In 2007, Apple Computers made their first foray into the world of mobile phones. Since then, they have taken the mobile world by storm, and their phone, the Apple iPhone, has gone on to become the most popular 3d smartphone . With revolutionary features and an innovative design, for the last 2 years, no phone has come even close to beating the iPhone in terms of..well, everything actually.
However, in the latter half of 2009, almost all the major mobile phone manufacturers released cell phones to directly compete with the Apple iPhone. Samsung, HTC, Palm, Motorola, Nokia, and even the lesser known brands, updated technology in their handsets to compete with the higher end models being launched. Successful to some extent, it can be safely said that no phone has come close to beating the iPhone comprehensively. Phones such as the Palm Pre, Motorola Droid, Samsung Omnia HD, Nokia N97 and N900, and the HTC HD2 were among the phones that directly competed to clinch the top spot in the smartphone market. While some these were successful – the Palm Pre and the Droid are doing reasonably well in the market – others failed to match up to the expectation required to topple the iPhone.
Of all these phones, the Palm Pre and HTC’s latest offering, the HD2, have come the closest to beating the iPhone. Today, we will take a look at the HD2, and a few of its major features so you can decide if this is the phone for you.
HTC HD2 Phone Review
Interface
The HD2 runs on Windows Mobile 6.5, with a specially ported Sense UI from the Android platform on top of the Windows shell. In layman’s terms, this translates to using the Sense UI for most of the common tasks, with Windows running in the background. Average users and beginners will not see the Windows interface, except in some situations, though advanced users will find the Windows interface appearing more often. Whether this is a pro or a con cannot be said, as there are an equal number of people who like and hate the Windows Mobile Operating System. Another interesting point to note is that while the Sense UI has been ported from the Android platform, it looks and works more like the TouchFlo3D that was seen on the Touch Diamond. With the HD2s capacitive, 4.3 inch touchscreen (more on that later) this interface works wonderfully well and should cause no problems to users. The interface is very fast and snappy, and as receptive to the finger as the iPhone. With its plethora of shortcuts and customizations, this ported Sense UI gives the HD2 a very competitive interface that is not only much easier to use than the Windows Mobile interface, but also as easy to use as the iPhone.
Display
The display of the HD2, along with its processor, is the major USP of the phone. Sporting a whopping 4.3 inch display, the HD2 has the largest display among all mobile phones. And that’s not all. This huge and monstrous display features capacitive technology, making it one of the best touchscreens around. Though some claim that the iPhone has a better display, I personally feel that the HD2 features a much better display. Not only is it almost an inch larger than the iPhone display, it also supports a much higher resolution as well, when plus size bathing suits compared to the iPhone. Being so huge, and believe me, 4.3 inches on a mobile phone is huge, HTC has managed to make the Windows interface much easier to use. Simple things like typing messages and clicking on icons is much easier, not only compared to windows phones, but also to the other touchscreen phones in the market. And like the iPhone 3GS, it has a scratch resistant surface and an oleophobic coating as well. With its huge size and superior resolution, it is worth buying this phone just for the display alone.
Processor
Though not the first phone to use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processor, the HTC HD2 is the first major manufacturer that had used this processor. The previous one was a phone by Acer (Liquid), which didn’t offer anything different other than the use of the processor. The HD2, on the other hand, uses the Snapdragon processor to great effect. Its 1Ghz speed ensures that navigation on the HD2 is flawless, without any stutters and jerks. The processor also handles all the effects and animations with aplomb, making the HD2 a blazingly fast device to use. The faster processor, coupled with an increase in RAM (to 448 MB), also takes care of the multitasking abilities of the phone, ensuring that there are no delays when buttons are pressed. Users who have used windows phones before will be pleased to know that due to this processor and RAM combo, there are no applications that hang or freeze for a few seconds before responding, something that was a major problem in previous windows mobile phones. The Snapdragon processor also greatly improves the multimedia experience of the phone, and everything works as it should…smoothly and without lag. That being said, the phone does run Windows Mobile and there will be a few times when the phone hangs or freezes with no apparent reason, but thankfully this is few and far in between. All in all, using this processor had proved to be a success and even the problems of the Windows Mobile OS have almost been ironed out.
Size & Build
This is another important aspect that needs to be kept in mind while buying a phone, and while HTC has almost pushed this to the limit, they have managed to emerge a winner here too. The phone is large, no doubt about it, but it is not too large to be uncomfortable. And one look at the magnificent screen on the device more than makes up for the size. Truth be told, HTC has managed something extraordinary here, with the phone being a little more than ½ inch bigger than the iPhone, yet sporting a display that is almost 1 inch larger. It also ends up being thinner than the iPhone and in spite of this thinness it incorporates a 3.5 mm jack for standard earphone use. Though it might take a little getting used too, and may end up being too large for dainty women, most men should be happy with the end result. A few days with the HD2 and all other phones seem ridiculously small, even the 3.5 inch screen of the iPhone. And that, in my opinion, is the stuff champions are made of. In spite of its large size, the HD2 feels comfortable in the hand, and the build quality of the phone seems robust. The front, of course, is filled with the monstrous screen, while the back has an aluminum battery cover that adds the right amount of metal touch to the phone. Due to the huge screen size, HTC has used very few buttons on the device itself, only the volume button and buttons for answering calls, cutting calls, the home screen start menu and back key have dedicated buttons. Everything else is accessed by touch. At the end of the day, the size of the HD2 comes well justified indeed.
