HTC's HD2 has landed at Engadget (hands-on)
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted Nov 4th 2009 10:12AM
posted Nov 4th 2009 10:12AM
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This is looking soooo good.
I might have to switch back to WinMo from Android if no good sets come out that I see (X10 and Droid withstanding)
it is safe to say this is GODS phone...
If the iPhone is JesusPhone
Then yes...yes it is safe.
But watch out for rabid iPhone enthusiasts. They will fight you with a conviction that could only be described as religious.
im slightly creeped out by the "Related Articles From Our Partners"
I loathe all touch screen phones, but I would gladly give up my QWERTY for that hot slab of sex.
For some reason I was always under the impression that it was much larger but seeing it next to the iPhone puts it in perspective. It's barely larger. Damn but I can't wait to get my hands on this phone. Arghhhhhh, it's like being a kid waiting for Christmas!!!
No one is reacting to this phone the right way. When V. Belmont reviewed it on Tekzilla and powered it up the reaction in the room was "DAAAAAAAAAMMMMNNNN!!!!!"
You really need to see a clip of this beast in action in HI DEF!!
What I really want...is this combined with Skyfire.
My good googly moogly.
Indeed, skyfire on this thing would kick ass.
@Mark
Yes!
I'm loving my Android, no doubt. But I miss having Skyfire. And seeing as the 1.0 and greater releases have been better...makes me even more envious.
I read they're keeping their eye out for Android...but seeing how long it even took them to get an Alpha on Blackberry...I have low expectations for it.
Skyfire is the main thing making me kind of regret leaving WinMo. *sigh*
Any word on whether it's upgradable to WM7?
So he had the HD2, but pulled out the TWITTER PEAK and then he and jimmy made fun of it. (time wasted)
Here's a pretty decent hands on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyNDpy1K1ZE&feature=player_embedded#
IM SO JEALOUS!!!!!!!
@crawdad689: Regarding WM7 upgradeability, I don't think there's been any official word.
On the other hand, it meets all the minimum specs that supposedly leaked back in the spring...
http://www.rgbfilter.com/?p=815
If that list is accurate, then even without official support, the HD2 should be upgradeable to WM7 unofficially via xda-devs or ppcgeeks ROM cookers.
@iDavey
Thank you SOOOOO much for mentioning Skyfire browser. I was skeptical while trying to install it on my non-touch MotoQ(I'm stuck on it because I have SERO). They had a non-touch version available unlike opera 9.7b
Man It plays flash videos on Youtube. and is, just like they said, blazing fast!!
I can't thank you enough
Hopefully this comes on all carriers like the Touch pro 2. and Maybe it will be compatible with SERO.
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?SERO
Hulu does not work, because they blocked it just like they did for PS3, Basterds
cant wait for the review! that right there is my next phone, why do we have to wait 5 months for this?!!!
iNeed this!! oh, and the car accessory for this is sweet too.
engadget please stop the torture already.
do want!
Yea really! Photo #9 says it all! Its fractions taller/wider than the iPhone, but THAT SCREEN! How the heck did they wedge such a monster of a screen in that sized package? Its bevel witchcraft I tell ya, witchcraft!
witch craft ..!! burn himmm burn himmm... burn.. no wait...
DAT SCREEN
Let this land on AT&T please!
It won't. If it does it'll be late next year.
Yeah good luck finding this on AT&T anytime soon...not happening.
Sprint possibly. I think Sprint would be stupid to not have this phone. Verizon is drinking the android kool aid so I don't see why HTC would give them this phone (even though it's far superior to the DROID garbage).
And T-Mobile sucks.
SO really that just leaves Sprint & the "Now Network" as the only viable option for this phone (where it can truly succeed given the right marketing and promotion).
AT&T what are you nuts!?! I use At&t just for the Iphone and their service is horrible keep away from At&t.
AT&T what are you nuts!?! I use At&t just for the Iphone and their service is horrible keep away from At&t.
The way it is now its a GSM phone so there is little chance that Sprint and Verizon before it hits Tmo.
