HTC MAX 4G review: From Russia with love

Guns at the ready fellas, we have a big game in our sights here. The HTC MAX 4G is paying us a visit in an attempt to prove that its relatively low popularity is only due to its very limited availability. With WiMAX connectivity and one of the most complete feature sets in the WinMo realm, it's a claim that might have some credibility.

HTC MAX 4G official photos

The HTC MAX 4G was never bound to stardom, just heading to the right place. Making sense on the right market is what matters here and some handsets can only envy the MAX 4G focus. Having already previewed its Touch HD sibling we are pretty confident HTC know the touchscreen drill. But you shouldn't take anything for granted in this business so a thorough review is certainly in order.

The HTC MAX 4G is a Touch HD - add or take - and that's not a bad place to start. The WiMAX enabled handset skimps on 3G and that might just reduce it to a niche device with limited appeal. Or is there anything else to spoil the package? We are just about to find that out so sit down, take the weight off your feet and get ready to be treated to the MAX.

Key features

• Massive 3.8" 65K-color WVGA display
• Tri-band GSM support
• WiMAX connectivity
• Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional OS (by default comes in Russian)
• TouchFLO 3D UI plug-in and gesture controls
• Wi-Fi and GPS
• Qualcomm ESM7206A 528 Mhz CPU and 288 MB DDR SDRAM
• Dedicated GPU (64MB RAM reserved for graphics)
• 3 megapixel auto focus camera
• microSD card slot
• Accelerometer sensor for auto screen rotation and turn-to-mute
• Proximity sensor to automatically turn the screen off during calls
• Touch sensitive keys with vibration feedback
• miniUSB slot and Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP on board
• miniUSB to standard 3.5mm audio jack adapter included in the retail box
• Active magnetic stylus
• MS Office Mobile document editor
• Excellent Opera 9.5 web browser
• Free WiMAX plan (Yota Russia subscribers only for a limited duration)

Main disadvantages:

• No 3G
• No Back key
• No dedicated camera key, no flash
• Poor camera performance
• Average display sunlight legibility
• No TV out port
• Video recording flops at CIF@30fps
• Battery life not up to scratch
• Fingerprint magnet front (the back is way better though)
• Too big for comfy single-handed use, on the heavy side
• No FM radio

Clearly designed for one market only, the HTC MAX 4G knows it's never going to have the reach or popularity of the Diamond and Touch Pro, or its 3G twin, the Touch HD. Some might even argue that the MAX 4G is barely first team material, just a sub that comes on in that one game. Well, the fact is quite a lot of handsets refuse it stay where they are supposed to (the handset is exclusive to Yota in Russia) and there may be good reasons why people are sneaking them across the border.

HTC MAX 4G in all its WiMAX shine

So, the MAX 4G units that manage to escape the bear hug tend to get a warm - though not always WiMAX - reception. It's not so hard to believe given HTC's track record and the fact that the MAX 4G is actually a 3G-less Touch HD. There's no doubt the MAX 4G is absolutely on target for its intended market but let's see what it's up against elsewhere. As usual, we start with the retail package and the hardware specs of the device. Join us after the jump for the unboxing of HTC MAX 4G.