HTC Arrive is the highest rated phone on Sprint but do they care?

However, I should say my mom is happily taking my Arrive, so that's a win for Windows Phone

Mt mom took my Focus S and she likes it a lot. Especially the Zune Pass. I got myself a Titan II.

Yeah I left for the Lumia 900.  I was the opposite though: I would've been happy with the Arrive if the 3G speeds were even halfway decent.  They weren't, I left, happy now.

Agreed, their 3G speeds are so awful. Its not even worth the unlimited data. I would rather have faster speeds than data because I can't even do anything unless I'm on WiFi.

Same story here. I had zero coverage at work (would literally receive texts hours later), spotty coverage at home, and it would take mobile webpages minutes to load on the train to and from work. I left Sprint for  AT&T and the 900. What good is unlimited data if you can't even use it?

There's hardly any coverage because Verizon and spr9int share cell towers and Verizon keeps "updating" their towers every few weeks aka taking over the coverage and leaving sprint nothing

I completely agree. I left Sprint for AT&T with the release of the Titan. I had the EVO for a while, and while I loved the Arrive, I wanted a big screen again. The lack of decent 3G coverage in my area pushed me over the edge. Now I'm on a very decent network (except in the Carolina's where I've been traveling the past couple weeks), and I only pay $5/month more than I previously did.

my situation exactly the same as cyclingnut. was perfectly fine with my htc arrive, but the lack of new wp options on Sprint made me switch. AT&T was the only option and I'm happy with my Lumia 900 and the LTE speeds.
Pretty sure I wrote one of the first or second reviews on Sprint too!

I did the same as many others. Had the Arrive and really liked it. The keyboard is one of my favorite physical keyboards ever. But couldn't take it and jumped ship to TMobile for the 710.

I bought my Arrive the day it came out. If they slack on WP8 im moving to Att.

Same boat here. Contract expires soon. :)

I actually read that they were pleased, and testing dual core windows phone 8 devices.

What you read was unconfirmed rumors and wishful thinking. 

Sprint is still trying to recoup from the debt they got into by getting the iPhone.. Would've been way better off investing more into windows phone

I love my Arrive. I wish Sprint would deal out some more Windows Phone love cause although my phone is older, it's never given me one problem and still holds it's own against newer models being pushed. Even works better than my roomies Droid Razr Max in speed and call quality. In fact a girl at a phone accessories store asked me about my Arrive yesterday. She was contemplating on getting one. Told me the rep at the store was trying to talk her into an Android phone and didn't even show her anything about the Arrive. So I gave her a quick little demo on my phone and she was sold and stated she'd be out buying one that night. Hmmm. Can I get some commission on that one Sprint since I'm obviously more knowledgeable on a product that your reps should be selling. Long live Windows Phone. Now c'mon Sprint, show us some Windows Phone 8 love. My upgrade is in May.

It's easy to see, they're not exactly a Verizon or AT&T so they're betting big on the current top contenders. I personally see it as a lack of vision as they're not even attempting to push a third contender in (something they'll benefit from the most). Essentially, they're prioritizing short term gains for now (how much did they pay for the iPhone?) and ignoring any long term benefits. All three, Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T realize that a 3rd contender will only make their position stronger - Sprint needs to realize this and change their myopic view on technology. Nothing is permanent here and they need to be ready to embrace change, it might help if they get started now.

Sprint was bitten pretty hard by going all in on a third contender with the Palm Pre and Pixi. I think that has a lot to do with their trepidation to adopt WP7 and 8. Sprint needs to stop jumping on whatever the next bandwagon is and invest in their crappy network. Sure they have the iPhone and the newest HTC and Samsung phones, but their 3G network is still the slowest of the major carriers, their "4G" WiMax was the slowest of the fauxG networks, and their LTE won't hit any major cities until next year.

Except Palm barely had anything behind it until HP bought it and botched it up. Exactly the lack of vision I'm talking about - why on earth would you put your weight behind something with no real hardware to speak of? That was a foolish decision anyways and they got punished for it. They were the first, I think, to come up with some decent Android hardware and they got rewarded for that. Other than that, I agree - investing in the network would be much better than being in bed with Apple and Google but don't expect to see Sprint's management to realize this.

