HTC HD2 hands-on and impressions... on video!
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted Oct 6th 2009 6:07PM
posted Oct 6th 2009 6:07PM
We were frankly blown away with how slick this phone is. Mind you, WM 6.5 still shows its not-so-fresh colors here and there, but the general experience of using the device is handled mainly through the Sense interface, and it blows the hinges off of any other Windows phone experience we've had. Ever. From the lag-free gestures which get you around the device, to image pinching and zooming with that aforementioned multitouch, the hesitation-free jumps in and out of applications, and typing on the sprawling, HTC-ified onscreen keyboard, using the HD2 is a joy. There's no getting around the fact that the phone is still very much anchored to Windows Mobile, but what HTC has done here is nothing short of a revelation. Why Robbie Bach didn't bring this up on stage today at Microsoft's open house event is anyone's guess -- though we have to imagine that when your OS is this heavily gutted (HTC has even completely removed stock apps like calendar and contacts and replaced them with its own versions, and the company had to hand-roll the capacitive / multitouch interfacing), it might not be the best example of what you've done. We'll be waiting with bated breath till we get more hands-on time with this phone, but until then, we can all enjoy some lengthy video of the device in action... so check it out after the break.
Update: Second video is up!
I want this.
HOT DAMN! I think I'm a little too impressed with the weather-reflecting home screen animations.
THERE ARE CLOUDS.
Anywho, they've really done a kick ass job.
Since it's US confirmed, this is my next phone. Guaranteed.
Let's hope more than one US carrier will get this? But Verizon will never get such a nice phone..
I concur DR House. This phone looks ahead of anything out right now, HTC have done a first rate job especially considering it's Windows Mobile.
What makes this ahead of everything else out right now? Snapdragon?
@oghowie:
Are you blind? Not only the SnapDragon, look at that screen! Look at the animations! CLOUDS!!!
I preordered it this afternoon coz here in Danemark it will be unleashed on october 30 ,therefore it should get into my pocket by november 1st.
Once I will have secured it , I'll put my N97 and HTC TouchHD for sale, but not my HTC Hero, I'm gonna keep that one, At least until an Android cum SenseUI phone whith a bigger screen, a physical qwerty, and voice dialing will appear .
I can hardly wait for this baby though, even with 3 top notch smartphones here in my hand I never got so excited about getting a new phone.
These 3 weeks are gonna be unbearably long.
Next up: Microsoft acquires HTC for ** billion USD.
@Mega-Japan
What do you mean it's confirmed for US? I hadn't heard that. Anyway, it doesn't matter to me. I'll be living in Vietnam for at least another year anyhow so you know I'm getting it!
the phone WinMo has been screaming for since it was created, the tech is finally here. Cant wait to see what 7 brings, the UI is getting there (stock WinMo) but still needs work
HTC is way too sick. I would never imagine that WinMo can be this user friendly. The guy is very good at presenting all the details too.
@DR house
Wow. I'm surprised you did a 180 there compared to your last posts. Congrats! -Jk, jus messin with ya
Take note, trolls. Take note. There's always hope.
@Vitaliy
You can see that the phone is preloaded with #BAL, #MIN, #DATA, #PMT contacts, which leads me to believe it's running a Verizon ROM.
More hands on (in bulgarian though)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r50ratIvUb4
Ooops! forgot to link to the second part of that hands on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ult_g5vq24k&feature=channel
There, sorry.
Looks like a sweet handset.
love the dedicated buttons at the bottom
Poor HTC. They continue to push WinMo shyte and are losing money because there are only a few diehard Ballmer/WinMo shyte fanbois left in this world. If HTC doesn't switch to Android, no matter how beautiful their smartphones are, they are going to head towards bankruptcy faster than you can say WinMo 7. They should figure out how to put TouchFlo on top of Android because putting TouchFlo on WinMo is like putting whipped cream on a turd. HTC is pouring all that money into hardware for a select few MS shyte-loving, power-using nerds and they are getting nothing back in the form of revenue. There's like two nerds for every ten thousand people and those nerds are getting divided up between WinMo and Android. The smart nerds are going for Android and WinMo is going to fade from sight.
