Sprint says goodbye to the HTC Arrive with no new Windows Phone in sight

By Daniel Rubino
last updated

Good night, sweet prince: HTC Arrrive 2011-2012

We reported a few weeks ago that Sprint threw down the flag on the venerable HTC Arrive, giving the device end-of-life (EOL) status.  Now tonight, we can sadly report that Sprint has all but wiped the device from its online site, making the Arrive officially a has-been. Store availability is expected to be very limited with only replacement devices available for order.

Launched in March 2011 the Arrive was Sprint’s only Windows Phone offered on the CDMA network and the only other Windows Phone with a horizontal physical keyboard (the other being the LG Quantum), carving itself a nice little niche for itself. Though slightly bulky with an underwhelming LCD screen (as was common with Gen 1 devices), the phone has a loyal following and some of the highest satisfaction ratings from customers...

None of that of course stopped Sprint from ever promoting the device or in our opinion, giving it a fair shake (they infamously used it as a poster-child for a trade in program a mere 7 months after release). At the very least, Sprint could have offered a follow up device for its customers but alas they evidently could not be bothered.

As we now approach the launch of Windows Phone 8, Sprint unfortunately is nowhere to be found. Though they are expected to get an Apollo device eventually, there seems to be no plans until early 2013 to rejoin the Microsoft family. That leaves just every other carrier in the US as an option for those wanting a new Windows Phone this fall, as Verizon, T-Mobile and of course AT&T will all offer not only Windows Phones, but the coveted Nokia Lumia series.

Source: Sprint; Thanks, venom5150, for the heads up

Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007 when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and for some reason, watches. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.

80 Comments
  • Looks like it's time to move my sister and I and the 2 full family plans away from Sprint as soon as I see where the PureView goes. Hopefully it's Verizon, but AT&T would do as well. Looks like anything but sprint fm here...
  • Sprint is in history books of many of us. I am so glad I left them. I am happy with AT&T.
  • Happy with art haha sure be happy pay big invoice bill and no unlimited data. :-P
  • Unlimited data at dialup speeds
  • I've been with AT&T since long before even the Cingular era.  I travel all over the country and internationally.  Never really found AT&T to be any worse than Verizon which I've also had for quite some time.  I'm grandfathered in to AT&T's truly unlimited data plan.
     
