Gadgetory

when it comes to Windows Phones HTC is a driving force it has the largest market share in the Windows Mobile Device arena and in this review you'll find out why that is its LP from TechnoBuffalo and welcome to my review of the hd2 so in this review I'll be taking HCC's new flagship device through the same course of tests and benchmark I recently put the touch pro2 and Nokia n97 through everything from multitasking tests to gaming and video codecs benchmarking using core player I'll also be taking the hd2 on the road to see how its built-in GPS works with the copilot software included on the device we'll be taking an in-depth look at the HTC's new sense user interface that HTC has been working on for a couple of years now HTC Sense is a tightly knit UI with extensive social network integration it is something HTC is very proud of so you'll be hearing my thoughts and opinions about the new user interface before we get started let's take a quick look at what's included with the device I should probably mention that the box and all the packaging materials are eco-friendly and disposable which is kind of cool so inside the box we have your operation metals and promotional coupons a very firm feeling another pouch for the device a 2gig micro SD card and adapter your standard HTC charger the USB sync cable and a set of earphones with a 3.5 millimeter plug a decent set of accessories but let's get to the device itself the hd2 is a successor to the touch HD which was a relative of success from last year at its launch the touch HD wielded the largest screen of any smartphone and it's nice to see that the HD 2 carries on that tradition I mean look at this thing it's huge the boxy caming was not lying it's much larger than the screen on the iPhone it Dwarfs both the screens on the diamond 2 in the touch pro2 and it's not only screen size that has been upped the screen is now capacitive touch screen meaning that is now registered thermal and infrared signals instead of physical pressure like cold resistive screens positive screens don't need to flex so they can be made out of harder material select glass the 82 is a glass screen that has been coated with an anti smudge surface that has very little friction when you run her finger across it it gathers very little grease that is easy to wipe off the difference in friction is very noticeable when comparing to the plastic resistive screens on the diamond - and touch pro2 so sliding your finger on the screen feels a lot more natural the glass also contributed to the rigidness of the device the hd2 is one of the more if not the most well built devices I've had in my hands it's a bit hefty but the weight contributes to the feeling of quality and the device can definitely take a good beating the device is very streamlined and the back cover of the device is a nice dark piece of brushed metal and the rest of the back is covered by a black hardened rubber material which gives the device a nice grip to it while we're here we notice the five megapixel camera and I have to point out that the lens is actually raised quite high above the frame and for some reason it has very sharp edges minor design flaw but nothing too serious best not to slide the 82 on scratched prone surfaces and if you for some reason wear spandex pants I recommend not putting the 82 in your pocket and I also recommend if you're a guy don't wear pants made out of spandex under the back cover is a 1230 milliamp battery and as you can see the sim card slot is now in a place where you don't have to detach the battery which is a refreshing change the microSD slot is also in a very accessible place even though the hc2 looks massive from the front it's actually very thin it's less than half the width of the touch pro2 and it's significantly thinner than the diamond - thanks to the thinness it doesn't feel too big in the hand but I'm pretty sure that this is as big as mobile devices will get well unless the old briefcase phones come back into fashion you never know my old mobi R of 450 was pretty hot back in the day but truthfully human hands ain't getting any bigger so I'm pretty sure this is as big as it gets scratch that I just received the next generation iPhone and is pretty big it almost feels like it's made out of foam anyway the device is very streamlined and it has very few mechanical buttons on the front the answer and end calls and holding down the end call Keys acts as a power button as well we also have the home screen button windows button and back buttons the buttons do feel solid but they have a little shake to them but it isn't too bad on the side we have the up and down volume keys and that's about it for the moving parts on the device it's not only the screen that has been given an update the chipset and processor has been given a significant update the 528 megahertz processor on predeceasing HTC models has been replaced by a one gigahertz Snapdragon processor and if you ask me the hardware running Windows Mobile devices haven't always done justice to the operating system but let's find out if that has changed with almost double the clock rate as you can see the hd2 blows away the touch pro2 in start-up time so it's off to a good start so here we are in the sense UI HTC Sense is a custom user interface that runs on top of windows mobile 6.5 the old interface test for 3d 2 is now gone but the new UI definitely bears a keen resemblance to the old touchable 3d I am glad that the new UI is the complete redo because the touchflo 3d 2 was and still is one of the most appealing things about the previous series of devices as you can see the home screen has changed a bit on top we still have a clock in the calendar new to the home screen is the local weather icon we also notice that the weather animations can now be part of the home screen the new animations are pretty impressive but if you're annoyed by the weather animations you can easily turn them off and just take a look outside the window to see that it's raining you can customize your home screen with animated wallpapers or just plain old JPEGs a very smart addition to the home screen are the Quick Links slots where you can add your favorite programs contacts and links to your favorite websites it's simply a great addition to the home screen because there's always going to be tasks that need be done more often than others adding and subtracting links is simple and fast as you can see the capacitive screen combined with a Snapdragon processor translates into a much more fluid user experience there's no drop in framerate no screen tearing and no sudden halt to experience on previous models it can almost keep up with my lightning fast fingers but not quite moving through the UI is still impressively fast and the capacitive touch screen needs very little pressure to register the actions you barely need to touch the screen single hand navigation is still very possible and the large screen makes it very suitable for flicking around even with fat thumbs like mine the sense UI is an evolution from the touchable 3d to interface let's take a quick look at the tabs so the people's tab has now got a very functional update you no longer need to flick through your contacts which I too thought was a bit unnecessary here you can see a list of my closest buddies and when I for example run my finger over Arnold here I am shown all the previous interactions calls messages and emails it's very convenient to keep track of what's been discussed the people's tab has a very elegant but simple design and most importantly it's very functional and if there's something strange in the neighborhood I know who to call there's very little change in the message and email taps pretty basic stuff and here's another place where you can see the Snapdragon processor doing its job animations are smooth and flicking between messages and emails is super fast and while we're here let's type a quick message to show off the typing capabilities of the new capacitive screen as I mentioned capacitive screens register on thermal signals so you can't use a stylus or your fingernails to operate the device resistive screens are a bit more accurate but the capacitive screen on the HT 2 is very intuitive you barely ever miss your mark even though I'm a strictly keyboard guy I have to say that the big screen combined with capacitive technology and the xt9 predictive text software makes the HD 2 excellent for typing the xt 9 seems to work so well that you barely need to know how to spell to punch out your words