Orange will exclusively offer the HTC 7 Mozart, while Vodafone is the only one with its hands on the HTC 7 Trophy. Both are among the first Windows Phone 7 handsets and will be available from 21 October.
The availability of the HTC 7 Mozart was already leaked by Orange, but exclusivity is something of a coup for the network. Orange will be offering the Mozart free for customers who take out a £35 per month contract lasting two years. The package will include 600 minutes to any network, unlimited texts, unlimited email, sat-nav with Orange maps and inclusive Internet browsing.
Of the three upcoming HTC handsets this is the smart phone with the best camera, with an 8-megapixel sensor and a xenon flash. It has some serious power under the hood, with a 1GHz Qualcomm processor. It will also have a 3.7-inch capacitive touchscreen, Super LCD display and Dolby sound. Unfortunately it only carries 8GB of storage, and this won’t be expandable as there isn’t a memory card slot.
Orange will also have the Samsung Omnia 7, though not exclusively. It has a 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen and a 1GHz processor, and it’s free to those who sign up to a £40 per month two-year deal. T-Mobile also announced it will have the Omnia 7, available free from £35 on a two-year contract, but as Orange and T-Mobile are part of the same company this isn’t much of a surprise.
Vodafone also announced it will exclusively carry the HTC 7 Trophy. This is the middle child of HTC’s three Windows Phone 7 handsets, the HD7 having the biggest screen and the Mozart the smallest. The Trophy has a middling 3.8-inch screen, 1GHz processor and 5-megapixel camera. It’ll be available for free on a two-year, £25 per month deal.
Both Vodafone and Orange will put exclusive apps and content on the devices. These will include an Orange Wednesdays app from Orange under its two-for-one cinema ticket scheme, and access to Vodafone’s My Web portal.