Verizon has one WP as well. I love my Trophy but they better have WP8 by the time my contract is up next year. The problem with Verizon is that they are so in bed with Android. Actually the only real way I could see them fully embracing WP is if Motorola were to make one.

I'm right there with you. I love my Trophy. Can't wait for WP8. It doesn't matter to me when my contract is up because I'm going to have to pay full price for phones from now on just so I can keep my unlimited data.

One thing to add, pulkit10, is that Sprint has to sell some insane number of iPhones by 2014 or else they'll be losing barge-loads of money. The result is that they really cannot afford to push much other than iPhones these days. My guess is that the only Adnroids they can really sell are to people that come in saying they'll be dead before they by an Apple product. Just like Verizon shortly after CES, Windows Phone is a joke amongst the salespeople which makes it not get pushed. This will very likely change with Windows 8/WP8 when even the salespeople and more importantly customers will be familiar with metro via Windows 8.

We pulled 5 lines from Sprint to go to AT&T. Don't know if they care or not now but at some point they will.

I pulled all 4 of my lines for the nokia 900's on att and love it we have the 3 gig data plans and was worried about the unlimited data since we are heavy data users with music and just downloading everything :) but we never come close that the 3 gig, I don't even think I have passed 2. thats one thing about the carriers I can't do a 1 or 2 gig plan. the next one is like 200 meg so they know that. I stayed with sprint way to long for them to trash Win phone.. Very Happy now..

Sprint will be having new wp8 htc and Samsung models coming this Oct. Also arrive is still an awesome phone I love physical keyboard compare to crappy lumia virtual keyboard. I dont have arrive but saw my friend arrive works great. For people left go to art or Verizon to get lumia good luck getting big bills and no unlimited data I can wait when wp8 comes has I will be happy still have unlimited data :-P

Yeah, but I guess it's not too hard to offer unlimited data with speeds as crappy as Sprint's. I am still on an AT&T unlimited plan for $25 (although it is throttled at 5GB) and the network performance is so much better than Sprint and T-Mobile its not even funny, it's sad really.

That said, I do think more models with hardware keyboards on more carriers would be good. I would consider one with good design and build quality, but I definitely wouldn't sacrifice network performance for it.

LoL throttle to 5,GB lame. Sprint will be having LTE soon so yes ATT will suck more and still get big bills to pay. LTE unlimited at sprint yeah baby..

The funny thing is, only a small minority of people benefit from unlimited data. I was on Sprint and never broke 400 megabytes in 2 years. On AT&T with 3 GB of LTE data, I haven't come close to that limit in 4 months. And that's with me using wifi only at home, which is when I use my phone the least. Couple that with the fact that Sprint won't have their LTE rolled out to a major city until 2013 and will have a handful of LTE capable phones to sell, staying with a crappy company for the promise of future rewards is lame.

i have 5gig and i don't even break 1gig when I try to lol. maybe i need to watch more youtube videos, but even with the large lumia screen, I'd rather just go to my computer/tablet/tv.

AT&T better than T-mobile? Sure about that?

I get more for my buck in T-mobile than ATT.

Haha, absolutely. You get what you pay for. And I really don't pay that much compared to the other carriers. $50/month for unlimited text, LTE data throttled at 5gb (I barely use 3-3.5GB most months), and talk to cell phone lines). I've seen T-mobile's network performance in multiple cities in my region - doesn't compare.

Just dropped 4 T-Mobile lines for 3 iPhones & an Android LG Nitro HD. We now have unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling, LTE service for the Android, much faster data, AT&T wifi hotspots & better reception when traveling, for $20 less per month. I loved T-Mobile, but being on one of the "big 2" carriers has been very useful. And unlimited data is a silly thing to jump through hoops to hang onto, we have 4 2GB plans and rarely use over 1GB.

Thenet is that you?

