HTC Touch Pro2 Hits T-Mobile for $349 — Hands-on First Thoughts
Late last month, T-Mobile announced that the highly anticipated HTC Touch Pro2 would be available on August 12th, and today is the day. The key information missing in July was the price, but that’s out in the open now. You can nab an HTC Touch Pro2 for $349.99 after all rebates and with a qualifying data and voice plan, as well as a 2-year commitment.
Just as T-Mobile was prepping for today’s release, they sent me a loaner unit for review. It’s been quite a while since I’ve used a Windows Mobile phone on a full-time basis, so I’m not rushing with a review. I’ll share that in detail within the next few days, but here are my first impressions:
- The 800 x 480 screen on this device is gorgeous.
- The overall size and weight remind me of my old XV6700. It’s pretty hefty, but solid and well built.
- HTC’s TouchFLO 3D alleviates the need to use the stylus most of the time. Navigation by finger is simple on the resistive touchscreen.
- Aside from one minor issue, the keyboard is the best I’ve used on a Windows Mobile device. Fully tilted, the screen interferes slightly with the top row of keys.
- The camera is adequate, but hasn’t impressed me just yet.
- GPS signals are picked up very fast, even indoors.
- I’m wishing it had a 3.5mm headphone jack in lieu of the standard HTC adapter.
- From an overall hardware standpoint, the beefy specs make this a pretty powerful handset.
Overall, I’m finding the Touch Pro2 to be a very nice piece of hardware. Windows Mobile 6.1 isn’t that much different from what I ran on my T-Mobile Dash over two years ago, which is a little disappointing. However, this handset will qualify for a Windows Mobile 6.5 upgrade in the future. More to follow as I complete a full week of using the HTC Touch Pro2 on T-Mobile’s network soon.
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Just look at the amount of wasted screen space on the browser image…
Why do Microsoft insist on wasting perfectly good screen real estate with a full width and height header, footer and address bars.
As Kevin pointed out, these phones qualify for a WinMo 6.5 upgrade and that includes the new version of IE which runs full screen. In the meantime, I presume the Touch Pro2 also comes with Opera Mobile so you could use that instead.
Yup, Opera Mobile is pre-installed. However, I’m surprised that HTC’s TouchFLO 3D points to IE instead of Opera when hitting the Internet menu item.
Actually, the last time I checked, IE Mobile has a fullscreen option. It’s been a while, so things might have changed.
Actually default browser is Opera on the unbranded version of pro 2 (Eureopan 3G model, no unbranded on for US 3G frequencies yet), maybe t-mobile changed it, just like they have changed the keyboard buttons/layout and removed the front facing camera.
Nice hardware but its WinMo which is a horrific phone OS. Having Windows on the phone will automatically eliminate most consumers. Customers want ease of use and WinMo ain’t even close in that department.
Thease Guys are such haters! Mad Cause they can afford this “peice of hardware” you cant please everyone I see!
Congrats T-Mobile!
I assume you mean they’re mad since they *can’t* afford it. Honestly though, that ARM11 chip is getting long in the tooth; I wish HTC would get around to bumping it up to a Cortex one of these days.
Kevin,
I was very surprised to see that the default browser on the TouchFLO 3D tab was IE when the much more powerful Opera Mobile is loaded in the ROM. We have always seen this browser default to Opera and now a user has to dig around to find Opera.
BTW, you can select to view in full screen mode and ALL menus and toolbars are hidden so the browser takes up the full display.
It is a pretty nice, solid piece of hardware that is priced too high with performance that could be even better.
That’s the best product photo I’ve ever seen on this site. Well done Kevin..
Gordon
Thanks Gordon. I used my 50mm f/1.8 prime lens on the Canon T1i. It offers a very shallow DOF but I can get away with it on a small device.
I’ll second that is a terrific photo and sells me on the device
I assumed it was done professionally by HTC
Anyone know if Windows 6.5 gets an improved version of Onenote?
Waiting for the verizon version. Tmo network ho-hum.
And the CDMA version will likely have a standard 3.5mm headphone jack — added bonus!
$279 if you are able for full upgrade.. that’s what i paid in nyc
Glad you’ve finally got your hands on a phone I’m interested in. I’ve never found Win Mobile difficult or frustrating to use. Maybe I’m not a dumbed-down sheep?
I also can’t see the point of a touch screen that you can’t use a stylus on and take notes, so what do I know?
Anyway, I look forward to your review.