HTC... either dump WinMo shyte or file for bankruptcy right now.
http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/10/07/htc.barely.meets.financial.guidance/
@Typical Engadget Tech-Nerd
W-i-n-d-o-w-s-M-o-b-i-l-e-S-e-v-e-n
I think during that time frame, WinMo 7 would be out. The US will be seeing the HD2 awesomeness... and you, you sir would be playing with one on the closet.....
DR House,
Im proud of you.
Kudos to HTC for supporting capacitive ts, while Microsoft still doesn't bother to lift its lazy ass and implement native suport for multitouch.
@DR House
Here are two of your comments from 5 days ago...
HTC Touch HD2 gets spec'd, rumored for T-Mobile UK {Engadget}
Oct 5th 2009 8:42AM
lol every HTC owner i ever met was NEVER happy with his phone and always says "just wait for next edition from HTC it will be better!" for YEARS...
in the other hand iphone owners REFUSE to change their phone because of how awesome it's.
Get yourself an iphone and call it a day people
HTC Touch HD2 gets spec'd, rumored for T-Mobile UK {Engadget}
Oct 5th 2009 5:48AM T
his phone will be a failure in USA 100% for the lack of 3G
iphone strikes AGAIN hell iphone had American 3G since 2007 , i guess iphone is so advanced that HTC phones can't be "on par" with the iphone even at late 2009
HTC Pro three would have been a better name IMO. Looks like a decent phone, tho.....just not for me.
No, the Pro serious are famous for having an awesome keyboard along with a touch screen.
This has no keyboard but a big screen. HD2 is the perfect choice.
*series
Thx for the feature Blogsmith ^-^
Personally I'm hoping they'll make a Pro version of this with a keyboard (although it would most likely be getting pretty chunky) but, if they don't, this is definitely my next phone.
The first video at .20 seems to agree with you.
They won't.
If anything, they'd have to pull Touch Diamond3 with something like a 4", not any bigger (which would still be really nice) and add an awesome keyboard to that for Touch Pro3. Let's wait for MWC early next year, we're bound to see something from HTC there =).
Why doesn't HTC just make a phone OS already?
Or why doesn't HTC just work with Android...? (Oh wait, they do.)
Because it's a hell of a lot easier to just develop a GUI and add features than to build a brand new kernel from scratch.
Because what they've done with WM 6.5 is already great! I really really really really want this phone! If Apple doesn't do something soon with the iPhone OS, I might finally leave the iPhone.
Because there is something like 19000 software titles already available for WinMo. And many individuals who are upgrading phones already own alot of software, and want to load it onto a new handset.
Beautiful, colorful GUI is just window dressing.
I can't believe they even made windows mobile look good!! I'm seriously impressed. I'm trying to stay away because of my deep windows/winmo hate but this guy is tempting. I'll have to see how windows marketplace pairs up against palm's once they both get serious
No offence, but iPhone is a very poor OS at the moment.
It is just a basic application launcher!
I might be wrong, but this phone can do so much more.
Espetially now that developers can actually develop their stuff to these iPhone like standards.
I mean have u seen the games on iPhone? They are so much better than winmo's.. call of duty 2 is what, 5 years old?
Comparing this to the iPhone:
You have all of the rom cooking community support at xda-developers.com (which you don't with other winmo's)
You don't have all these apps to fiddle with and play around with.
I mean this is just an outcry..
BUT please, i beg you, develop good aps for winmo!! They are shit!
I have had about 1500 go through my phone so far. htc touch cruise.
I keep hearing that the animated weather wallpaper works only about 50% of the time. Maybe that was just for a specific WinMo device.
It didn't seem like it was working the first time.
"You keep hearing"? There was one video where the guy said it was a little buggy on a pre-production model.
I'm running this version of touch flo on my xperia, the weather animation isn't always there simply because it would drain the battery too much ;)
Very much like the look of this Phone. Pitty my contract has an other Year on it.
