HTC Touch Pro now available in UK

Vodafone expected the Touch Pro to touch down in the UK this month, and sure enough, said expectation has become a reality. HTC's mighty WinMo-powered smartphone is now available from official UK distributor devicewire, and if you just so happen to use pounds as your primary currency, you can claim one of your own for the eye-popping price of £514.99 (including VAT). We won't bother converting that into dollars -- trust us, you're better off pretending you don't know.

[Via coolsmartphone]

[Eothein @ Aug 12th 2008 3:43PM]

Upon reading the headline I was excited. After reading the story I laughed, a lot.

Still we should be able to get it on contract for free.

Should.

For about £60 a month.......

[BigTom3007 @ Aug 12th 2008 3:54PM]

More than $1000 USD for that phone! ouch

[Phonixfire @ Aug 12th 2008 4:01PM]

Knowing the way prices tend to convert from the UK to the US, I'd say the US' price is probably going to be nearer $600-700, rather than a straight conversion.

[Mavrix @ Aug 12th 2008 3:45PM]

UK£ 514.99 = USD$969.41


You're right, I didnt want to know.

[Loader @ Aug 12th 2008 3:46PM]

654.44 EUR
976.59 USD
1,037.88 CAD

OUCH!

[Samboini @ Aug 12th 2008 4:33PM]

Britain's tax is 17.5%, much higher than the US' I think?

[Mikey @ Aug 12th 2008 4:35PM]

Wait... the U.S. dollar is back to being worth more than the Canadian dollar? Thank God... my world is finally back to normal again.

USA! USA! USA!

[Mycroft @ Aug 12th 2008 3:49PM]

I shall expect a full review shortly, gentlemen. Get cracking.

[Jim @ Aug 12th 2008 4:03PM]

I'd rather them wait until the US versions hit. Based on the previous article, there are some substantial differences between Verizon & Sprint.

[Hamidxa @ Aug 12th 2008 4:27PM]

Yeah, Verizon basically crippled their version (for God only knows what reason), whereas Sprint's version is mostly unadulterated.

Great to be a Sprint customer these days:
The best service plans bar none (SERO)
The best wireless data plans/coverage (EVDO Rev A)
The best phones coming to them first (Touch Pro and Diamond)

(PS. For those not in the know, Sprint selling off its towers is not a bad thing, *EVERY* single US carrier leases most of their towers anyways, while focusing on their core business; i.e. providing a service rather than maintaining one)

[VampireHunter Z @ Aug 12th 2008 5:01PM]

Whenever the review comes I hope they test video playback at the full VGA rez. I need to know if vido playback is crippled or not.

[Dogtown @ Aug 12th 2008 9:24PM]

Um... the Sprint Sero plan is dead. The employee refererral plan is now called Simply Everything and requires an employee id#.

As much as we want these new HTC phones to challenge the iphone... they are crappy. I played around with one and as slick as the new UI is, it is painfully slow. WinMo 6.1 has bugs and quirks which are exacerberated by running a heavy UI on top of it. From the unit I saw, I would say the instinct is a lot more fluid.

The best sprint phone is the 800w, since it appears to run an optimized winmo 6.1.

[ByronGman @ Aug 13th 2008 2:38AM]

Isn't Verizoning opening its network sometime this year?

Would that mean us Verizon users could take the Sprint version over to the dark side?

[nanobis @ Aug 12th 2008 3:53PM]

Ouch, that stings.

Then again what else is a student loan for. or i could wait till the price comes donw just a bit to round the £199 mark.

Keep wishing that waht ill say

[Samuel @ Aug 12th 2008 4:01PM]

yeah for me 'student loan' translated as iMac, 6.1 amp, speakers, HTC Artemis... and my Citroen 2cv.....

[Sarig @ Aug 12th 2008 4:24PM]

Student loan = drunk for a few weeks :)

[Samo @ Aug 12th 2008 4:41PM]

@Sarig: A few weeks? 'Ya light-weight! 1st payment went in mere days.... And that was on house rum and tequila!

