HTC Tilt 2 (AT&T)

5.0 stars

"Great Input Options Make This the Best Smartphone" on October 29, 2009 by sirenprincess

Pros: keyboard
stylus
resistance touch screen
large touch screen, clear beautiful picture
full integration with Word, Excel, Power Point
ease of getting to what you want quickly

Cons: no predictive text (only xt9)
small, flat buttons for power and answering calls
'flipping' movement mechanism can cause motion sickness

Summary: I upgraded from a Tilt to a Tilt 2. I LOVED my Tilt, but when it had a few problems (actually fixed by updating the software) I became panicked as I realized there wasn't a single phone in the marketplace I would have at the time. I've been watching the release date for the Tilt 2 ever since, and bought it right away.

The BEST feature is the variety of text input options available to you. I HATE iphones and there non-resistance touch screens. I have long fingernails and prefer to just tap the screen with my nail. But there are lots of other people with big thumbs, etc, that need to be able to use a stylus. I also love being able to use a stylus because it's discreet on a disk while in a meeting, etc. Nothing like texting in the air with your thumbs on an iphone. With the tilt 2, you can input text using almost any method you could imagine. I preferred using the stylus on the touch screen on my tilt 1, and that option is still available and great. I can use my nails to type on the touch screen much easier on this phone because it has a full touch keyboard with bigger keys onscreen. It is NOT an exact normal qwerty keyboard, but has the letters in the main format and you press and hold for symbols. If you prefer a regular keyboard, that's an option, to be used with the stylus. It still takes Palm handwriting, if you like that. And then the physical keyboard. Wow. Just Wow. I can not say enough about this. It is sooo much better than the tilt 1. I am now using the physical keyboard as my preferred method when I don't have to be discreet. It is so fast! Choices, that's what the tilt 2 is about. You can do whatever is easiest and most comfortable for you.

You can customize a LOT on the interface too--which tabs on the touch flo you want, the order of them, or you can switch the standard Microsoft. I didn't think I would like the touch flo, but I prefer it to the Microsoft. I still miss the days of the old interface, where you could keep your screen uncluttered, have a couple of links to things you wanted, and everything else under hidden menus accessed with the stylus. But really the fast, fast access to internet sites and contacts makes this a real nice interface.

The other main advantage of this phone is the complete integration with microsoft word, excel, and power point. You can easily write and edit documents on your phone, which I do frequently, and do not need a separate app or converter. It's perfect.

The opera browser is a huge step up from the tilt 1 IE. I like that it loads the whole page and you can zoom in on whatever you'd like. Really useful.

I like the actual phone features as well--great speaker phone, conference call. It's really clear that this phone was invented with business users in mind. The people tab with the pictures puts frequently called numbers a simple tap away. I really like it.

I have found, in general, if there is something I don't like, I just have to look a little deeper and figure out how to customize it. There are options to change almost anything I want to the way I wanted it.

I find the phone is NOT huge like everyone says. It's the same size as an iphone. The screen size is much bigger than my tilt 1, but the phone is so much thinner, it seems lighter, more streamlined, less bulky. I have no problem using it in my labcoat pocket. And the large screen makes apps like medical programs I use just pop, so easy to read and use.

I have also not had a problem with battery life. I normally charge every night when I go to bed, but it is lasting me all day without using very much battery with heavy, heavy texting and internet use all day long.

A few negatives. I miss having bigger buttons on the phone. I know it's supposed to look streamlined, but it's hard to find the answer button in the dark or while doing something else. The power button doesn't have a strong 'push' feel, so it's hard to be sure you got it.

The 'flipping' movement for flipping through screens, flipping through e-mails, etc can cause motion sickness. I'd honestly prefer drop down menus. But it's a credit to the phone's brilliant display that it can cause that.

This phone does not have a predictive text feature like the tilt 1, and that is what I miss most. It comes with the option for xt9, which is not the same. The xt9 does predict what you're typing, but it also corrects for hitting the wrong key. Sounds great--fix your typos, but in reality it's really annoying when it decides you typed something not even remotely close to what you typed, when you typed what you wanted right. I can see the advantages of xt9 and why some people might want it, but I want the option for my old predictive text, that was basically just word completion. I can type the letters right, I just want it to guess what I'm typing to save time. I do really miss this, but the speed of the keyboard makes up for the loss of this function.

Updated on Nov 2, 2009

One feature that I forgot to mention that I am particularly enjoying is the speaker phone. It has GREAT sound quality on both ends, even when I'm driving. This wasn't a feature I expected to use much, but since the sound is SO great and it let's me be hands free, I'm actually using it a lot. I'm very impressed with all of the call features, the calling interface and display, and especially the speaker phone.

One call feature I do NOT like is the options for answering the phone. As I mentioned previously, the physical answer button is so small on the phone. What I did not mention was that the onscreen answer buttons is stupid. You have to slide a bar to answer or ignore. Why can't I just tap answer? Using the slider while you're busy is a pain. I want a fast answer button.

