[UPDATE 1] Updated with display quality comparison shots of the HD2 against the Samsung Omnia 2 and i8910 HD below.
[UPDATE 2] Added an additional section on the camera button, or lack thereof.
First off, apologies for those who have been waiting eagerly for the first part of the review on the HTC HD2. As most of you may know, I took delivery of the review unit of the HD2 late on Wednesday evening, and I wanted to try it out and carry it around for a few days before I passed any judgement on the hardware bit of the review, rather than rush into writing one after having had it for only a few hours.
As we know, the HD2 is currently the largest screened smartphone on the market, with a 4.3 inch capacitive touchscreen with 800 x 480 pixel resolution, also a first for any Windows Mobile powered phone. For the HD2′s full specifications, click here. A capacitive touchscreen allows one to perform multi-gestures or more popularly known as multi-touch as first found on Apple’s iconic iPhone. Windows Mobile does not come with multi-touch support, so HTC had to bake this feature into their version of the customised Windows Mobile operating system. Multi-touch does not work in every application on the smartphone however, only the most “common” ones, such as the browser, photo viewer, etc.
Two other differentiating characteristics of the HD2 include its use of a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor operating at 1GHz, the fastest mobile processor in use today on a smartphone running any mobile operating system. In addition, the HD2 has a whopping 448MB of RAM which enables the phone to “perform faster” and also allowing it to have many more applications to be opened simultaneously without unnecessarily slowing the system down as is often the case on other smartphone operating systems.
The hardware itself feels very solidly built – none of that cheap plasticky feel that I get when picking up other expensively priced smartphones. It’s difficult to tell which part of the HD2 is plastic and which is metal, as the entire phone has a heft and weight that feels as if the entire phone casing is made out of metal. At only 157 grams, this is of course not true! Only the battery cover is made out of metal and it has a beautiful brushed metal look to it – very classy. The HD2 is “only” 9 grams heavier than the Samsung i8910 HD, 34 grams heavier than the Samsung Omnia 2 and 22 grams heavier than the iPhone3GS (based on phone specifications on gsmarena).
The HD2 is one of those phones with a minimalist hardware design – none of those smartphones with buttons adorning almost every side of the phone. On the front is the huge 4.3 inch touchscreen. At the top of the touchscreen is the earpiece, next to the earpiece, on the left, is the LED notification light, and next to it is the ambient light sensor and the proximity sensor.
At the bottom of the touchscreen are 5 buttons – from the left – make/answer call, home, Windows Start shortcut, back and end/reject call. The home button takes the user to the HTC Sense homescreen with the default large clock, weather widget, calendar, application shortcuts and HTC Sense navigation bar (more on this in the software review later). The Windows Start shortcut brings the user to the default Windows Mobile start screen, and the back button takes the user back one screen from wherever he/she navigated from.
At the bottom of the HD2 is the 3.5mm industry standard headset jack, the microUSB port as well as the microphone port. On the left is the volume up/down rocker button. There are no buttons nor ports on the top and right hand sides. As I said, a very minimalistic design.
At the back is the battery cover, easily removed by putting your fingernail into a groove on the side of the phone and “peeling” off the battery cover. This is definitely one of the easiest to remove battery covers that I’ve encountered on a smartphone in recent memory – no need a PhD to figure out how to remove the battery cover! There is also the 5 megapixel autofocus camera on the back, with dual LED lights for still photography as well as video recording modes.
In terms of size comparisons with other smartphones on the market, the HD2 is amazingly thin, considering the amount of hardware that HTC packed into the device. Its thickness is only 11mm, except where the camera lens is, where it is slightly thicker – I guess camera lens technology has not reached the super miniaturisation stage as the other components yet! This is not a criticism of the HD2, of course – smartphones from other manufacturers also have the “protruding lens” which make their smartphones look thicker where the camera lens is located.
Here are some comparison shots of the thickness of the HD2 compared to other smartphones – from left to right, against the Samsung Omnia 2, Samsung i8910 HD/Omnia HD, Apple iPhone3GS and then a “family shot” of the HD2 at the bottom, followed by the Samsung Omnia 2, i8910 HD/Omnia HD, Apple iPhone3GS and the RIM Blackberry Curve 8520.
