The upcoming HTC Merge has only a 800 Mhz processor, but seems speedy enough to compete with other 1 Ghz phones out there. This is because it’s a new generation of Qualcomm’s CPU, that have improved performance per Mhz, thus making a 800 Mhz CPU even faster than a 1 Ghz CPU.
The HTC Merge also features a good physical keyboard with clicky buttons that are well spaced, and a solid slider that works as it’s supposed to.
The phone’s colors are charcoal grey and black, and feels a little plasticky:
HTC Merge’s screen looks like an LCD but it could very well be a SLCD screen from Sony, with much smaller energy draw:
HTC Merge comes with Froyo by default so you’ll not be waiting for a Froyo update like everyone else, but will probably wait for Android Gingerbread as soon as it is announced in a month or so. One thing that is lack now though is the new HTC skin that its internationa brothers Desire Z and Desire HD have.
Worse news is that it comes pre-installed with Bing the search engine and also the Maps. You can get the Google Maps from the Android Market, and as soon as you can root the phone, you’ll be able to replace Bing search engine as well.
Check out some benchmarks taken with Linpack, Quadrant and fps2d apps in the image and video below, taken by AndroidCentral:
