HTC Touch Pro2 is awesome in ways the Touch Pro never could be

by Chris Ziegler posted Feb 16th 2009 at 5:30AM

So, how do you make HTC's Touch Pro -- already near the top of the WInMo heap -- an even beefier device? For starters, you can throw out that nasty VGA screen of yesteryear and up it with a 3.6-inch 800 x 480 replacement. Next, add a dedicated touch-sensitive zoom slider that works overtime to take maximum advantage of said screen, then throw in a few key carryovers: 512MB of ROM, 288MB of RAM, microSD expansion, and a 3.2 megapixel cam. Meet the Touch Pro2, the official follow-up to HTC's popular series of QWERTY sliders that introduces so-called "Straight Talk" technology for "seamlessly" transitioning conversations between email, single-line calls, and party calls. It'll also automatically switch to the crazy high-performance, full-duplex speakerphone simply by flipping the phone over, so it's clear that this bad boy was meant for business. It'll launch early in the second quarter in parts of Asia and Europe with other "major global markets" following in early Summer.

Filed under: Handsets, HTC, Windows Mobile

Tags: breaking news, BreakingNews, htc, touch pro, touch pro 2, TouchPro, TouchPro2, windows mobile, windows mobile 6.1, WindowsMobile, WindowsMobile6.1, winmo, wm6.1

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Highly Ranked

Talley @ Feb 16th 2009 5:47AM

beautiful :)

Neutral

OneLove @ Feb 18th 2009 3:35PM

so glad i waited

Neutral

Nils @ Feb 16th 2009 11:18AM

not digging the round edges, diamond2 looks way better

Highest Ranked

Raz @ Feb 16th 2009 5:59AM

Ah, HTC when will learn that extUSB to audio jack will never catch on. By now they are just doing it out of stubbornness. But in all seriousness the only lacking qualities are the extUSB, the 3.2 Megapixel camera, and the fact that it will be a WinMo 6.1 instead of 6.5 device. All if which are negligable (except that damn extUBD audio jack).

Neutral

Richard Glitter @ Feb 16th 2009 2:53PM

@Raz - I do hear you on the 3.5, but my thought is that they are just expecting people to prefer stereo bluetooth headsets to wired ones, and therefore not putting the jack in for that reason. I have the current Touch Pro and use the Motorola S9-HD stereo BT headset (I also own a Jabra BT3030 if you prefer wired earbuds its great), and I can't imagine having wires going from my head to my phone any more. Once you go to it, its impossible to go back, it's SOOOO convenient and non-intrusive. I'm never catching the wires on crap, untangling, etc.

I think the digital to analog conversion and the big jack just take up a bunch of space and they'd rather keep the device as compact as possible and just assume stereo BT will become the de-facto replacement for headphones. I'm surprised it hasn't taken off more than it has actually.

I just hope they have a new chipset in this phone, the Qualcomm ones they currently use aren't that snappy, although I read that Qualcomm is trying to up their game and are about to release a new chipset for mobiles thats way faster.

Neutral

Natsume @ Feb 16th 2009 3:38PM

I already prefer Stereo Bluetooth Headsets over regular headphones (3.5mm).
iPod headphones (being the most commonly used) are horrible as they leak out so much of the sound's quality with that design that takes no consideration over how a person's ear works.
And as you turn up the volume, you are slowly deafening yourself with it.

I've been using a SE HBH-DS980 for the past year, and SE's HBH-DS970 for 2 years before that, and it's been good to me.
A fairly simple noise-cancelling design, and it's earbuds are compatible with those of Skull Candys (they provide free earbuds, so that's a plus to get both the SE headset and the Skull Candys)

The compatibility though with some of the features from the DS-980/DS-970 have been a bit disappointing when I used it on my RAZR V6 and BlackBerry Bold, but after I went from those to my K850 // Xperia X1a respectively, I've always been delighted by the SE compatibility, seeing the names of who's calling and what song/artist is playing at the time on the LED display.

However, where do you get the MOTO S9-HDs? I haven't seen them on the market, 3rd party (re-)sellers, or available on the webstores either.

