nüvifone™. The navigation phone.
CNET editors' review
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CNET editors' rating:
stars
Excellent
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 10/20/2009
- Released on: 10/19/2009
Editors' note: Portions of the Features section were taken from our review of the
After waiting in the wings, AT&T's business customers are finally getting their turn with the HTC Touch Pro2. Dubbed the HTC Tilt2 (and obviously the successor to the AT&T Tilt), the smartphone has a leg up on T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon's version of the smartphone by shipping with Windows Mobile 6.5 out of the box.
While not a major overhaul of the Microsoft's mobile operating system, it brings a more user-friendly interface and several added features, such as the My Phone backup service and Windows Marketplace. The hardware is also vastly improved over the Tilt with a sharper touch screen and top-notch QWERTY keyboard, and the combination of the two certainly gives it an edge over AT&T's other smartphones, such as the HTC Pure, BlackBerry Bold, and iPhone. The browsing experience is a little frustrating and multimedia isn't its forte, but it delivers as a business device. The Tilt2 is available now for $299.99 with a two-year contract.
Design
Despite the different name, the HTC Tilt2 is instantly recognizable as a variant of the Touch Pro2. It most closely resembles the unlocked version of the smartphone, as it features the same speaker and camera layout on the back and the sexy chrome edges and smoky, mirrored face.
Unfortunately, the Tilt2 carries over one thing we didn't like about the unlocked model, and that's the lack of a standard 3.5mm jack. Instead, you'll have to use the included audio adapter to plug in your favorite headphones or earbuds. The adapter plugs into the mini USB port on the bottom of the device and sticks out quite a bit, so it's a bit of a cumbersome setup.
Another variation of the Tilt2 is the full QWERTY keyboard. Instead of a dedicated number row like the T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon versions, AT&T requested that the top row be set aside for symbols, while numbers double up with some letter keys on the right half of the keyboard. While some might begrudge this change, we didn't find it hampered our typing experience. The numbers are clearly highlighted in blue, and you still get the same large buttons and ample spacing.
The HTC Tilt2 measures 4.54 inches tall by 2.33 inches wide by 0.65 inch thick and weighs 6.3 ounces, and while bulky, the larger size makes room for the smartphone's 3.6-inch WVGA resistive touch screen. It's sharp and vibrant and features a built-in accelerometer and proximity sensor. Since the HTC Tilt2 ships with Windows Mobile 6.5, however, you get some user interface enhancements not found on the other Touch Pro2 models. For example, you get the new Lock screen, which shows notifications to missed calls, new messages, appointments, and so forth and allows you to go directly to the relevant apps. The Start menu also features a more touch-friendly honeycomb layout, and you also get the option to switch to the new Today screen, though we prefer HTC's TouchFlo 3D interface since it shows more information at a glance.
Other features of the Tilt2's design include a volume rocker and a push-to-talk key on the left side, a touch-sensitive zoom bar below the display, and a microSD expansion slot behind the battery door. For more about the smartphone's design, please read our review of the HTC Touch Pro2.
Aside from the audio adapter, AT&T packages the HTC Tilt2 with an AC adapter, a USB cable, an extra stylus, a software CD, and reference material. For more add-ons, please check our cell phone accessories, ringtones, and help page.
Features
The obvious advantage of the HTC Tilt2 over the other carrier versions of the HTC Touch Pro2 is that it ships with Windows Mobile 6.5 out of the box. This means you have instant access to Windows Marketplace for Mobile, Microsoft's My Phone backup service, and the improved Internet Explorer Mobile browser. The latter has always been a blemish on the Windows Mobile operating system, but with 6.5, you do get a number of improvements, such as Flash Lite support and better tools for page navigation. It is noticeably better than previous versions, but we'd still like to see more capabilities like tabbed browsing, an onscreen refresh button, in-page search, and so forth--all of which are features of the Opera Mobile browser, which, coincidentally, is included on Tilt2, so you get to pick and choose.
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