HTC HD2 tested

HTC HD2

Overall verdict from the Your Mobile Phone Reviews Test Team

Our test team really enjoyed using the HTC HD2 Smartphone during the test period. This Smartphone provided excellent performance & we adored the huge touch screen. Our team fully enjoyed the Windows Mobile experience on this handset although many of our testers have tested Windows Mobile on other devices & not been so impressed. This handset gave our test team a true sense of excitement which is extremely good feedback when considering our team see many mobile phone handsets. If you are looking for a high quality Smartphone with a user friendly interface complete with a massive touch screen then look no further, it's here the HTC HD2. A double thumbs up to HTC for designing the HD2 from our team, & we believe our overall scoring speaks for itself.

Read more details of our testing results below.

Our test team gave the HTC HD2 an average score of:

94%

Appearance & Size

Firstly our test team have to agree that Big is Beautiful & the HD2 is a very large Smartphone. As our test team unboxed the HD2 a look of amazement came across most of our faces, it clearly indicates on the box that it is BIG but seeing is believing in this case. We all knew it was a large Smartphone prior to un-boxing it due to its dimensions of 11mm deep, 67mm wide & 120.5mm tall but when you hold this big beauty against other handset it really is quite outstanding. Anyway, yes, it is big & due to its size we agree it may not suit all users but all of our Your Mobile Phone Reviews test team totally loved its size & overall appearance.

Its casing feels smooth to hold in the hand & there is a brushed metal effect section on the back of the casing which can be removed when installing the battery. We liked the shape of the HTC HD2 which is slim allowing even our female testers (with smaller hands) to enjoy holding the HD2 in a single hand whilst making touch screen selections using their thumb to control their selections. Our test team liked the slightly curved edges on each corner of the casing & the back of the casing has a subtle curved design, again making the HTC HD2 a nice handset to hold. Its front section is filled mainly by the huge 4.3 inch capacitive touch screen, wow, would be a good word to use here, this screen is amazing & enhanced by being highly responsive which we will talk about later. Our team found it easy to identify the talk/send key, home key, Windows start key, back key & the end/power key which are situated directly below the huge touch screen. It was commented that these keys were rather small but this is due to the size of the screen being so big, & we all agreed it would be a great shame to compromise the size of the screen for larger keys, so therefore small keys will do just fine. The keys are small but easily identifiable with clear icons which light up when activated. There is a volume key located on the left hand side of the handset & there is a micro USB connection port & a headphone port located on the lower edge of the casing.

Our test team scored the appearance & size at:

95%

Durability & Usability

The Your Mobile Phone Reviews test team are happy to report that this handset seems to be hard wearing when considering its entire front section if filled by a glass touch screen. We would not say this is the most robust handset on the market but it could most definitely withstand an occasional or accidental knock during general use. Its screen seems rather tough & none of our team scratched or damaged this handset during our test period even though it was carried in handbags, briefcases, coat pockets & carried with bunches of keys being knocked against it which in our experience can cause scratches to mobile phone cases.

We all agreed the HD2's usability is good & we are pleased to report that the HTC HD2 is a refreshing phone to use for a number of reasons. We all mentioned its selectable font size which was given the double thumbs up by our team & the majority of our team prefer this handset over other Smartphone's as we enjoyed using a Windows Mobile Smartphone which supports touch screen controls with no stylus needed on the HTC HD2's highly responsive screen. It has a screen unlock feature which is simply unlocked using touch screen controls & we liked the padlock icon which simply slid to the left or right to unlock the HD2. This screen unlock has been used on other HTC phones & we must agree it is a very good feature. We found it took some of our team members a while to get used to the whole Windows Mobile set up but for those of us that had experience of Windows Mobile agreed it is a more exciting & a more user friendly experience on the HD2. One tester is very familiar with the HTC Hero so therefore knew the HTC layout but the Windows Mobile on the HD2 was an exciting treat to use during the test period. Our team enjoyed most of the touch screen controls which are fairly self explanatory when you get used to the Windows set up & interface.

Our test team scored the durability & usability at:

95%

Battery

The HD2 comes with a Li-ion 1230 mAh type battery which provides adequate talk time when the phone is used for general usage, but we did experience the battery indicator dropping dramatically when using 3G connectivity, WiFi & Bluetooth connectivity for long periods of time. Our team found the battery charging to be an easy experience with the universal charger being inserted into the mini USB connection port being located on the bottom edge of the handset. The HTC HD2 does not have a protective cover over the mini USB port which made it easier for our testers to access this connect port but with no cover there is always a risk of dust damage. We have mixed feeling when it comes to connection ports covers as having no cover could potential cause dust damage but a cover which is fiddly or flimsy will irritate users & may become a nuisance, we guess it's just one of those things.

