It’s time to take a look at the individual features of the HTC Touch2 and break down the various aspects that make a smartphone what it is. This is a tale of all good, no bad and features which are consistent in every area.

Voice

Call quality is excellent on the Touch2 and worked extremely well even in windy conditions. The speakerphone is also one of the best I have heard in a while and was usable in a noisy car. Thee aspects of smartphones are often overlooked, but when they are implemented poorly they can ruin the whole experience.

Signal

No problems here. HSDPA was showing up for most of my days at work and 3G was a constant companion. At home, where I often struggle to get 3G with my provider, I had almost constant access as well so I am well impressed with the antenna performance so far.

General Performance

General speed is good, but as per usual deactivating TouchFLO speeds things up somewhat. The moment it is removed from the Today panel things pick up, but you have to weigh up which is most important to you; speed or functionality. The Touch2 is a mini powerhouse in terms of performance and everything I have thrown at it has sped along at a fair old rate. I don’t want to be accused of over blowing the performance though and of course there is no genuine snappiness, but is more of a quick experience which will not blow you away.

Camera

This is a fixed focus model and thus not suitable for serious photography. It is good for the occasional snap, but like many other smartphone cameras you are unlikely to be printing many of the photos. Video recording is also in the ‘OK’ category so this completes a mediocre camera setup. To be fair, this phone is not designed to appeal to the camera hungry user and HTC seems to have made little effort to entice those who want a decent camera.

Media

I have no complaints regarding the media performance of the Touch2. Music playback is acceptable provided you use good quality headphones and video playback also suffices for TV episodes or short films. If you are going to watch a movie on a phone, 2.8” is probably the smallest sized screen you can get away with, but that does not mean the experience is poor. The music and video navigation is not great though and I would like to see updates made in this area. TouchFLO attempts to make the experience more swish, but saves little time in the loading process.

Software

I could spend forever discussing the included software and the implementation of Windows Mobile 6.5, but I want to save discussing the new OS for a separate article. The Touch2 does come with some goodies included though which are worthy of mention. There is a 15 day trial of the excellent Co-Pilot which works very well when married to the GPS antenna on the Touch2.
Windows Marketplace is pre-installed alongside Facebook and some quirky additions such as MSN Money. I could see HTC Footprints included though which is a shame, but I suspect we can expect the boys from XDA Developers to sort that out soon enough. The comment about XDA Developers is an example of where Windows Mobile has an advantage over the competition- you don’t have to put up with things you don’t like because you can either change them or someone else will come up with a solution.

Battery

The battery seems to be roughly the same performance wise as most of the other HTC devices I have reviewed over the past year. I managed two days of reasonable usage and suspect that it will easily get through a day’s heavy use without issue. The performance is not stellar, but it does the job.

Conclusion

I realise that this review is maybe sounding a bit non-committal and almost vague in places, but that is because the Touch2 follows very similar lines to most of the recent Windows Mobile devices from HTC.

It is a very good ‘phone’ and a very good smartphone with no performance issues and a hardware design which beats almost all of the competition. The price is also good and so I cannot fault it heavily in any area.

Windows Mobile 6.5 is promoted directly in the marketing literature and I swear than anyone who uses a Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone and upgrades to a 6.5 model will probably find little difference between the two operating systems. The Touch2 uses similar screen technology to all other Windows Mobile devices and so the stylus is still required for a number of activities which seems at odds with the way we are used to working today. The ironic thing is that the next Windows Mobile phone I will review this week has a very different approach to Windows Mobile 6.5 and manages to highlight the good bit more successfully.

When the HD2 arrives with Sense implemented this may be a breakthrough for Windows Mobile because it is a very good operating system which needs more help in terms of how the hardware interacts with it. When I compare the user experience of the Touch2 with the HTC Hero there is a huge gulf in terms of how the individual interacts with the phone and this is a concern for any Windows Mobile device not using a capacitive screen and a special UI to interact with it.

The world has moved on and Windows Mobile has stood still for too long. It’s a shame because the Touch2 is by all accounts an exceptional phone and one which will serve you well for a long time to come, but being an exceptional phone is not enough for most people today. Some more excitement is needed for the type of consumer who would naturally buy a phone like the Touch2.

However, I can’t fault the Touch2 for what it is and it’s up there with the very best, and the price adds more positivity to my conclusion. If you need a smartphone which will serve a variety of tasks and get you through a busy day, and one which is well made and well priced, the Touch2 is the one for you.

Available from Clove for £285.20.