The entertainment-filled HTC HD2 is bound for T-Mobile this spring, but we just couldn't wait that long. Ever since we got a glimpse of the HD2 at Fall CTIA 2009, we've been dying to get our hands on this device and thanks to Expansys USA, we were able to get an unlocked version of the smartphone for review. In short, the HD2 doesn't disappoint. The phone's luxurious 4.3-inch touch screen is the absolute highlight of the device, while the HTC Sense user experience makes Windows Mobile quite tolerable and usable and the 1GHz Snapdragon processor keeps the smartphone humming along smoothly.
There's no question that the HTC HD2 is the best Windows Mobile phone on the market right now. What remains to be seen, however, is whether the HD2 will hold any appeal by the time it gets to T-Mobile, considering that Windows Phone 7 Series is on the horizon. The size of the phone alone is enough to deter some people, but will the promise of something completely new and exciting keep potential buyers at bay? Obviously, it's a bit hard to say without any Windows Phone 7 Series devices to compare it to at the moment. Plus, we still have a long way to go until we see any Windows Phone 7 Series handsets actually for sale, so we think the HD2 might have a fighting chance. We'll take a look again when we finally get T-Mobile's HTC HD2 in for review. You can now purchase the HTC HD2 unlocked for about $650, but for that kind of money, we'd think you'd want to wait around for the extra entertainment features and 3G support.
Design
Whether you have an allegiance to a particular brand or operating system, you have to admit that the HTC HD2's design is pretty impressive. At 4.74 inches tall by 2.64 inches wide and 5.54 ounces, the smartphone demands your attention and we don't deny it's a beast. In fact, we suspect its size will be a turnoff for some; it's not exactly the most pocketable device and it's quite a handful to hold while on a call. That said, we have to give credit where credit is due. For the HD2 to pack in a massive 4.3-inch touch screen and all of its features and remain just 0.43 inch thick is no small feat. In addition, the hardware feels solid with a mix of stainless steel and soft-touch finish.
Of course, what really makes the HD2 stand apart from the sea of touch-screen smartphones is its display. The HD2's 4.3-inch capacitive touch screen is the largest we've seen on a smartphone to date. Couple the size with the sharp WVGA (480x800) resolution and you have one gorgeous mug. It's vibrant, sharp, and readable in various lighting conditions. Photos, videos, Web sites, and messages are all that much easier to see, thanks to the extra real estate. The virtual keyboard also benefits from the larger screen as both the portrait and landscape are spacious and quite easy to use. As a person who prefers physical keyboards and has a hard time adjusting to virtual ones, the HD2's roomy layout definitely made for an easier transition and allowed me to type faster compared with other onscreen keyboards.
As you might have guessed from the aforementioned portrait and landscape modes, the display has a built-in accelerometer. It was fairly responsive during our review period, changing the screen orientation within a second or two of rotating the phone. It also has a proximity sensor so the display will be inactive when you're on a phone call to prevent any accidental "mispresses" from your cheek. One other feature of note is the HD2's multitouch support. Yes, you can use the coveted pinch-to-zoom gesture in various apps, including the browser, photos, and e-mail.
Below the screen, there are a handful of quick-access buttons, including Talk and End keys, a Home button, a Start menu shortcut, and a back button. You also get a volume rocker on the left side, and you'll find a 3.5mm headphone jack and a Micro-USB port on the bottom. The camera and flash are on back as one would expect, while the microSD expansion slot is located behind the battery door.
Our unlocked HTC HD2 came packed with an AC adapter (though the plug is U.K. standard, so you'll have to get an adapter to use it in the States or elsewhere), a USB cable, a 2GB microSD card, a wired stereo headset, a soft protective pouch, and reference material. For more add-ons, please check out our cell phone accessories, ringtones, and help page.
User interface
At its core, the HTC HD2 is another Windows Mobile 6.5 device with the staple apps like Microsoft Office Mobile Suite, Internet Explorer Mobile, and Windows Media Player, as well as Windows Marketplace for Mobile and Microsoft My Phone backup service. However, the HD2 also employs the HTC Sense user experience, which masks the traditional Windows Mobile UI and that's a good thing.
Similar to the versions running on HTC's Android devices, Sense offers a tabbed toolbar along the bottom of the screen that allows you to easily run through and launch various apps by dragging your finger left to right, or vice versa, and then letting go when you reach the desired program. There are 11 available tabs in total, including ones for people, calendar, Internet, music, and stocks, and you can always add or remove tabs from the home screen by pressing the Menu key or going to the Settings and checking off the appropriate boxes in the list.
If you don't see an app or task on that list, don't worry. The Home screen offers additional quick link boxes where you can choose to create a shortcut for almost any app available on the phone as well as for contacts and bookmarks. Also on the Home screen, you can view any upcoming appointments and get real-time weather information. The forecast will automatically update depending on your location and you can even choose the animated weather wallpaper (for example, snowflakes will fall down the screen or if it's raining, a windshield wiper will clear away the raindrops), which is a bit gimmicky but also kind of cool.
