HTC Touch 2 deals & review

In a word or two

The HTC Touch 2 is a pocket-friendly mobile phone packed full of features. It is run using Microsoft’s Windows Mobile platform and benefits from the friendly HTC TouchFlo interface.

The Design

Replacing the original HTC Touch, the HTC Touch 2 is taller and thinner than its predecessor. With curved edges and a clean finish, the compact phone is comfortable to hold in one hand and the optional stylus for improved use of the resistive touchscreen does not interrupt the design.

The HTC Touch 2 is available in black, brown or silver.  

Specifications

The HTC Touch 2 is the first of the smartphones to use the latest operating system from Microsoft, Windows Mobile 6.5 and has a whole host of features which are ideal for both personal and business purposes.

The phone has a QWERTY on-screen keyboard as well as an alphanumeric keyboard and a compact one with two letters per key. It has bigger icons and menus than those on the HTC Touch for user-friendliness and the stylus allows you to navigate the touchscreen with ease despite its relatively small size.

The HTC Touch 2 offers you free access to Microsoft’s new MyPhone, an online syncing service. It’s a great feature which allows you to sync your phone and back up your files on your computer, all without the need for a USB cable.

The phone also features a 3.2 megapixel camera, GPS, Wi-Fi, Facebook application, a music application, choice of Opera or the new Internet Explorer web browser, and SMS and MMS picture and sound text messages, among others. You can also download further applications and games from the Windows Marketplace.

One of the key business features is the Pocket Office installed on the HTC Touch 2 which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Adobe Reader for opening PDF files. You can also send and receive emails while on the go.

Considerations

The few drawbacks of the HTC Touch 2 are minimized thanks to some great HTC attributes. For example, the latest Microsoft operating system, which is a definite improvement on previous editions, is undoubtedly bolstered by HTC’s TouchFlo interface on the phone. The TouchFlo makes accessing applications quick and easy, along with enhancing the virtual keyboard with extras such as the option to hold down a key to select a number or a symbol instead of a letter. However, it can be slightly confusing to have Windows Mobile and TouchFlo on the one phone because, for example, they offer you different routes for settings, with Windows Mobile presenting more options than TouchFlo.

The lack of a multi-touch feature which lets you zoom in on an image or web page, like on the iPhone 3G S or Palm Pre, is largely compensated by the touch-sensitive strip beneath the touchscreen which does allows you to zoom in on images, albeit less accurately.

Verdict

The phone looks smart, is compact and light, and has some great features for work and play.