HTC Touch Pro

Specs

CPU – Qualcomm® MSM7201A™ 528 MHz

OS – Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional

Memory – 288Mb RAM / 512Mb ROM

Dimensions – 102 mm (L) X 51 mm (W) X 18.05 mm (T)

Weight -165 g (with battery)

Display – 2.8-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen (VGA)

Network – HSPA/WCDMA – Europe / Asia: 900/2100 MHz

Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE – Europe / Asia (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)

Camera – 3.2 megapixel color camera with auto focus and flash light plus second VGA CMOS colour camera for video calls

Other – GPS (Internal GPS antenna), Bluetooth® 2.0 with EDR, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, TV Out (cable separate), FM radio with RDS

Battery -1340 mAh

Expansion Slot – microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)

Videos

We recently spent a week with the HTC Touch Pro, so we put our daily experiences into a video blog to create “A Week With the HTC Touch Pro” (clever title huh?). Here’s the vids..

 

Outside

Remember our special report on the HTC Touch Diamond ? Well, if you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t seen anything about the

Touch Pro, it’s basically the same as the slim Diamond handset, but with an added slide-out QWERTY keyboard, microSD card expansion, LED flash (on the camera) and TV-out.

When you first look at the HTC Touch Pro in the box it looks fairly similar to the Diamond – the screen is pushed up next to the glass frontage and the navigation controls are identical. The only minor difference is a slightly more rounded appearance.



The extra bulk of the handset does take a little getting used to, especially if you’ve been lucky enough to use the HTC Touch Diamond. The shape of the HTC Touch Pro design means that it is pretty much as thick as the HTC TyTN II (Kaiser) but not as wide. In your pocket though, there’s no great worry, the handset still isn’t “PDA” sized in any way, and people will be prepared to accept the bigger waistline for the inclusion of the QWERTY and microSD slot.

So, a quick tour. At the bottom of the handset is the now familiar USB slot. This will charge, sync and connect your phone – plug in your headphones (supplied in the form of a handsfree kit) or use an adaptor to plug in your standard 3.5mm headphones. To the right you can just about see the reset switch with the microphone in the centre.

On this following shot you can see the split in the centre of the phone where the lower half of the handset containing the battery / QWERTY and microSD etc. The volume up / down buttons are also located towards the top of the handset – they’re nice and easy to locate and press.

Notice the navigation controls too – nice chunky buttons to press and a navigation pad at the centre which is slightly indented. Around the action button you can also wipe your finger in a circular motion to perform zooming functions within certain applications.



On the top there’s a similar looking power button, whilst on the right you can see the magnetically-attached stylus. This will pop back into it’s slot and activate the screen automatically when removed. I’m still a little disappointed with the lack of camera button. Sometimes when you want to take a picture you should just have to turn it on and press one button.

Turn the handset over and the classic Diamond shapes are back (OK, yes, they’re triangles), but there’s more of a matt finish to this battery cover, compared to the uber-shiny Diamond rear. Notice the extra hole for the LED flash next to the camera.

Sliding open the QWERTY keyboard (which pops open) reveals a new 5-row QWERTY, so no more holding “FN” to get numbers typed out. The design of the keyboard will also be evident on the upcoming HTC S740. It works well, with HTC maximising the space available. I’ve used handsets like the HTC S710 and S730 and sometimes struggled with the low height of the keyboard – this is not a problem here.



If we go really up-close-and-personal you can see the slight rubber feel to the keys. They’re in now way spongey though, and when used with your thumbs you can get up to a respectable speed.

On the following shot you can see the two status LED’s for caps lock and symbols – it’s good to see a pound sign proudy sat on the keyboard !! 🙂 Press FN and then “W” to get this, and you’ll see the FN LED light up.

When compared to the HTC TyTN II you can see that, although the screen sizes are the same, the Touch Pro is smaller in other aspects (apart from the depth) and you can use the screen in its’ entirety because it’s flush with the front of the handset.

With the keyboard open you see the HTC TouchFLO 3D system vanish and instead you get a screen with some shortcut icons into frequently used options. A little disappointing, but it won’t impact the user experience.

Inside

The HTC TouchFLO 3D system we saw on the Diamond re-appears here, however there’s a few extras. The shortcut menu we just mentioned appears when you slide the keyboard open and there’s a G-motion configuration system for setting the accelerometer. The screen is VGA, which means that everything looks beautiful, crisp and clear. The screenshots we took from the handset are quite large because of the higher resolution, so I’ll just show you one image at full resolution so you can see the quality..

Big huh?

The main home screen within the HTC TouchFlo 3D system is this clock. HTC have worked out that the existing Windows Mobile interface is rubbish unless you’re IT literate and don’t mind using a stylus to do everything, so the HTC TouchFlo 3D interface is finger driven and fires you straight into the bits you need. As an example, tapping this clock will let you change the time or set your alarm, whilst the calendar button will take you into your appointments. Simple, effective and yet stylish all at the same time. People don’t want to use a stylus – they should be able to achieve normal, day-to-day stuff using their fingers.

