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27 Nov 2009
The HD2 is not perfect, but it's probably the best Windows phone we've ever seen. HTC's Sense user interface makes it much more usable than many other touch-screen phones, and the large 4.3in display makes mobile web browsing almost bearable. However, the screen makes the HD2 large for a phone, and its SIM-free price tag is comparable with some laptop PCs.
Pros:
Large 4.3in touch-screen; Sense user interface; social network clients.
Cons:
Outsized for a phone; pricey as a SIM-free purchase.
Price: £499 (SIM-free)
Manufacturer: HTC
The HTC HD2 is a high-end smartphone with a large touch screen and a customisable user interface, which comes about as close as you can currently get to the experience of Apple's iPhone on a Windows Mobile handset.
Available now on O2, Vodafone and T-Mobile, the HD2 is the first Windows phone to feature a capacitive touch screen, according to HTC. It is also one of the first handsets we have seen running Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional, and boasts built-in applications for social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, along with one or two other interesting features.
With its larger than average 4.3in screen, HTC's Sense user interface, and a powerful enough processor to drive it all, the HD2 makes touch input much more practical and usable than on many other handsets we have seen.
On the downside, this screen makes the phone itself a little large to easily fit in a pocket, and it is also costly to buy as a SIM-free device, with resellers such as Expansys offering it at a whopping £499. This aside, we found the HD2 to be one of the most impressive smartphones we have used.
Specifications
In hardware terms, the HD2 is similar to many other high-end smartphones, with HSPA support up to 7.2Mbit/s, 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and built-in GPS capability.
Our evaluation handset came from HTC itself, but we were able to test it using a 3G SIM kindly provided by Vodafone, which we found provided a decent download speed for browsing the web.
The handset is based on Qualcomm's 1GHz Snapdragon processor with 448MB RAM and 512MB Flash ROM, and storage can be expanded via a micro SD card slot.
At 120mm x 67mm, the HD2 is noticeably larger than most other rival devices such as the iPhone, but it's just 11mm thick. It also weighs more than the iPhone at 157g, but this makes it no heavier than RIM's BlackBerry Storm2.
This size is dictated by the handset's large 4.3in screen, and HTC has put the real estate to good use with its Sense user interface, making most of the on-screen controls a decent size, whereas it is all too easy to tap the wrong control with many other touch screen devices.
We found the 480 x 800 screen clear and bright, and had no difficulty using the HD2 in various ambient light conditions.
Just below the screen are a set of buttons, two for the phone call and hang up functions, plus a home key, back button, and Windows menu key. Aside from the volume up/down control on the side of the HD2, all other input is via the screen. A micro USB connector for recharge and PC connection is on the bottom of the case, along with an earphone jack socket.
With HTC's Sense, the home screen is dominated by a simulated Rolodex-style flip clock and a background animation showing the local weather. This screen can also be customised with quick link buttons to applications, individual contacts, or bookmarked web URLs.
At the bottom of the screen is a scrolling strip that links to commonly accessed functions such as people (contacts), calendar, mail, internet, music, and photos & videos. Sliding a finger along this allows you to easily bring up the one you want.
Several of these, such as messaging, calendar and mail, actually provide a more user-friendly front-end than the built-in Windows applications. HTC has also applied its Sense look and feel to many of the Windows settings screens, making them more usable than would otherwise be the case.
Tapping the Start menu at the top of the screen brings up the Windows Mobile menu, which in version 6.5 features larger icons arranged in a hexagonal grid to make them easier to tap with a fingertip.
Overall, we found the user interface on the HD2 very responsive, and we could zoom through lists with just the flick of a fingertip, plus the larger screen area seems to make it easier to touch the control you intended to. We still found that we often tapped the wrong on-screen control by accident, but this is a drawback common to every touch-screen phone we've ever used.
However, while some applications, such as the Opera browser, automatically change screen orientation if you twist the phone round, others do not, which is an annoying (if trivial) bugbear.
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Please put expanded photos in the massive empty space on the sides of the webpage, not on a new page where I cannot continue to read the article.
Please put expanded photos in the massive empty space on the sides of the webpage, not on a new page where I cannot continue to read the article. It just makes sense to be able to see the object and read about it at the same time, like in a proper magazine. Look at all the empty wasted space, make some use of it by providing user-requested content. Like photos of the product, maybe a pdf link to the brochure etc.
