HTC Touch Cell Phone Review - Intro
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Alfredo Padilla Published on November 07, 2007 Comment on this |
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The HTC Touch is a touch screen Windows Mobile Professional device that's positioned to compete with the iPhone. We found the TouchFLO interface, which is designed to improve the experience of using the touch screen, succeeds strongly in some areas (like the new album software) but fails in other areas, like text entry. The Touch is definitely a small and attractive device, but its reliance on the touch screen, which just isn't up to the standard set by the iPhone, is its Achilles heel. The Touch has some solid multimedia support for video and music playback, but we were annoyed that we had to use Sprint's software to purchase and listen to music from its store, and we were not impressed with the 2-megapixel camera. On the organizer and messaging front, Windows Mobile Professional does its typical solid job, but heavy e-mail or SMS users will find the on-screen text entry systems to be frustrating. We also weren't happy with the Touch's battery performance, which was subpar across the board. The Touch is definitely a cool device, but we just don't think TouchFlo is ready to be the main interface for most users. This is probably why the successor to the Touch adds a slide-out keypad, and we wish Sprint had picked up that version. Sprint is currently the exclusive carrier for the Touch in the U.S., although you can purchase unlocked GSM versions that work on T-Mobile and AT&T. Sprint is selling the Touch for $249.99 with a two-year contract or $499.99 without.
Tour & Design - The Touch is a small, sleek, and sexy device that feels well put together, although you should protect that large screen as soon as you can.
Audio Quality - The Touch was a middling performer in our audio tests. Minor issues may annoy some, but there's nothing glaringly wrong.
Imaging - The Touch's 2-megapixel camera did not impress us, but we loved HTC's new iPhone-esque album software.
Making/Receiving Calls - The Touch provides solid calling features, but we found the on-screen keypad a little annoying.
Messaging - The Touch has a very good e-mail client, but we wonder why MMS was left off the device.
Organizer - As we've come to expect from Windows Mobile devices, the Touch has powerful organizational software and can easily fill the role of a PDA.
Multimedia - The Touch does a solid job of music and video playback, but we were annoyed that you have to use a whole different piece of software to buy and listen to Sprint Music Store content.
Software - Windows Mobile Professional is a solid operating system, while HTC's TouchFLO enhancement ranged from helpful to inconsistent.
Battery Life - There's no other way to say it. The HTC Touch has pretty bad battery life.
Connectivity - We like EVDO data and the solid Bluetooth support, but are missing Wi-Fi.
Hardware - The Touch requires you do almost everything via the touch screen, and this can be very annoying at times, especially for text entry.
Other Features - The Touch can be used as a modem for your laptop, but lacks GPS functionality.
Value & Comparisons - At $249.99 with a two-year contract and twice that without, the Touch is priced a little too high for our taste.
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