The HTC Trophy is late to the Windows Phone party, but it’s the first smartphone on Verizon’s network to run Microsoft’s slick OS. The HTC 7 Trophy is a great piece of hardware, slightly let down by its fledgling operating system. The HTC Trophy is available now at a price of $150 with a two-year contract. The phone goes for $450 unsubsidized.

HTC Trophy Review

HTC Trophy Windows Phone (Verizon Wireless)

While the HTC Trophy has a solid feel to it, there’s not much flash to the phone’s design. Its ergonomic shape allows it to rest comfortably in your hand, and its slim profile makes it easy to slide into your pocket or bag. At 4.67 inches tall by 2.42 inches wide by 0.47 inch thick, and 4.94 ounces, the Trophy is sleek and simple, which is attractive in its own right.

The 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor keeps the phone speedy and ready to handle whatever you can throw at it. As mentioned, it also has 16 GB of storage space, but it’s not expandable. Apps opened quickly, pinch-to-zoom worked smoothly, and switching from landscape to portrait modes was fairly fast. Packing the most up-to-date Windows Phone 7 experience with the “NoDo” update already on board, it brings along some much-wanted features, like copy and paste, which wasn’t available during the platform’s initial launch. The HTC Trophy ships with 1,300mAh lithium ion battery with a rated talk time of 4.9 hours and up to 12 days of standby time. Calls made with the Trophy were clear and free of static. Its speakerphone emits some muffled tones at the loudest volume setting. The quad-band world phone packs all the usual smartphone elements, including  multiple voice calling options, basic and advanced messaging, WiFi, aGPS, Bluetooth and 3G.

The Trophy’s display measures 3.8 inches diagonally and has a WVGA (480×800 pixels) resolution. Colors are bright and comfortable to look at; you can change the color scheme of your phone to any number of choices. It is very receptive to the touch and looks nice. Though the screen is slightly smaller than the Incredible 2′s 4-inch screen, it has the same resolution. Regardless, the Trophy has a very good screen with respect to image quality and video playback.

The camera is most impressive. 5 megapixel with autofocus and a very bright flash make snapping photos a pleasurable experience. As expected, the camera does ok when photographing outdoor daytime shots or when indoor lighting is natural and bright. Likewise, its 720p video recording is equally satisfactory with its 24 frames per second capture rate, clear audio recording, continuous auto-focus, and average looking details.

Between the LGs, the Samsung and the HTC Mozart, the Trophy is the piggy-in-the-middle of Windows Phone 7 launch devices. It may not be the most powerful phone in the world, but Trophy brings good performance to the table and is a great way for WP7 to make its debut on the Verizon network.

See larger image HTC 7 Trophy T8686 Windows Phone 7 Unlocked GSM Smartphone with 5 MP Camera, Wi-Fi, GPS, Touchscreen - Unlocked Phone - No Warranty - Black (Wireless Phone Accessory) List Price: $899.99 USD New From: $259.95 In Stock Used from: $237.50 In Stock