Windows Phone review – Smartphone Round Robin

The third week of the Smartphone Round Robin was a tough one to work through since we had Christmas weekend followed by the New Year’s Day holiday. Thankfully, I was taking a look at Windows Mobile this week and I am intimately familiar with this platform and devices since I have been using them since 2001. I posted a couple of times over in the WMExperts forums and received some great feedback from readers there. Coincidentally, Phil from WMExperts was covering Nokia this week as he stated in his blog post soliciting your feedback.

Like Nokia’s Symbian, Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform is one of the old guys in the mobile field. Just because a platform is old does not mean it is not useful and as I will discuss below Windows Mobile is still very capable and relevant. There have been a lot of manufacturers of Windows Mobile devices in the past, but HTC has come out as the real leader today. This was my belief that was confirmed by just about every respondent in the WMExperts forum. Microsoft has been slow to release updates, but HTC pushes the envelope and includes features in their devices that eventually come out as features from Microsoft in updates so they are clearly leading the way. The two pieces of hardware that Phil shared with me and that I will talk about below are HTC products, the HTC HD2 and HTC Touch Pro2. I personally own both of these devices too so that makes talking about them even easier. Like I have in previous weeks, let’s take a look at the two pieces of hardware, the OS, a comparison to S60 and Maemo, and my closing thoughts.

Hardware: HTC HD2 and HTC Touch Pro2

The HTC HD2 is the newest Windows Phone device that currently is only available in Europe. HTC has stated it is coming to a major US carrier this year and the evidence that Windows Mobile enthusiasts have uncovered point to T-Mobile as the most likely carrier for the device. As you know, I have been a T-Mobile subscriber for years so this would please me if it indeed does come to this carrier, but there has not yet been any official announcement so it could be available on AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint too.

The Touch Pro2 is available on the four major US wireless carriers with slightly different names and QWERTY keyboards that have some minor differences. All carriers offer this device with subsidized pricing too. I purchased the T-Mobile version that has one of the best keyboard layouts and am much happier with the device after meeting with Phil and learning a bit more about alternative ROMs.

HTC HD2 The first thing you will notice on the HTC HD2 is the massive display that extends out to the extreme edges of the device. It is a 4.3 inch, 480×800 pixel resolution display that looks fantastic. Even if you don’t care much about the weather, after seeing the weather animations on the HD2 you may soon find yourself checking out the weather from all over the world. While the display looks fabulous, Microsoft doesn’t seem to take that much advantage of it with more information. Font is crisp, but icons are large and it seems to me that more optimization of the display could be provided. I understand you can get alternative ROMs for the device to give you a better experience so there are alternatives available.

The display is also the first capacitive touch display we have seen on a Windows Phone device so there is no longer a need for a stylus. HTC has done a good job optimizing the device for this touch-only navigation with their own utilities, but there are still remnants of Windows Mobile present that are not optimized for capacitive touch. Windows Mobile 6.5.1 is included on the HD2 be default and it isn’t until Windows Mobile 6.5.3 that Microsoft finally optimizes all the menus for touch. There are 6.5.3 ROMs available for the HD2 and I recommend you try them out on the device.

The other major part of the hardware that raises the bar for Windows Mobile is the 1GHz Snapdragon processor. Everything seems to fly on the HD2 and it is pretty rare to find the device lagging behind your intended actions. The new TouchFLO 3D, renamed Sense, is a slick user interface that lets you zip between different colored tabs serving as different application front ends. You will find tabs for your daily status, favorites, Twitter app, web browser, calendar, photos, and more that can all be rearranged and toggled on or off. It is enjoyable to view photos on the device with an iPhone coverflow-type experience that you also see in the HTC music player with album art.

So with such a large display you may be thinking the HD2 is an unwieldy device, but then you would be wrong. It is definitely a big device, but it is also quite thin at 0.43 inches so it still feels good in your hand. The device feels rock solid too with a hard frame with soft touch coating and a center back panel that is metal. This panel removes to reveal the microSD card, SIM card, and battery. There is also a 5 megapixel camera with dual LED flash on the back. The camera lens frame is a bit sharp around the edges so do not try sliding the HD2 across a table. The flash is extremely bright and actually washes out photos in low light conditions. Captured photos are decent, but not as good as a Nokia 5 megapixel camera photo.

The HD2 has 5 buttons below the display to control the device, but touch is the main navigation method since there is no direction pad or other type of control button.

You can check out the WMExperts review and my ZDNet review for more of in-depth thoughts on the HTC HD2

HTC Touch Pro2 As compelling as the HD2 is with the fast processor and gorgeous large display, I personally find my T-Mobile Touch Pro2 to be a more useful device that I grab more than the HD2. The Touch Pro2 supports T-Mobile’s 3.5G wireless data network and has the BEST QWERTY keyboard I have ever used on any smartphone. It also has a 480×800 resolution display, but in a 3.6 inch size instead of 4.3 inches. This is still plenty big and again looks beautiful. I personally don’t care much about the tilting display and rarely find the need to tilt it up. The T-Mobile and AT&T models use the miniUSB port for syncing, charging, and headset connections while the Sprint and Verizon versions have a standard 3.5mm headset jack. I understand HTC will be using 3.5mm headset jacks on future devices.