I still remember what I spent my student loan on, a brand spanking new Sony Vaio S1XP, back when it was the best thing you could buy.

Still looks the part, shame my new netbook runs rings around it now.

[Grant @ Aug 12th 2008 5:12PM]

at the rate that cell phone prices usually drop, you might only need to wait a year to a year and a half!

[Hung @ Aug 13th 2008 3:02AM]

Hey, rising college freshman here.

So I can use my STUDENT loan for buying phones, computers, peripherals, cars, and alcohol? Anything else? What else could I pay off with my STUDENT loan? Nothing? Oh well.

I could use some more Grey Goose anyway.

[Poke4Christ @ Aug 12th 2008 3:55PM]

...and the Euro continues to kick the Dollar's ass.

Son of a. That's my 401k!!!!

[Kamokazi @ Aug 12th 2008 4:16PM]

Too bad that's in Pounds, not Euros. Gotta remember those Brits are a little on the stubborn side.

[Jason @ Aug 12th 2008 4:17PM]

True but the Euro has lost 10 cents to the dollar in the last week

[Michael @ Aug 12th 2008 6:21PM]

@ Kamo

For £500 (or $1000/Monopoly money) you'd be a little on the stubborn side... also yes tax is 17.5 but all else aside, its mainly thanks to big American company pretty much dropping that dollar sign, and replacing it with a pound one, when exporting to here. We end up with the crap, very expensive end of the stick for most of the products you get a hell of a lot cheaper because everyone now does it.

Closing Comments:
1. This isin't a flame.
2. This isin't a flame against Americans.

Cheers

[Kamokazi @ Aug 12th 2008 10:43PM]

I was just making a slight jest at the UK hanging onto their Pound instead of adopting the Euro like most(all?) of the EU. You just pointed out the main reason I called it stubborness...you get the shaft on pricing.

[w4rh34rt @ Aug 13th 2008 4:51AM]

Haha, come on, if you Americans were being forced to change the dollar to some more "universal" money, would you? Doubt it, so why would we want to? ^.^

[Joshua Krouse @ Aug 12th 2008 3:56PM]

well actually UK£ 514.99 is USD$976.64 so thats gonna hurt the pocketbook i hope no one buys this till they drop the price damn you HTC!

[Aaron Wanker @ Aug 12th 2008 3:59PM]

Yeah the price sucks. And the picture made me think that it was bigger than it really is (I had to look up the dimensions)... which made me wonder why people were even thinking about buying this.

[mozyrsky @ Aug 12th 2008 5:22PM]

Yeah, and the first computer cost a gazillion dollars and took up a whole room. I suppose I'm glad that my faster PC is less expensive and smaller. You must be extatic.

[Homeboy @ Aug 12th 2008 3:59PM]

£514.99 although pricey is a fair price. The Nokia N95 and SE P900 retailed for pretty much the same price when they came out. If the phone was sold without a contract in the US it would be priced at $649.

One has to bare in mind that the price is a for a completely unlocked. Buying it with a prepaid card or contract would obvious mean a cheaper down payment with the phone networking subsidizing it.

[Jimbo Jones @ Aug 12th 2008 4:00PM]

The thing about UK service providers is this. If you sign up for a two or three year contract of any sort; you get the most expensive, beautiful, high technology any highest end phone (bar the vertu) for free. Always. None of this pay $399 crap on top of a contract.

Props to the U.K.!

[Phil Perman @ Aug 12th 2008 4:01PM]

Handset only HTC phones have always been massively expensive, the TyTN II still costs over £450 on that site for instance. Just wait for it to pop up on contracts, should be able to get it for a far more reasonable price

[heshmati4 @ Aug 12th 2008 4:02PM]

HTC makes GREAT phones, but why so much???? If HTC wants to complete with the iphone they need to price it right! Around $199 - $399....

Who is going to pay $1,000 for a phone???

I really wanted this phone but I guess it will be iphone 3G for me...

