Remember what I told you in my unboxing video that I will do this review in a while I, lied. Okay joking aside. This actually isn’t Arnold Schwarzenegger. It’s LP from Tekno I promise you guys a review in a while but the weather outside is so crappy that we couldn’t do it but do not worry our field test of advice is coming in a near future.
Welcome to the full in depth review of HTC Touch Pro2. In this review we will be taking the new Touch Pro to the test, everything from the hard ware and software review to a video code benchmarking using CorePlayer. I’ll be looking at the phones GPS capabilities using TomTom7 software and we will even be looking into the phones gaming capability using Need for speed Undercover. We have a lot to cover so let’s get started. As you have seen in my unboxing video my first impression exceeded in my expectations. New quality was improved from the first Touch Pro and the improvements of the resistive touch screen and the user interface were apparent.
After having the phone now for several days I’ve had the time to take a more detailed look of the device and weigh in the Touch Pro2 pros and cons. The first Touch Pro is a good looking device it had a very distinct look about it. Since I got this device last week 3 times people have ask me if this is the apple iPhone. All due respect to Steve Johnson gang but the Touch Pro2 is no damn iPhone. I have a feeling that the design team that HTC may want to have the same feel the two devices may resemble each other at a quick glance but after a closer look the two devices are very different.
Okay you caught me this is not actually the iPhone. But as you can see the Touch Pro2 is pretty thick it’s larger than its predecessor in every dimension. Fortunately size comes with a benefit. The touch screen is now 3.6 inch wide screen which translates into a much finger navigation and many other benefits as well which I’ll get into a little bit later.
The Touch Pro2 scores a larger QWERTY keyboard which is nicely spread out and elevated keys. As you can see the keys are now misaligned like a regular keyboard and after writing twenty emails and text messages over the weekend I have to say that in comparison to the QWERTY keyboard and devices I’ve tested in the past the Xperia X1, the Touch Pro and the Nokia e75. The keyboard on this Touch Pro2 edges out the competition.
But the only gripe about the keyboard is the delete key which is annoyingly close to the enter key. The keys have a nice feedback when you press them and they are place within thumbs length. The tilting screen from the HTC’s old Titan 2 is back and works very well. The screen tilts to about 50 degrees a little bit less than on the Titan but the reason for this is pretty clear.
If the screen were to tilt any further it will block out the fifth row of the QWERTY keyboard. We wouldn’t want that. The hinges of the tilting screen have a slight giggle to it. It could be sturdier but rather than that the screen seems to work quite well. The phone is chromed up like a low riding Lincoln which I could also live without. Plastic chroming usually tends to crack and peel off after taking few a hits to it. Many owners of the sprint version of the Touch Pro had issues with the cracking of the chrome. Only time will tell how the chroming on this device will hold up. Even though the phone has a metallic look to it its mostly made out of hardened plastic despite this fact the phone is solid in the hand and it feels sturdier than its predecessor.
Next I’ll do a quick build quality test and drop the phone on the floor. Did you really think I’ll drop it? I’m not a retard. In case you do drop the phone I recomend using the case that came with the phone. The case works nicely and is lined with a micro fiber that cleans the device from dust and small debris when you slide it in.
The old Touch Pro had a case that was open from one end and from experience with the old Touch Pro I had one incident when my phone flew out of my pocket when exiting my car. The device landed on the side of the case that was open. I have to say, when a 50 buck phone falls to the asphalt, you pick it up, dust it off and put it back in your pocket. Now when a 650 buck phone flies on the asphalt with at high velocity, you feel like falling to your knees and weeping. Those deep scratches pissed me off until the day my old phone was stolen. But that’s a different story if you want o hear more about that, watch my unboxing video. Okay moving on.
One more good thing about the build quality I must mention that the old Touch Pro had a crack around the buttons and touch screen were all kinds of dirt will gather. The new device is more streamline not much space between the buttons and touch screen and its edges so there is no need to break out compressed air cans to clean your phone. Although you will be needing a good micro fiber cloth because the device attracts fingerprints like nothing else. Sitting aside the QWERTY keyboard the phone only has eight hardware keys, on top the power button, on the side, the volume up and down keys, on front we only have four hardware keys and the touch sensitive zoom bar which I’ll get into a little later when we look at the device web browsing capabilities.
So here we have the send button which obviously answers the calls but when pressing it you can access the call history and contact list. I have to admit this is where I’m missing the hardware D-pad the most. Instead of quickly pressing an up and down button you have to flick your finger to scroll through the last calls and contacts. It takes time to get use to and I kind of miss my Touch Pro when flicking through my contacts.
The start menu button is plenty useful as it gives you quick access to your programs and while we’re here the program menu is customizable to suit your everyday needs works very well and is simple and easy to use and pressing the back key gets you back to the home screen. The in button hangs up phone calls but also works as a home screen button pressing this will get you back to the Touch Pro 3d home screen for basically anywhere if you press and hold the in button you will feel a small vibration and the phone will lock itself.
Before we go deeper to the software side of things let’s check out the back of the phone the back of the phone have a very slick business look about it. It has 3.2 megapixel camera and a mute button for the speaker phone. The back cover is a little bit tricky. To remove it you must first take out the stylus which no longer is magnetic by the way. Behind the cover is the 1500 milliamp battery you’re probably interested in battery life. While learning to use this device and making this review, I tested the phone simultaneously for battery life.
The battery lasted for 45 hours with moderate to high use. During this time a have my 3G connection on and I also watch plenty of video content preparing for the upcoming video benchmark. I’m very pleased with the results of the battery life test because the Touch Pro2 fared better than my old Touch Pro. My old stolen Touch Pro.
By the way in this review we’ll be working on the 8 gigabyte SanDisk ultra micro SD card. A new cool addition to the device is the dual speaker and dual mic. These additions make the phone a very effective business device. Let me demonstrate, imagine that a phone call. Okay let’s give the speaker phone capability a whirl. Hello who is this?
Using the mute button prevents raging actors from viewing you. Unfortunately there is no button to mute Christian Bale on the back of the device as you can see the mute button starts blinking red when the mute is enabled. The mute button works pretty well if you happen for example is making a video review during the conference call. The speaker phone works well and the speaker sounds very good for a mobile device. Eon’s better than the speakers on the original Touch Pro.
Alright next we’ll take an in depth look at the new Touch Pro 3D2. Touch Pro3D2 is custom user interface that works on top of Windows mobile 6.1. I mentioned in the unboxing video that the resistive touch screen has been improved after days of extensive reviews I have to concur with what I said earlier and give HTC a deserve thumbs up it truly is very responsive and feels much like a capacitive touch screen on an iPhone the improvements of the device easily outweigh taking out the D-pad. Many people complain that the first version of Touch Pro 3 was more of a scheme than an actual user interface.
The Touch Pro3D2 is a bit more than just a skin deep. Before, for example went to the clock application you immediately went back to the old boring Windows Mobile interface. Now going to the clock application you actually stay in Touch Pro3D2. It looks great; luckily it’s not restricted to the clock application now pretty much all you need is integrated into the smooth looking interface. But unfortunately the old Windows Mobile interface is only a few steps away. For example when going to the inbox of your email or when creating a new appointment on your calendar it’s really no issue for me but for some it may be.
Another nice touch of the interface is the sudden vibration that the device gives when switching to the tabs. This really gives its more dynamic feel.
Okay now we’re going into a bit more interesting stuff.
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