 

We’ve already looked at the HTC TouchFlo 3D system in the videos above, so I’m going to dive into some more screenshots because you’ve probably seen the majority of the functionality already. Sliding along the tabs brings you into the “favourite people” section, where you can add your frequently used contacts easily. This spins round in the style of a rolodex and or you can quickly fly up and down the contacts you have with the panel on the right. It also easy to add, remove or chose people from your normal contact list – just hit “All contacts” and push your finger up the screen to scroll down.

Messaging is also brought into the main screen, and the fluid nature of message-reading and navigation is pushed along – like everything in TouchFlo 3D – by a video co-processor to bring extra speed to everything you see. This isn’t an interface you’ll be seeing back-ported onto other Windows Mobile phones – it depends on a certain hardware spec which HTC have worked on themselves. This is a more than just a phone with an OS slapped on – it’s a total package.

Your pictures and videos are easily accessible from this main screen. So too are your MP3’s and albums – plus the weather, as you saw earlier.

Any extra programs that you might install can be added to the “Programs” tab – this gives you access into your favourite apps, plus there’s Google Maps, Wordcard Mobile, JetCet Print (for Bluetooth printing) and an RSS reader to get you started. Let’s not forget the whole Office Mobile software suite, which is really suited to a keyboarded handset like this.

Typing was simple and easy, plus it perhaps an example of how good the on-screen keyboards are because I didn’t find it necessary to whip to QWERTY keyboard out every time. If you do, typing blogs, stories, articles, notes or even that all-important report is easy and simple. The keyboard really comes into its’ own when you’re on a crowded train, bus, tram or even walking down the street – no laptop to worry about, no elbows to bash, no power sockets to hunt down. It’s there – in your pocket – when you have that great idea or want to make those all-important notes to a proposal.

The keyboard also means you can add web addresses and other complex details in easily. Searching for stuff is easier and the addition of the Opera 9.5 internet browser, which has automatic screen rotation, lets you browse and find sites very easily indeed. The speed at which sites appear is fantastic – even on poor old GPRS. Push your finger across a page and it’s like pushing a piece of paper across the table. Zoom in and the words will wrap automatically into the screen. It’s all well thought-out and so, so, so much better than Internet Explorer, although that is included too if you wish to use it.

 

Also on board is the YouTube video player, which again works really really well. It will let you search and play YouTube videos and you’re no longer restricted to “certain mobile videos” – this is the whole of YouTube, on your phone.

GPS works well and locates you quickly. The included Google Maps will use your data connection to download satellite maps, or you can install your own sat-nav software and navigation your way around without the need of any extra equipment. We would, though, recommend a car charger if you intend using the GPS functionality on a daily journey.

Receiving and making calls is easy and simple – the phone will guess which number you want to dial based on what you punch in. If you want to call “Bob” and use the on-screen keypad to type “262” it will show Bobs numbers – you then choose whether to call Bobs mobile, home phone or text him. Each contact has their own picture and a huge choice of options – add their address, date of birth, shoe size, whatever you fancy.

Camera

Pictures produced by the camera definitely had an extra layer of colour and were obviously much sharper than the 2 megapixel shots we’re used to on standard HTC cameras. The flash worked reasonably well, although the camera itself still struggled with low-light situations and there’s the usual level of staggering as it attempts to focus in low-light.



The photo I took in the video blogs above (Day 7) is shown below along with some other shots I snapped on the phone. Click each thumbnail to see the direct-from-the-phone picture.

Concusion



I’m glad that HTC have created this handset and were wise enough to realise that not everyone wants a completely keyboard-less handset. Sure, the HTC Touch Diamond works fantastically well, and I was shocked at how much I used the on-screen keyboard on the HTC Touch Pro, but the QWERTY gives an extra level of flexibility which will be hugely beneficial to a lot of customers. The microSD card slot allows full portability of your data, and the ability to quickly change your Touch Pro into “disk drive” mode means that you effectively have a large storage pen in your pocket all the time. The FM radio, MP3, video capabilities, YouTube player, Opera browser and camera bring such a high level of entertainment that it’s such a joy to use on a daily basis. Business use can even be diluted with a bit of entertainment. Type out that special report for your boss – all whilst listening to the FM radio or even a streaming radio station. Brilliant stuff.

This is a very flexible handset. It looks cool and does a heck of a lot. Snap a picture, email to someone, then fire up your satnav software, navigate to the train station, write a document on the train, print your document over the Bluetooth facility, get in your car, make a call, get home, connect to your WiFi, browse, check the weather, text someone and then watch a funny video on YouTube.



This is a fantastic bit of kit.

Buy the HTC Touch Pro unlocked and network free from devicewire.co.uk.