HTC Touch HD

HTC Touch HD

Bought my unit two months ago for about US$860.

Protection:
Installed the Zagg Invisible Shield. Generally works and it is difficult to make scratches if you try with a key or hard object but lo and behold, I got a large scratch in the middle of the screen after wiping it with a soft lens cloth! Must have been a pebble or some sort. Not sure if I can return it as I bought it second hand off a local vendor.

I decided not to use a leather casing as it makes it too bulky and hides the main feature of the phone, which is its slim profile and large screen.

Mail:
It handles emails very well. The best part is that you can route Hotmail, Gmail and Microsoft Exchange emails to this phone. Hotmail and Gmail settings are done thru the Mail tab of TouchFlo 3d while you can use ActiveSync to connect to Microsoft Exchange for your office emails. Just go to configure server, key in the server address, answer a few questions and it works as advertised.

I use Maxis in Malaysia for the Microsoft Exchange email updates and have signed up for the unlimited package of RM99. So far, there are no major issues with receiving and sending office emails. Contact numbers, calendar appointments and tasks to complete are all synchronized through the phone and makes it all very convenient and easy to use.

I recommend not updating the servers so frequently for new emails especially for non-peak hours. This helps to save on battery life. I have tried roaming once and it worked without any problems.

Window 6.5 seems to handle emails ok without having to purchase and install Microsoft Outlook.

SMS is also handled well. Multiple SMS from the same number will be shown in the order they are received. Due to the screen resolution, a lot of info can be seen on screen at the same time. The only gripe so far is that the SMS goes from old to new, instead of the other way around. This means you have to click on the “newer” links often to get to the latest messages.

Phone:
No major issues with the phone application. Only used Video calls once and it works as advertised. There is no way to use Skype for video calls at the moment as I am told the bandwidth for encrypted video in Skype is too strenuous for the CPU in the HTC. Skype voice calls are quite clear and work as advertised although I haven’t really used it much yet.

The phone takes a standard audio jack and you don’t have to use the supplied hands free kit to take phone calls as a normal set of earphones can do the job as well.

Internet:
The unit uses the Opera browser. This is where the 480 X 800 screen comes into play. You can either display the pages exactly as the designer intended or you can choose a mobile version. I personally use the full version as it is easier to navigate and looks much cooler. The unit also switches to landscape mode automatically when you swivel the phone but the only problem is that there is a slight bug when you need to access the bookmarks which are only shown in portrait mode. The other lesser gripe is that you can only have 3 sheets or tabs in this version of Opera. I find the launching of Opera to be a bit slow – 3-4 seconds but after that, it is ok. I can’t really tell the difference between HSDPA, 3G, Edge and GRPS as I haven’t really downloaded any large files yet.

Weather application:
Very cool feature as you are given the weather update for the day as well as the forecast for the next four days. Doesn’t seem to be always accurate but when is weather forecasting always accurate. You can monitor as many as 10 locations throughout the world.

Music application:
Cannot really comment as I don’t listen to music that much. The pacakged 8gb MicroSD card can keep quite a number of songs, though.

Camera and album:
I find the camera focus to be a bit slow and the subject has to be almost still in order to take good pictures. Shots in ambient night light is terrible, as expected but daytime shots are quite good. The album application is quite nifty and the pictures can switch to landscape modes automatically following the phone orientation. The slideshow feature is quite cool as well.

Stock application:
Data is apparently obtained from Yahoo money and it is very convenient to get the latest quotes on your stock as well as the major stock indices like Dow Jones and Nasdaq. You can also get the 5 day, 1 month, 3 month, 6 month, 1 year and 2 year charts as well.

Programs:
So far, I find the following applications to be very useful, RSS reader for the latest news from various sources, Garmin for the GPS system (it really works!), YouTube, YouTube player for downloaded movies and Skype. There aren’t too many games for this phone but I guess this phone is not designed for games per se (e.g. no keypad). The one feature that Windows 6.5 works very well compared to a phone like Blackberry is that it handles Microsoft Excel and Word very well. The worksheets in Excel look exactly as they should.

Battery Life:
Battery lasts for about about 24 hours with around 5 calls, casual browsing and emails activated. However, if you turn on Wifi, it will last for only about 6-8 hours tops. I find that using Wifi is unnecessary as this phone supports HSDPA and 3G which makes browsing fast enough for me.

Others:
HTC should have tried to fit in a keypad and some hardware keys on this unit as it would have been more efficient and convenient. Also, a quicker way to lock the keypad/handset would be better instead of having to press the hang up key for a few seconds.

Overall impressions so far:
Could have been cheaper but the convenience and tight integration with Microsoft Exchange and Office makes it worthwhile. The fact that the GPS system works so well makes it a good purchase as well.