As someone who has used WinMo 4.1 and 6.1, and I love Android. WinMo in its current state can not even come close to the flexibility and ease of use I get with android
Falconer, Owens a VP from Sprint didn't even seem to know about the HD2. He's trying to push their crappy new phones instead. HTC has repeatedly confirmed that Sprint has not approached them about making a CDMA version of the HD2. It looks like it will be tmobile in the US and then potentially ATT. Possibly Verizon eventually but it won't be Sprint for at least 9 months - about the time they plan on the HD3 release in Europe, we might see the then obsolete HD2 on Sprint a year from now.
@louis
Iphone reception sucks. AT&T reception is fine.
@ JXCgunrunna: What flexibility do you get out of Android that you don't out of WM 6.1 (or 6.5)?
It is probably Sprint or T-Mobile. They skipped out on a keyboard-less HTC phone this generation.
to b quite honest. i don't think sprint is going to get the HD2. They have too many phones on their market. If they keep picking up phones, the other ones wont sell and they'll b at an operation loss. There is a slim chance that Verizion is going to get it either because they too have a lot of phones. sprint has the HERO (which is an android phone) and Touch Pro 2. Tmo has the My touch 3G (wich is an Android phone). and verizion has the droid (which is an android phone). sure at&t has the pure but its a crappy phone. it only has WM on it. all the other carriers have the top notch HTC phones. just look at the HTC website. The two carriers that can potentially get it are T-mobile and AT&T. Tmo might get it simply because they released this phone in europe already. However AT&T is in dire need for new, NICE smartphones. The iphone can only support them for so long. IT will be a sweet deal for AT&T to pick up the HD2. Considering that AT&T has more smartphone users than any other carrier, a lot of pleople are gonna want to upgrade (i know i will) if they get this phone. Once they upgrade, the customers will be satisfied with their new phone and AT&T will continue to have their same customers (if not more) and not have them switch to Tmo or whoever else gets the phone if they dont. Its a win-win situation and AT&T needs to hurry up and get on that.
thats just my 2 cents.
iWant
iWant too, but I want it with Android 2.0. Lets start a petition to HTC to make it happen. I like competition and what better competition then the same great phone with multiple OS's.
@muddy
im down with that petition sir, gimme a pen!
So HD2 and X10 still slated for that T-mobile release after last night's outage.
Never in a million years.
Like T-Mobile is the first and only carrier to experience an outage....
I think the Engadget team placing their T-Mobile SIM in this phone caused T-Mobile's outage. The main NYC switch got shy and nervous talking to such a cool phone for the first time, and crashed.
This is definitely the phone to beat.
Any chance you could put this on a table next to the Iphone so we could have a comparrison in size?
http://www.engadget.com/photos/htc-hd2-hands-on/
Here you go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJF63S3yYto
Not only can you see them side by side but you can see the HD2 beat the iPhone in a browser speed test.
Pic 9 in gallery above as well!
The HD2 vs the Nokia N900 : http://www.mobiletechworld.com/2009/11/04/htc-hd2-vs-nokia-n900-size-comparison/
THe HD2 on-screen keyboard is bigger that the pgysical keyboard on the N900!
Gawd, to bad for WinMo or I'd be all over this!
Why?
I personally like Android for many reasons. WinMo cant do some of the things I'm looking for in a phone. The HD2 looks HOT! but the OS is not for me. Its like buying a cherry red Porsche with an engine thats been overrun. Nothing against WinMo, its just not for me.
Yes, Why? I'm loving WinMo 6.5 on the HTC Pure (Touch Diamond 2). This is essentially the same phone with a super powerful processor upgrade, larger screen, and capacitive touching instead of resistive.
Okay...I must ask. I'm a BIG Android enthusiast. Yet even I must ask...what can Android do that WinMo can't?
Well let's see now.
1) Activesync
2) Having to use "task manager" on a PHONE so I have enough memory to start my camera (WM 6.1 FTL!)
3) Years of freezing and reboots with every previous version (just because you're too young to remember doesn't mean I have to forgive)
4) oh yeah, Activesync.
