HTC Trophy: What's inside the first Verizon WP7 device?

This week Verizon took the wraps off the HTC Trophy, a multimedia-centric smartphone, and the first Windows 7 handset to run on the Verizon Wireless network. (We predicted this would happen way back in February, by the way.) The Trophy! Well, the name is certainly better than the Glisten, or the Glimmer, but falls somewhere short of the epic grandeur of the Thunderbolt, another Verizon phone. Let's take a look at the innards.

The bulk of the processing power on the HTC Trophy –– and there is quite a bit, courtesy of a 1 GHz Snapdragon chip –– is directed towards entertainment apps. The Trophy carries something called the "Music + Video Hub," where users can download tracks and clips; there's also a 5-megapixel camera, a 720p HD video camera, a 3.8-inch touchscreen, and SRS WOW HD surround sound.

The Trophy will be available online on May 26, and in Verizon Wireless Communication Stores. The price is a reasonable $149.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and the usual 2-year contract.

So how does the HTC Trophy stack up against other comparable handsets –– and especially the Droid series, which currently account for a whole lot of Verizon smartphone sales? Well, back in October, Engadget reviewed an unlocked version of the HTC Trophy, and labeled it "not the best Windows 7 phone on the market." Hardly a ringing endorsement!

Still, reviewer Thomas Ricker acknowledged that it was "simply hard to resist this sleek little lightweight gem of a handset running a very promising –– and dare we say fun –– take on the mobile OS experience. Try as we might, we can't put it down even though we have an iPhone 4 and Galaxy S at our immediate disposal. The HTC Trophy may not be our smartphone champ but it's definitely a winner."

Shopping around for a Windows 7 phone? Does the Trophy pique your curiosity? Drop us a line in the comments section below. In the meantime, for more tech news, sign up for the free Innovation newsletter, which is emailed out every Wednesday.