HTC Touch HD - have we finally got that iPhone killer?

nuttlys

with just over a month to go on its UK release date, the Touch HD looks like it could (finally) be a real alternative to the iPhone, matching/beating the apple product in nearly every spec. And its not half bad looking either.

I know its early days yet but having watched and read a few reviews I feel that this phone could be a serious threat for everyones much beloved iphone. Had WM7 stayed on track (what was i thinking) I reckon that this phone would have been the perfect lauchpad.

With prices of €619 being knocked about, what do you all think? is this phone going to be able to take that x factor from the iphone? O2 germany aren't taking any chances....

Rsaeire

Another touch-screen handset that I won't be buying. I prefer having a touch-screen and slide-out keypad on a handset so the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 is next on my list.

I will admit that if I were to go for an all touch-screen handset, and I'm talking hypothetically here, I would go for the HTC Touch HD.

Sparky

Same as, I rather having a keyboard than an onscreen keyboard!

slicedpanman

Well I'm certainly seriously considering it ... I've been keeping an eye out for a release date/price, so ta Nuttlys :cool:

I had been looking at the Touch Pro as I too like the idea of a keypad... but the following things have convinced me to go for the HD instead;

• the screen - unbeatable resolution (480 x 800 WVGA)
• a proper 3.5mm headphone socket
• I currently have a slide phone and it has become loose... I expect that all phones with slide out keypads will, eventually, become loose - I fear that it will eventually seperate

GUIGuy

As an iPhone owner I will definitely be buying this. It overcomes most of the shortcomings of the iPhone... no radio, no copy paste, almost non existent bluetooth, low res screen (for screen size), no removable memory, poor multitasking, crap camera, poor video/flash compatibility, poor streaming services, almost unusable remote desktop, poor MS Office filters.

Ok I'm sure it won't be perfect... HTC home market is Asia and they have to work well with sylii (for Asian Character input). So unless they come up with a big advance in resistive touch screens they won't just be as fluid as an iPhone.

art

Think the most likely candidate for an iPhone killer will arrive using the Google OS at the moment - the Windows Mobile is far too clumsy and unreliable and though HTC put a facade over it, the longer you use them the more annoying they become (speaking as a 2 years user of WinMobile on diiferent handsets).

cdebru

No iphone killer here its still running windows mobile no matter how HTC dress it up

Rsaeire

I've never had much of an issue with Windows Mobile; I always found it did the job fine. I can understand that in comparison to the iPhone's UI Windows Mobile isn't as responsive, but at least there is a lot more options handset wise, in comparison, and multitasking is more readily available for 3rd party applications.

The HTC Touch HD should take some of the fanfare from the iPhone but people primarily buy an iPhone due to the name, not because of the functionality. I'm sure a lot of people on here realise that if the iPhone was brought out by another company it wouldn't have done nearly as well.

I look forward to the HD being released as it will only drive the market further and make the competitors offerings better, with nobody resting on their laurels and innovation the market being a main priority.

cdebru

Rsaeire wrote: »

I've never had much of an issue with Windows Mobile; I always found it did the job fine. I can understand that in comparison to the iPhone's UI Windows Mobile isn't as responsive, but at least there is a lot more options handset wise, in comparison, and multitasking is more readily available for 3rd party applications.

The HTC Touch HD should take some of the fanfare from the iPhone but people primarily buy an iPhone due to the name, not because of the functionality. I'm sure a lot of people on here realise that if the iPhone was brought out by another company it wouldn't have done nearly as well.

I look forward to the HD being released as it will only drive the market further and make the competitors offerings better, with nobody resting on their laurels and innovation the market being a main priority.

I have had numerous windows mobile phones and the experience is terrible compared to an iphone

Wifi is terrible and nearly impossible to get it to work properly with WPA

web browsing is atrocious and virtually unusable

messaging is a mess

and then there is the grinding to a halt when too many applications are opened and all your memory is used up with applications you opened and closed hours ago

the ui requires far too many clicks to get anywhere


The only thing that I use my windows mobile for is TomTom

foobar

Im hoping that HTC release this phone with the android OS ... then it could be the killer phone.

mkennedy

Anyone know anything about when wm7 is coming.
And is it going to be a massive overhaul of wm's (much reviled) ui.
Or just more tweaking.

