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Google's method of handling contacts is hit or miss and with the HTC Amaze 4G Sense has to yet again take some of the blame.
Accessing the Phone calls up a Sense-ified keypad with a big green Call button at the bottom. Call history with contacts grouped alphabetically can be accessed simply by swiping up.
Unfortunately, this experience is marred by having contacts sorted alphabetically only by first name, while the actual Contacts app allows for sorting by last name first, which is many users' preferred method.
Making contact
To overcome this limitation, users can tap the Menu button, select People and choose the number they wish to call. Smart dial offers the option to begin typing a number or name with the keypad, and a speed dial list is also included for those who want to do it old school.
All things considered, dialing contacts is needlessly complicated on the Amaze 4G.
On the plus side, Google contacts get synced over the cloud after signing into your account, and the Contacts app allows you to add others from the SIM, Phone or T-Mobile Contacts Backup as well as apps like Facebook.
The keypad itself is adequate size (taking up roughly half of the display) but it's nothing special if you've already been spoiled by the super-sized Ice Cream Sandwich dialer now.
Google's voice dialing is also supported from the keypad and we had no problems using Google Voice for dialing out, as well as GrooVe IP for making free VoIP calls over T-Mobile's HSPA+ 4G data pipes.
Call quality is decent, though we found call volume to be a bit low. On the other end of the line, callers reported we sounded loud and clear.
There's a speaker on the back of the unit which was loud and clear, even while driving and playing talk radio via the iHeartRadio app.
