Review: Sprint Touch Pro 2 aka Confessions of a Black-Slab™ skeptic

By Daniel Rubino
last updated

There's been a lot of hype around the latest HTC Touch Pro 2, released just a few weeks ago on Sprint. The Windows Mobile 6.1 device is a significant upgrade from the original Touch Pro and offers quite the bang for the buck.

Here's an interesting question though: Is the Sprint Touch Pro 2 now good enough for this Black Slab™ skeptic? It should be no secret that I've been a critic of this style for some time now, instead preferring front-QWERTY types. Yet here I am, compelled enough to go out an buy one.

Lets just say ... I'm impressed.

Read on for my review and judgment of the Sprint Touch Pro 2 from the perspective of a non-believer!

Hardware

The specs on the Sprint Touch Pro 2 are thankfully very similar to just about every other iteration on the other U.S. carriers. However, when compared to the the first Touch Pro, there are quite a few changes e.g. the larger 3.6-inch screen, larger keyboard, "Zoom Bar" (instead of D-pad), larger battery, GSM "World Phone" capability.

Interestingly enough, these changes, along with TouchFLO 3D2, are just enough to make the Touch Pro 2 finally work as envisioned. We'll go through each of them with comments.

Screen

Although in general I'm not a huge fan of man-handling my Windows phones with finger swipes, pokes or smudges, the 3.6-inch screen is the absolute perfect resolution for a touch-orientated operating system. The original Touch Pro, in my opinion, did a lot right. But the screen was just too small for what it looks like HTC intended.

At 3.6-inch inches, touch-typing using HTC's soft-keyboard is a breeze and, yes, you can even bang out quick responses to text messages or IMs using it one-handed. Sure, it feels very similar to the iPhone keyboard, but that's not a bad thing.

Likewise, using TouchFLO 3D2 on such a large screen just plain makes sense now. Tabs are the size of your fingertip, items are easy to read and you don't feel like you are substituting your stylus with your finger anymore.

The ambient-light sensor (a technology I'm a huge proponent of) works exceptionally well here. It does a beautiful slow fade up/down according to the current lighting conditions: if in a bright room, the screen will jack up to compensate; in a dim room, the screen will dim down to not overwhelm your eyes (and save on battery). Screen brightness is quite good, though you may still have some trouble in direct sunlight. But that's not a huge deal.

The only way the screen could have been better would be if it were capacitive

There, I said it.

While the screen is large enough to easily interact with and TouchFlo 3D2 does a great job of skinning just about everything, it is the resistive screen that is holding it all back. It is not uncommon to have to tap twice to get a response, or when sliding a gesture to have it skip. It's not terrible. But after using a capacitive screen for a while, you appreciate the accuracy and sensitivity.

Keyboard

Yeah, it is huge. There is so much room to type that it's almost surreal. The keys themselves are quite soft, and travel is maybe a bit too shallow (but you have cut HTC some slack there due to just pure physics). There is ample spacing between the keys and because it has a traditional QWERTY layout — including the keys being offset — it's quite simple to just pick it up and bang out a response.

Unlike the early AT&T version we've seen, the Sprint version has all the number keys on top and does not require a function (FN) key to type them — likewise with the period and comma keys, all of which translates into one-touch typing for the most common characters — a real joy. The hardware build is also very solid and the little LED lights for CAPs and NUM lock are a cool feature. The keyboard backlight, also controlled by the ambient light sensor, is bright enough and looks very cool in low-light conditions.

My only complaint here is I wish there were an "OK" button for exiting programs. This is the one thing that I like about the AT&T keyboard layout. Without it, I have to stretch all the way to the top right corner to minimize/switch apps. (That hopefully will change with future versions of Windows Mobile 6.5.)

Zoom Bar

While I understand the need to ditch the D-pad to accommodate the larger screen, the Zoom Bar is quite underwhelming. In fact I barely ever touch it and when I do, it is not that impressive. It doesn't work in most apps. And when it does, it is just not sensitive enough or accurate enough to do what I believe HTC intends. Because of its small footprint, though, and low visibility on the device, it's not a huge deal. It's just something you'll probably forget about.