As you can see from the shots below, the HD2 is amazingly thin, as I mentioned.
In keeping with the trend nowadays, the HD2′s touchscreen is rather glossy. At certain angles, it will reflect light and act as a mirror to the extent that all you see is a reflection of your environment rather than the screen – thankfully this only happens at odd angles which no one in their right minds will tilt to in order to use the phone! Check out the pictures below to see how glossy the screen is. The second picture below is a comparison of the HD2 against the Samsung Omnia 2, in the next picture, their positions are swapped but the position on the table remains unchanged. Screen brightness are at their defaults with the ambient light sensor activated – the sensor controls how bright the screen should be based on the available light around the device.
Here’s a comparison of the various smartphones I have at my disposal with their screens turned on. The first picture is the HD2 and the Samsung Omnia 2, followed by the Samsung i8910 HD/Omnia HD, then the Apple iPhone3GS and finally with the RIM Blackberry Curve 8520 thrown into the mix as well.
One thing that one will not find on the HD2 is a front facing camera for 3G video calls. I am guessing that HTC likely carried out some market research that shows that the majority of its target customers would not require such a feature; hence its exclusion from the HD2. So, if you absolutely must have a front video camera for video calling, the HD2 is not the phone for you! Perhaps as an indication of how important a front video camera is to users, no one at the media launch for the HD2 that I attended two weeks ago raised this issue, which can only mean that it is unimportant for the majority of people.
While the HD2 may not be significantly longer than other large screened devices such as the Samsung Omnia 2/i8910 HD with their 3.7 inch screens, it is wider. This combination of slightly longer/wider means that if you are a person who wears tight jeans or trousers, you will have difficulty stuffing the HD2 into your pocket!
Conclusion
The HTC HD2 is a beautifully made device, befitting its status as HTC’s flagship Windows Mobile phone. It feels solidly constructed based on its weight and materials used in its casing. The huge 4.3 inch touchscreen will simply blow you away. Due to the size of the touchscreen, you may have difficulty carrying the phone in your pockets unless the pockets are spacious. The absence of a front video camera for video calling over 3G means that this phone may not be for everyone if the front video camera is a must-have for you. The scratch-resistant touchscreen means that you can use the HD2 without a screen protector although I would not recommend this for a RM 3,000 smartphone!
The use of an industry standard 3.5mm headset jack will please many users, as will its use of the soon-to-be-ratified industry standard of using the microUSB standard for charging and data transfer purposes – the Blackberry Curve 8520 as well as the Samsung i8910 HD/Omnia HD and the Samsung Omnia 2 already support charging and data transfer using the microUSB standard – which means less cables to carry for those of us who carry multiple phones.
If I haven’t answered any of your burning questions related to hardware, do drop a comment and I’ll try my best to take additional pictures or a short video to answer them.
[UPDATE 1] Here are some comparison shots between the HD2, i8910 HD and Omnia 2 in an indoor setting, all showing the same picture, maximum brightness with ambient light sensor turned off on all three phones, as well as outdoors.
Based on my testing, all three phones are virtually unusable outdoors, especially under direct sunlight, no matter how you tilt the screen. And the glossy nature of the HD2′s screen made photographing the screen on very difficult, if not impossible!
And the last two photos of the three phones under direct sunlight is with the display turned on, maximum brightness, and you can’t see anything (the angle of the shot may have prevented us from seeing anything, but I hope you get the general idea that these phones are not meant to be used outdoors!).
To conclude, if you ask me, these are non-issues to me because I don’t use my phones outdoors where there is direct sunlight. Using a phone outdoors is asking for trouble, when you stand a much higher chance of being run down by a crazed Malaysian driver or motorcyclist, of which there are many on our roads. Not to mention that you’ll fry very quickly under the hot sun. And get skin cancer from being under sunlight for too long because of the hole in the ozone layer. I may digress, but I think you know where I’m going with this.
