HTC Touch Pro2 unboxed with tempered excitement

It's time for HTC's Touch Pro2 to join the ranks of every other modern phone in getting its own unboxing video. An enthusiastic PocketNow has the honors, and even goes so far as to utilize the infamous "smell test" to confirm it is in fact a genuine leather case included. Sized up to the original Touch Pro, it's got a more spread out keyboard, larger screen and thinner form factor -- all welcome additions, if you ask us. We can't imagine it being a deal breaker, but just so you know, the slide-out tilt doesn't go as extreme as its predecessor in that form factor, HTC's Titan. Living vicariously through video can be accomplished after the break -- it's not yet available stateside, but if you can't wait, there's always import.

[Amrosorma @ May 29th 2009 8:34PM]

When will HTC (and everyone else for that matter) learn to put a more powerful processor in their jobbies?

[Amrosorma @ May 29th 2009 8:39PM]

And before I get flayed alive, this goes for Apple, Nokia, LG, Sony-Ericsson and whichever company is still using ARM11 and below silliness to power these crazy ass smartphones.

The Pre and the Omnia HD/i8910/whatever wonderfully demonstrate the advantage with coupling great physical/feature hardware with computing hardware that can keep up.

[dsteve303 @ May 29th 2009 8:51PM]

Battery life?

[Wii60 @ May 29th 2009 8:55PM]

Oh, I'm not going to flay you alive. You're right I remember my old T-Mobile Dash. It was far too slow to be running something as hefty as Windows Mobile. I was under the assumption that the new Windows Mobile would cut down on a bit of that.

While it all depends on what you use, I am infinitely more concerned with their complete disregard for a headphone jack. Cellphones and MP3 players are merging FAST. If they don't start throwing them in there, they'll just lose out to the iPhone even more. Even to the business users.

[Hackettman @ May 29th 2009 8:57PM]

Of course theres a ton of hardware they could use but its all politics and licensing.......

[Amrosorma @ May 29th 2009 9:01PM]

"Battery life?"

@dsteve303: Battery life/power consumption vs. performance gained makes remarkable leaps and bounds every time there's innovations and improvements in CPU architecture such as the jump from Pentium 4 to Core 2 or in the case of mobile devices, ARM11 to A8-Cortex.

At least, that's what I've gathered thus far.

[Shyam D @ May 29th 2009 9:02PM]

Ever heard of something called, I don't know, developement time? Things don't just magically pop out of nowhere. R&D is a lot of work for wireless phones. There's an extreme balance between the RF and Digital components. The Palm Pre and Samsung Omnia also didn't pop out of nowhere. It's more then likely the teams working on these devices were willing to allow for a longer developement time necessary for the new ARM core. The other teams decide to focus on more near term devices and thus they fell back in the long term. When you consider that these devices have R&D lifespans on the order of 1-3 years, the question of working towards either end of the that spectrum is not trivial and is a serious business choice with advantages and disadvantages for different situations.

[nerdtalker @ May 29th 2009 10:27PM]

Wait, I thought they have been... My Touch Pro feels pretty good, all the bloat is Windows Mobile's fault or the stock ROM's fault. Throw a different ROM on there and it's fast again.

[Jacob @ May 29th 2009 10:28PM]

You know, I totally agree. And even the Omnia HD and the Pre don't have the hottest processors out there either. I consider Snapdragon to be the best, and also I like Tegra. Nothing else can even compare to these two, and only one phone has Snapdragon (TG01) and none have Tegra.

[Amrosorma @ May 29th 2009 10:33PM]

Yeah, you're absolutely right; the OMAP3 is a great step up but not really a revolution. Although I heard the Snapdragon, even though it's at 1GHz, isn't really as powerful as the Tegra. I guess we'll have to wait and find out...

[Amrosorma @ May 29th 2009 11:13PM]

Engadget's report comment button > lame engadget trolls

[Jacob @ May 29th 2009 11:23PM]

I don't have a clue which is better, Snapdragon or Tegra, I just wish we had either of them in a product on shelves now.

[Information Central @ May 31st 2009 8:26PM]

A more powerful processor? HA!

These morons still haven't learned to put a HEADPHONE JACK on their phones.