Inserting the battery was a little difficult for some members of our team & most of our test team members reported that this was not an easy task. One of our testers just couldn't remove the brushed metal section on the back of the casing at all, which was both frustrating & embarrassing when having to ask another tester to open the phone, not a good start some would say but the phones performance made up for the battery inserting difficulties.

Our test team scored the battery at:

90%

Camera

As we are all aware a built in camera is becoming a must have feature on all the latest released mobiles phones or Smartphone & we are pleased to inform you the HD2's camera is a good feature on this phone, but we can honestly say this is mainly due to the sheer size of the viewing display & the usability of this imaging feature. Our team enjoyed capturing a wide selection of pictures in day light & many night shot which were all clear although sometimes the picture where a little darker than we desired. The overall quality of the pictures & videos captured were too a good standard. Most of our team praised the touch screen camera controls & were very impressed with the dual LED flash & the picture geo tagging function. It has a rear facing lens which is located on the back of the casing & we liked the neatly designed square shaped lens. There is no dedicated camera key on the casing but we liked the capture key on the touch screen which worked well, but like any design change this took a while to get used to. Our test team liked the slide action scroll facility when we were scrolling through & viewing our pictures.

Our test team scored the camera at:

90%

Music

Most of our team members accessed the music player via Windows start/main page or some of us added this feature to our home screen when we customised it. We liked the volume key on the left hand side edge of the casing which is long, slim & easy to control. Our team all commented on the sound quality & we found it very easy to transfer music using Bluetooth. Our team found the music playing feature to be a fun experience & we all agreed it was easy to find, manage & use on the HD2.

Our gaming enthusiast was keen to give us step by step details of each game they enjoyed on this handset but to save you the long winded report, let's just say our games specialist had a great time with the high quality graphics & the tilt controls on the HD2. All of the testers played the Teeter game which is preinstalled & we had a set a challenge amongst the test team to see who could get the furthest on this game, sorry I promised not to reveal the results but we had much fun during our little challenge. We enjoyed the huge screen gaming experience, the subtle vibration of the handset when gaming & the touch screen controls including handset movement controls.

Our test team scored the music capabilities at:

95%

Messaging

Our team was divided when reporting on the messaging service on the HTC HD2 as half of our testers were very happy with the usability, accessibility & overall service provided when messaging via SMS, MMS, instant messaging & email, but the other of our testers commented badly on the messaging layout & usability. We all agreed the selection of services are good but the reason half of our tester where not enthusiastic was due to the All Message layout on the HD2 which displays contact names which then link to their messages & the messages are set out in a conversation style layout which is simply not liked by some of our testers. Our team all praised the size of the onscreen QWERTY keypad which was user friendly & all our testers mentioned this features usability which can be used when the HD2 is in its vertical or horizontal mode. Some of the Your Mobile Phone Reviews test team customised their home screen & added the HTC Messaging shortcut to this screen.

Our test team scored the messaging capabilities at:

85%

Connectivity & Technology

A huge selection of excellent technologies are supported on the HD2 which include Bluetooth®, mini USB, WiFi & 3G HSDPA. Our team access YouTube, Internet Explorer, Facebook, WiFi router & an opera browser from the phones Windows Start/main menu. Our team used the HTC HD2 as their computer over the test period & this included create documents in Windows Mobile Word which did take a little longer to create but the fact it is possible is impressive enough for us. Our testing was carried out using a major UK network SIM card & we experience good network coverage throughout our test period in our local area & in various UK locations.

Our test team scored the connectivity & technology at:

100%

Screen & User Interface

Ok massive, huge, perfect, amazing & responsive were a few of the comments made about the HD2's screen from our test team. Although initially we were shocked by the size of the screen we all agreed the screen & interface is what makes the HD2 a true pleasure to use. Our team liked the clarity & colours on the screen whilst we all mentioned the smears & smudges but this is not an issue, just give the screen a quick wipe & your finger prints are gone. Our team enjoyed the responsiveness of the touch screen & liked the fact that the screen responds well to finger activated controls.

Our team were very impressed with the HTC Sense interface which has been successful on other HTC Smartphone's & all of our team customised the home screen to suit each of our needs. If you haven't seen the preinstalled weather application on a HTC HD2 you will be amazed at how good it is, one of our testers was keen to check the weather continuously just to show off the application to everyone & anyone in passing. The HD2 supports many applications & widgets which are all labelled clearly & come with very self explanatory icons. Our overall feedback for the interface was highly positive & not one bad comment was made by the Your Mobile Phone Reviews test team regarding its interface & usability.

Our test team scored the screen & interface at: