Gadgetory

pop quiz what did the HTC hd2 and Boost Mobile have in common they've both been around a long time but also Boost Mobile is sponsoring this episode of the pocket now throwback so if you want to save some cash on your monthly phone bill you should click the first link in the description down below or this one right up here in the annotation boost offers unlimited talk text and web and you don't have to sign a contract go ahead and click one of those links as soon as you can because if you do it before March 31st you'll save 50 bucks off your phone purchase thanks to Boost Mobile for the sponsorship and thanks to you for watching 2009 it was the year the terms sexting auto-tune and birther entered the public lexicon the year of the Octomom the year a jumbo jet landed in the Hudson River it doesn't seem like that long ago until you remember that the current version of Windows Phone wasn't even out yet and our intro for Pocket now videos still looked like this yet almost five years after its release a Windows Mobile smartphone from this period in history has defied all odds to stay relevant making some history of its own in the process if you followed its path to release you might have known it as the T 85 85 the T 91 93 or the Leo but its proper name is the HTC hd2 we first reviewed it way back in 2010 and we just unboxed a refurb last week so let's review it again this is the HTC hd2 and this is PocketNow throwback the HD 2 has never been a humble device even before it became the world's most adaptable platform for mobile programmers it's stole headlines for its sheer power in 2009 it's 1 gigahertz Qualcomm scorpion processor was bleeding edge it's 4.3 inch display positively massive by the standards of the day that large screen area drove the hardware size up sure but HTC did a good job of keeping its chassis pocketable while it was still a big device for the time its footprint today seems petite when compared with modern smartphones like the HTC One it's 11 millimeter thickness sharp physical hardware keys and the attractive combination of brushed metal and soft touch plastic on the back make for a very handsome device one that holds up pretty well even today going back to the display there's more to it than just sheer size it's also capacitive and capable of multi-touch input both firsts for a device running Windows Mobile which was a platform built for resistive touchscreens and styluses the HD 2 shipped with windows mobile 6.1 but it wasn't the tap happy pocket PC operating system of yesteryear instead HTC had developed one of the most complete shells ever for this version of Windows a shell which made its debut on this device under the now-familiar name HTC Sense it's amazing how deeply senses hooks dug into Windows Mobile asking almost every aspect of Microsoft's aging OS and replacing many of its stock programs with custom-built HTC apps and while in 2014 we might complain about such a heavy skin in 2009 this was absolutely critical to making the HD 2 palatable to a consumer audience expecting iPhone like fluidity and iconography of course the real beauty of the HD 2 is that it was able to offer the best of both worlds its software was able to deliver much of the tap and go simplicity of the iPhone but the powerful underpinnings of Windows Mobile were still accessible to those users with the desire to tweak and paired with the phone's beefy hardware and some well-placed marketing by HTC it made the HD 2 a sell-out success several times over a big win both for its manufacturer and t-mobile its exclusive launch partner in the States unlike with other phones though the HD to success story didn't stop there the device is incredibly modern friendly thanks to its ability to install different OSS from the SD card or flash memory and that tweak ability combined with an already high affection for the device in the Windows user community created a kind of perfect storm the dev world rallied behind the HD 2 hacking it to run operating systems ranging from the different flavors of Android all the way up to KitKat 2 Windows Phone 7 to Firefox OS to do bun two distributions even to proof-of-concept builds of Windows RT yeah the tablet OS combined with the official support of its maker in terms of accessories the phone has reached almost mythical levels of worship that don't look like they're going away anytime soon today the HTC hd2 stands as a monument to a steadfast computing platform and a testament to the power of a well built machine to capture the imagination and the affection of a generation of smartphone enthusiasts got the itch for more smartphone nostalgia we can scratch that for you check out our pocket now throwback playlist here on YouTube there are throwbacks for so many devices and a lot more to come we also have reviews of current devices both here and at pocketnow.com and there's also a like button down the description below if you enjoyed this throwback please click it leave a comment below with your own remembrances of the hd2 and let us know what device you want us to throwback review next until next time this has been michael fisher with PocketNow follow us on social media to see what we're talking about and most importantly thanks for watching see on the next one pitching for more nostalgia don't worry we've got a lot more to feed your navel-gazing impulses don't worry we'll scratch that for you let's scratch that itch for you we can scratch that this is my situation not yours our situations are different I don't always have to wear a suit jacket because I ain't always fancy no I mean not a minute no Sam got the itch for more nostalgia this is the HTC hd2 yeah let's do that