Phones.com » Cell Phones » Review of the HTC HD2

HD2 boosts one of the biggest display screens tendered by any mobile phone today. In spite of this, it does not feel colossal or big, because of the small bezel put up around the screen, and hence can easily fit into our pockets. Also, the big screen makes it easier for us to watch the videos, surf the web or just tap the different icons of the menu with our fingertips. The home screen has got a sliding menu bar along the bottom which is fun to use, and also, the touch screen is quite responsive, you don’t have to press the screen to make the phone work. The huge on-screen keyboard is the same as the Hero, and the buttons are easy to press, thus making it one of the best virtual keyboards on the market. Furthermore, there is a dedicated short cut key for symbols and numbers.

Over the web, you need to make a choice between two built-in web browsers. The Opera is the default one and is fast, while the Internet Explorer is quite slow, but supports flash. Apart from this, there are two more choices, the Skyfire and the Fennec, for those who hate both Internet Explorer and Opera. There is a multi-touch gesture featured inside that makes you zoom through the web pages by just pinching your screen. The phone has got the same social networking feel as with the HTC Hero, this includes Facebook, YouTube & Twitter.

The phone also has a Microsoft My Phone service that keeps a backup of all the files and helps to manage them from anywhere through the web, thereby beating off a USB drive and ActiveSync feature.

Needless to say, it’s fun to read emails on the big screen, but unfortunately one needs to use the unattractive Windows Mobile Email viewer to open them.

Additionally, the phone features a 5 megapixel camera with a video recorder. The camera has got two bright LED photo lights and the focus can be adjusted by just tapping the screen. Also, our well known buddy, the 3.5 mm head jack makes its entry inside the HD2 box.

As if these features weren’t enough to fulfill your connectivity needs; Bluetooth, WiFi, USB, GPS receiver etc, there is also WLAN connectivity and a 7.2 Mbps HSDPA ensuring high speed downloading over 3G.

HTC HD2 is no doubt a good phone with its flamboyantly big screen, slim design, business savvy mind and completely jazzy feel.  Though, unfortunately, the hardware needs something better than this. Regardless of the hard efforts by HTC to hide its fault in the phone, the operating system turns out to be empathetically disappointing. There is a 1GHz Snapdragon processor helped out by 448MB RAM along with a 512MB ROM, supported by an expandable microSD for storage. Right from GPS to the Bluetooth there is everything curdled comfortably inside, that leads the 1230mAH battery of the HD2 to last for a day. Yes, the charging can also be achieved via USB. In spite of the old hardware, the phone is truly fast and the applications open up and close down instantly. The 5 megapixel camera with its flash delivers clear images. In terms of media playback and social networking, the phone comes with a Sense Shell feature that is truly fantastic. While using multiple apps, there is hardly any delay, and even multimedia apps perform well.

The email view has got some trouble in displaying some special characters correctly, and troubleshooting your email window can lead to a number of screens opening, all of them offering themselves to be configured. Consequently, this can leave one confused as to which screen is the correct one.

It is needless to say that the HD2 represents fairly good value for money with its great design and performance.