GSM/World Phone

Not too much to say here. The Touch Pro 2 does come with a Sprint-SIM card for overseas use. And while it won't work on U.S. GSM networks, it certainly is nice to know that if I do go to Europe, my Touch Pro 2 won't be useless.

It does not operate in both CDMA/GSM modes at the same time.  Instead it operates in CDMA and when it won't find a signal, prompts to search for GSM (this is in "Global Mode"), switching to the latter network when found.

We do know that currently the Sprint Touch Pro 2 is SIM-unlocked for foreign GSM networks (unlike Verizon & Telus versions, which you have to pay to haggle to unlock) but it cannot register on any U.S. GSM system.

The question of whether it can be hacked to work on U.S. bands is not known at this time: some allege it is a hardware thing, while others suggest it is software and therefore can be defeated. The Verizon and Telus versions can work on U.S. GSM bands (once unlocked) but not UMTS.

We'll keep an eye on what happens on that front.

WiFi

HTC went with Broadcom instead of Texas Instruments for the WiFi/Bluetooth radios. Whatever they did it works very well now. Case in point: You basically can leave WiFi on 24/7 and it will only be "on" when you power on the device, meaning there is no battery drainage when in standby mode. (I've left mine on "just WiFi" for three days and still had 80 percent battery life).

Setting up is a breeze with HTC re-skinning even the WiFi connection window.  All I had to do was enter in my WEP key on the giant, easy to read pairing screen and was good to go.

But the magic is when you turn it back on — the automatic re-pairing with your network happens in less than 5 seconds, making it all feel seamless and ... dun dun dun ... actually practical to use. And speaking of the battery...

Battery Life

The Touch Pro 2 now uses a 1500mAh battery, which for such a powerful device still sounds wimpy but in fact is quite good. My experience suggests it performs as well as a Sprint Treo Pro (also 1500mAh). And judging by forum feedback, it is near universal that battery life is quite good, if not leaps and bounds better than the original Touch Pro. Once again this can't be over-stressed: having a realistic battery capacity is essential to successful usage of these devices.  For the first time, in my opinion, the Touch Pro 2 meets this threshold for this form-factor.

What is the actual talk time? Sprint pegs it at 4 hours, which is way below my experience. Yet Telus (see review), which has virtually the same device, puts talk time at 6 hours. Finally Verizon states that its Touch Pro 2 gets 5.3 hours' talk time. All are CDMA/GSM world phones with 1500mAh batteries. Yikes.

My experience says much more than 4 hours but less than 6, which in my book is darn good for such a behemouth of a device.

Build Quality

This was another gripe about earlier HTC devices, including the original Touch Pro: their build quality wasn't so hot. In my opinion, the Touch Pro 2 is one of the most solidly built devices I have had the pleasure to use. The top-half almost feels like a marble — it's cool to the touch and feels dense. The bottom half is very light and soft, almost velvet-like. When the keyboard is retracted, the device does not wobble. In fact, it feels like a rather heavy non-keyboard device.

It is too early to tell how the sliding mechanism will hold up in the long run, but the track and springs on the keyboard sure feel nice. The keyboard requires some effort to pull out, but at a certain point it springs into action. Tilting the keyboard up also is solid. The angles are limited but variable, and I have to admit that for watching video or even typing out a long e-mail, it is very convenient.

The back cover is a bit of a pain to remove (you have to remove the stylus first) but my need to remove the cover is quite limited, especially if you install a soft-reset application. Reaching the MicroSD slot and the reset button require the removal of the cover. The SIM card slot requires the additional removal of the battery, but that's pretty normal these days.

All of this makes the Touch Pro 2 quite heavy: 6.3 oz, which is a full ounce more than the original Touch Pro. In fact, it is a hair heavier than my Palm Treo Pro with the monster 3500mAh extended battery!

While not the lightest device on the market, the heaviness feels the result of being such a solid and well-built device, not unnecessary additions or poor engineering. You'll feel this when you hold it — it's like the difference between a Sony PSP versus a Nintendo Gameboy.