It'll be genuinely interesting to see how Android and development for it will affect wm in the future.

art

Rsaeire wrote: »

... people primarily buy an iPhone due to the name, not because of the functionality. .

That's a complete nonsense.

jimmycrackcorm

art wrote: »

That's a complete nonsense.

Well they don't buy it for it's mms functionality or its brilliant camera flash.

Victor_M

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Well they don't buy it for it's mms functionality or its brilliant camera flash.

You're are right, you buy it for it's integrated GPS, WiFi, Integrated ipod, widescreen video functionality, accelerometer, almost flawless UI, unbeatable web browsing experience (for a hand held device), highly sensitive touch screen (much more sensitive than any HTC device I've owned), ability to alter the device to your liking via apps (how many WM app's are there out there after all these years?) oh, and it's quite a good phone too.

It's not perfect by any means, but it's a hell of a lot better than any other PDA/hndheld device I've ever used.

mkennedy

Victor_M wrote: »

(how many WM app's are there out there after all these years?)

I don't doubt the iphone is far more than a fashionable phone as you have outlined.

One thing though- AFAIK there are more apps available for WM than any other OS (apart maybe from palm IIRC).

Dades

mkennedy wrote: »

I don't doubt the iphone is far more than a fashionable phone as you have outlined.

One thing though- AFAIK there are more apps available for WM than any other OS (apart maybe from palm IIRC).

You could compare the iPhone and Touch HD to a Volkswagen and a Skoda.

Sure, Skoda are an excellent, if not better car in some areas, but the fact that you always have to explain to everyone why you bought a Skoda instead of a Volkswagen kinda takes the joy out of it.

Tom Dunne

Rsaeire wrote: »

people primarily buy an iPhone due to the name, not because of the functionality

What nonsense.

I wanted a phone that plays music, video, allows me to use e-mail on and surf the web.

I didn't give a damn who made it, in fact I had my heart set on the N95 until I actually used the iPhone. No comparison. I bought it there and then.

Anyway, back on topic. There is no denying that the Touch HD looks good, but it's still WM underneath. I've posted here before about how dismayed I became with WM. Until I actually see an in-depth review of the Touch, I will hold off forming an opinion.

Victor_M

Having lived with a HTC touch for the last year, I can say from experience that there are only a handful of usefull app's available for WM6, Tom tom being one of the best followed by skype after that there isn't much really.

The effort involved in achieving any task in WM is cumbersome at best, and considering that it's Microsoft software, in one year there was not one upgrade for any of my software. Sluggish, frustrating and unintuitive is how I'd sum up WM after a years use.

The screen sensitivity was the biggest issue (and ease of scratching), without the stylus it was almost impossible to execute any command without having to press the screen many times with randomly varying degrees of pressure required, so if you are in the market for the new HTC I'd try one out first.

GUIGuy

Well I don't think you can fairly judge the Touch HD by the original Touch(Elf)... which was launched about a month before the iPhone was announced.

It's true that screen senstivity and UI design are the things that the iPhone really excels at... The widgets on WM phones are just not funger friendly. Having used a Diamond I know that for the simple things that I commonly do on the iPhone the Diamond can come close. I expect the Touch HD to come closer, but I don't think it will beat the iPhone in overall finger friendliness.

I understand why people complain about memory problems in WM phones... but I don't agree with them! When you're done with an app just kill it. Is that too much to ask? If yes then no worries... just use an OS that only allows one app at a time. Then there won't be any memory errors!

Apple's decision of 1 user app at a time was bang on. 99% of users don't care about background apps. They are only concerned about the app they are currently using... and having a memory error is a greater upset for this market than restricted functionality.

WM was really intended to be a little pocket PC... with all the flexibility/complexity that goes with it. I don't see that changing, but I am happy that HTC have made it easier to actually kill apps and that they are including reasonable amounts of memory at last.

The Touch HD will be a set of comprimises just like any other phone... but from what I've seen it's a set that suits me.

Rsaeire

People may quote me all they want, at the end of the day, the iPhone is put on an undeserved pedestal, in my opinion, and that if made by any other manufacturer would have been derided by the masses. I still feel that a lot people who have bought the iPhone, I thought I'd add "a lot" so as to not tar everyone with the same brush, bought it because it is deemed a fashion accessory; just look at the iPod.