Neutral

SimbaDogg @ Feb 16th 2009 4:20PM

i too am one that kinda wished i had a 3.5mm jack. but seriously, i use the sony hbhds980 headphones (bluetooth) and i absolutely love it. phone stays in my pocket whether i change volume, skip or go back in songs. YES there are wired headsets that do this, but have 1) a proprietary cord stinks and 2) well, having a cord stinks. i've been considering buying a miniusb to 3.5 adapter for the few times that i'm just sitting on the metro w/ my phone actually out in my hands, but in all honesty when i'm out and about and on the move...i'd have having my ears tethered to me phone.

Neutral

BogBeast @ Feb 16th 2009 6:02AM

No android.. are they serious...

Neutral

dredd67 @ Feb 16th 2009 6:16AM

Still the old same MSM7200A, the old Winmo 6.1, the shitty HTC under performance. That looks just like a small facelift for an old phone. Still wondering with what I will replace my crappy TyTN II. Bye Bye HTC...

Neutral

Esquire0399 @ Feb 16th 2009 7:21PM

Good lord, why don't people get it? Not everyone dislikes Windows Mobile. In fact, there are still many, many people who either love it or need it for work. In addition, not everyone loves Android. Many of the people crying for Android have never even used it (not to say that you haven't because I don't know). Android has its advantages, but so does Windows Mobile. HTC made the decision that they thought was best and for that, many people will be appreciative.

Highest Ranked

celz @ Feb 16th 2009 8:13PM

you must have used an early european version that had bugs.. Because mine on sprint is just as fast as any iphone or bb out the box.. and the processor is plenty fast.. what phone in the US has a faster one??? With 288mb ram, and 3d graphics acceleration.. lmao what are you talking about??? And this phone will have android and wm 6.5 in a few months.. Android isnt nothing to go bragging about its still in its infant stages.. It has great ideas its great that its open but it looks like blah.. and the iphone is like the only smart phone with no today screen.. Lmao stop complaining... people always complain about windows problem (it does have lots, but they all do) go buy your magical perfect phone that doesnt exist

Neutral

smover @ Feb 16th 2009 6:23AM

It looks awesome ! This is a first time an HTC device looks that good ! but... no 3,5 jack, winmo 6.1.. so i won't get it:(

Neutral

Andrew M @ Feb 16th 2009 2:38PM

Is WinMobile 6.1 really that bad? Cuz im looking for a new phone and am considering the Touch Pro (would have to buy it unlocked since I'm in Canada and stupid Rogers doesnt carry it!) or the HP iPaq910c as an alternative cuz the touch pro is so damn expensive n the HP looks like the best smartphone rogers carries (not 2 crazy on blackberry) if i can find a deal for like $450 i'll pick up the touch pro but I need some advice on what I should get. Any help appreciated, thanks.

Neutral

celz @ Feb 16th 2009 8:33PM

No wm is the best mobile smartphone os.. It isnt the prettiest or the easiest to use.. But it is the most capable, versatile, and powerful... period. If you want an app store with a bunch of cute useless apps go get an iphone. If you want real mobile multmedia, being able to share your net connection with other devices, multi-tasking, customizable homescreens.. go with wm mobile.. Every smartphone has tons of problems.. Its just that with WM you can fix some.. with others you cant.. I have had 2 touch pros and my sis has had 2 they were all fast out the box.. with the mogul I used custom roms to make it faster the touch pro doesnt need any tweaks or custom roms.. its as fast as any bb or iphone out the box.. i love it make iphone users jealous all day lol

Highly Ranked

itsnotabigtruck @ Feb 17th 2009 1:36AM

Windows Mobile is about as hackable as it gets, but you can't put lipstick on a pig. Once you get past some fancy customized home screen, you break through to an interface that's a dead ringer for Windows 3.1. Microsoft has made little to no core changes to WM since Pocket PC 2002 (launched 7 years ago). Moreover, all the buttons and other controls are minuscule, making stylus use a necessity if you want any semblance of precision.

At this point, the only way to save Windows Mobile is to rewrite the entire front-end and forget compatibility. Unfortunately, Microsoft always puts compatibility as its number one priority, and that means that everything it produces quickly falls into stagnation. WM is the perfect example.

Neutral

daki @ Feb 16th 2009 6:18AM

The Camera sux, they could atleast have the same camera as in the new diamond. But anyways it looks like it's between this and the N97 for me, getting the one that hits the market first (which i guess will be the htc since I live in europe :) )

Neutral

Brian @ Feb 16th 2009 6:25AM

Aren't the Diamond2/Touch Pro2 basically the HD Touch and HD Touch Pro? All that's different really is the outer casing.