[UPDATE 2] I thought that I would mention this for people who use their phones a lot to take pictures or videos. Since the phone does not have a dedicated camera button, this may be somewhat of a minor annoyance, for two reasons:
- the user needs to press a button to turn the phone on from standby mode, then swipe the screen to unlock the phone. Next, he/she has to tap on a camera shortcut on-screen button to launch the camera application.
- next, the user has to tap the on-screen button to take a picture. For people who are used to a dedicated camera button, this may involve some re-learning!
nice.. just waiting for my budget and year end bonus before i make any decision.. but if Winmo 7 announcement is confirmed then it will seal the deal faster for me hehehe
[Reply]
Buddy, I don’t remember seeing your response to my questions over Twitter, so here they are again:
1. What is the screen like when viewed in the outdoors, specifically, under the sun?
2. Is the 65K colour limitation of the OS noticeable enough? I’ve compared the i8910 with the Omnia2 before, the former simply blew away the latter when it came to colour depth and clarity even though both had AMOLED displays.
Let me pop another question, seeing that I’m on a roll here.
Why is the HD2′s screen having some kind of milky effect compared to your other phones??
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
November 29th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
@kumar, ah sorry, forgot about that!
To answer your questions:
(1) none of the three models – Samsung Omnia 2, i8910 HD nor the HD2 can be used under direct sunlight. The brighter it is, the more unusable the screen is, no matter which angle you happen to tilt it. AMOLED screens are not meant to be viewed under direct sunlight anyway, and the glossy nature of the HD2′s screen prevents one from seeing the screen properly when it is bright – the screen will simply reflect everything!
(2) I wouldn’t say it is. Check out the pictures in the post above – I’ve added in a comparison picture of the three phones – HD2, i8910 HD and Omnia 2, all showing the same picture, maximum brightness, ambient light sensor turned off on all three phones.
(3) milky effect? I don’t see it. I have to say that the i8910 HD and Omnia 2 have had screen protectors applied, while the HD2′s screen is stark raving nekkid. I’m not sure if applying a screen protector will get rid of the milky effect you’re seeing and reduce the glare/glossiness or not. And since this is not my phone, plus the fact that the HD2 is so new that no screen protector exists yet that I know of, prevents me from testing this theory!
[Reply]
Ken77 Reply:
November 30th, 2009 at 12:33 am
D.A.D,i agree with you that HD2 doesn’t have the milky effect.I think what kumar saw,was HD2 doesn’t have the colour brilliancy compared to Omnia 2 and Omnia HD.The colors looks dead and not lively.The colors are not deep and looks very pale.I think HTC should update their display panel to AM-OLED in the future.
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
November 30th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
@Ken77, hahah, yeah, see my reply to Ken below. Poor photographer combined with poor selection of wallpaper probably makes the screen look worse than it is in reality. Maybe I should try to select a wallpaper with more lively colours so we can see the difference?
[Reply]
Ken Reply:
November 30th, 2009 at 2:33 am
It is a tad hard to judge exactly when the photo showing the same picture has the HD2 showing a zoomed in view of the same picture.
But for sure AMOLED does give more vibrant and deeper colours…..but whether that is more representative of the actual photo/picture is still up for debate.
In this case, the deeper contrast of an AMOLED screen will have to compete with the larger dimensions of the HD2 screen….or until Samsung releases a phone with a 4.3″ or larger AMOLED screen.
[Reply]
kumar Reply:
November 30th, 2009 at 10:29 am
Yeah, Ken is right. The milky effect I was referring to was more like the blandness of the HD2′s display of colours.
I’m pretty sure that the 65K colour limitation should be noticeable. I opened the same 32bit photo on both the i8910 and Omnia2 before, and I saw quite a lot of colour banding on the Omnia2. I’m guessing that it’ll be same on the HD2.
P/S – One of the reasons why I hated touch screen phones in general was the fact that their displays are practically unreadable in the outdoors..
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
November 30th, 2009 at 10:42 am
@kumar, hhmmm…maybe I used the wrong wallpaper?