I've been with ATT since they bought out Cellular one and have never had a high bill or overage charges. Oh, and by the way, my L900 touch keyboard is great! I think you simply have bad vision and mis-key on capacitive touch keyboards

What about the people that enjoy the ability to not rely on vision to type? I'm a happy Lumia 900 owner but if I could Frankenstein a HTC touch pro 2 keyboard onto here, I would pay $100 for it easily. The privilege to feel those nice, offset keys, with arrow keys and tilting screen, it was typing bliss on a phone. Not to mention not having the screen covered by keyboard is nice for conversations...

Shouldn't even ask the question when it's obvious they don't, personally I would just point potential buyers to at&t or tmobile I'd they want a WP.

Actually it's the Samsung Galaxy SII Epic 4G TOUCH. Also, proud owner of the HTC Arrive :)

Noo...you're right! Wow, and we thought "Windows Phone Series" was bad... but of course, the press would never attack the almighty line of Samsung Android devices...

Sprint is always late and 20 billion dollars short.

Can't wait to dump them for WP8 if they don't get it. Oh, the look on their faces...

Ck this out 3 wp8 coming to sprint. http://winsource.com/2011/12/17/sprint-to-announce-three-windows-phones-... Read & weep. =P

The dateline on that is 2011, and the article cites first half of 2012. It didn't happen. Check your facts before posting...

Haha, sorry buddy, but did you read the article?
 
"They have it on good authority from their sources that Sprint will be introducing three (3!) new Windows Phone handsets in the first half of 2012."
 
First half of 2012 is over and they didn't announce anything.

Dude, that article was from 2011. They didn't add jack in 2012.

Dude, that was first half 2012 that is over and there is nothing new on sprint !!! now there is rumers again about them testing a win8 device but we all have been let down way to many times with sprint and I don't beleave it .. The only way Sprint is going to get a win8 device is if Nokia Knocks loud on there door and offers them a deal they can't refuse .. that this is likely .. An NO its not the same deal that they have with Apple Iphones... :)

The arrive was a great phone, too bad sprints shítty 3G speeds crippled it.

I am with you my arrive brothers and sisters! Love it, and sprint can eat it once wp8 is out. The only way I keep our 3 phones with sprint is if they change their tune with wp8.

Sprint may be getting more phones, because virgin mobile has released windows phones in Africa.

I'm leaving Sprint in a heartbeat if they don't get behind WP8

The Arrive is such an overlooked phone. Solid, all around good phone that has never given me any grief. It's criminal Sprint did no advertising or promotion at all when it came out. I remember them pushing that stupid EVO 3D phone at the time.

Its not the best phone on sprint

That's obviously subjective. The point of the article is that the 16 monthly HTC Arrive is the highest rated phone on Sprints own website and that is a fact at the moment.

I had the arrive for the longest time and I loved it. I decided to jump ship because of this simple reason, not enough support. I ended up getting Lumia 900 and love my new phone. At least I'll have some support backing this phone. AT&T does not have the greatest coverage in NM but data speeds are better. If sprint showed some sort of support for the WP platform I would have stayed but that was not happening plus they are just getting LTE. They are slow to the game.

I completely forgot all about sprint. With Verizon jumping into the mix things are getting heated up. Sprint sooner or later will regret the way they handled windows phone.

Yep. when Wp come a third OS. I bet you MS will leave Sprint in the dust from the way they treated Wp.

Yep. when Wp come a third OS. I bet you MS will leave Sprint in the dust from the way they treated Wp. Sprint will deserve their punishment if they don't add any Wp8 devices and Advertise it.

I wholeheartedly agree that Sprint really needs to bring the love to windows phone. I'm writing this with the best phone I've owned and that is the Arrive and don't make that statement lightly. Having owned a Epic 4g, evo 4g, and having iPhone 4 currently under the same roof i have to say it is the best of all those and has not suffered a battery pull, system freeze or unwanted shutdown. Now if your talking thin, light weight and sexy, please keep it moving nothing to see here. I'm talking function and getting what i need done, not having to wonder if that email came but having notification right there, being able to fix my work document when needed, watching a movie through Netflix or just playing a game of wordament. Now, it's great to have a phone with tons of apps that I may never see again after the initial excitement wears off. So Sprint please give me an update for my current phone and bring in some new blood, because I don't know if you noticed the iPhone isn't having the desired affect you hoped for.