If you were on Sprint, you can upgrade your phone on contract prize after only 1 year.
I'm in the UK. can't upgrade until next October.
and i just don't do contracts period..... being a hedgehog has its perks i guess?
@mega
well......im on AT&T and i prefer not to go through the hassle of changing carriers. plus i get to call my family and friends in GUAM without getting charged international rate and free on nights and weekends. t-mobile doesnt let you do that. and lets be honest, at&t has better 3g. anyways.....if it does not support at&t's 3g network. i may consider moving to a different carrier. YOU HEAR THAT ATT!!!!!!
@di_ako_cute:
Not that I want to disagree with you, since you're completely right about Guam calls, too bad Sprint charges for that. But EVERYTHING but that is better on Sprint. Well, depends on where you are obviously. Here in NYC, Sprint has a significantly faster 3G, and I get coverage in every part of the state I've been to. You said free nights and weekends? Isn't that 9pm-6am on AT&T? Well, it is 7pm-7am on Sprint. Yes, those 3 extra hours actually turn out to be a lot more convenient. Not to mention Any Mobile, Anytime plan.
Go for what's best for you I guess ^^.
how much storage memory does this come with??
I'm going to start using that term.
No offense Jango
@ grabbydad
OT: love your 790 avatar!
AT&T REALLY needs to get this phone to USA!
Would have bought it already!
HTC JUST announced it.
they announced it for USA but not what bands it will come with. it could be for t-mobile. but i do hope it will be for AT&T's 3g. i want one. my iphone 3gs is starting to get old :(
dude.. it's been hours since HTC announced it
so HTC annouced it for AT&T? all i read was that its coming to the stateside. but didnt really catch that it will be on AT&T.......is it? damn now im excited.
@di_ako_cute:
AT&T? Seriously?
Come on now, T-Mobile and Sprint seem to be the only respectable carriers nowadays. And Verizon a little. But AT&T?
Isn't it already a CDMA phone in its current form? That would mean ATT and TM would be out of luck. There's a map for that.
I would love to see this phone on AT&T but all they care about these days is their precious money spinner, the Iphone.
I'm getting the unlocked version, because that's what all the cool kids are doing.
@grabbydad
According to this spec sheet it supports GSM and CDMA bands and it says "official". But I never fully believe everything on the internets.
http://wmpoweruser.com/?p=8685
I've been swaying between this an the Pre as they should both be out here in the UK this month. That vid may have swayed me over to the HTC
Well, T-Mobile is likely to get this since it currently doesn't have ATT 3G bands!
If they can can change the bands and get it on ATT, I'm sold!
Cool phone.
this is a very nice "tech spec-ed" phone. but WM is drawing me away from it and who knows how bad the battery is...and the camera speed is NOTHING compared to the Palm Pre :). I wish they would've put the android OS on this or at least create their own OS. i hope theres a hack to install android ! ^_^
i want this .. i want this now.
And after this, we still got morons talking crap about the phone?
God how I wished I had a Death Note... and that screennames worked on it -_-'.
fellow deathnote fan ahoy! you're awesome!
Dude, I have a Palm Pre and love the hell out of it. But this phone looks damn sexy!!!! Am I right?!?!
Geez engadget, you guys act like you've never touched WM 6.5 in your life!! i've been using it for the past 4 months with custom roms over at ppcgeeks. Granted, they're VERY experimental, but i digress.
huge screen love it snapdragon processor love it ..this may need a big battery for those heavy users like me i had a htc phone before and the battery life ran out quick
I never thought i'd ever hear myself say this again, but I'm actually excited about a Windows mobile phone!
Hopefully the video recording won't suck, and it'll have enough grunt to play divxs on that lovely screen.
My contract is up at Xmas... :)
Awesome. The touch screen is very smooth. What HTC has done with WinMo is such a great job. I want one.
That's the first time I've seen the HD2 on video and it's nice! The Sense is anyway. I would totally love to get in on the Snapdragon action, but I want a keyboard. So I'll have to stick with the Tilt 2.
