There’s a lot to like about the new HTC Vivid for AT&T – and not just that it’s one of the carriers new next-generation 4G LTE phones which allow even faster mobile web speeds than the carriers standard service.

The phone is also drawing the attention of potential buyers because of its excellent 8-megapixel camera on the rear. This is a camera that’s really designed to appeal to the kind of person that takes their mobile photography seriously.

For a start, there’s the usual features expected from a high-end cameraphone like dual-led flash but the HTC Vivid offers a number of compelling extras which have been hard to find on a mobile device until now – like an f/2.2 aperture 28mm wide-angle lens to let as much light as possible from a scene into the sensor. The result? Much better quality images even in very low-light conditions. And even before the additional boost given by the state-of-the-art back light technology that HTC have incorporated in the camera sensor.

Another “wow” feature is the HD video capture. Now it’s true, there are barely any 4G phones you can buy that don’t offer already HD – but 1080p at 60 frames per second? That’s what we mean by wow.

Once you’ve shot your still image or motion masterpiece, sharing them with friends is made easy by using the built-in sharing features for uploading to Flickr, Picasa, Facebook and other social sites. And that uploading is going to only take a second or two given this is a 4G LTE phone which provides speeds as comparable with the Verizon 4G network.

While it’s true that AT&T 4G LTE coverage isn’t nearly as extensive as Verizon’s, AT&T is launching new markets at a fairly rapid rate now. Also, in areas where it’s yet to arrive there’s still HSPA+ 4G which is slower but still faster than the outgoing 3G networks.

Also worth mentioning is the glorious 4.5-inch qHD Super LCD display which has fantastically deep color reproduction and sharp details.

The HTC Vivid is powered by a one of the snappiest processors around – the 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon – and when coupled with 1GB RAM, the HTC Sense 3.0 UI and Android 2.3.4 you’ve got yourself a high-powered, high-speed phone with probably the best camera on a phone to date.

The HTC Vivid is $199.99 when bought from AT&T or currently $159.99 if you buy from Amazon today.