    If you want service better than dial-up speeds, you might want to get out of your mom's basement.
  • Seconded
  • BACK TO VERIZON!!! or T-MOBILE!!! & takin my 5 line Family Plan with Me. I'm goin to a Company that Updates Our Phone & Gets Customers the Latest Handsets and OS.
    LATER SPRINT!!!
  • It seems to me as late as a month before Sprint announced the Iphone, they denied they were even considering it, then got real quiet about it. I think they are doing the same with Windows Phone. They may not be in the fisrt wave of WP8 devices, but I think you will see something sooner rather than later in that area. I just hope I can tolerate my POS blackberry until then. I'm already eligile for an upgrade, just waiting for something better to come along.
  • Sprint is so annoying!
  • T-mobile is looking good with the unlimited data coming in September.
  • +1 , yes it is. That killer Samsung with a 4.8 screen + sd card slot and 4G / LTE with unlimited data. I can't wait.
  • +1, yeah sprint has let me down. T-mobile is going to have to work now.
  • I'm a Sprint user since 2001. Sprint has lost my business. I'm gone come March when my contract ends. That's income tax return season. I may just buyout my contract early if that is possible.
  • I was with Sprint since 2001. I was a very loyal fan. Problem was, was that I didn't get reliable service at my job and they refused to carry the phone that I wanted. So I left them earlier this year, and though I miss my unlimited data plan; it was practically useless since all I could do was roam. So Sprint is definitely in my rear view. It's a shame really, since that is the carrier that introduced me to HTC and Windows Phone in the first place. I dabbled with Android, but got quickly tired of it. WP FTW!
  • Same for me but in May. I'll probably go T-Mobile. They usually have insane deals around Mother's and Father's Day.
  • Bye Bye Sprint, then.
  • My Arrive is looking for a loving home. House broken too.  
  • So, does this mean no more support for the Arrive? If we don't get 7.8 this fall I am not going to be happy. At all.
  • I would not expect any official updates from Sprint. Regarding 7.8, it's too early to say but it will be very easy to manually update via the .cab method, which many of us have been doing in lieu of official carrier updates.
  • Ok, I guess we will just have to wait and see. Thank you so much for the information!! This is just very frustrating. I think I will just end up switching to AT&T once my contract runs out. It's not worth the headache anymore.
  • it's bypassing carriers. it's a MUST udate from Microsoft. My opinion 
  • I believe Microsoft said that 7.8 will be delivered directly to all 1st and 2nd gen phones and it will be delivered directly by them, bypassing all carriers. Don't think you need to worry.
  • I interpreted what they said as 7.8 will allow them to bypass carriers for future updates but nor 7.8 itself.
  • This will be my top reason given for leaving Sprint. They didn't support my phone after release, for no reason at all. Updates were provided but they were too lazy to give it to do the right thing by the customer.
  • If I was a sprint customer...im moving to VERIZON... fuck sprint for ignoring wp8.... They don't know what they missing...
    Drool sprint.. Tweeted this
  • By the way in happy with #att
  • At&t is not that bad. I have no regrets at all.
  • Just do what I did. Break the contract and sell your Sprint phone to cover the charges. I did this last November. Went to Amazon and signed up with AT&T. I got a SGS2 for $50, got the phone, sold the SGS2 for $400, got on CL and bought a brand new Focus S for $150. $250 covered 2 months of my bill. Better service and faster speeds. No regrets.
  • You sir, are a genius!
  • .... Oh yeah... Fuck You, Sprint!