I used to work for Sprint customer service back when they bought Nextel and though they have good plans they suck as a company. Let AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon have all the WP8 fun.

This lack of support for OEMs is a big part of why Sprint is #3. The HTC and Samsung product lines are just "me too" devices, and their network is subpar on a good day. It does make me wonder... did carriers know/suspect that Windows Phone 7 was just a stepping stone platform to relaunch Microsoft's mobile venture? Or were they really just jaded by Windows Mobile 6.x that they took a sensible step back to let the public "forget" the old stuff?

I just created my account to add to the conversation. I've been lurking here a long time but this article is just what I needed to get me to finally sign up. As with many others here I'm an Arrive user who just hates how Sprint has been treating there sole windows phone. I've been with Sprint/Nextel for close to 15 years and currently have 3 lines on my account, i'm counting down the days until my contract is up so I can happily go pay more money elsewhere. I understand it's Sprints perogative on what they do or do not do with WP's. That said, they have shown me that they simply are no longer the company for me. Coming from Android and picking up the Arrive on day one when the store opened I can honestly say I'm on board with the windows phones for the long haul.. .love em. Also I think it's pretty obvious that they will eventually get around to getting at least one WP8, they have to otherwise they are going to lose the converts that the Arrive created. No way they wont have one before the two year contract expiration date of the Arrive comes up. The question is, at that point will I or others care knowing that the only reason they will get a new phone is not because they care 1 cent about me (us) but simply want our few hundred dollars a month.
Sprint, you had your chance.

I love my Arrive, I'm one of the 89% that would recommend it to a friend!
 
It's been a solid performer. My gf bought it for me as she was tired of hearing me complain about my Samsung Moment. While I miss the screen on that phone I don't miss anything else about it.
 
It's thick, it's solid, it isn't sexy, it's a great phone that does what it's told, what can I say other than "Sprint, please speed up your data, not being able to stream my Zune pass is killing me."

I LOVE my Arrive! Every time I come into the Sprint shop I tell them. They didn't sell me the phone... I bought it. I love the physical keyboard. The guys in the shop said I'm the only one to ever come in with a problem with it, they don't have ANY knowledge about it. I even had to tell them how to open the battery case.

I would have definitely purchased a HTC 7 Pro if they just created one that supported US 3G frequencies. These locking phones to carriers really blows. That amazing keyboard back from the touch pro 2 just can't be beat...yet manufacturers are all leaving them behind :( touch keyboards work and WP's is the best easily, but there is a time and a place for nice hardware keyboards.

They obviously don't care. The last official update was 7720 and it didn't include Internet Connection Sharing (even though the unit is capable of supporting it). I have repeatedly asked them about support and all I ever get is silence or an apology from HTC. An HTC rep confirmed with me on Twitter that Sprint is the bottleneck. My girlfriend, my daughter, and I all have Arrives and we all love them. I'm really hoping for a WP8 announcement before the end of the year; but if there is none, I'm switching carriers and selling all of my shares invested in Sprint's stock. XDA shouldn't be my ONLY avenue of support for my phone.

This is the phone I had when I had Sprint... bought it off Craigslist for a hunnerd bucks, wore out the hinges on it and it was still going strong.
Tough little phone. 
In the end though I went to ATT mainly because of Sprint's horrible speeds (at least for me, less than 56k is a deal breaker. My friends get much better speed. Sprint couldn't figure it out and I got out of my contracts). The Lumia 900 was a great attractor too. Almost went for the Titan II just because I like the sound enhancement app that HTC provides... wish Lumia would forgo the Batman mini comics and just give me a sound enhancer. 
But yeah, that phone was great. I have a friend that works for sprint, and they could care less about WP.

I work for Verizon and am happy to report that we're planning a massive WP8 push. I'm talking the same sized push we made for the Droid. We went with the underdog (Android) to avoid the ridiculous iPhone subsidies. Now that the Droid line basically sells itself, we're putting our weight behind WP8 and hopefully phase out iPhone subsidies all the way. Confirmed handsets are a HTC midrange model (Incredible 4G with WP8 basically) and a high end Nokia. L

And these will be out when?

