HTC on Thursday planned to bring its international equivalent of the Rezound, the Raider, to North America first through Canada. Both Bell and Rogers are getting the LTE-based 4G version of the phone and can stream HD videos or otherwise get online faster still than either carrier’s regular HSPA+ network. Accordingly, either version can tap into HTC’s Watch movie store or use the 4G for a hotspot, although low LTE bandwidth caps may discourage using either feature often.
Apart from its Internet speed, the phone’s highlight is its 4.5-inch, 720p (720×1280) LCD, which gives it a higher pixel density than even the Galaxy Nexus and primes it for Android 4.0. It ships with Android 2.3 for now and carries a dual-core, 1.2GHz Snapdragon, 1GB of RAM, and 16GB of built-in space along with a microSDHC card slot.
Camera use gets strong attention with an eight-megapixel, f2.2, 28mm equivalent rear camera with 1080p video recording along with a 1.3-megapixel front camera for chats and self-portraits. Unlike the Rezound, it doesn’t have Beats audio processing but does have Dolby Mobile and SRS WOW HD for virtual surround.
Bell hasn’t given out a price, but Rogers has committed to selling the phone for $150 on a contract or a relatively cheap $575 outright. Rogers is likely to get the phone first as it promises the phone will be in stores on Friday. The equivalent Rezound is expected to reach the US in mid-November through Verizon.
