The comparison between any smartphone with a large touchscreen and an Apple iPhone has become a cliché, and one we honestly try to avoid, but this time it’s 100%, completely and utterly unavoidable. What’s more, our early impressions are that the HTC Touch HD2 is in many ways better than the iPhone. And that’s despite the use of Windows Mobile 6.5, aka Windows Phone.
The Touch HD2’s most obvious iPhone-beating feature is its screen. Measuring 4.3in diagonally, it dominates the device, and unlike so many other Windows Mobile devices this one abandons the stylus – which frees HTC to use a capacitive screen rather than resistive. And the consequence of this is a far more responsive operating system to the touch: no irritating presses to get results, it just works. Web browsing is a particular pleasure, with even complex pages like the BBC’s home screen appearing on-screen after a few seconds’ delay. You then double click on the area you’re interested in and it zooms up close. So far, it’s the closest you’ll get to a desktop-like browsing experience on a mobile. The drawback is size, with the HTC Touch HD2 measuring 67mm across and 121mm high – it’s around the same footprint as a large box of matches. What makes this more than bearable is its 11mm thickness, 1.6mm slimmer than the iPhone and enough to make the HD2 barely noticeable in a pocket.
It feels great to the touch as well. The rubberised finish, metallic rear and huge screen give it the look and feel of an expensive piece of kit, and even the relatively heavy weight of 157g somehow adds to this sense of quality rather than just feeling like a burden.
There are four physical buttons on the front, all of which are logical: you can jump to HTC’s home screen by pressing the Home icon, or to the hexagonal list of apps which forms the main screen of Windows Mobile 6.5.
But we’re almost more impressed by what’s on the back: a 5-megapixel camera complete with LED flash and auto focus. All it lacks compared to “proper” compact cameras is an optical zoom (but how long before even that appears?). The photos will never win you awards, but they’re perfectly good for snaps and capture good amounts of detail.
With HTC’s excellent Sense software built on top of Windows Phone, you’ll rarely need to call upon the still-disappointing interface offered by Microsoft’s smartphone software: the Home screen defaults to a weather summary, complete with raindrops if that matches your weather (which it picks up courtesy of the GPS radio built into the device).
Swish your finger and you’ll jump to the next screen, whether that’s the web browser, including support for YouTube videos, or a set of your favourite apps. Though this does highlight a weakness that HTC can’t overcome: compared to the immense number of applications available for the iPhone, all of which meet Apple’s stringent quality control, the offering from Windows Marketplace is wafer-thin.
Then again, as Microsoft would argue, you get seamless synchronisation with Windows XP, Vista and 7, plus you benefit from all the mobile versions of Microsoft Office.
We haven’t had the opportunity to test the HD2’s battery life as fully as we’d like yet, but indications are that it will last for only a day or two of moderate use – and bearing in mind how often you’ll want to jump on the internet, take photos and generally show off, we suspect most will want to use the HD2 more than moderately. At least it charges via MicroUSB rather than a proprietary connector.
The final two comparisons versus the iPhone are price and storage. For storage, the HD2 loses out. It only comes with 512MB of ROM and 448MB of RAM, compared to the 8GB or 16GB of storage you get with an iPhone; you can expand the HD2’s storage via the microSD slot.
On price, it’s safe to say there’s far more choice when choosing the HD2, where the free market – the fact the HD2 is available from any mobile operator, not Apple’s chosen few – means you can get the HD2 for “free” from £26 per month. Note, though, that you’ll want to opt for a contract with Mobile Internet thrown in.
It’s too early for us to give our definitive verdict – we want to test the Touch HD2 far more thoroughly – but from this excellent start we’re convinced the HD2 will push the iPhone even more closely than the already impressive HDC Touch HD
