HTC Explorer review

Budget Android smartphone that looks good - apart from the touchscreen

HTC Explorer
This starter Android smartphone is intuitive in its touchscreen interface

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As is standard Android fair, the HTC Explorer comes pre-installed with Google's market-leading Google Maps software, with simple navigation advice and an intuitive service that will help you locate yourself when stumbling through the streets lost.

Enabling the handset to live up to its "Explorer" branding, the handset will ensure you find your way in double quick time, locking on to GPS signals in impressive times and enabling you to benefit from the usual collection of features from public transport overlays to turn-by-turn navigation guidelines.

HTC Explorer review

On the app front, the Android innards once again keep the HTC Explorer in good stead, with access to the Google Play Store meaning you have access to more than 600,000 Android applications, including a bevy of games, utilities and communication services.

With a sense of social networking supremacy, the HTC Explorer removes the need to download the dedicated Facebook and Twitter Android applications, with the pre-installed Friend Stream app enabling you to sync your personal social network feeds with the device for instant, well laid out and correlated access to the full spectrum of social streams in a single, easy to access and navigate location.

The handset's low grade 600MHz single core processor and 320 x 480p display mean playing some of the more comprehensive games from the Google Play store produce less than ideal results.

All apps added to the handset are handily stored in the centralised menu for ease of access that can be enhanced by moving shortcuts to the home screen.