HTC Sense isn't just about making the user interface prettier or making things more accessible from the Home screen. Sense also extends to other areas of the phone. You'll see HTC's touch in everything from the People/Contacts page to the Calendar to the media player. Oh, sure Windows Media Player is still there but why would you want to use that stale app when HTC offers its own media player that has a much more attractive Cover Flow-like interface and a more intuitive menu system? There are also little, thoughtful things, such as the fact that the HD2 will automatically lower the volume of your ringtone as you pick up the phone so you don't annoy your neighbors by blasting them away with your samba music.
HTC Sense isn't the cure-all for Windows Mobile. Once you dig into some of those core apps, such as Outlook, you'll see some of Windows Mobile's notorious usability issues rear their ugly heads. That said, Sense makes a huge difference in making this Windows phone easier to use, and more personal and functional.
Features
We'll dive deeper into the HTC HD2's features once the T-Mobile version is released, but here's an overview of the basics. Beyond HTC Sense, the HD2's feature set is pretty much what you'd expect from a high-end smartphone. It has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS, but the quad-band world phone does not offer U.S. 3G support. Obviously, this is where the T-Mobile HTC HD2 will take care of that issue.
Phone features include a speakerphone, speed dial, smart dialing, voice commands, conference calling, and text and multimedia messaging. The HD2 does a nice job of integrating the communication features. On a contact page, you can see all your interactions with that person, whether it be a phone call or text message, as well as any updates they've posted to social networking sites. From an e-mail, you can call the sender or recipient of the message with a single tap of the phone icon provided there is a number associated with that contact, and if there are multiple people in an e-mail thread, you can quickly make a conference call to all using a similar method.
We touched on the media player briefly in the section above, and in addition to that, the HD2 is equipped with a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus, dual LED flash, video-recording capabilities, and the standard editing options. Picture quality was quite good. We took the photo below in a relatively dimly lit room. We were satisfied with how the colors of the objects turned out and were certainly happy with the photo's sharpness. The flash can sometimes do more harm than good, blowing out an entire shot. Also, there is the slightest bit of shutter lag. Recorded video clips looked decent. Some scenes could get a bit fuzzy but overall, for a camera phone, the HD2 did a commendable job with videos.
Now, T-Mobile's version will offer plenty more entertainment options. At Mobile World Congress 2010, the carrier announced that it would ship the HD2 with both "Transformer" movies, Barnes & Noble's e-book reader, Blockbuster's On Demand video download app, and more. The unlocked HD2 comes with some extras of its own, including HTC's Twitter app, Peep, the Opera mobile Web browser, and CoPilot Live 8 for voice-guided navigation.
Performance
We tested the quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) HTC HD2 in New York using AT&T service and call quality was good. On our end of the conversation, voices sounded loud and clear with very little background disruption. Every once in a while, a call would break up but we think that's more of an AT&T issue than a phone issue, as we've experienced the same thing on other phones using AT&T service in New York. Meanwhile, our friends had high praises for the call quality, commenting on the rich sound and lack of background noise.
Unfortunately, the speakerphone didn't produce quite the same results. On both sides of the call, we had a hard time hearing one another and had to repeatedly ask the other person to repeat himself or herself as the end of sentences often chopped off. Also, voices sounded quite tinny. Despite the occasional breakup mentioned before, we didn't experience any dropped calls during our testing period and we had no problem pairing the phone with the Logitech Mobile Traveller Bluetooth headset or the Motorola S9 Bluetooth Active Headphones.
Without 3G support, browsing the Web over AT&T's 3G network was, not surprisingly, a bit pokey. Using the Opera browser, CNET's full site loaded in 1 minute and 26 seconds, while CNN and ESPN's mobile sites came up in 10 seconds and 13 seconds, respectively. Thankfully, you have Wi-Fi to fall back on if you're within range of a network. While we're partial to Opera, Internet Explorer Mobile 6 has the advantage of Flash Lite support so you can view Flash sites and Flash videos right from the browser.
Using a Wi-Fi connection, YouTube clips buffered in just a couple of seconds and played back smoothly. We also put a couple of MP4 movie trailers on the device and had a great viewing experience with uninterrupted play back. Obviously, the HD2's extralarge display added much value to the experience. Sound quality for both movies and music through the phone's speakers sounded fairly weak, but after plugging in our Bose On-Ear headphones, we were amazed at how the phone could pump out such rich-sounding audio. The HD2 has 512MB ROM/448MB RAM and a microSD expansion slot.
Equipped with a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, the HD2 performed without a problem during our review period. Though we weren't blown away by any blazing speeds, the smartphone was snappy and much more responsive than other Windows Mobile devices. There was hardly any delay when launching or working in multiple apps, and even multimedia apps performed smoothly. Not once did we feel like the HD2 couldn't keep up with our demands, nor did we experience any type of crash, which would require a reboot.
The HTC HD2 ships with a 1230mAh lithium-ion battery with a rated talk time of 6 hours and up to 20 days of standby time. We are still conducting our battery drain tests but will update this section as soon as we have final results.
source:cnet