Memory & Multimedia Capabilities
The HD2 does not have a hard drive and comes with expandable memory options via micro SD cards. The on-board memory remains at 512 MB while the phone accepts memory cards up to 16GB, making storage no problem. Also, the memory card is hot swappable, meaning you do not have to remove the battery to change the card. With a max capacity of 16 GB, storing music and video on the HD2 is very easy. Being memory cards, the drag and drop facility, something sorely missed on the iPhone, is available. This not only makes transferring files easy, but much quicker as well. Multimedia capabilities, thanks again to the processor and the huge screen, is another plus point of the HD2. Watching videos on the HD2 is simply awesome, and the larger screen really makes a huge difference in this respect. The audio player too has been revamped from the windows media player and now uses the Sense UIs player. Audio quality is surprisingly good, but cannot be compared to the iPhone. With the stock ROM, videos will need to be converted, but once converted, it is easy to view high quality videos without any lag or stutter in audio or video. The HD2 comes with an FM radio as well, something that the iPhone misses out on. Once again, because of the large screen, this phone could easily double as your PMP. I keep mentioning the large screen time and again, because it is truly a fabulous screen and has to be seen to be believed. All in all, the HD2 manages to hold its own against the iPhone in terms of multimedia capabilities, something that it should be proud of.
Camera & Gaming
The HD2 features a 5 MP camera with a dual LED flash. This betters the iPhone in two ways, higher MPs (megapixels) and inclusion of the flash. Pictures taken with the camera are surprisingly clear, though some users have mentioned a pink tinge in the pictures. The camera is also capable of manual focus in addition to the auto focus feature. Video recording is possible on the HD2 and while it is not better than a dedicated camcorder, the quality of the videos are good. The inclusion of the LED flash ensures that low light photos and videos are also possible. The camera software is simple and easy to use and features a few modes to play around with as well. Gaming on the phone is a pleasure too, but unfortunately there are very few games available for the touch edition of Windows Mobile. Though this is bound to change, given the hardware specification of the device, it might be some time before mobile games are more available for the HD2. The phone is equipped for motion-based gaming and has 3 games pre-installed on the device.
Miscellaneous
In addition to the above, the HTC touch HD2 also includes standard smartphone features such aGPS, Wi-Fi, sensors, bluetooth, compass, etc. It also comes with Windows Marketplace – an answer to Apple’s App Store – pre-installed. Though the marketplace has few items, this is increasing day by day. Navigational aids and Google Maps are also pre-installed, and subscribing to navigation services will give you voice as well as turn by turn directions. aGPS is easy to set up and use, and is accurate as well, taking hardly few seconds to get a lock on a satellite when in the open. Support for flash content is also available with the pre-installed Internet Explorer browser. Unfortunately, the IE browser does not support multitouch. To counter this, HTC have also included an Opera browser which supports multitouch, but does not support flash. Facebook and Twitter are also integrated into the Sense UI itself, making using these application a very easy task. IM, mail and the usual communication services are all included in the phone. Another unique feature that should be mentioned is the ability to use the phone as a Wi-Fi router, turning your phone’s Internet connection into a hotspot. Powering this beast with all these features is a 1230mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery which lasts comfortably for a day. Battery life of the phone might differ according to the usage of the features of the phone, but with decent usage of almost everything, it was able to last for an entire day. In such feature packed phones, battery life is often the thing that lets the user down, but the HTC HD2 battery life is decent in this respect, at least for the firepower the phone comes equipped with.
Final Words
As of now, the HTC HD2 has some of the best features available in phones today. If it were not for the Windows Mobile operating system, there would be no hesitation in calling this the best phone and an iPhone killer. However, Windows Mobile has been notorious in the past for being a very unstable Operating System and though it had improved greatly over the years, it still needs time to be known as a stable operating system. That being said, the HD2 is still going to prove to be the strongest competition for the iPhone, maybe even after the Nexus One releases on Jan 5. For users who are comfortable with Windows Mobile, this is the best phone on the market by far. For users who are going to make the transition to Windows Mobile for the first time, this is the perfect phone to opt for, and I have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone. And for those users who have used Windows Mobile before and are aware of the problems, this handset might make you rethink your opinion of Windows Mobile.
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