That's right... the HD2 has landed. Actually, we
took the phone over to
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon the other day, but didn't get a chance to show it off, so here we are. Sure, you've seen this guy in action
in earlier videos... but it's still nice to get a look at this monster up close. We're still blown away by the fact that this is a
Windows Mobile 6.5 device -- the skinning job that HTC has done here is nothing short of a miracle. So far we've found the phone to be snappy and responsive, but we're currently putting it through its paces. We'll have a full review shortly, but for now, feast your eyes on the photos below -- and start saving for that
imminent US launch.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Richdog @ Nov 4th 2009 10:16AM
HTC's Sense UI is the best thing to happen to smartphones since capacitive screens came into play. If they really can hide WMO behind a multi-layered UI shield then who cares if it's WMO or not... it should give you almost all of the benefits without of the traditional drawbacks. Well done HTC, well done.
Jason @ Nov 4th 2009 10:28AM
I don't know about the skin job on this, but I have a Sprint TP2. The first thing I did was to shut off all that ridiculous HTC user interface. Complete garbage. Inconsistent. Slow. Pretty eye candy. Not much more. Not that WM 6.1 or by the looks of it 6.5 are nirvana, but are better than the HTC garbage. And WM 6.5.1 looks like a winner.
nick @ Nov 4th 2009 12:38PM
lol are you kidding me, you cant even tell the difference between winmo and anroid how is that good? id never want anyone to see me with a winmo in my life, winmo sucks and it doesn't matter what layer you put over it, its the core that makes things seemless. maybe thats why the iphone is the best*, it was built for success from the ground up, it doesn't need any shitty wanna-be UI to try and lure more customers.
my cousin put it best, i showed him this phone and a couple androids, and this is what he says to me...
"why would i bother with all these other phones when i could just get the iphone" - that pretty much sums up the general population.
only serious nerds would get disgusting winmo covered up with a fake face of sense (LOL) UI.
Plexus @ Nov 4th 2009 1:29PM
@Nik
I have just sold my TouchHD and preordered this HD2.
I have had the HTC TouchHD for one year and wwhen I sold it, last week, it was still the best win mob phone money could buy and arguably the best smartphone bar none too (at least here in DK where Tosh TG01 is not imported)
I also had an iPhone 3GS but got so disappointed by all the functions it sorely lacks (Flash, tethering,etc) and by the abysmal quality of its camera and videocam that I brought it back and got an Hero (european version) instead and It has been a joy to use from day one.
I simply do not belive that anyone who has not been lobotomized and has tried an android phone with Sense UI could possibly prefer an iPhone.
As soon as higher specc'd handsets with android 2.0 (eclair) will hit the market ( Moto Droid/Milestone; experia X10, etc) Android will become very much the only game in town for smartphones, even though some pensionist geezer, a few illiterates, an the odd wierdo will probably continue buying iPhones for some time.
Oh, I also have a Nokia N97, which now, after 3 new roms and dozens of firmware updates has become a pretty good phone too, but as soon as it will come back from Nokia repair shop, I will put it on Craigslist too, not because I don't like it but because
The Hero and the HD2 which I shall receive in a few days are just so much better, faster, nicer looking, versatile, smart and useful.
Brian @ Nov 4th 2009 2:33PM
Does this have a capasitive screen? Because I though WinMo doesn't support it.
Who? @ Nov 4th 2009 8:25PM
@Nik: Why would I bother with all these phones when I could just get a RAZR?
nurotic @ Nov 4th 2009 10:23AM
i like this alot.
The only thing holding me back is if it is WM7 upgradable? There seems to be no definite answer!!
000000 @ Nov 5th 2009 7:16AM
I'd bet a lot of money that WM7 will be running on this regardless if it's "officially" supported or not. XDA
D @ Nov 4th 2009 10:42AM
When you do the review, can you please restrain yourselves from paraphrasing "it's not the iPhone" in every paragraph?
Comparisons are one thing in a review, but blatant biases are not useful.
Who? @ Nov 4th 2009 8:21PM
To that end, can you also not compare the iPhone app store to Windows Marketplace, and thus make it seem like Marketplace is the only way to get WinMo apps? Because that would show an enormous amount of idiocy.
DAVE @ Nov 4th 2009 11:44AM
In UK this is a TMO phone in the US also? What carrier will have it?
Who? @ Nov 4th 2009 8:24PM
Unconfirmed yet, but rumors point to T-Mobile US
D @ Nov 4th 2009 11:09AM
A question for the more technical folks:
Does T-Mobile use all the same spectrums as AT&T? More specifically, could I buy this on T-Mobile, cancel and put it on AT&T with no signal issues due to the phone's radio?
Tbone @ Nov 4th 2009 11:22AM
T-Mobile USA and AT&T uses different frequencies for 3G. If you are cool with EDGE only you could take it any GSM carrier in North America.
D @ Nov 4th 2009 11:27AM
Thanks Tbone. I guess I'll be waiting for this phone to come to one of the Big 3. :-(
Galen20K @ Nov 4th 2009 11:37AM
Wow D you really ARE Ignorant and Learning Impaired, good luck with that yo! ; D Schmuck.
Crunch @ Nov 4th 2009 11:13AM
Is there BlackBerry Connect available for this bad boy? What's the res on it? 800x600? :D
JerryE @ Nov 4th 2009 12:52PM
Resolution is WVGA, so it would be 480x800, or 800x480 -- depending on what orientation you have it in at the moment.
l3it3r @ Nov 4th 2009 3:11PM
I'm currently using this (HTC Sense 2.5) interface on my AT&T Tilt2 and it's Wonderful. On the much faster LEO (HD2) I imagine it's as close to 'perfect' as HTC has been yet. I'm on Phone #5 this year and will probably end up with this one when it finally launches state-side too..
Who? @ Nov 4th 2009 8:22PM
Phone #5? Really? How much have you spent? What's your favorite?
kachra @ Nov 4th 2009 3:32PM
Windows Mobile? No thank you!
newbie @ Nov 5th 2009 12:07AM
i'm aware it's only a rumor but... whyyyyyy would they put this beautiful phone on t-mobile??? put it on verizon and get the verizon-hd2/at&t-iPhone fight finally started :)
000000 @ Nov 5th 2009 7:17AM
Windows Mobile. Thank you!
xoxidine @ Nov 6th 2009 3:48AM
I hope that this new version of TouchFLO keeps you in the interface more than the HTC Imagio does. You still get shot out and are back to WM 6.5 default interface for different aspects of the phone (viewing all text messags, today settings, etc).
Walletless @ Nov 6th 2009 2:58AM
A couple things I would like to see in the review:
1) Real-size side-by-side photos comparing HD2 and iPhone from all angles (top, right side, left side, back)
2) Battery life on a typical usage involving talking for about 30-45 minutes, browsing the web for about 20 minutes, and checking two email accounts (one exchange push, one personal gmail/hotmail/yahoo account).. can you last an entire day without needing to re-charge?
3) Mobile Internet. Let's put the browsers to some real modern web-pages such as touch.facebook.com, or fastflip.googlelabs.com
4) On-Screen keyboard - easy to type emails and text messages?
5) Is WinMo capacitive screen ready? Small "ok" buttons easy to click?
6) Speaker phone volume - good enough to listen when cruising 70mph on highway?
r4 card @ Nov 7th 2009 1:05AM
could I buy this on T-Mobile, cancel and put it on AT&T with no signal issues due to the phone's radio?
r4 card
Eric Choi @ Nov 22nd 2009 11:35AM
It's been 18 days! Where is that review? Plenty of other reviews out there, but I need the Engadget review for the final word.