  • My first Windows Phone was an arrive and it was solid. Never had a complaint just wanted to get off sprint. Now I have a 710 and its an unsung hero. Amazing value at a low price point.
  • @saviorxx9 that was smart. I'm mad i didn't think of that when I switched
  • Hopefully this will be the last we hear of this news. It has already been said and done; sprint will not support WP! Lets move on and be excited for those carriers that will.
  • 100% fanboyism. Let's see, support yet another fresh OS with absolutely NO clue as to impact on the market.. Or support the iPhone which will dominate? Go figure.
  • if you had a clue you would know that carriers barely make any money on your coveted iphone... Thats why atnt has made it known they will try to push other mobile OS'.
  • With Sprints obscene amount they paid Apple to be the last carrier to sell the iPhone, well, Sprint really has no choice put and try and sell it. It appears to me Sprint gambled their business on one device. I was at Sprint 2 days ago and directly on the right hand wall where you walk in were the iPhones. The androids took the spot where the HTC arrive use to sit.
  • I say goodbye to Sprint with no new contract in sight.
  • Sprint will for sure get wp8.
  • How is sprint still in business? I guess boost mobile helps make ends meet around there.
  • Well, time to switch I guess....
  • Pureview yes many people waiting for this mirackle
  • Well they sold their soul to the devil with the iPhone, so screw them
  • Come March, My Family, My Brothers Family and at least 2 others will say good bye Sprint.......
    We love our Arrives, and could never go back to Android.
  • A wonderfull device. Noe i'am writing from a htc 7 pro which is an european version of the Arrive. Great keyboard, no mechanism failures during 1 year and 4 months. Battery still holds good, not so good like the first half year but still more than one day And a couple of hours. thats a device to wish for. i hope wp8 devices will be available with sliding keyborads. Because i love it to write and the letters are not covering my screen.
  • Left Sprint last month for StraightTalk and the great world of prepaid prices and unlocked phones. Never going back to postpaid again.
  • Considering the fact that the Arrive came out in March 2011, most WP7 users are prob still not due for an upgrade til at least March 2013.  While I'd like to see Sprint come out with a WP8 device this year, I can wait since I'm not due for my upgrade til late March.  Hopefully by then, Sprint will come out with something that blows the first gen WP8 devices out of the water.
  • The hell with Sprint!!!!
  • I d3cided sprint can suck it like 6 months ago. I have some months to go before I can move to Verizon or att
  • i cant honestly take sprint seriously. They pushed the hell out of android, then got the iphone and hurt only themselves because from what i understand carriers barely make anything on the iphone anyway, and they deny themselves the hundreds upon thousands of people who want a windows phone which coincidentally is one of the highest rated phones on their site. Brilliant sprint just brilliant.
  • Probably broke as hell from investing so much in iPhone.
  • Sprint has hated Microsoft since the days of Winmo 6.X
    They screwed over everyone on a SERO discount plan using a Touch Pro I or II that would have gone to WP7 with the Arrive and evangalized their service.
  • What do you mean they screwed everyone over that was on the SERO plan?  I'm using an Arrive on the SERO plan.
  • Ok Daniel please tell me where "good night, sweet prince" is from. If it's a book, I read it yesterday, if it's a movie I watched it, I just can't put my finger on it and it's killing me more than the fact that Sprint could not care less about my phone.
  • http://lmgtfy.com/?q=good+night+sweet+prince
     