I will try to snap a picture with a more “vibrant” display. If I can find a vibrant picture, that is 
It could also be due to the poor photographer, anyone who knows me I have two left hands and two left eyes when it comes to photography.
Yep, I know no touchscreen phone which is usable under direct sunlight. Or for that matter, many non-touchscreen phones, actually. I know my Blackberry Curve 8520 is better, but still not that great!
[Reply]
kumar Reply:
November 30th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Ha ha, cheeky fella u.
I think non touchscreen phones have better looking displays for outdoors usage. But as you’ve mentioned to eloquently, not many people will use their phones right under the blaring heat of the sun..
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
November 30th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
@kumar, heheh, well, who am I to stop people from wanting to use their phones under direct sunlight for 30 minutes in our sunshine eh? There are all sorts in this world. Personally I try to stay in the shade as much as possible
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
November 30th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
@Ken, I think we should blame the photographer for two things – firstly, choosing a terrible wallpaper/picture to showcase the screen, and also for the tremendously poor photography skills!
The AMOLED screen is definitely nice, yes, nicer than the “normal” screen technology out there, and Samsung knows this so they’re capitalising on this to the hilt by using it in all their higher end phones. So, as you have rightly mentioned – the choice is between a gorgeous looking screen, or a larger screen, and hopefully some time in the near future we won’t have to make this choice!
[Reply]
Ken Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 3:45 am
Hehe….not gonna go so far to disparage a hardworking blogger.
It’s not the wrong choice of wallpaper, but rather, why is the wallpaper zoomed in on the HD2, but zoomed out on the other 2 sets?
That would have put all these keyboard warriors (like me) to rest.
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:45 am
@Ken, zoomed in? Dunno. Was it Anita Mui who sang “why, why tell me why?”
Not too sure I understand the thing about the keyboard…
[Reply]
Ken Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 3:12 pm
That being said, we demand to have a retake of the same setup, but without the HD2 showing a zoomed in picture.
i.e. without the green mossy part of the picture missing.
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 3:46 pm
@Ken,
I will try to oblige…
[Reply]
Hardware done. Now waiting for your next review, I .e. software…
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
November 29th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
@artic,
The software one will take much longer to write, unfortunately…
[Reply]
artic_xp Reply:
November 30th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
HD2 sold out like fried banana!
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 9:58 am
@artic, it is selling faster than the most delicious goreng pisang!
[Reply]
herd about the camera problem, there’s a pink light comming out of the flash…is it true?
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
November 29th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
@mookies11, unfortunately, yes. It’s not due to the flash, it’s either due to the software processing the picture or the hardware itself. HTC says this is a software issue which will be fixed in an upcoming firmware update.
[Reply]
Jayce Reply:
December 1st, 2009 at 10:48 am
Hopefully it can be fixed by software. Still waiting for mine to arrive.
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:07 am
@Jayce, well, HTC mentioned that this was fix-able by a software update. Why is yours taking so long to arrive?
[Reply]
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new toy for me lol
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
November 29th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
@mamakap, you bought one?
[Reply]
Yes, I have to agree the screen of 65k Colour (which only supported by Windows mobile) made me disappointed. The color isn’t vibrant and doesn’t appeal much as other phone that appeared in this article. Will Win7 mobile support more then 65k color?
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
November 30th, 2009 at 10:24 am
@Hawke, actually the 65K colour limit isn’t as big a deal as people think. You actually have to do side by side comparison to see if there’s really a significant difference. Camera shots cannot tell the difference accurately. Hard to explain!
I would assume that Windows 7 will support a much wider/deeper colour palette, yes. But then again, I’m not Microsoft
[Reply]
Any news that the HD2 will be eligible for a free upgrade to Winmo 7 when it becomes available i.e. eligible as in the generosity of HTC and hardware design wise?
[Reply]
Jack Lee Reply:
November 30th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Oh, sorry, one more thing to ask, how did the battery perform?
