HTC Vivid review: Welcome to 4G

Update March 31, 2012: HTC Vivid with IceCream Sandwich revisited

In a rather surprising fashion, the HTC Vivid beat all the other members of AT&T's LTE lineup by getting the highly coveted Android Ice Cream Sandwich update first. Naturally, the latest Android OS landed on the Vivid. The update is dressed with an updated Sense UI as well (from 3.0, to version 3.6).

This should be a welcome sight for all HTC Vivid users

Check out the updated HTC Vivid in action below.

As you can notice in the video above, with Android 4.0 ICS the HTC Vivid is even smoother performer now. Lag is practically nonexistent, while the transitions have become even more pleasant to look at.

Given the fact that the OS is dressed in HTC Sense, you will feel immediately at ease with your device once you boot it after the update. Just in case, we took the liberty of highlighting some of the major changes, which the Sense-d Android ICS has brought to the device.

We will begin with the device's homescreen. Gone is the arch at the bottom, which contained the buttons for the telephony, the application launcher, as well as the personalization menu. Instead, you will be treated to five docked icons. The middle one is the app launcher. The remaining four on its sides can be customized to your liking.

The Sense 3.6 homescreen is even more functional

Homescreen panels can finally be discarded in Sense 3.6. As you probably remember, in HTC Sense 3.0 you were stuck with 7 homescreens regardless of the circumstances.

Homescreen panels can be deleted after the update

The neat Android 4.0 ICS feature, which allows you to create folders by simply dragging one icon over another, is on board as well, working like a charm.

Creating folders is a breeze

The new Android 4.0 task manager is at your disposal too. The same goes for the data monitoring app, which is native to the OS now.

The task manager • mobile data monitor is now native

The synthetic benchmarks have remained the same with one exception

The OS update has made the entire software experience smoother, but the benchmark scores of the HTC Vivid have remained unchanged. Check them out below.

Quadrant • Antutu • Pi • Linpack (multi thread)

The only major improvement we saw in the HTC Vivid benchmark results was the Vellamo score. Here, the smartphone posted the highest result we've seen in our tests yet. Here it is.

Speaking of the web browser, it has gone through a massive renovation after the update. It is faster, more fluid and better in every aspect, compared to its predecessor. Incognito mode has been added as well.

The web browser has been seriously improved

The camera UI of the device has been changed as well. It has been taken straight out of HTC Sense 3.5, which we've seen in Android Gingerbread devices from the company. The same goes for the camcorder interface as well.

The camera UI

The same goes for the video camera UI. It is even handier to use than before.

The camcorder interface

And here are some photos, taken with the HTC Vivid snapper after the update.

The HTC music player has received the Beats Audio treatment. The only downside here, is that there are no other equalizer options on board - you will have to make do with Dr. Dre's take on the way your music should sound. A Beats wallpaper has been added as well.

The music player has Beats Audio now

In a nutshell, the HTC Vivid has gotten much better after the update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Its interface has managed to get faster and look better at the same time. The latest OS will make the HTC Vivid stand out in AT&T's LTE lineup at least until the rest of it gets the update.