@Dster Umm, you do realize that Android uses ActiveSync for GMail and Exchage, iPhone uses ActiveSync for GMail and Exchange, and the Palm Pre uses ActiveSync for Gmail and Exchange. Nokia Symbian devices use ActiveSync for Exchange (dunno about GMail, but imagine so). So what you are saying is that Microsoft should not use their own product when all of the competition does?
Basically for push email it has been weaned down to two options
1 Blackberry's system (Which most Windows mobile phones can do with Blackberry connect)
2 Active Sync, which every smartphone that RIM doesn't make is using
Now if you are taking about the old desktop app called ActiveSync, well that has been replaced by Mobile Device Center years ago.
@RandomGuy,
thanks for deliberately misunderstanding me!
Of course I was referring to ActiveSync desktop, which is still the ONLY way for a Windows XP box to communicate by USB with a WinMo device.
Did you know that over half of all desktop computers run Windows XP? Did you know that NONE of them can use can use "Mobile Device Center", which was designed and released for Vista?
Let's see -- deliberately misunderstood one of my complaints -- ignored the rest -- yep, Microsoft fanboy!
@Dster:
You do not need ActiveSync anymore. My Phone takes care of device synchronization of most items, and having it linked to an Exchange server will take care of the rest. If you want to synchronize calendars from various services, there are many ways to do it over the net. I no longer use WM but when I did, I never used ActiveSync. Everything came to my phone over the air. And for transfers to my phone, I use USB mode.
A Microsoft supplied task manager would be nice, but there are plenty of alternatives. HTC has theirs, as well as Task Facade which im sure runs like an absolute champ on this device. Any multi-tasking device should have a method of moving around apps, which is why task managers exist in the first place. The Pre, which I have, uses cards. Do they use cards because you have to control how many apps are open to save memory? Of course, but its primarily used to jump around through open apps. I fail to see how this is a problem, or why you would even bring this up.
I also went through many freezing situations with my phone, but that is primarily attributed to me jumping from rom to rom. On occasion, I would have roms that would last me weeks (about as long as I had a rom running on my phone) without a single restart. Others were daily.
@iDavey
I asked the same thing weeks ago in a DROID article. NO ONE CAN ANSWER IT! Apparently no one is familiar enough with the current versions of Windows Mobile to answer it. I have a Touch Pro 2 and where do I feel limited? Nowhere. I can do pretty much anything I want on it. It's like having a mini netbook with me. And as far as interface, well I use TF3D and there's also MobileShell and PointUI.
From what I gathered, people's main gripe with Windows Mobile boils down to a few settings screens where they see square corners and unshaded white spaces. In other words, it doesn't look like an iPhone. That, and the legacy problems that people still think are there that in fact have been addressed with newer versions of the OS and newer phones.
Dster: You only need to worry about ActiveSync if you're syncing to your local Outlook (on XP), and even then you can opt to forgo ActiveSync if you connect your Outlook to a LiveID. In that case, you can have the phone sync OTA to MyPhone (free service), and then do contact management that way.
The fact that you think the only way you can connect your windows phone to XP is via ActiveSync (enough to mention it twice), suggests that you don't realize that it can also be connected as a straight up mass storage device. Almost all the major manufacturers have included this functionality, and for phones that don't included it, there's a free USB to PC app that gives you a pop-up.
In fact, when I plug my phone into a PC, I have the options of ActiveSync (hooks to WMDC instead on Vista/7), Mass Storage, or Internet Sharing, which allows me to use my phone as a 3G modem with my netbook, with no tethering fees, which is nice on an unlimited data account.
App management these days is a lot easier than the default task manager too.
Complaining about (and not forgiving) the crashes of the OS of 3 years ago is akin to complaining about the early versions of the iPhone's OS.
Jealousy... Rising.
I can't wait for the review.
I'm seriously considering living in the streets for a month and using the rent money to buy this.
you're...not actually a hobo?
@Gus: He was for 10 minutes... squared..
It's a typo. The "b" is suppose to be an "m".
I KID! It's what I do.
if they can make a version with a keyboard and keep the same slimness id be all over it.. Dah sad but it must come to verizon untouched..
slide out keyboard with same thinness? no no no. too fragile. Talk about snap crackle and pop in your pants.