Heat

A big complaint on the original Touch Pro was that it got hot ... damn hot. This occurred when the device was plugged in and using GPS/pulling data or when talking on the phone and plugged in. No doubt those are taxing conditions on the device, but the complaints suggested that it was a very hot device.

From my experience, the Touch Pro 2 does not suffer from this problem.  Be sure, it gets warm if plugged in and in use, mostly near the bottom half. But it did not get "hot to the touch," nor did I notice any charging issues. This isn't to say you couldn't create the conditions to get that result — I'm sure on a 90-plus-degree day, such a possibility exists. But to me, it seems normal, and I can say the "heat problem" is not present with the Touch Pro 2.

Camera

See George's great in-depth look at the Sprint Touch Pro 2 camera including sample photos and video!

As a Phone

Oh yeah, surprisingly, this device can also be used as an actual telephone.  It handles the job admirably with the proximity sensor to automatically turn off the screen when placed near your head--very cool, though if you move too fast, it won't register.  Ringer, volume and call quality were as good as it gets and signal reception was the highest we've seen--it certainly blows away the Treo Pro and is even significantly better than the Touch Pro 1, you can count on that.

Turning on speaker phone was as easy as placing the phone face down on the table and the custom HTC dial pad certainly presents enough eye-candy to keep people happy.

The conference call feature is not as robust as the GSM version, presumably mostly due to CDMA limitations i.e. you cannot select a "Conference" button before the call, whereby you select multiple contacts.  Instead this is the plain vanilla "while on a call, push Talk, dial other party, push Talk again to have 3 way calling" method.  You cannot host more than 2 other callers, unlike GSM.

Yes, like all WinMo/HTC phones, this one "wakes up" seemingly on a random basis, though it is usually called by network switching from EvDO to 1x. If that bothers you from previous devices, it does not change here.  Sorry.

Once again, these types of devices traditionally are not as good as phones when compared to other WinMo devices (especially Standard) but the Touch Pro 2 seems to break the mold here and can actually be recommended for those of you who use your device to talk to other humans. How old fashioned!

Software

TouchFLO 3D2

TouchFLO 3D2 is quite awesome. The reason for this is that we are finally past just making it a sophisticated plugin. HTC has re-skinned so much in this build of TouchFLO that you barely see the actual Windows Mobile operating system. Even all the menus in all your third-party programs are skinned they are now much larger and sharper looking than the "stock" OS version, which look out of place with the rest of the OS.

While I'm one of the few who are actually "OK" with the Windows Mobile 6.1 user interface, I found on this device that HTC in fact does it better. Once I disabled TouchFLO 3D2, the device became a lot more troublesome to use and not nearly as fun. And with the dearth of hardware buttons, it is easy to see why.

The ability to disable and reorganize tabs within Settings is also a great addition. No extra software is required, and it takes 2 seconds to disable "Stocks" or move to the front the "Sprint Music" tab.

Weather is also much smarter now. It updates when you switch to the tab and is surprisingly fast. The visible week's forecast is convenient as is the ability to switch to different cities (defined under your clocks). Sure, the choices for cities remain limited and you might have to do some software trickery to get your local town to show up. But once you, do it works very well.

The other tabs, like Internet, E-mail and Text, are really well thought out. Sometimes "flicking" my next e-mail (or photos) would not work, which I chalk up to the non-capacitive screen. But overall it works well enough and, gosh, if it just isn't so pretty to look at!

Conclusion? I was really surprised how much I was OK with TouchFLO 3D2. I have never been a fan of the original TouchFLO, TouchFLO 2D, etc. and was expecting the same here. Instead, I really like the improvements made over the long run by HTC. It is generally quite fast, intuitive and just much more fun.

Color me shocked. I can't wait to hopefully see TouchFlo 3D 2.5 in a future update.

