HTC Touch Pro2

GSMArena team, 4 June 2009.

Amid talk of Android and would-be heroes we're about to revisit HTC on their hallowed PocketPC ground. Good things seem to come in pairs for the company while out-and-out upgrades are always good news for the user. With two jewels in the crown and two pros on the squad, HTC march towards PocketPC dominance and the Touch Pro2 looks like it has what it takes to lead the campaign.

HTC Touch Pro2 official photos

More powerful gear and more impressive shell than the original Pro, HTC Touch Pro2 is in charge of the armored unit, while the Diamond2 tackles the infantry.

PocketPC is definitely the HTC game but it sure isn't a one horse race. The list of prominent number 2's is perhaps about to be continued with an XPERIA. On the other hand, the launch of the Touch Pro2 is perhaps timed just right to beat another major headliner from the Symbian camp - the Nokia N97.

Anyway, that's just the background. The real thing is how the Touch Pro2 handles and performs. A number two can't be much of prophet we guess but a well-done upgrade can bring in enough profit.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support and HSDPA 7.2Mbps
• 3.6" 65K-color touchscreen WVGA display
• Five row full QWERTY side-sliding keyboard of brilliant ergonomics
• Revamped TouchFLO 3D Home screen and gesture controls
• Wi-Fi and built-in GPS receiver with A-GPS
• Qualcomm MSM7200A 528 Mhz CPU and 288 MB DDR SDRAM
• Dedicated graphics chip (64MB RAM reserved for graphics)
• 3.15 MP auto focus camera
• Active stylus
• Touch-sensitive zoom bar
• Standard miniUSB port and Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP
• microSD memory expansion
• TV out
• Teeter game aboard
• Cool YouTube client
• Excellent video playback
• MS Office Mobile document editor
• Opera 9.5 web browser

Main disadvantages

• Considerable size and weight
• Average sunlight legibility
• No standard 3.5mm audio jack
• Poor camera performance
• No camera flash
• No FM radio by default (can be enabled with unofficial third-party software)

Talking upgrade, the HTC Touch Pro2 takes a leap forward in screen terms pumping up both resolution and size. It inherits the original Touch Pro but stands on the shoulders of a TytN too. The return of the tilting screen will sure be cheered. Now, add the revamped and improved exterior and you've got upgraders by the balls.

Welcome the HTC Touch Pro2

Oh, and that TouchFLO UI facelift we got a glimpse of on the new Diamond2 is just begging for another shot. So, the upgrade kit is all there but justifying the extra dime is the real deal and that's exactly what we are about to check.

We hailed the new Diamond and as long as the new Pro follows suit it sure has nothing to fear. But it'd better be keen on action and fit to play along, cause we're not letting it go unchallenged. Unboxing starts right after the jump.

Box contents are borderline passable

The HTC Touch Pro2 retail package may not have the spectacular shape of its predecessor's but contents are pretty much the same. This time HTC went for a classic shape and fairly large size.

Having previewed a bunch of other HTC handsets, we knew better than hope for a memory card inside. To put it mildly, HTC are letting everyone decide how big a card they need. As for accessories, HTC have launched quite a line of nice little extras for the Touch Pro2 to be purchased additionally, as was the case with the first Touch Pro.

The carrying case is the best part of the retail package

The items that ship with the Touch Pro2 are the familiar charger/USB cable combo, a set of wired headphones, a spare stylus and a CD with software of arguable use. Our favorite bit sure is the the leather carrying case for the Touch Pro2. There is also a bunch of leaflets and guides, along with a catalog of available accessories to order.

HTC Touch Pro2 360-degree spin

The formidable bulk of HTC Touch Pro2 stretches out to 116 x 59.2 x 17.3 mm with a total weight of 178.5 g. Now, we thought the original HTC Touch Pro was a handful but the Pro2 is on the verge of getting out of hand and back to TyTN II excess. The handset is definitely not a piece to just slip in a pocket and forget about.

As to weight - we are not saying it is entirely a bad thing as heavier phones tend to have this solid and reliable feel that we really like. Yet, 180 grams is probably too much, too dangerously close to the old-time heft of the TyTN II.

Design and construction

Now the HTC Touch Pro2 is definitely one hell of a looker when closed and just lying around. Shiny frame and big bright display, it sure will attract attention. Some of this positive impression will fade away once you hold it and the almost UMPC dimensions start to hit in. Still, the designers certainly deserve a pat on the back for the ergonomics of this heavy bloke.

The front view is impressive

The back panel of the Pro2 isn't quite as inspiring but we still like it better than the original Touch Pro. The immense faux loudspeaker grill seems to be the thing that bothers us here, plus the plastic seems prone to scratches. However, all comparison to the original is quite in favor of the Pro2. For one, the paint at the back of the original Touch Pro was peeling off ridiculously fast.

The front panel of HTC Touch Pro2 is almost completely taken by the huge 3.6" WVGA touchscreen display. The pixel count and good brightness levels add up to excellent picture quality.