Saw the demo on Tekzilla and it is really impressive, HTC has done an incredible job on the interface. Makes my iPhone's interface look dull and dated in comparison.
@ Graham
I seen the demo and i splooged my jeans immediately after.
Agreed. This is not your father's WinMo.
T-Mobile eek...scary.. phone like this needs the Verizon network.
nice!!! - Iphone is almost screwed -- almost because the HD2 would need to have a really good audio chip and a very good speakers (2 or more ) for good movie watching -- then HD2 would be for me!! For now gona skip this phone and stay with HD !! :D
Glad you didn't show it on the show...keep it secret so I can get one on release day :P So sexy...can't wait to have that new UI with apparently customizable bottom tray icons ported to my 8925 or Touch Pro. Gotta have a keyboard...... lol.
but at the same time I have to cringe at these new phones because eventually my Zune HD will be inferior once the Zune capability is added... probably within a year! Not that it's really anything to complain about, I'd love to have one device for everything, that's the point of having a smartphone to begin with.. I still probably won't have 3g though darn it LOL.
When this baby has WinMo7 oooohhh the future !!!
I am sure a keyboard-version should be coming as well. I need keys, but I would not mind gettign this one given the option.
that screen is so huge the onscreen keyboard will be a pleasure to type on
I'm waiting for keyboard version too. Unfortunately on-screen keyboard is useless for my huge fingers
@ben parson
You should read the comparison between the N900 and HD2 on slashgear. The keys are actually bigger in size in the HD2 compared to the physical QWERTY in N900 and it this screen has haptic feedback as well so they found it easier to type on this compared to N900.
This phone is everything I have ever wanted in a windows mobile device. Since it was built to be upgraded to winmobile 7 it makes it an even more enticing device. I have used windows mobile 6, 6.1 and 6.5 before selling my tilt recently and I can say without a doubt that most of the hate for windows mobile is a little over done. It is an extremely flexible device os and I cannot wait to see what Microsoft does with 7. I cant wait to get this device and get back to xda-developers. I miss that site as I now own an iPhone 3gs. Its a great phone I have it jailbroken and customized to all hell lol but nothing beats xda.
... and just like that, all the robots (droids), Heroes, and little Moments that have been occupying the over-stimulated tech-centric regions of my mind are now distant, though fond, memories. I canceled my Hero order with Sprint, and will wait here in the corner patiently for this phone. Please don't make me wait long - I anger easily.
I love the unlock at the top of the screen. Makes it easier to swipe with your thumb. Swipe.
Man. That screen. Wow.
This is what the iPhone 4G should take after..
Ike you would say some shit like that..
HTC HD2, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, Moto Droid oh my
what is Dorthy to choose
How does it feel in hand? Doesn't look very comfortable due to large size, seems impossible to use with one hand...
we are talking about the HD2 phone right?
That's what she said.
-- Michael Scott
I hope it comes to Verizon.
will this be eligible for free upgrade to winmo7? whenever that is....
Probably not officially but xda developers should be able to sort you out.
Should be. It has a Windows button.
It has been stated as being WinMo 7 upgradeable. But if it's free...well...that's a different question.
OMG, I am ready to retire my touch diamond for this phone :)
Me want, bye bye iphone.
What he said. There's no app to make up for that screen.
Apple begs to differ...there's an app for anything, lol.
Stop lying...you never owned an iPhone.
It's okay that you want this phone but seriously all the winmo fanboys and apple haters need to stop LYING about owning a phone that you've hated since day one and will never own.
If only it had Android 2.0...
i just bought a touch pro 2 a month ago... if this comes out for sprint, i might just bite the bullet and drop the 500-600 dollars to own that sweet, sweet screen
Sprint currently has no intention of getting the HD2 although they do have a pole on their web site buzz about wireless asking people if they want the HD2 - no idea if any of the overpriced execs at sprint will actually see the poll.
tym - you have a very very long wait indeed. HTC has confirmed multiple times that Sprint has not approached them about making a CDMA version of the HD2 which would require the whole FCC approval and then about 6 months of Sprint claiming they beta tested the phone. So you have at least a year to save up if Sprint ever does decide to get the phone - of course by then the HD3 will be available in Europe.