Wow, as a current Arrive user and reader of this site for over a year, I had to register and add my story.
First, this is a great phone and I talk up WP to coworkers all the time.  I got this phone exactly because of the high review ratings it had on Sprint's site, plus it had a physical keyboard, which was a priority for me.
My first smartphone was the Pre, which Sprint promoted heavily. Their smartphone selection was the Pre, about five Blackberries, and one or two HTC Android devices.  I didn't like Blackberry, so that was out.  Sales lady said, "well, Android is more for if you're into social networking." Nope - I was using mine for work, so I got the Pre.
Loved the Pre despite it's shortcomings and lack of support.  Held on forever, waiting for the Pre3 to arrive, and we all know what happened with HP, Touchpad, etc.  Went from jazzed to completely left down.  No small irony that Android exploded onto the marketplace (Droid) mere months after my purchase.
But people I knew who had Android devices never really spoke highly of them, and the Sprint reviews confirmed that.  No iPhone on Sprint at the time, and I'm one of those Pre fans who don't want to follow the crowd and pay a premium price when we know there are other devices that work well, too.
So here I am, an Arrive user and WP fan. I bought mine via Craigslist to avoid contract renewal.  Sprint sales guy was a clown.  Tried to talk me out of this and into a cheap Android device so that he could get a commission.  He said no one buys WP because they're not reliable, they break, they glitch.  Store didn't have an Arrive on display. Pissed me off and I will never forget or forgive his idiocy.
Why do I stay with Sprint? Hometown carrier (Support my neighbors), cheaper price, plus other small reasons.  I must be nuts; their data speeds are bad.  BUT, LTE network just fired up here last week, so yes, they are rolling it out. Am hoping for a WP8 LTE device, or I may jump ship.
Sorry for the lenghty post, but there are reasons why the "little phone that could" has a great following.

I had the same thing happen to me, I had bought my Arrive off of eBay and the guy was trying to get me to buy the Evo Shift. He told me that I would have to hard reset my phone every week. Two weeks ago, I was in the Sprint store and a couple was looking at the Arrive and the sales rep told them that the phone was junk and told them to consider the LG Optimus Elite. So sad :[

Sprint is well known to talk ad about the phone and os. They pulled that with my family and I. When questioned they really had no idea about the phone. Just talked bad to see other devices.... That is reason enough to leave sprint

I got my Arrive when Sprint first made it available. I like the phone and love the WP7.5 OS. Sprint has basically ignored the WP segment of its customers. If they don't get on with WP8, many of their loyal base will leave. See the petition "WP7 On Sprint"

Love my Arrive. The best part is the keyboard, but compared to the newer phones my Arrive does not have the speed... anymore.    : /
I mean if Sprint doesn't add a new WP7 or WP8, I will be leaving. Love the OS.

It sounds like there are alot of people in the same boat as I was. I left Sprint for T-Mobile prepaid and do not regret the decision. The only thing I hate is that I could not bring my Arrive with me. For now I am using a LG G2x (android) my job gave me for free, and I still use my Arrive whenever I am around WiFi.

I work for a Sprint indirect and the phone (and OS) is pretty hated by our company. I actually sold one to a girl I'm dating and who was upgrading from a feature phone (the Reclaim for those interested) and she loves it. Funnily enough, I had dinner with a new friend of hers tonight who also owns an Arrive. I actually just acquired one myself, though my Sprint line is a Galaxy Nexus. I still think it's a great phone for a lot of people upgrading to a smartphone, but the hardware, largely the screen, makes it really dated.

Honestly with the way things are at sprint who cares. Sure they are a big player, but for how much longer? I would never switch back to sprint.

Sprint and their damned iPhone ads during football season last year nearly drove me to drink heavily. It was pretty clear they were googoo for it. Maybe it will change a bit with WP8.

I've had my arrive for a long while now (bought it used for 80 bucks) and it's the best phone I've had.  The best keyboard ever and the phone just works...period.  It never crashes, no memory leaks requiring a reset every few days, great call sound quality, etc, etc.  Right off the bat I flashed a custom rom and now have the latest tango version.  Wifi tethering works great and I'm on the 40/month sprint sero preimum plan.  Unlimited data/text/pics, 500 minutes, and any mobile to any mobile free.  Sure I wish the screen was bigger but other than that it is very speedy for a single core 1ghz processor.  It's funny how well windows phone runs compared to dual core androids.  As soon as sprint gets a decent wp8 device with lte, I'll have to upgrade to 50/month sero preimum but that's still one of the best deals in wireless.  3g speeds in my area have always been fine (I stream music all day long).  It won't be long before they start getting lte everywhere.  I can wait as there is no way I'm giving up sero.  Long live wp. 

if this is fact I would consider returning to Verizon. I left them moved to t-mobile due to no WP then to sprint as t-mobile had horrid coverage in my area.

This was my first Windows Phone and I truly loved this phone and was one of the reviews giving it great remarks. Unfortunately Sprints lack of suport for the plartform and no 2nd generation phones (along with changes to its billing practices in terms of how it applies the discount), was reason enough for me to switch to AT&T and get the Lumia 900.  Although I pay a lot more for my family plan than I did at Sprint I am absolutely happy with AT&T and the Lumia 900. Also, did they ever fix the keyboard bug??

No they didn't, because they never pushed out any god damn updates past the original Mango update.

My wife and I also got the Arrive when it first came out and we love it! We will definitely be upgrading sometime early next year to a WP8 device so I really hope Sprint gets it together and has a couple available so I don't have to switch carriers. C'mon Sprint, how about a Nokia with PureView?

I just hope TMobile destroys Sprint and then buys them up lol, that way you guys can have 3 major carriers and with TMobile and AT&T both pushing windowsphone :P (don't know what is on verizon's mind so...)

Any one got tango for this yet?

Yes, thanks to a custom ROM from XDA. Forced CAB updates work too.

I hope they care! This shows what the people want and since a two year old phone is getting higher ratings then there precious iPhone how can they not notice and think hey we might have a winner here?... And without all the crazy marketing and with most phone sellers on sprint are pushing android and ios! Like c'mon why isn't windows phone getting any recognition on sprint?! I love this phone yeah the specs are so-so but the quality is high and metro UI man..... Metro UI.... I even bought a 2nd one after my first one tragically died lol.... C'mon sprint when m upgrade is due you better have two or three badass windows phone 8 available at least one being a Nokia lumia of course :)

I've had all I can take anymore. I've been trying out a Focus Flash on Straight Talk (I use AT&T's network in my area) for the last couple weeks and have been absolutely hammering the cell network to see what my data limits are - so far I haven't actually run into any. Most forums claim it's 100MB/day and 2GB/month, but I've streamed two, 2-hour movies via Netflix on the cell network in two days and haven't received any warning.
 
Assuming that by Monday or so I haven't been throttled or warned, I'm cancelling my Sprint account and going full-tim to Straight Talk. I really do like all the massive improvements that Sprint is doing with their Network Vision. You can see that some people are even getting upwards of 1.2-1.8Mb/s downoad speeds over just regular CDMA 3G in the upgraded areas. But between spending 30 dollars less a month, having better coverage and faster data speeds without hitting a limit (yet)? There's really no comparison. I even get the advantage of being on a GSM network so I can buy the unlocked versions of phones and not have any carriers try to block updates.
 
I've had it with Sprint. They haven't pushed a single update since Mango, they've made no formal commitment to Windows phone 8 devices and even though their LTE service will make here to Buffalo eventually (it has to, to compete with Verizon and AT&T that already have it here) it's just not worth the wait and the cost. I'm quite satisifed between Wi-Fi everywhere I go and HSPA+ speeds where I don't have that.
 
Goodbye Sprint. I wish it could have ended well.
 
Note: I never actually even watch Netflix on my phone very much and when I do it's always over Wi-Fi but since I wasn't sure how the network would be, or what the speeds would be like, I wanted to see what my upper limits were and so far I still haven't hit them. I don't plan to hammer the network as much once I make the switch.

So now Tango has been rolled out to the HTC Trophy and still no word from Sprint. Will they ever release it? May just have to wait till 7.8 when MS rolls out that update without carrier approval.