GB microSD card but many apps cannot be loaded onto/transferred to the SD card. There is a huge flaw in the phone. No useful response from htc support team. Their only answer is to delete useful apps. I have already deleted a few apps, just have facebook, whatsapp and viber. There is no way to move data or bloatware from HTC. I've not found any solution for this memory problem. At least 10 times a day there is a warning issued `Internal Storage is Low, Please remove some applications to free system'. When I follow this link and choose option of `Move apps to SD card', the resulting reply is `Nothing to move'. Find a phone with more internal memory, preferably not an htc.

I got my new phone about a month ago, didn't rush in to review the item until a decent amount of time had passed. The price is very accomodating I will start by saying that, I like small phones, and I like smart phones, couldn't put it any other way. The reason I approached this device was because I wanted to move up from my Samsung Galaxy Mini. With this said, I clear out the fact that this is not my first experience with an android phone, and surely some comparisons will be made in this comment. The size is very comfortable, at least for me, it fits in my hand the screen is ok, and if I can't read something, I can just easily customize it, zoom, and get it bigger. I'm not the most tech savy person but I know my decent share of phones, the principle is this, if you buy it you should be able to use it, to do the basics......make calls, receive texts, and use the internet. The android market has alot of good apps for this phone, no complaints there. Colors are very good, more than you'd expect, camera....meh, didn't buy this for the camera, but it works in daylight. Its a plus to be able to put live wall papers on my backround, my old phone dind't have this. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to sync this new phone because it wasn't samsung with my galaxy tab, but since they both run on android systems, I am able to use it just the same, and sync my contacts my calendar and all with it. I preffer this phone in so many different ways, size, more modern, and faster internet app than the old one I had, but.....And this is very important. It's not dummy proof. What do I mean, by saying this. When your internal memory is full, there is absolutely no way you will be able to use your phone. It won't let you make calls, it won't let you text, it won't let you open the internet. I totally understand phone storage, but if you can't even make a call, or open the dialer (if you were hipothetically in an emergency situation) you would be in big trouble. I actually do not appreciate that, it took me a while to find the place where you had to clear app data, or put some of it into the memory card....Still doesn't excuse not being able to make a call. All in all, it's a good phone, I didn't feel a huge leap from the one I had already, only minor improvements, but they are still different brands. It's cheap, and it seems quite versatile, not looking for luxury, more something that can give me the simple needs, it takes on hard falls I'll tell you that :) which makes it a great phone for people who aren't too carefull. I'm sure, maybe there are more uses to the phone I have yet to unlock, but for now, this is what I have on it.