  • I had the Audiovox PPC6700 on Sprint about 5 years ago. The service was great back then, but at some point I needed a phone that would work in the rest of the world.
  • Im a UK WP fan and all I ever see is comments about sprint only want to do business with apple. Let them I say. Apple are squeezing more money out of carriers to have the iPhone on their networks. Sprint sounds like a small company whose profits will be squeezed even more. I want carriers to support WP, any that don't will be left by the roadside
  • Amen fuck sprint and their awful business decisions.
  • Hahaha I can't believe all you people will believe this written article. Just because he assumes sprint will have wp until 2013 is ridiculous. He ain't no psychic that predicts the future hahaha the HTC Arrive had the best comments on sprint. I dont think sprint will ignore those people survey comments. I know in fact sprint will have a wp8 device this fall. Not in 2013. Just google it shows sprint has been beta testing since 3 months ago from htc and Samsung phones.
    I dont care I can waIt for wp8 has long my wp7.5 and getting new 7.8 will be fine. Why would anyone leave sprint and loose your unlimited data and not be over charge. Good luck in moving to another phone provider like ATT or Verizon and realize you dont have unlimited data and ready pay big bills. :-P
  • How often has sprint shown support for windows phone so far?
  • Have you seen anything sprint has done this year? They don't support the phone, they used an image of the arrive in a trade in poster, and they do t even have it on their website now. Tmobile removed my hd7 from their website some time between getting the radar and their first lumia.
  • Well T-mobile is now unveiling an unlimited data plan similar to sprint but with faster speeds and lower prices.
  • Wpos8, no bigger Sprint supporter than me until I started seeing your post. We have that in common. In fact I read each and every Arrive review and would private message people who didn't give it good reviews and try to help. Talk about dedication. I have been with Sprint since 98 haven't had a problem with them up until now. I love my HTC Arrive and even upgraded it to 32gb which made me enjoy it more. Unfortunately, I have wanted a second generation device with mango already installed since October and nothing ever came of it. Waited until the beginning of the year hoping for a March release like the Arrive. Still nothing. Rumors about the LG Fantasy. still nothing. Now they state that they will not be leading the charge much like they did with the Arrive which launched 5 months after Att and TMobile got their phones. I decided to wait for the Arrive and here I was again in 2012 still waiting. I ended up getting the Lumia900 but still have the Arrive waiting and waiting for Sprint only because my cellular service is much better than ATT at my home. Contrary to your links which are dated, history is likely to repeat itself and it will be highly unlikely that Sprint will release a Windows Phone this year. Nobody really knows. Only time will tell.
  • Read this article Microsoft testing wp8 for sprint. Read and learn people hahaha http://www.gottabemobile.com/2012/02/29/microsoft-could-be-testing-windo...
  • Your proof was back in Feb :-/
  • so what if it was in Feb. At least it gives you hint they were testing it. So yes that's good proof
  • More news sprint will have wp8 http://news.softpedia.com/news/Sprint-to-Launch-S4-Snapdragon-Windows-Ph...
  • Day ruined... I like sprint bill is good unlimited cell to cell data txt, basically unlimited land line call, but if they don't get a WP 8 this year I'm gonna be pretty ticked off
  • I broke my contract April 6th with Sprint to get the Lumia 900. My 2 phones before the Lumia were a Palm Pre and HTC Arrive. I don't feel bad about leaving Sprint. Service started going downhill anyway.
  • Sprint, I tried you, but obviously its not going to work out. I think I'm going to bail as soon as Big Red releases their WP8.
  • Sprint also better say good bye to a few customers. What a stupid choice: a highly rated phone gets dropped.
  • I wrote sprint "Dan" a letter expressing my disappointment about there lack of support for windows and to let them know my 1200 dollars a years would be going to another carrier.  Carol M. emailed me back three times wanted to speak with me.  I told her if Sprint does not have a phone by Christmas shopping season dont waste your time talking to me.  Of course I get the same ole answer.  "we cannot discuss phones that have not been release or the future plans in regards to phones"  I have been a sprint customer since 1999.  My loyalty should cont for something, right? well I will never be loyal to a carrier like that ever again.  Hopefully this is a space clearing move for the upcoming wp8 device.  I will buy out the rest of my contract if need be.  But if i dont see a wp8 device by nov.1 adios sprintos
  • Gusto, I feel that way now as well. I have been loyal to Sprint for 14 years but now realized it just doesn't matter. I have both ATT and Sprint at the moment but would drop both for Verizon if they have the phone I want. I dont care about etf's, as I can just sell the phone on Ebay and get some money back. Point is, I will now just go to the provider that fits my needs.
  • Got my HTC Arrive the day it launched. Contract expires 1/1/2013. Sprint is dead to me. I'll probably go with AT&T.
  • Or you can goto T-mobile, they have unlimited data
  • The lack of WP support is one thing, but the problem I have is the data is unbearably slow. That I can't stand any longer and is the reason I am leaving sprint after 14 years
  • Got my Arrive the day it came out as well. If Sprint does not have a new WP8 device when my contract expires (March 2013) I will jump ship. Im interested in seeing if they will use 4G as a way to get out of the unlimited plan.. That's how Verizon is getting ride of those grandfathered plans if im not mistaken. Point being if I won't get unlimited 4G from sprint might as well jump ship. Probably go with Verizon. Love my arrive but need an otterbox, I have broken my screen 3 times.
  • I am certain sprint will have wp8 devices this fall. They will have HTC and Samsung wp8 I don't know about nokia. Sprint has already launched LTE on other states. So yes wp8 will work well with LTE
  • The reason why sprint removed the htc arrive because they will be adding wp8 devices to the sprint stores. Read this http://news.softpedia.com/news/Sprint-to-Launch-S4-Snapdragon-Windows-Ph...
  • Sprint = vote of no confidance. I've already decided that when my contract is up i'm out unless they have a WP8 that knocks my pants off. I'm not holding my breath on that one, and thats after I've already undone my belt buckle to make it easier for them.
    The way I see it is that no matter what they get for a WP8 they will probably not suppport it and it will be the ugly stepchild no matter how good it is. That said, i'm planning on ditching them and taking my $200.00 monthly to a carrier that at least likes the platform.
  • I really enjoyed my Arrive 32GB. It really was a perfect phone for me. If I could get a new WP8 phone just like it that's what I'd go for or something like it with a 4.3" screen or larger.
    I could care less about the weight of the phone. I care about function.
    Thanks HTC for putting this phone on the market. It would have been more successful if more carriers had access to it. I obtained one and went through the back door to get it on Verizon towers through Page Plus. Next go-around with WP8 will be interesting.