The QWERTY keyboard is the shining star of the Touch Pro2 (TP2) with five full rows where the design is modeled just like a PC with offset keys and everything. Three of the four models have a dedicated number row up top with the AT&T version having the numbers as alternate keys in a phone keypad arrangement. Each key is pretty large, very well spaced, and has excellent travel and feedback. HTC has spent a few years tweaking their QWERTY keyboards and in my opinion this one is near perfect. Unfortunately, the keyboard is not used to its full potential like it is on the Google Android platform. You can’t assign keyboard shortcuts to the letters and the couple that do have shortcuts cannot be changed. I think there are ways to do this with some 3rd party tools found on XDA Developers.

The TP2 has a great speakerphone and the software inside does a good job with phone calls and connecting people. A decent 3.2 megapixel camera (no flash) is included on the device too. You can’t beat the Exchange experience on a Windows Phone, which is one reason I keep using them in this day and age.

I find it interesting that neither of these higher end Windows Phone devices have integrated flash drives for storage. The high end Nokia devices usually have some integrated flash memory along with external microSD storage card slots for optimal memory expansion. I wonder if we will see devices with integrated storage this year.

Make sure to check out the head-to-head-to-head-to-head review of the TP2 on WMExperts and my ZDNet review of the T-Mobile Touch Pro2.

Operating system: Windows Mobile

The HTC HD2 comes with Windows Mobile 6.5.1 loaded on it by default while most Touch Pro2 variants have 6.1 Professional. The AT&T model (called Tilt 2) has 6.5.1 and you can go to XDA Developers and put 6.5 on the AT&T and T-Mobile models. I am not sure if 6.5 can be installed on the CDMA Sprint or Verizon models. The current version of Windows Mobile is 6.5.x and it is a decent upgrade over 6.1 that will be here for a year or more. Windows Mobile 7 is the next OS that is scheduled to come out at the end of 2010.

Microsoft moves quite slow with upgrades to their devices and much of this is due to the way that their operating system is licensed to others and not controlled by them. RIM’s BlackBerry, Palm’s WebOS, and Apple’s iPhone are all operating systems where the operating system creator also makes the devices so they have direct control over updates and upgrades. We have already seen divergence in the Google Android operating system where upgrades are now dependent on carriers and device manufacturers. This same issue is what I believe slows down the updating of Windows Mobile devices where carriers often control much of the end user experience. Nokia is more like the RIM, Palm, and Apple even though they license their OS and generally provide updates across carriers. The benefit to the way Microsoft licenses their OS and has manufacturers create devices is that smartphone buyers have a huge choice in form factors and they do not need to leave their preferred carrier to get a decent device.

Windows Mobile has gotten more stable over the years, but I still see their devices freezing up way more than my Nokia devices ever do. A benefit to Windows Mobile is that you can customize them more than any other platform, right down to tweaking the core user interface and OS quite easily. Nokia devices are customizable on one level, but nothing as extensive as what we see with Windows Mobile.

3rd party applications are well supported by Windows Mobile with thousands of available applications. Most apps on Windows Mobile are pricier than what you find in the iPhone App Store, but if the apps provide you with a necessary benefit and need then the price may be just fine for buyers. Multi-tasking with these 3rd party apps is supported in Windows Mobile and most devices today have plenty of horsepower to run several apps at once.

S60 and Maemo comparisons with Windows Mobile

I’ve been integrating some comparison talk throughout this review, but here are some more comparisons to check out.

S60 If I switch from a S60 device (say the Nokia n97 mini) to a Windows Mobile device I would gain the best Exchange experience, ability to tweak and customize right down to the base OS, and some other form factors. My multimedia experience would be reduced though since Windows Mobile devices just haven’t fully embraced the media experience and can’t seem to capture photos and video or even play video content as well as Nokia devices. Call quality is pretty good with the Windows Mobile devices I have tested, but I still get better quality on both ends of calls with my Nokia devices.

Maemo Maemo is more like Google Android than any other operating system I have tried and is quite a bit different than Windows Mobile. Again, I would gain a fantastic Exchange experience with a Windows Mobile device. I would also gain access to thousands more apps and more form factors. I would lose out on the VoIP support and seamless service integration. Multimedia is another area that is much weaker on Windows Mobile than on Maemo.

Wrapping up Windows Phone week

I bought my T-Mobile Touch Pro2 as soon as they were available and did not balk at the $350 subsidized price since I obtained a device with a fantastic QWERTY keyboard, T-Mobile 3.5G support, and an Exchange experience that lets me get all my work done on the go. HTC actually gave me the HD2 at Mobius, but if I was a die hard Windows Mobile fan I would consider this device with the 1GHz processor and large display. There are rumors that the HD2 will be upgradeable to Windows Mobile 7 and if that was the case then it is an easy purchase to make since you can count on the device lasting at least a couple of years.

Like Nokia, Microsoft has been losing market share in the mobile space to the newcomers with flashier user interfaces. However, I think both Nokia and Microsoft are committed to the mobile space and are not going to go away even if they hype is that they are old and dying. They will both come out with operating system and device updates that excite people again and there is room for many players in this young mobile space.

I think one of the keys for Microsoft is to make sure HTC stays on as a premier partner and doesn’t give up on Windows Mobile to focus solely on Google Android devices. If it wasn’t for HTC, Windows Mobile may indeed have been on their last legs with partners like Palm and Motorola moving onto other platforms.

I appreciate the comments from the Windows Phone community fans found over on WMExperts and the time Phil spent with me talking more about Windows Mobile. The user and developer community is what keeps Windows Mobile exciting and fresh and without such an enthusiast community I am not sure how excited I would be about the platform. It doesn’t seem like a lot of new users are jumping on Windows Mobile, similar to Nokia, and 2010 is the year that both of these companies need to make some compelling reasons for people to choose their platforms over the new players.

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