Posted by: interested_party 16 Dec 2009
Have they fixed the annoyances from the original HD?
Annoyances for me on HD1 are: Problem: Tiny text link to open Comm Manager, eventually. Details: Click on little G icon in top right. Screen opens so click again on G, this one is bigger, then a text box with tiny writing opens, inside that is a very tiny link with the words "Comm Manager" which is too small for a finger to hit, so now you have to take out the stylus and click that link even though you were ok using your fingertip. Next screen is the screen that should have opened in the first place, Comm Manager. Why there are 3 awkward steps I don't know. Is this fixed? Windows media player - cannot turn off the screen otherwise the player stop playing music, so the battery is wasted by lighting the screen for hours. Is this fixed? Is there a media player that can run with the screen turned off? Voice Control: Is this function implemented yet? Can I control the phone from the car holder using my voice yet? Capacitive Screen - can I still work this using my fingertips, what does it mean in use? Will a screen protector still work? Large screen phones - hint - always use the foolish looking wallet holder and belt buckle attacher. I went through 10 of the HTC Trinitys by having them in my back pocket, dust, sweat, squashing, it kills big screen phones. Review Hint - please show more photos, especially 1 for each paragraph or point, would be really nice. Thanks for the review.
Posted by: interested_party 16 Dec 2009
Do any of you own the phone?
Had the HD2 since it came out and love it - best phone I've owned period. The comments here seem to be completely at odds with mine and others experiences of this phone. It is ridiculously robust, well specified, and fully featured on every front. If you want a brilliant device for mobile work, this is definitely one to look at.
Posted by: Eiren O'Keeffe 03 Dec 2009
Very Good Phone
I have had the HTCHD2 for 3 days now and i have had no problems with it.
Posted by: Albert St Clair 01 Dec 2009
HTC HD2 is the worst phone in the market - do not wast money
HTC HD-2 is the worst phone I have seen. I have returned it in just two days. My email indicating ome of the problems to mobileponedirect are shown below: I request you to kindly return HTC HD-2. I will buy any other good handset with contract from you. I have been buying instruments from you since last 5 years and have very high confidence on your services. For your information, problems experienced by me using HTC-HD-2 are listed below. I am so disappointed that I do not want to keep this instrument at any cost. Please take it back and cancel my contract. 1. HTC sense is actually HTC nonsense. It opens any screen randomly and phone does not go back to the screen which I have been using. 2. Internet Explorer, YouTube, Face book, Google map never worked. Opera worked intermittently and very unsatisfactorily. 3. While dialing a phone number screen freezes every time preventing me to dial next digits. The instrument can not perform the basic function of calling a phone number. 4. Even if phone number gets dialed, It gets connected only after indicating false engage half a dozen times. I checked this by dialing my own landline which was free available in front of me. 5. Last number redial and other basic functions are poorer than £10 phone. I never expected this from HTC HD-2. If you do not return phone and cancel contract, I will be forced submit my view to various reviewing websites and take any appropriate action for getting the contract cancelled. I must repeat that I am very disappointed and do not like to use the phone or replacement.
Posted by: Vishwa 30 Nov 2009
beware htc wasrranty on large screen phones
Beware of HTC's large screen phones. Any force applied to them, even taking off a screen protector, is enough to produce "newton rings" and the screen stops responding to touch. Not much use for a touch screen phone. HTC refuse to cover this by warranty and refuse to negotiate. expect to shell out up to $500 to repair it. With no guarantee that the next screen won't do the same thing. Design or Materials fault but they won't cover it by warranty.
Posted by: clustered 29 Nov 2009
Buggy phone
I'm finding the HTC HD2 is prone to crashing. I find it worse when a phone crashes than a PC, because you don't expect a phone to crash. HTC is very clever with its Sense interface, which acts as a cover over the Windows Mobile OS that sits underneath. This is quite good initially, as it works out of the box. But when you try to install applications you find that many are often not designed for the touch interface. I think many Windows Mobile apps hark from the Pocket PC days (Windows Mobile used to be called Pocket PC), which used a stylus pen. The famous pink camera defect is apparent on my unit, and I can see the pink aura over every photo. I find that frustrating, and don't want that pink color cast over my photos. The media player freezes quite often. I think HTC could improve this phone on what it is now. Maybe HTC can iron out the problems and release a revised version next year. But by then the HD2 will probably be superseded by the HTC Passion, which runs Android.
Posted by: Manmohan 29 Nov 2009