Vario IV

I think I may have found my new mobile...

My current phone is the T-Mobile MDA Vario II, based on HTC's TyTN hardware.

When HTC announced the TyTN II I was looking forward to owning it in the guise of T-Mobile's MDA Vario III. That was until the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 made it's appearance.

Until the X1, I'd never really liked Sony Ericsson phones. I mean, I could appreciate what the hardware could do, but the style and the OS never really held my attention or imagination. But the X1? Designed by HTC, sporting - at least partly - Windows Mobile 6? It looked mean. It looked awesome. My only reservation was down to whether it would have lights to show connection status, charging status or message status. I know, it's odd, but it's so much easier to just glance at your phone and be able to tell these things from a couple of leds than it is to have to turn the screen on to check.

Anyway, since I still had a short while before I could upgrade, I decided to wait and have a look at both the Vario III and X1 and decide which one I like best.

Until today that is. Feeling a bit bored in work I fired up my browser and decided to see what was new on gsmarena. Lo and behold, I noticed the MDA Vario IV and Compact IV first look.

I'd already heard bits and pieces about the HTC Diamond (the Compact IV) and had heard the name Raphael along with it but this is the first time I've saw the hardware (also starting to be known, it seems, as the TyTN III) and I knew instantly that that is the new phone I must have.

I won't go into the details of the models here, head over to the first look if you want more info, but I think these are definitely something to look out for.