[FoxKenji @ May 29th 2009 8:49PM]

it'd be nicer with Android in the phone

[jay jay @ May 29th 2009 9:07PM]

yea lets hope htconandroid and xdadevlopers get started on this process soon.

[Poo_and_Wee @ May 29th 2009 9:24PM]

They haven't really managed with the TP1 yet, so don't hold your breath.

[Mike @ May 29th 2009 10:28PM]

Ok, I have to ask... Why would it be better with android? Would my tomtom program work better on android? Is accessing my corporate email better on android? Are the GPS/Geocaching programs better on android? What about the raw photo viewer/tagger/ftp uploader programs? Would my EMT flashcard and training guide program work as well? What about IM programs and IRC programs? How is the integration with office programs like excel and onenote and reading pdfs and chms? SSL abled VNC or remote desktop programs?

Does android even have it's own versions of these programs? I see everyone clamoring about how great android is, but no one has said why or how they use it that is better then WinMo or S60 or anything else. I'm sure its great for using gmail and google maps, but what about all of the other functions people need? WinMo never had a microsoft licensed app store, but anything I could ever want or ask for I've always been able to find from numerous vendors.

[Justin @ May 29th 2009 11:42PM]

Totally agree. What is the harm in HTC offering an official SPL that supports Android and Windows Mobile? They wouldn't have to pay anything to Google, since OS is free and all...

[FoxKenji @ May 30th 2009 1:37AM]

@ Mike

Well, because by now, WinMo is becoming very fast the scourge OS of mobile phones. Android is the only one of the most modern and efficient operating systems for mobile phones that is not integrated with a particular hardware platform. In other words, other makers own both the OS and the hardware and integration is as follows:

Blackberry OS: with Blackberry phones
Web OS : with the Pre
Symbian: with Nokia smart phones
OS X: with the iPhone/iPod Touch

This means that, while they are very modern and efficient, none of the operating systems above can be installed on 3rd party handsets like HTCs. That leaves Android in the unique position of being able to directly compete with WinMo.

HTC produces quality hardware and adopting Android as its OS foundation would enable it to gain the same inherent competitive advantages that come from being able to control both software and hardware sides. That is, being able to innovate and advance the platform, identify and correct problems, fix them faster, maintain higher standards of quality control and so on. There is an economic advantage as well since they wouldn't have to pay anyone a license fee to use Android. It would cost HTC less to produce handsets and they could use that money to improve on the aforementioned points.

.

[cbw87 @ May 30th 2009 2:35AM]

@FoxKenji

You're right, except for Symbian. C.f. SonyEricsson, LG etc.

[FoxKenji @ May 30th 2009 2:46AM]

well said CBW87

[frauhottelmann @ May 30th 2009 6:23AM]

But Symbian isn't standardized. There are two may version that aren't compatible with each other. And touchscreen just started on Symbian.

[Dev @ May 30th 2009 6:56AM]

Android is being ported to Win Phone so you can expect to use android if you really wanted, just go on xda-dev

[dsteve303 @ May 29th 2009 8:50PM]

I hope Verizon doesn't fuck with it.

[Lando Calrissian @ May 29th 2009 8:51PM]

Don't worry, they will.

[Wii60 @ May 29th 2009 8:56PM]

It's in Verizon's nature to do that.

I'd say there's a 50/50 chance you won't see wifi in their version.

[Epsilon-Not @ May 29th 2009 9:28PM]

Judging by all the other Windows Mobile phones on their site, (including the Touch Pro) and the fact that they now require data plans anyway, I'd say there's a 100% chance that this will have WiFi on Verizon.

But bashing is so much more fun...

[digitallysick @ May 29th 2009 8:58PM]

I hate unboxing videos, Am I the only one that opens the box throws everything to the side and turns on the device as a priority, i dont talk about the package or the paper work, both of those are pointless topics. Would be nice to see it in action

[Templarian @ May 29th 2009 9:31PM]

Really, I like to inspect everything and leave the device till last. I sometimes open the manual and give it a read through before turning the device on.

lol.

[angell tsang @ May 30th 2009 1:42AM]

i take it you don't do foreplay either

[insky @ May 30th 2009 1:12AM]

Wow you're pretty patient.
Do you know how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?