3.5 stars

"Nice upgrade from a Tilt, but still not the best" on November 25, 2009 by watsdamattau666

Pros: Tethering
Speakerphone
Bluetooth 2.0
Calls sound fantastic

Cons: Stock AT&T phone limited to 300Kb/s download when using GSM.
WiFi limited (capped) to 1.5Mb/s.
AT&T bloatware all over the phone
Internet is slow and laggy

Summary: My Tilt broke and I mainly chose this phone over the iPhone because it had the ability to tether. I received the phone from AT&T.

Tethering was okay running at 300Kb/s. Trying to stream a Youtube video was kind of ridiculous though. After downloading a .cab file (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=569953&page=2) it now goes up to 2Mb/s and averages about 1.5 - 1.7 Mb/s. That's a substantial increase in speed. Asking the customer to modify the registry in order to get all the speed the phone is capable of is really unnecessary and uncalled for. It should be fast right out of the box.

Another problem with the phone is that if you put it in WiFi mode you'll find that the speed is capped at 1.7 Mb/s. So in essence, you may have a WiFi network in your household that is capable of 7 - 15 Mb/s but you'll only get 1.7 Mb/s. Apparently all HTC Touch 2 and Tilt 2 phones have this problem, so it's a hardware/firmware issue and there's no way around it. For comparison, I compared an iPhone 3GS on the same WiFi network and it got 7 Mb/s. The HTC Tilt 2 is pathetic when it comes to this.

Internet is the worse. It's slow and requires multiple pushes to get a link to work. It's barely usable. However, speeding up the download speed helped.

I found a bug in the email program and it was quite annoying. I won't go into details, but be careful if you decide you don't want Outlook to sync any longer and decide to remove it from your phone. If you have external emails you'll find that the boxes for the external email will remain on your phone but you won't be able to do anything with them. In fact you won't even be able to remove them. So they'll be sitting there, unused, for as long as you have the phone.

So, did I like anything about the phone? Yes, the tethering. The speakerphone is one part I never used on my Tilt and it's fantastic on the Tilt 2. I was barely able to hear people with my Jawbone bluetooth headset with my Tilt. Now people come in loud and clear. I attribute that to the Bluetooth 2.0. The main reason why I purchased a cell phone was to make calls and the phone is fantastic for that. The calls are clear and the noise reduction is fantastic. People on the other end think I hung up the phone because it's so quiet.

Having Outlook, Word and Excel is a huge plus.

So overall, I'm happy with the phone now that I made the modifications. I'm even happier that I was even able to make modifications (I love tinkering). If I had an Apple iPhone I would have been locked in and not able to do any of the things I was able to do. Then again, the WiFi part on an iPhone was already perfect as was the regular bandwidth from GSM. The sound quality is fantastic and I couldn't ask for more. Being able to tether my computer is a HUGE plus, especially if you don't have a free WiFi network available.

Oh, I found that I'm able to receive a call while I'm tethered and the computer will continue to receive data! I was streaming a Youtube video when I suddenly received a call and the video continued streaming. That was fantastic.

1.0 stars

"This device is an exercise in frustration" on May 6, 2010 by Walker34

Pros: The slide-out keyboard is at least to some degree helpful when creating longer emails.

Cons: - Clunky interface
- Doesn't synch completely with Windows
- Can't be used 1-handed
- Touch screen is all but useless

Summary: After my Blackberry 8830 died, I purchased this device sight-unseen on the recommendation of a friend. What a mistake. This is a clunky, clumsy, thoroughly outdated piece of hardware running an OS that feels like Windows 95. Avoid this phone like the plague.

Updated on May 13, 2010

5/13/2010: Adding insult to injury, the vibrate function stopped working within 3 weeks. By the time I was able to get back to the AT&T store, the 30-day warranty had "expired," and they wouldn't replace the device. A trip to the warranty Device Service Center was just as productive, as they didn't have a replacement on hand. Now I get to sit and wait by the mailbox.

Just in case my point hasn't been clear so far: DO NOT GET WITHIN 10 FEET OF THIS DEVICE.

4.5 stars

"lovely phone" on October 29, 2009 by peterpulmonary

Pros: customizable
great screen
no more mistyping on large keys on keyboard
elegant
best and most easy to use speakerphone ever

Cons: will not squeeze your orange juice

Summary: when i first picked up this phone in the store, i thought the display was wrong, as the phone had been described as "large and bulky" in reviews. the phone i picked up was sleek, light and elegant.

the touch flo 3d is good, i am currently not using that, but using the self-customized today screen with the info i want on the today screen, eg: calendar, emails, internet search bar, time etc. exactly what i want no more no less.

to go to speakerphone, just put the phone face down on surface. very smooth sounding.

no more mistyping on the keyboard. no more typing on fingernails, use your whole thumb (takes getting used to the comfort).

battery life seems fine.

easily fits in shirt pocket.

easily locks (one finger press) and unlocks (slide).