iPhone 3GS from AT&T. Free Shipping
- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 17 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
-
10 out of 10 people found this review helpful
5.0 stars
"Excellent usability, excellent screen"
Pros: - excellent (and I mean EXCELLENT) screen, both resolution-wise and in terms of touch usability
- very fast
- extremely good web browser, much more capable than that "other phone's"
- More bundled apps than other touch phones
- fully open systemCons: - the included pouch could be a bit more sturdy
Summary: I've had the Touch HD for about a week now. Before that I was using an iPhone 3G. I didn't like the iPhone 3G for a couple of reasons: no tethering, flaky push-email, and most of all because of Apple's way too restrictive software policies. Essentially, I would have had to hack my iPhone in order to use it the way it want to - and since that voids the warranty, I decided to try another handset instead.
- lowest volume-setting for the headphones is still way too loud for my taste
And even after having used the iPhone for several months, the Touch HD doesn't disappoint. Hardware-wise, it's massively superior. The screen is GORGEOUS! Extremely high resolution, well readable and very touch-sensitive. It comes with a stereo-capable bluetooth unit, has a 5 megapixel camera with selective auto-focus and has an additional lower-res camera for video telephony. The whole handset feels good to hold. It has a non-slippery back. The included screen protector smudges extremely easily, which is slightly annoying.
HTC has decided to use a standard 3.5mm headphones jack with this unit, which is great. The (removable) battery can be charged using a normal mini-usb cable. Battery life is better than the iPhone's - with fetch-email set to 15minutes and 3G disabled, I get a full 3 days on one charge. The iPhone would only last 2 days with the same usage.
The Touch HD's memory can be extended using 8gb or 16gb Micro-SD cards, which is a very welcome feature.
Software-wise, it's surprisingly good, too: typing on the on-screen keyboard, for example, is painless and quick after a couple of hours of practice. It's neither better nor worse than on the iPhone, in my opinion. Auto-correction can be easily disabled if one wishes to do so. HTC has done an excellent job making WM 6.1 more user-friendly. The TouchFlo interface is eye-pleasing and very quick. By making the menu options bigger, the less eye-pleasing windows-mobile standard applications are easily usable without ever using the stylus (which is still included, for whatever reason - I haven't used it a single time). The only app that I hated was the calendar - I purchased a 3rd party tool to make that touch-capable - now it's better than the iPhone's in pretty much every way.
Usability overall is excellent. It's slightly more complicated to use than the iPhone but as a business user, I actually welcome that. I have so many more options now that I consider the iPhone's user interface overly simple with very little room for customizations.
The Touch HD has very good multimedia features, as well. It'll play most (if not all) podcasts downloaded through iTunes, for example. Some of them have to be renamed to mp4 (simply changing the file extension does the trick) though, so that the HD will recognize them. Protected AACs, of course, won't work, but the rest of the sound files are trouble-free. Watching videos on the large, high-res screen is a joy. The only problem I have with multimedia playback is the device's sound volume - I find even the lowest setting too loud.
It's also a relief that you can install any kind of software you want on the Touch HD - it's not artificially limited by legal contracts. I can run as many apps as the memory allows in the background. I can stay online in my instant messenger even if I open a different application. All these things don't work on the iPhone.
The included web browser (made by Opera) is a JOY to use. It's responsive, has a ton of features (cache, that actually works, a password manager, the ability to save entire web pages for offline-viewing etc.) and looks extremely good on the large screen. I was worried about this because Safari on the iPhone is very good already - but Opera is as easy to use as Safari and offers many features that Safari doesn't have.
All in all, I was a bit worried that the Touch HD's usability would be significantly worse than the iPhone 3Gs. I was fully prepared to return the Touch if it sucked. But alas - it didn't. Most professionals (and the more demanding non-pros, too :-) will find that the Touch HD is as easy and pleasant to use as the iPhone but has a ton of additional features. I'll never go back!
- 6 replies to this review
-
@ Landeezy its a windows mobile phone the've been around for several years be the iphone was even anounced not only does it have more third party software but more useful business users have been using third party productivity apps for years thats why WM #1 FOR BUSINESS USERS the iphone is relatively new to the game (but very pretty and easy to use but not very flexible=1) not all that secure either advertising makes it look like touch screen phones began withthe iphone as far as UI it top dog but as far as uses its not as useful as a WM
-
you mentioned u previously used an iphone and u needed to hack it to use it the way u would like. What specifically did u mean by that? also does this phone have 3rd party app capabilities like the iphone?
-
this is a very interesting phone. I have recently started my own business and bought a Iphone before i realized i really needed something more business oriented. ! question i have is,Will this phone work on the At&t network properly with the 3g and will i be able to print to a stand alone printer with sd card.
-
What about the email capabilities. Does it automaticially push email from e.g. yahoo or any other email? Appreciate you response. Great review.
-
@tennisproha: I bought mine in Switzerland for about 700$. It's readily available on online auction sites - but it's very pricey :-(
-
thanks for posting this review. i've been interested in this phone but i live in the US and i dont think its available here. if you dont mind, can you tell me where its actually available and how much you got it for? thanks.
Where to buy
HTC Touch HD (Unlocked):
$569.99 - $609.99
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
|
$569.99 | Yes |
|
|
Amazon.com Marketplace
|
$609.99 | Yes |
|
%20user%20review%20and%20rating%20-%20CNET%20Reviews&srcUrl=http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/htc-touch-hd-unlocked/4864-6452_7-33270805-1.html){kind=small}