I used to be a rep for a ton of companies and I am really happy with the Aria, both its size and keyboard.
In the past few months I've had a Blackberry 9000 & 9700. Those were physical keyboards and I can type faster and more accurate on the Aria.
I love the size and speed of the Aria. It feels great in your hand and the screen is very crisp and clear.
I have a MOTO Backflip that's sitting in a drawer, as well as a Nokia 5800XM, N97, X6 and N97 Mini.
The battery life is normal. HTC states a 1400mAh gives you 6 hours & a 1600mAh gives you 6.5.
My biggest complaint is that there is no front camera or main camera flash.
I get great service, the Aria has a strong radio picking up 850 & 1900 HSDPA beautifully and I find myself in an UMTS or HSDPA 95% of my day.
I respect the iPhone but I like having the ability to remove my MicroSD card.
3.2" is a great size screen. IMO, the EVO's screen and actual phone is to large.
I can type one handed and I can type fast 2 handed. Predictive text works well.
I'm not a Samsung fan. I want to stay with HTC and this phone feels wonderful on my hands.
I know Samsung offers larger screens but as a previous rep for them, 25% to 35% of all their phones came back defective.
Listen, everyone has their opinion and I respect it. AT&T wasn't allowed to push Android because of the new iPhone and now that they are slowly releasing them, they will get better and better.
There is no phone that is as thin as the Aria. I can multitasking and do anything I need it to so.
Most of my Apple fanboys were impressed, nuff said.