HTC Touch Pro2 review

The HTC Touch Pro2 is designed as a premium business handset and almost everything about it cries out to be noticed, from its acres of screen space to its tilting QWERTY keyboard.

We liked:

The slide-out QWERTY keyboard is a little marvel – very easy to use with well-spaced keys, including shortcuts to email, text messaging and the web. We also liked the way the screen can be tilted to a 45 degree angle, which makes viewing easier if you choose to rest it on a desktop.

And speaking of the screen, it's 3.6in of sharp, clear joy, which makes watching video and viewing web pages a very moreish activity. The browser too is easy and fun to use, the zoom bar at the side of the screen being particularly useful.

The latest version of HTC's TouchFLO 3D interface which sits on top of the Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system is the best we've yet seen, with additional levels that mean you have even less reason to reach for the stylus.

We didn't like:

It might pack in a lot of features but there's no getting away from the sheer bulk of the Pro2. It's big in every way and many will simply find it too cumbersome for everyday use.

The 3.2 megapixel camera will do the job but not as well as many of its rivals. That said, we'd rather have this camera than none.

We'd have liked the option to view videos as full screen, which wasn't always possible, and we'd have preferred it if the accelerometer always adjusted the screen's resolution, rather than being dependent on which programme you're in. For music, we'd have preferred better headphones, or at least a 3.5mm jack plug, and an FM radio.

Verdict

If you can handle its size and weight, the quality screen, QWERTY keyboard, connectivity, messaging, A-GPS and additional features make the HTC Touch Pro2 is a great business tool which is also plenty of fun to use