(Maybe Sprint or Verizon will announce something soon, but I haven't heard any confirmation yet)

[Homeboy @ Aug 12th 2008 4:08PM]

Europe is different from the US. Here all cellphone manufacturers release the price for the phone unlocked and this tend to be the rates for a ultra high end phone. The $199-399 iPhone price you're talking about is with contract and here in Europe many people don't like being tied down for 2 years paying ridiculous monthly rates. If the iPhone was sold unlocked it would be priced just like this phone.

This phone will obviously be sold with contract at a lower price similar to the iPhone.

[sinai @ Aug 12th 2008 4:11PM]

you obviously don't remember when the RAZR v3 first came out.

[MasterCD @ Aug 12th 2008 4:20PM]

It costs 569EUR to get an unlocked Iphone 3g = $881.

Get your facts straight punk.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/12/unsubsidized-iphone-3g-priced-at-499-569-in-europe/

[Homeboy @ Aug 12th 2008 4:31PM]

MasterCD: If I'm not mistaken the iPhone is sold at that price with a vodaphone pre-paid card and is in that way locked to Vodafone. Phones sold with pre-paid cards tend to be slightly cheaper than completely unlocked phones since those with pre-paid are in most cases locked.

[Rage @ Aug 12th 2008 4:03PM]

I don't think Engadget has one of these yet, so a review from them wouldn't be very informative would it. Why don't you stop crying about the iPhone -- especially if you are going to be the first one to bring it up -- and therefore detract attention from a great phone like the touch pro.

[Orris @ Aug 12th 2008 4:05PM]

But, why...?

[JerryA @ Aug 12th 2008 4:07PM]

With Android and the "Dream" slated for release in the next 4-6 months, there is no way I would buy this. And I say that as a relatively satisfied HTC WinMo user.

[cboy007 @ Aug 12th 2008 4:10PM]

Well, if google keeps their promise of being able to put Android on ANY device with enough horsepower, then I really expect someone to port Android over to this phone.

[Mikey @ Aug 12th 2008 4:40PM]

Rumor is that we can preorder the Dream for TMo starting next month, and releasing in October... so, 2 months, not 4-6.

[cboy007 @ Aug 12th 2008 4:08PM]

I really want to buy this unlocked off eBay, but it's going to have to be around/lower tthan about $600 for me to even consider it.

[computer.dude.28 @ Aug 12th 2008 4:11PM]

Canada? :'(

[Vasilis @ Aug 12th 2008 4:11PM]

It is available now on Orange for 40$ a month on an 18 month contract and you have to pay 200$ for the handset. I am sure if you bargain a little bit you would get it for free :)

[Kennyb123 @ Aug 12th 2008 4:32PM]

But it doesn't appear Orange has even an OPTION for unlimited data?

[Hamidxa @ Aug 12th 2008 4:24PM]

All hail The King of all Phones.

This thing is mine when it hits Sprint in a month and a half.

[Quix @ Aug 12th 2008 6:47PM]

Yes, we're fully aware. You've been astroturfing this phone (and Sprint) endlessly (while simultaneously bashing the iPhone).

Here's hoping you're happy with your new phone, so we don't have to continue hearing about it from you 10x a day...

[Hamidxa @ Aug 12th 2008 7:56PM]

Astroturfing?

Que'est-ce que c'est por favor mon amigo?

[JamesDean @ Aug 12th 2008 4:37PM]

I have a question for anyone that knows about the network:

If I bought an unlocked version on the internet such as:
http://cgi.ebay.com/HTC-Touch-Pro-UNLOCKED-BRAND-NEW-SEALED-UK-Seller_W0QQitemZ320286008457QQihZ011QQcategoryZ3312QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Would it work with a USA carrier such as AT&T?

[Tid @ Aug 12th 2008 4:54PM]

"HSDPA/WCDMA:
- Europe/Asia: 900/2100 MHz
- Up to 384 kbps up-link and 7.2 Mbps down-link speeds
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: Europe/Asia: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz (Band frequency and data speed are operator dependent)"


I'm not to sure what america's bands are, but that clearly says europe/asia so im thinking you're out of look