The display is pretty impressive, even more so in WinMo terms

Just as any other WinMo handset, the HTC Touch Pro2 is able to show up to 65K colors on its display. We'll just say it yet again this isn't that much of a disadvantage compared to 16M-color displays. There are of course cases where this may potentially result in color banding in color gradients but that's hardly a frequently reported issue.

However the problem of sunlight legibility still stands. The HTC Touch Pro2 by far isn't the best device to have with you in the bright sun. We have to admit we do notice a slight improvement but it is far from enough.

On the other hand, the responsiveness of the display is just excellent. Even if it's a resistive unit, the Touch Pro2 touchscreen only needs a very gentle tap to register a command. We do realize that this may be partially attributed to the increased processing power or the optimization of the UI but it doesn't really matter as long as it works.

As we already mentioned, one of the coolest features of the Touch Pro2 display is that, unlike the original Touch Pro, it tilts to provide a better viewing angle when working with handset. It was a feature that was appreciated on the TyTN II and its absence on the HTC Touch Pro was curious.

As the HTC engineers wanted to increase the screen estate but still keep the handset within reasonable size, they had to take the four very large buttons of the Touch Pro and squeeze them at the bottom of the front panel, right on the edge. The touch-sensitive scroll wheel / regular D-pad combo was also dropped and replaced with the touch-sensitive zoom bar.

There are four keys and a zoom bar at the bottom

The zoom bar has basically the same functionality as the touch-sensitive overlay of the original Pro's scroll wheell. It can be used on images, web pages, messages, and doubles as a music control. We are delighted with the performance of the zoom bar, which responds immediately on almost every occasion.

At the other end of the front panel, right above the display we find the earpiece, the ambient light sensor and the secondary video-call camera along with the status LED.

Ambient light sensor, video-call camera and status LED above the display

Design and construction (continued)

The left side of the HTC Touch Pro2 features nothing but the volume rocker. No issues to report here, this straightforward control is hardly worth too much discussion.

There is nothing but the volume rocker on the left

The bottom features the miniUSB port for connecting the data cable, charger and the headphones. The other thing to note here is the stylus compartment, which isn't magnetic this time. We are not quite happy with the way the color of the stylus handle is different from the surrounding surface. Without giving that much of a boost to usability, it looks like a designer's oversight. Anyway, it isn't big enough to spoil the overall impression the phone makes.

The Touch Pro2 sports a miniUSB port for data, voice and charging as usual for HTC

The stylus of the Pro2 is active, meaning that it will wake the phone up automatically when pulled out. And if you do so during a call it will launch the Notes applications, so you can quickly put down a phone number for example.

On the top of the Pro2, typical of HTC WinMo devices, there is only the power key, which is also used for toggling the standby mode.

The power key is on top

The memory card slot is on the right side of HTC Touch Pro2 and is of course hot-swappable. Unfortunately, you will have to remove the battery cover (and that is quite a task on this one, mind you) every time you access the slot.

You will have to take the back panel off every time you reach for the memory card

The HTC Touch Pro2 rear features the stereo speakers and the 3 megapixel camera lens. While the whole gray mesh looks like a loudspeaker grill the actual area used are two small apertures on either side of the camera lens. The rest is just fancy (or not) design.

The stereo speakers are on either side of the camera at the back

The camera doesn't have a flash to boost its low-light performance so don't expect miracles from it (nor should you in daylight either actually). We will get back to that in greater detail later in the review though.

The back side of the Touch Pro2 also features the second microphone that is used for cancelling unwanted noise during calls. There is also a small mute button to use in speakerphone mode when you want to turn it's the mic off for a sec.

Under the battery cover is the 1500 mAh Li-Ion battery that powers the HTC Touch Pro2. It should last up to 500 hours of stand-by or 8 hours and 30 minutes of talk time in 2G networks and up to 750 hours of stand-by or 6 hours and 30 minutes of talk time in 3G network. Those numbers are pretty impressive and imply great power management on a device with a screen that huge and also many power-hungry features.

A powerful battery under the hood

The other element of interest under the back panel is the reset key. The small red button can only be pressed with the stylus or a similar pointed object.

The reset key on the Touch Pro2

Sliding the HTC Touch Pro2 open reveals one of its key features - the five-row full QWERTY keyboard. We have to admit the slider action is a bit too rigid for our taste. It isn't something you cannot get used to though.

An extra friendly keyboard

Upon opening the keypad, the screen automatically rotates to landscape orientation. And then the fun starts. The keyboard is brilliant, with great ergonomics although the press feedback takes a bit of getting used to. Once you are past that though you will be speeding your way through endless texts just like that.

The five-row layout is of great help here and the keys are still big enough to handle comfortably. The press is solid and touch orientation is quite good so, in general, there is little reason to complain about the QWERTY keyboard. The added spacing between the keys, thanks to the larger overall size of the device is also more than welcome.

We would have preferred the Space bar to be double the length but nothing is perfect you know.

The backlighting is strong and even

The general build quality of the HTC Touch Pro2 seems superior to the original Pro. However, that doesn't necessarily mean outstanding. It's just that its predecessor turned out to be pretty fragile in the long term. We certainly hope that the new materials and paint will turn out more durable than that.

The HTC Touch Pro2: great to handle, but make sure you can live with its size