If big is beautiful, then the HTC Touch Pro2 is absolutely drop dead, stunningly, and unbelievably gorgeous. And there is much to admire about this handset. But given both size and price, deep oversized pockets are an indisputable precondition of ownership.
As Techradar explains, “this is a brick of a handset at 116x59x17mm and a whopping 179g.” Stuff calls it “an absolute beast”, Register Hardware “a hulking brute”, while PC Pro finds it “too big and beefy”. Techradar also fears “many will simply find it too cumbersome for everyday use.”
For ZDNet UK “the physical design is reminiscent of an old favourite of ours, the TyTN II.” But PC Advisor is not alone in thinking it still looks “visually stunning”.
“This powerhouse flies the flag for hard-nosed suits everywhere,” states Stuff, and Register Hardware agrees it “has plenty to offer business high flyers.”
To begin with “the Qwerty keyboard slides out to reveal five rows of well-spaced, backlit buttons” and, according to Register Hardware,“it's a joy to use.” “The keyboard itself is superb,” exclaims ZDNet UK. “As close to mobile typing perfection as I have encountered,” affirms Trusted Reviews, acclaiming the keyboard “one of the biggest highlights of the device.”
The keyboard is, says Stuff, “incredibly palatial with raised large buttons for accurate speed typing.” “It's even just about big enough to rest it on a desktop and use your fingers just like a proper grown-up keyboard,” thinks Techradar.
What’s more, as ZDNet UK points out, “when the keyboard is revealed, the screen section can be tilted to an angle of 50 degrees. This makes it easy to view the screen when the Touch Pro 2 is sitting on a desk. For many users,” they conclude, “this will be the major attraction.”
The screen itself is “3.6in of sharp, clear joy,” says Techradar, “bright, sharp and clear.” “Superb,” thinks ZDNet UK, “impressively sharp and bright.” “Stunning” is the description Trusted Reviews chooses to employ, “only the Touch HD proving its equal and the OLED based Samsung i8910 its superior.”
“A joy both to view and to use,” enthuses Register Hardware, “the screen is nicely responsive to the touch, easily distinguishing between presses and swipes, and gives a gentle burr of haptic feedback when you access functions.”
|
|
ZDNet UK confirms “the touch-screen is extremely responsive,” adding “and finger scrolling works well.” Techradar is also of the opinion “sensitivity is just about right (which is just as well, since there's no way to adjust it),” they add, “and it had very few problems distinguishing between a press and a swipe.”
All essentially agree with PC Pro’s belief that HTC’s “TouchFLO 3D now casts such a heavy veil over the iniquities of Microsoft's mobile operating system that you hardly realise it's there.” Techradar confirms “the latest version of HTC's TouchFLO 3D interface which sits on top of the Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system is the best we've yet seen.” Similarly, while Trusted Reviews accepts that Windows is “not the best mobile operating system currently on the market,” they do think that this is “easily the best Windows Mobile experience to date.”
“The speaker,” argues PC Advisor, “is one of the coolest features on the HTC Touch Pro2.” The reason, explains ZDNet UK, is “a feature called Straight Talk. If you flip the device on its front during a call, it automatically reconfigures as a speakerphone system for conference calling.” This “allows you to choose up to five participants for a conference call, network permitting,” says Register Hardware. And it “gives it an edge over fellow business phones,” states Stuff.
However, although Techradar thinks “watching video on theTouch Pro2 is a joy” and Stuff thinks “the large screen is prime real estate for full fat web surfing via the Opera Mobile browser,” other media features are thought less impressive.
The camera is “the usual unremarkable HTC affair,” Trusted Reviews despairs, “with shots flat, pixellated and fairly lifeless.” ZDNetUK employs the same “unremarkable" descriptor, while Stuff thinks it “takes vapid snaps.” Register Hardware agrees it’s “not really a major selling point.” Techradar simply says it “leaves much to be desired.”
Nor did Techradar find the video facilities any improvement. It “records at 640x480 pixels but it finds movement too much of a struggle to avoid regular blurring,” they note, before acknowledging “there's also a bog standard VGA camera on the front for video calling.”
As far as music is concerned, there are the usual moans about the lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack, and “the earphones provided are tinny and weak,” complains Trusted Reviews. Fortunately “music via Windows Media Player offered no real problems” to Techradar, although they “were also a bit disappointed there was no FM radio.”
ZDNet UK found battery life “a little disappointing.” Register Hardware agreed it “was so-so, though not bad for a media-hungry smartphone.”
Thankfully Register Hardware also thought “call quality seemed consistently good, with voices sounding clear and distinct without too much overt compression.” Techradar agreed.
In conclusion, said Trusted Reviews, the Touch Pro2 is “a beautifully styled and extremely well built smartphone.” PC Pro conceded “it could justifiably claim to be the ultimate corporate smartphone, but,” they decided, “it's just too big for us to recommend it.”
“HTC's best smartphone yet,” proclaimed ZDNet UK. “A hugely impressive business powerhouse and the finest Windows Mobile phone you can buy,” agreed Stuff, “those on the hunt for an accomplished business phone should definitely take a look but,” they warned, “the Touch Pro 2’s king-size chassis, fitful multimedia performance and expensive price tag means it won’t have huge appeal beyond the boardroom.”
Register Hardware likewise thought it “a top-notch business handset clearly aimed at high flyers,” with Techradar agreeing it was “a great business tool which is also plenty of fun to use.”
So if you think you have the strength and you want what is arguably the best business phone currently available, even if it is more of a desktop than a mobile, then thanks to the TouchFLO interface largely rendering Windows invisible, this could be just the brick for you.