I think the HTC Touch HD will no doubt be a great handset based upon what I've seen of it so far. Hardware wise it has so many excellent features that power users, and even moderate users, will love. Whether or not it has as intuitive a UI as the iPhone, we'll have to wait and see. I imagine it won't, as I think the iPhone's UI is very good, quick, responsive, easy to use, and won't be be beat by the HD. In saying that, I don't think it will be the abysmal failure some people think it might be.

ironderek

Hi,
Do you have any idea where can I buy/order this phone- except expansys?

slicedpanman

ironderek wrote: »

Hi,
Do you have any idea where can I buy/order this phone- except expansys?

I've only seen it for sale on Expansys so far... I expect that it will appear on www.pcwb.ie shortly too as they already stock plenty of HTC phones

Rsaeire

Looks like the first network in the UK to get the HTC Touch HD will be Orange UK, with the other networks not getting a look in until 2009. No word yet on Irish network availability, but I would imagine it would be in early 2009 also at the very earliest.

towel401

The iPhone has ushered in a whole wave of forgetable touchscreen-only phones and they are all as bad as the next. I wish the fad would go away and that they go back to manufacturing ordinary handsets with a screen on top and an actual keyboard under it

lassykk

Personally

I had HTC TYTN II for about 6 months and I couldn't get use to the functionality or how ugly it was in comparison to the iphone. The functionality of the iphone seemed fantastic in comparison

However I will never buy an iphone for the simple reason that I (and I emphasise the "I") cannot text or email on it due to the terrible keyboard option.

For that reason I bought a HTC diamond which overcame this problem by offering a phone keypad with predictive text. Now I know loads of people complain about this and find it awkward but it fits my needs perfectly as I am a frequent texter.

As for the interface I believe the Touch flow 3D interface offered on the diamond is probably not as flawless as the iphone UI but I love it and find it perfect to use. I may have more patience than others for WM devices as I don't mind a slight delay in apps loading and I always close one program before opening a new one overcoming memory issues.

The browsing experience on the Diamond is fantastic as it resizes the webpages to make them easier to read. The iphone most likely does this too but I can't see why WM would be considered inferior to the iphone in this regard.

There's very little my Diamond does that the Iphone does better in my opinion in the areas that I use frequently:

- Great choice of sat-nav softwares
- A good music player (my opinion only)
- Recognised as an external hard-drive (maybe the iphone does this I'm not sure)
- Brilliant to text on
- Brilliant to browse the net on

The thing I most dislike is the lack of game development for WM due to the iphone.

Rsaeire

The HTC Touch HD is now available, without contract, from an online store named Device Wire for £514.99/€635.50 (not including P&P) for all those wanting to be the first to own one.

P&P to Ireland, however, will set you back £54.37/€67; not that that would set you back if you were planning on spending that much on the handset in the first place.

Soarer

Gonna get Santa to get me one of these I think.

Can't bring myself to get the iPhone, no matter how good it is. Too many people have it!
Why follow the herd?

KStaford

I would be a fan of WM.

It may still be a little unbstable after a long uptime but I love the fact that I can write my own apps in Visual Studio using the WM6 emulator and SDK.

I love the fact that I can install other apps such as Tom Tom.

I love the fact that its a familiar interface and is totally compatible with my laptop running windows and office

User can upgrade as and when MS release patches

Tom Dunne

Soarer wrote: »

Gonna get Santa to get me one of these I think.

Can't bring myself to get the iPhone, no matter how good it is. Too many people have it!
Why follow the herd?

So let me get this right you won't buy an iphone because it's too popular? Rather than try it out, you blindly go against the masses without making up your own mind?

Yeah, that makes sense.

Any reviews of the Touch HD out there?

KStaford

Tom Dunne wrote: »

Any reviews of the Touch HD out there?

Watch this space . . . .

There are tons of review vids on utoob, alsp slashgear have done what I consider to be the best overall review, its in 2 parts linked below. Dont come to any conclusions until uve read part 2 which is far more indepth than part 1.

part 1
part 2

slicedpanman

KStaford wrote: »

Watch this space . . . .
part 1
part 2

Thanks for the links KStaford... I think I'm finally sold on the Touch HD , now where did I put that letter to Santa