I would usually side with you on that one (owns both Touch Pro and Touch Pro2), but with that big of a screen size, keyboard is not needed since typing there is a breeze =).
Jeezzzz I never comment on anything, but Engadget please shut the F up about Windows. We get the point you dont like it. Real easy fix, dont use it (or review it) it starts to sound really biased.
What? This runs WM 6.5. Why would they not mention that, along with any pros/cons that come with it? It's a major facet of the phone.
I don't know why people have spoken about this, but imagine when the Zune HD interface gets released for Windows Phone. Zune music player on HTC HD2's screen would be amazing.
This phone is soooo good-looking & very snappy. I would love to own it. I just wish it had a front-facing camera as well.
i hope this comes to Sprint.
i've been very happy with evdo coverages in philly
htc hd2 + wimax/evdo = win!
Why don't we both pray this comes with WiMax out of the bat, and can kick off this thing with some 4G, eh? =D
Hmm, I'm really curious how the battery life is going to fair on this thing....but man...it's going to be about 799 USD unlocked when it rolls out.
OH MY GOD!!! I sooo gotta have this one!
And I just recently bought a Touch Diamond 2 (which I love) :/
Same feeling, I just got the Touch Pro2 (although I didn't pay for it XD) and it will only be used for a few months until I get my hands on this =).
WebOS please.
pretty please.?
sprint passd up on the touch diamond2? thats the first i'm hearing of that, but anyway it would be nice if this came to sprint within the next few months...since nothings certain, i'll still be getting my htc hero next week. If sprint announces this beast in the coming months, then i'll deal with the buyers remorse then. Just sell the hero and get this is all it would take then. That snapdragon processor does wonders for WM too.
Personal UI (Sense, MOTOBLUR, etc.)+Snapdragon+whatever OS= something of a winning combo these days no?
Hopefully AT&T screwed up the Diamond in order to get the HD2. Hopefully.
Till then, the Tilt 2 should suffice.
Tell us what carrier before I asplodE!!!
I love how he threw in that it had a capacitive touch screen.....
looking forward to this device..
great work
Canada please... and a vga port of the new interface for my diamond in the meantime :)
next phone, hands down. the animated wall paper made me fall in
Would love to have this phone. I see why many people are saying they wish it had Andoid. I have owned a WM phone, the T-Mobile Wing back in the day and loved all the work devs have done to customize the OS. 6.5 looks a little better and Touch FLO is looking great. I also had a G1 until it was stolen and loved the OS and the developer community too.
Bottom line is that I would take it with either and be happy.
I really like the photo and video GUI, its very original...It reminds me to the zii egg but a lot faster and more eye candy.
i wish t-mobile would release it already!
i hope this goes to att
i honestly dont see why everyone is bashing windows mobile here. winmo 6.1 was actually a great os. it is far more matured than any other mobile platform with much much more support than any other platform out there. the last itteration of windows mobile i used was an htc touch pro and i would still be using that phone today if it werent for the bad camera i received, and was too lazy to send in for repair. you could literally install any rom you wanted - with any application you'd ever want. unlocking was cheap, and easy. stability was actually very great with a custom rom, and what other platform allows you to install custom roms/custom radio stacks...etc? i remember winmo 6.5 coming to the touch pro months and months ago!
Because bashing WM is the cool thing to do. Is it pretty (esp on the back end)? No. Is it functional? Yes, for all the reasons you mentioned and then some.
All the reviews I've read seem to approach WM 6.5 as though it's a major upgrade from 6.1. It's not, nor has anyone ever claimed it to be. Only that they were making key aspects more finger friendly (hence the dot release). Also, reviews by those who are already negatively biased carry little weight IMO. The only true accurate assessment if whether it works for your needs.
Great phone, but I expect battery life to be very bad, considering the huge screen and the snapdragon processor.
Notice the missing video demo?
I wish some of these reviews would show the virtual keyboard for this.
the 65k color limitation kills WM for me.
truely awesome phone. i love how there is no wasted space on the front of like every other touch screen phone out there. normally i demand a phone with a physical keyboard but i think i can do without as its was love at first sight.