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:02 am
@Jack, battery performance *should* be covered in the third installment, if I find a way to measure battery usage properly
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:01 am
@Jack, no official confirmation. This question was asked during the KL launch – non-committal answer from the local HTC folks. Their response was “wait for Microsoft”!
[Reply]
dad
my main concern is the touch screen sensitive and feeling , is same as Iphone 3 gs or better ?
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:03 am
@andy, not as good as the iPhone, although the “feeling” is quite close.
[Reply]
ANDY Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 11:45 am
wondering , HTC did not notice the iphone killer feacture of the iphone is the touch screen since the iphone first generation.
iphone already few year on market , none of them follow or use or copy this iphone technology for touch screen….
in china , i even can buy the part of the iphone , like the touch screen repair kit….dont tell me HTC can not be follow ?
hd2 , HTC put all best in this hd2 , why cant put this best iphone touch screen feature on it….
you can ask , most of the iphone user , the first like of the phone is
1. touch screen feel and sensitivy
2. full of application
3. best resell value
………………
if there is a chance i will test the h2s , the touch feel , the shop will not easy to let you to play with this high end phone….and test it…
have to find a way…to test..
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 3:30 pm
@andy, who knows? Maybe the supplier is exclusive to Apple only? Maybe there’s a secret in the touchscreen used by Apple? Maybe it’s in the operating system?
Many factors influence the usability of a touchscreen, not just the hardware.
If you really want to test the HD2, it helps if you always buy your phones from the same seller because then surely they will let a loyal customer test. Otherwise, good luck finding someone to let you fondle the phone for long!
[Reply]
Since HD2 is using a capacitive screen…are there any conductive pen stylus selling in malaysia?If there’s a choice,i would prefer to use a pen over fingers because fingers smudges the screen with grease easily.It’s an eyesore and leaves an unpleasant feeling…..
[Reply]
ANDY Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 12:18 am
i did buy a pen from HK , use for iphone 3gs , is like round rubber one ,
yes my iphone 3gs all is my finger print and grease,eheheh
[Reply]
Ken77 Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 2:08 am
Any luck to find it in KL area????Hong Kong is too far lah…….
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:40 am
@Ken77, LowYat? Online?
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:35 am
@andy, that’s when a screen protector comes in handy!
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:04 am
@Ken77, I haven’t seen any on sale, but then again, I haven’t looked very hard either. I got mine from Hongkong. Ordered online, took a week to arrive.
[Reply]
I have read lot of complaints about the cam too as well as SMS sending problem and battery life problem. Some even complained that the battery life can be measured in single digit hours!
[Reply]
Ken77 Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 2:16 am
@Jack,you’ve mentioned the battery life has single digit hours,are you referring to standby mode???or while playing with it?
[Reply]
Jack Lee Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Typical use scenario according to the complaints that I read….
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:12 am
@Jack, cam problem is real. SMS issue I will test in the third installment with a video. Battery life? So far, it is not bad, look out for some benchmarks in the third installment of the review. Like HTC says, “average” usage will last you a day. What “average” is I don’t know
[Reply]
wanna buy it, anyway i can get it fast?
[Reply]
ANDY Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 12:19 am
look for instalment scheme…hehehe
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:36 am
@andy, I think most banks offer interest free installment schemes nowadays, even if the shop doesn’t offer it. I think you can call up the bank and convert the purchase into “easy payments” but the bank will charge you 5% of the amount to be converted, or something like that…
[Reply]
Ken77 Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 2:11 am
Low Yat Plaza is selling it,right now and also at the upcoming PC Fair in KLCC.
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:14 am
@spryken, all sold out in KL?
[Reply]
Does anyone has any idea at all whatsoever what is the cheapest selling price for this phone (ori prices only, dun wan AP)….
[Reply]
Jack Lee Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 4:37 pm
Update: My usual phoneshop boss sez he selling this baby for RM2750, ori set.
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:22 pm
@Jack, RM 150 off RRP is a really good price! Buy buy buy!
[Reply]
Jack Lee Reply:
December 3rd, 2009 at 6:23 pm
I need to sell my body and soul oledi….. who wants “Rent-A-Jack”? Hahaha!
[Reply]
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