HTC Touch Pro Review
When the HTC Touch Diamond was first announced, it rocked the Windows Mobile world for its size, functionality and innovation. However, the lack of a full qwerty keyboard was an issue for those who didn’t want to be restricted to using the mediocre onscreen variants. The solution is the HTC Touch Pro. First entering the market as an unlocked GSM device, the model used for this review is the CDMA version provided by Sprint here in the US. The Touch Pro is available on Sprint for $299 with 2-year contract and $100 mail in rebate.
In the Box
- HTC Touch Pro handset
- 1 Standard 1340 mAH Lithium Ion Battery
- 1GB MicroSD card
- ExtUSB headphone adapter
- ExtUSB AC charger brick
- 2 Styli
- Belt Holster
- Stereo Headphones
- ExtUSB Charging Cable
- Various guides or CDs
Specs
Up from the 900mAH battery on the Diamond, the Pro comes with a nicely sized 1340mAH upgrade. By increasing the capacity by nearly 50%, the Pro can handle a day of moderate use with push email on. Heavy users will find the need to recharge after 6-8 hours of use. I found that more with this phone more than most, it took a full week before the battery was properly conditioned and make it an entire day. A 3.2MP camera with auto focus and a flash takes some of the best shots of any mobile phone around. Viewing them on the phone is a pleasure with the Full VGA (640 by 480 pixel) TFT LCD screen that rotates its orientation thanks to the built in accelerometer. A built-in 3.5mm headset jack is lacking, but Sprint has included an adapter in the box to allow using 3.5mm, 2.5mm or miniUSB headphones with the phone, a nice touch. Wi-Fi and GPS round out the features of the Pro.
Technology: CDMA
Frequencies: 850/1900
Weight: 5.3 oz
4.01” x 2” x 0.71”
Cubic Volume: 5.69”
Phone
As a phone, the quality of the sound is decent, but doesn’t stand out. The microphone like so many other smart phones is located on the bottom of the phone, which does unfortunately pick up some extraneous noise. However, the above average noise cancellation on the Sprint network helps alleviate some, making the sound better than the GSM version of the Diamond or Pro.
Signal quality is arguably the biggest issue with this phone. Having tested out many Sprint devices in the past few months, I am well aware the limitations and strengths of the Sprint network in my area. The Touch Pro is consistently showing very low service, and regularly switches to the 1XRTT network in order to maintain service. This is disappointing to say the least, and something that will hopefully be resolved.
Data/Internet/Connectivity
As an EVDO Rev. A device, the poor service is very unfortunate as it really stifles the speed of the data. That being said, when the phone does find a good signal, the speed of the web browsing, email and other data services is on par with other Rev. A devices. The built in Activesync application in all Windows Mobile phones allows for easy and seamless integration with an Exchange server for email. All mail, contacts, calendar and tasks are pushed over to the device behind the scenes, giving the business user a pleasant experience. For internet access, Internet Explorer is the built in program. The onboard Wi-Fi is certainly nice to have, but unlike other devices like the recent Treo line with a dedicated hardware button, the user must dig into menus to turn the radio on and off. The side-effect is that the burden of doing so keeps the user from using it. The GPS in the phone locks quickly and using it with free programs such as Google Maps allows you to see where you are with precision accuracy.
Hardware
The Touch Pro does something for the slide out qwerty phone market, it shows that one can actually look good! Sprint has added their own tweaks to the design of the phone such as chrome sides and a silver soft touch paint back. The sliding mechanism does have a little more side to side “play” in it than I prefer, but definitely doesn’t feel cheap.
On the front, you’ll find 5 visible buttons; Home, Back, Send, End and circular enter button. What you don’t see is that you can press up, down, left or right around the circle just like you would on a regular D-pad. Finally, a capacitive section of the lower portion of the screen allows for circular motions to be done around the circle to zoom in and out or change the size of the text in certain programs. As seems to be the trend with newer Windows phones, the 2 soft keys have been removed, and the bottom virtual keys on the screen are your only option for these.
Sliding the screen to the right rotates the screen to a landscape configuration and revels a whopping 57 key QWERTY keyboard. A dedicated number row on the top is nice to have, which is something you won’t find on many smart phones.
The backside of the phone is silver soft touch paint that makes the phone easy to hang onto. Near the top is the 3.2MP camera with flash.
On the top, the power on/off button.
On the left side, a volume rocker button.
On the right side is nothing but the stylus.
On the bottom is the ExtUSB port, soft reset hole and microphone hole.
Compared
Side by side, you can see the differences between the Touch Diamond vs. the Touch Pro.
Software/Features
Powered by Windows Mobile 6.1, Sprint has put some of it’s own software in along with the standard applications you find on every Windows phone. On the Touch Flo 3D, they’ve added Sprint Music and Sprint TV to allow the user to get access to the content provided by Sprint. In the standard programs, they’ve added Instant Messaging, Pocket Express, and WorldCard Mobile.
Overall
When talking about slide out keyboard devices, it generally is a love it or hate it conversation. I personally don’t choose to have a sliding keyboard on my devices, but if I did, the Touch Pro would be on my short list of devices. With HTC’s innovation, and Sprint’s customizations, the Touch Pro is a solid choice in high end Windows Mobile smartphones.
Thanks for mentioning the RF & call quality. Though I use AT&T, I assume the Fuze’s RF and call quality will be similar. The poor performance could be a deal-breaker for me.
How is the accuracy of dialing a 10-digit phone # or using the calculator with your finger or thumb on the touch screen? I often need to make a quick call or calculation and don’t have time to slide out a keyboard and flip the phone to it’s side to type on a non-10-key numeric keypad to perform such tasks.
Thanks for another detailed and well thought-out review.
The dialing of phone numbers and use of the calculator on the screen is easy. The numbers for both are rather large, and you will be able to use your fingers to push them with no issues. I never open the keypad when dialing.
After waiting forever to make the leap into pda smart phone with Sprint I am really disappointed with the call quality with my touch pro. I really just want to be able to have a good phone (that’s supposedly what they are right?!?) first and be able get email and have gps. Any thoughts on a better phone on the Sprint network? Or am I stuck with this one for now? THANKS!
The Blackberry Curve is certainly a device that you could take a look at as well. They are email devices first, and have GPS for your location services as well. Plus, they actually work well as phones.