[Gad Get @ May 30th 2009 4:51AM]

@ insky

Please tell me that wasn't a euphemism.

[va jj @ May 29th 2009 9:01PM]

is it running winmo 6.5 or 7? also the without wifi and use the data plan draw less battery i supposed.

[XIYL @ May 29th 2009 10:29PM]

6.1, but it gets a free upgrade to 6.5 once its freed from the clutches of beta.

[Dr. Spaceman @ May 29th 2009 9:02PM]

Protip: When doing an unboxing video, TURN THE FUCKING PHONE ON.

[crow610 @ May 29th 2009 9:17PM]

why? I'm quite interested in knowing if the case is real leather or not.

[moush @ May 29th 2009 9:52PM]

It's called an unboxing, not a demo.

[Richard Glitter @ May 29th 2009 10:18PM]

because then you'd just have to sit and wait for WinMo to do its initial setup and crap, he will do a full demo video once he's had some time to run through the phone a bit

[kompulsive @ May 29th 2009 11:25PM]

amen. this cat was an idiot. i thought he was gonna piss his pants.

[digitallysick @ May 29th 2009 9:03PM]

Here is a better video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I66VdgfyO4o

[foreverlfc @ May 29th 2009 9:13PM]

@Wii60 i agree with you as i've said it many of times. i am a windows mobile supporter since my first pocket pc cuz of the ease of tweaking the os to do what you want but the fact that i have to carry my ipod and kaiser everywhere is a pain in the arse. and when people suggest to just use the adapter.. no thank you. its akward.

[XIYL @ May 29th 2009 10:37PM]

Bluetooth is a good alternative, I use my Jabra bt8010 on my Touch Viva all day at work and I get fifteen hours of battery life with that (my work shift is about eight hours). Plus there is the bennifit of no wires to get snagged and rip your expensive phone out of your pocket. But I do agree that the lack of a 3.5 mm audio jack is an offensive oversight that HTC enjoys doing.

[Greg @ May 29th 2009 9:17PM]

Fastest way to get drunk this Friday night: take a drink every time he says "much".

Seriously.

[LongshotX @ May 29th 2009 9:42PM]

You could drink methanol. Not only will get drunk quickly but you will die.

[Phoenix @ May 29th 2009 9:23PM]

Engadget, it wasn't the Titan that had that form factor, it was the Kaiser/P4550/TyTN II/AT&T Tilt/T-Mobile MDA Vario III/O2 XDA Stellar/Vodafone VPA Compact V/Vodafone v1615.

and yes, I remembered all of those from memory.

Please correct it?

[Nathan @ May 29th 2009 10:01PM]

color me impressed, i got 3

[mos @ May 29th 2009 11:10PM]

oh my gooooossssshhh!
i am fainting

[Spooner @ May 29th 2009 9:38PM]

Tempting... but PASS.

I'll wait for WinMo 7/Android and a 3.5mm audio jack.

[XIYL @ May 29th 2009 10:40PM]

With that attitude you probably still have a RAZR cause you always have to have to wait for next years cool shit. This phone is a win and I plan on getting it the second T-Mobile US has it.

[Spooner @ May 29th 2009 11:18PM]

No. I have a jailbroken iPhone 3G. Before that I had HTC devices (with the latest one being the HTC Fuze). I'm sick of the damn adapter for using ear buds. Yes I have a Motorola S9 but it's not as comfortable as my current wired earbuds.

This phone has the same hardware and OS as the Touch Pro except for a welcomed larger tilting screen. As I've said, I had the HTC Fuze. TouchFlo3D on top of WinMo 6.1 wasn't fluid enough for me. Yes it'll get WinMo6.5... eventually... but it's only a "patch" to WinMo 6.1 which I got tired of constantly tweaking. Every XDA ROM had their quirks and it became too much work tweaking my phone. I wish they'd release the same phone with Android on it as an option.

Is it because the hardware isn't fast enough? Is it the OS? Lack of drivers like the Kaiser? Doesn't matter... as an end user it didn't get the job done for me.

I'm much more impressed with the Samsung i7500: Modern OS, modern screen technology, 5MP camera, 3.5mm audio jack.