REVIEW: TryPhone has the phones, but lacks the finer points

Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Yay or Nay. Every week we’ll review a new wireless application or service from the user’s point of view, with the goal of highlighting what works and what doesn’t. If you wish to submit your application or service for review, please contact us at rcrwebhelp@crain.com.
Application: TryPhone
Running on: Desktop computer
Yay: Quick and easy way to learn about some of the main features on some of the country’s most popular phones. The instruction-driven demos were particularly useful.
Nay: Although the service offered an interesting glimpse into the features and functions of a dozen or so phones, it is a pale shadow to actually using a real phone. Further, the selection of phones currently available left us wanting.
We say: The idea behind TryPhone – virtual tours of cellphones – makes sense on paper, but we would find it hard to rely on the site for real-world cellphone evaluations.
Review: Many of the industry’s biggest cellphone makers are gracious enough to send us demo units of their latest handsets. And we are always happy to receive such testing opportunities as it allows us to delve into the technologies we write about every day.
That said, a service like TryPhone (at www.tryphone.com) ought to come as a welcome supplement to these demo units; it is a Web site that has virtual copies of a number of the U.S. wireless industry’s latest and greatest, from the Nokia N95 to the Palm Centro to the Apple iPhone. The site presents large pictures of each of these phones, and users can click on the phone’s various buttons to interact directly with the phone’s user interface.
For example, one can click on the center “menu” button on the LG Chocolate to navigate to the Verizon Wireless phone’s menu, and then can use the phone’s directional pad to navigate to the “Get It Now” listing. Selecting the “Fun & Games” option brings one to the list of available game downloads, and the service even allows one to go through the download process for “Bejeweled” and see the introductory game menu.
Each menu item on each of the phones provided offers this depth of interaction.
Further, TryPhone offers several dozen demonstrations for each of the devices listed. The demonstrations walk users through specific tasks like adding a new contact or sending a text message.
Finally, TryPhone offers a number of other ancillary features such as each phone’s technical specifications and user-submitted reviews.
Indeed, the service provides quite a number of interesting features. However, the site states that it “gives you the ability to try before you buy,” which we would take issue with. Although TryPhone does faithfully render each phone’s user interface, by its nature it is unable to provide many of the elements critical to a phone’s actual performance.
For example, there is no way to tell if there are lags in the user interface, a failing that a large and growing number of phones suffer from. TryPhone also does not allow Web surfers to get a feel for the device, including its heft and its tactile feel. Nor does TryPhone give any indication of a phone’s voice features, such as voice clarity, speakerphone quality or voice-recognition functions.
Thus, TryPhone provides an interesting and fun look into several phones’ user interfaces, but as for actual, useful evaluations, one might be better off heading toward a retail outlet.