After HTC invested $300 million in purchasing a controlling interest in the Beats by Dr. Dre audio business in 2011, they wasted no time in attempting to recoup that investment. Delivering the Beats audio system on board the HTC Rezound 4G Android handset the first time in a mobile phone in the United States, HTC presented one of the best performing audio packages ever designed for a smartphone. Now with their recent retail price drop to $79 at select Verizon authorized retailers, Verizon also delivers the much-anticipated Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system at the lowest price available in the United States with the upcoming Rezound update.
The HTC Rezound is exclusive to the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE wireless system, and is one of only nine handsets currently operating on that platform. Independent wireless system reviewer RootMetrics recently tested the four major wireless carriers in the United States purporting to have true LTE systems, and they showed the Verizon Wireless LTE system to be the most stable, delivering the fastest speeds and delivering them on the most consistent basis.
Buy the HTC Rezound 4G starting at $79.99.
The HTC Rezound handset also comes with a complementary set of Beats ear buds specifically designed to access that Beats audio system. The ear buds have a sharp black and red color pattern to match the lighting and coloration of the handset, and are designed with a built-in in-line mic and remote which allow the ability for hands-free calls, and operation of the Beats audio software.
And aside from the retail price drop announcement, the HTC Rezound delivered some other positive news recently. HTC had previously announced that in connection with Google, the Rezound handset was one of the few that would receive a free over the air update to the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. While that was only promised for “some time in the first quarter of 2012”, that update has already arrived. HTC Rezound handset owners will receive a notification on the device, and then need simply to follow the on-screen prompts for an effortless download of the update.
While the brunt of the advertising centered around the HTC Rezound catered to music lovers, the hardware package and overall feature set compare very favorably to the top performing 4G smartphones. The 4.30 inch display provides 720 x 1280 pixel resolution at 342 pixels per inch, and the handset is powered by a dual core 1.5 GHz central processor and Qualcomm Adreno 220 graphics processing chip. 16 GB of built-in storage and 1.0 GB of RAM system memory rounds out the hardware profile. An 8.0 megapixel camcorder is mounted on the rear of the handset and provides 1080P HD resolution video capture, and a front facing 2.0 megapixel chat cam is also on board. Buy the HTC Rezound starting at $79.99.
January 27, 2012 at 11:05 am
Not sure where the info is coming from on the ICS update for the Rezound, but I don’t believe that’s accurate. The rezound recently recieved minor bug fixes in an OTA update, but it had absolutely nothing to do with ICS.
January 27, 2012 at 2:13 pm
Joe, the recent update was a maintenance update, you are correct. And there is an ‘unofficial’ ICS update for the Rezound, which we do not recommend. However the Rezound is supposed to receive ICS in early 2012, so we are expecting it to be in the very near future.
January 30, 2012 at 4:22 pm
As Joe and Sarah pointed out, the update that has come out is not ICS – it improves sound quality (calling and beats audio), improves signal reception, replaces the four-bar signal meter with a five-bar one, and fixes some screen timeout, restarting, and other bugs. More information on this from Verizon:
http://support.verizonwireless.com/pdf/system_update/rezound.pdf
ICS is coming for the Rezound – along with Sense 4.0 – but is not here yet.