HTC HD2: Review
HTC HD2
Pros: Beautiful 4.3-inch capacitive screen, 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, HTC Sense, 5-MP camera, HD video recording
Cons: Windows Mobile 6.5, not upgradable to Windows Phone 7, decent call quality, T-Mobile, sluggish when many apps are open
Summary: If it weren’t for T-Mobile and the outdated operating system, this would be a fantastic phone to own. If you have the money, buy the unlocked version.
The HTC HD2 was released on 3/24/2010 and is available through T-Mobile store or in an unlocked version. The HD2 is a behemoth of a phone to say the least, with a 4.3-inch capacitive touch screen. Some notable features of the phone include, a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, a 5-MP camera which can record HD video, and preloaded movies and entertainment features.
Design and Hardware:
As mentioned earlier, HTC’s mindset with this device was, “Bigger is better.” The phone measures 4.74″ tall by 2.64″ wide and weighs nearly a 1/3 of a pound. This is a phone that will garner the attention of everyone in the room and is sure to stretch your pocket. Regardless of its large size the phone is quiet attractive due in part to its relative thinness at just .43″ thick. The back of the phone has a soft-touch finish which is comfortable to the touch and gives the phone a nice grip.
The real standout feature of this device is the screen which measures 4.3-inches wide and has a WVGA resolution of 480×800-pixels. The screen is vibrant, sharp, vivid, and readable in almost all lighting. Everything looks beautiful on this phone from Settings menus to Blockbuster videos; the screen is truly a step up from the rest. In addition to being beautiful, the screen also provides a great deal of real estate with which to browse the web, write emails, or send out text messages. The capacitive screen also supports multi-touch features such as pinch-and-zoom.
The virtual keyboard, available in both portrait and landscape mode, is spacious and easy to use. The large layout makes the transition from a physical keyboard to a virtual one just a bit easier. Further, Swype technology is available on the phone, which is great. Swype is a feature that allows a user to drag their finger from letter to letter as opposed to pressing each one individually. Although it can be intimidating and many wonder if it is actually faster, once you get used to it, it is far superior to standard touch-screen texting. However, if you are not ready for the change, you can opt for a regular touch-keyboard.
Other features that are included on the phone are a 3.5mm headphone jack, accelerometer, microSD slot (located behind the battery), micro-USB port, proximity sensor, and 5 quick-access buttons. The phone ships with a 16-GB microSD card preloaded with the first two Transformers movies.
The 5-MP camera with dual-LED flash is located on the back of the phone and comes with autofocus and various editing options. The camera delivered great photo quality, although pictures can occasionally appear dark or a bit fuzzy at 100% resolution. Video recording on the camera was great, especially in HD, although it did occasionally freeze.
Image on left is taken with HD2′s camera, while the image on the right is a 100% crop from that image. As you can see the quality is quite impressive.
Software and Features:
The biggest downfall of the HD2 is that it runs Windows Mobile 6.5, an old, slow, and clunky operating system, which is very close to being obsolete with the release of Windows 7 imminent. Making this problem worse is the fact that the HD2 will NOT be upgradable to Windows Mobile 7 due to a hardware issue. HTC attempts to improve 6.5′s interface with their HTC Sense user interface and definitely succeeds. The home screen is much more user friendly, customizable, and intuitive. While Sense improves the overall outward appeal of the phone, it does not provide any remedy for the notoriously buggy operating system, poorly organized menus, or poor program management. If you do not care about having the newest and the “best” software, are tech-savy, or are interested in rooting your phone then 6.5′s presence may not be a huge issue.
The phone comes packaged with a Barnes & Noble’s e-book reader app which has access to over a million books, newspapers, magazines, and other content. If you hold a B&N account, you will be able to access all previously downloaded material. The big display makes reading a book a pleasant experience, although it probably still is no match for a Kindle.
In addition, you receive access to a Blockbuster Mobile app which allows you to preview or download movies on the go. Once purchased, a movie is available for viewing on any other device (i.e. Computer or TV). The phone also comes with a 30-day trial to MobiTV which provides content from various TV channels such as NBC and ESPN. The phone also comes with a standard Windows Media Player which supports WMV, MPEG4, AVI, and 3GP video codecs, as well as MP3, AAC, WAV, and WMA music files, among others. Lastly the phone supports Bluetooth, 3G, Wi-Fi, threaded texting, Opera, Internet Explorer 6, TeleNav GPS, Twitter, Peep, Slacker Radio, and Guitar Hero 5.
Performance:
T-mobile coverage is spotty at best Philadelphia and can often vary even when staying in a single building. When there was a connection, both call quality and data speeds were fine, but not spectacular. Wi-Fi connected with ease and performed to my expectations.
The streaming video quality of device was good when using Wi-Fi, but was often choppy when used on the EDGE network. Music playback was acceptable, but there were no EQ options to create a more personal experience. Nonetheless, the HD2 provides an admirable multimedia-replacement device.
The Snapdragon processor was – well – snappy. The phone was quick to open apps and complete commands. If many applications were open, performance did suffer slightly as it would on any phone. I do imagine that the phone would be even faster if apps such Blockbuster and Barnes and Nobles E-book reader were removed, leaving more room for memory processes.
Battery life on HD2 is decent and can last a full day of moderate usage. However if you plan on being on the phone all day or using Wi-Fi heavily you should probably carry a charger around.
Please post you opinions and comments below. If you wish to rate the device, simply rate the article as we are still working on user review system. Thanks!
Design and Hardware Rating: 8.5/10
Software and Features Rating: 8.0/10
Performance Rating: 8.0/10
Overall Rating: 8.17/10 – Very Good
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The HD2 is so hard to get hold of in the UK nowadays. It’s a shame because it’s possibly the best of the Windows 6.5 phones. It’s the one I always found the most practical anyway. I know you can buy refurb units from MobiCity and one or two other places around here, but getting your hands on new HD2s in bulk at a reasonable price is so difficult.
I was just wondering if people could tell me what sort of quality you can expect from a refurbished model? I’m not expecting them to be sparkling but would appreciate something functional and decent in appearance…