Neutral

John Miller @ Feb 16th 2009 10:20AM

No Android, no thanks. WMC has been very disappointing on that front so far.

Highest Ranked

Tralus @ Feb 16th 2009 11:28AM

I'm not sure why everyone thinks android is the "end all be all" - I've used it and honestly I'm not that impressed. I like the looks of this thing, if Verizon picks it up - it'll probably be my next phone.

Highest Ranked

Eludium-Q36 @ Feb 16th 2009 1:17PM

BTW, fck Android. This is the Touch Pro I first expected, not that small 2.8"-er they threw at us last year. The only thing lacking now is WinMo 7. I hope it's upgradeable to it.

Highly Ranked

nmdiamond @ Feb 16th 2009 1:48PM

This device is going to be the best thing on the market! considering all it already has & it is upgardable to windows mobile 6.5! AMAZING!

Neutral

SteadyC @ Feb 16th 2009 11:06PM

For those that think Motorola Bluetooth Stereo headsets are great, you haven't found Shure or Westone yet. While I think that Stereo Bluetooth headsets are interesting, nothing has yet compared to the sound quality and the noise isolation as wired headsets by Shure and Westone. Until these two technologies meet, it will be wired headsets for me. No bluetooth headset provides the sound quality or the noise isolaton yet, and until then I will do the wires. There is a reason that stereo bluetooth headsets don't show up on the list of best headphones for mobile devices.
http://www.earphonesolutions.com/bestheadphones.html

I don't understand why HTC thinks it can sell phones like this for $300-$350, and ask customers to shell out more money for storage and only put in 512 MB ROM. Other customers can buy another very capable phone with 16 GB memory included for the same price. HTC, when will you learn? You learned about the larger screen, the accelerometer, how about the memory?

Neutral

Kumar @ Feb 17th 2009 8:53AM

In answer to your memory question...

If your fancy phone with 4-8gb onboard memory kicks it, you're out of luck. But if you store your files and music on a micro sd card, you can just take that to your next phone.

Additionally, the price of memory keeps dropping to the point that a huge expensive card today will be a huge inexpensive card next year. And unless you ditch phones yearly, you might appreciate being able to up the memory. For me though, 4 gigs on a stick has been enough so far.

Neutral

Richard Glitter @ Feb 17th 2009 2:26PM

I agree that the current BT stereo headphones aren't going to give you the same audio quality of wired headsets. Between interference and compression thats what you get.

I am willing to take that hit in trade for the convenience. I mostly use it for listening to podcasts though, and when I do listen to music, I'm OK with not having amazing audio quality as it's usually background music when I'm doing something else.

So I guess what I'm saying is that BT headsets won't satisfy audiophiles but for most users they're great. One thing I'd suggest is check out the Jabra BT3030 headset, which is a BT "dogtag" with music control buttons on it and a 3.5mm jack so you can plug in any headphones.

Neutral

NB @ Mar 2nd 2009 1:02PM

I am thinking of buying this mobile Will I be able to use the (Stylus) pen on this mobile? I would like to use it for writing also (using the pen) handwriting software recognition for this? web pages where I can find info about it? any help on this will be useful.
Thanks!

Neutral

Marcus @ Feb 22nd 2009 8:21AM

HTC Touch Pro 3 (Dream Device)
I just saw the new HTC Touch Pro 2. But as usually, it is not perfect. It is always missing some specs.

So I build one as I think could be a perfect devise. The name is HTC Touch Pro 3.

What do you think if this devise was on sale?

Have a look on the specs at: http://marcustavares.wordpress.com/2009/02/22/htc-touch-pro-3-a-dream-pda/

Regards

marcus

Neutral

Tony @ Mar 22nd 2009 2:14PM

This article needs to be burned. I just bought the Touch PRO and now am lusting over the PRO2.

PROS-WinMo 6.1 iPhone/Android are just not accepted in the business world. Grow up folks and switch to what everyone else has.

CONS-I would kill for the dual speaker compatibility on the Pro1 since its speaker sucks royally. TF3D results in a bit of lag occasionally and you can always find bugs in WinMo.

Neutral

Nathan @ Apr 18th 2009 3:20AM

I went into T-Mobile today and they guy told me they are getting a version of this (aka Rhodium!) this summer. Hopefully in, line with Apple's new iPhone announcement. I am counting down the days when I never have to touch my crap G1 again.