Opera 9.5

Sure, we all know about Opera 9.7, and I really hope when the Touch Pro 2 gets Windows Mobile 6.5 they bump it to Opera 9.7. But I was quite impressed with the current version already on the device. In fact, between the giant screen, Opera and WiFi, I felt for the first time that this was true browsing. The scrolling is great, the auto-fit for text was like magic and it handled sites quite well. Shoot, throw in the Flash hack and you can even do embedded video like Opera 9.7.

Start Menu

The Start Menu also has been replaced with a kinetic scrolling, large-icon based version by HTC. It's really  nice, though the scrolling of the Start Menu by Microsoft for Windows Mobile 6.5 is better because it "stops" on every "page" instead of the spin-the-Rolodexversion we have now (you tend to over-spin with HTCs). Still, it works well enough and easy to use.

Miscellaneous

HTC throws in the usual software suite that we are accustomed to on its devices, including RSS Hub, QuickGPS, Teeter, MP3 Trimmer, etc. Like usual, the software is great and nicely fills in the gaps left by Microsoft.

One complaint: While I love Ilium's RSS Hub (aka Newsbreak), on this device it really feels out of place. That's because RSS Hub is still "old school" and not finger-friendly at all, so it is quite cumbersome to use. It really sticks out like a sore thumb and until Ilium updates its software (seriously guys, it's been 2 years!), you may want to try SPB News or SBSH GoNews Touch, which are a much better-suited RSS readers for this device.

Final Verdict

So here is the shocker: I really, really like the Touch Pro 2.

Does it replace my Treo Pro (especially now with WM6.5?) — no, the devices operate very differently and they each have their Pros and Cons. But the real message here is that I actually prefer the Touch Pro 2 for some things more than the Treo Pro. I won't hesitate to recommend it to others, and I will use it as my "main phone" on certain days without reservation.

A Treo Pro is like a sports car: fast, direct and no-frills. I can get from A to B quickly in a non-exciting but efficient manner. The Touch Pro 2 is a nice, fat Cadillac: slower, more relaxing but oh, what a ride. It takes me a bit longer to do things (swipe tabs versus dedicated hardware key) but doing them is so darn enjoyable and fun. A Treo Pro is 90 percent one-handed whereas the Touch Pro 2 I find mostly two-handed (hold with left, swipe with right). But this isn't too big of a deal.

Basically, the huge screen and keyboard will sell you on this device — they're just so good and easy to use. The Touch Pro 2 is practically a Netbook at this point, yet pocketable.

In conclusion, considering what HTC has to work with for an operating system (Windows Mobile 6.1) and current, affordable technology, they hit it out of the park with the Touch Pro 2. This is the first Black Slab™ where I found the hardware not only compelling, well built and exciting but practical, smart and efficient.

That the battery life is ample enough to last the whole day speaks volumes about this device.

The audio quality is great, screen is immaculate, keyboard is roomy and the build quality is high — sure it would have been nice for something to scroll with on long pages (swipe, swipe, swipe gets tiring) and there are always little things to improve, but overall I have to highly recommend the Touch Pro 2, even for the handful of skeptics left out there.

The Sprint Touch Pro 2 from HTC is a game changer for this genre, make no mistake.

Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007 when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and for some reason, watches. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.

39 Comments
  • I had been using a touch pro just a bit on and off, with my treo pro as my main phone after moving. Before that I had used 800w and before that a 700p. I have been using a Touch Pro 2 I bought at full price buy and will return withing 30 days since I am two months from my next new customer pricing discount on one of my lines. I felt the same way about the keyboard on the TP2 but it took me very very little time to prefer it due to both the incredible difference in screens and a growing preference for the full laterally oriented keyboard. It makes so much more sense for browsing and working with documents (not to mention Lord of the Rings on 800x400) to have a landscape mode screen as well. I had a list of about ten things on the TP I would like to see implemented (EG better battery, better exploitation of real estate for screen size, 3.5 mm jack, GSM slot, better build quality, etc) and they were all implemented on the TP2, which doesn't make me prescient at all, but shows that HTC is really doing a good job critiquing its own products and considering what is needed next.
  • Thank you for the great review!
  • I really want this (The at&t version)to be the replacement for my at&t tilt. I looked at a t-mobile version and it just fixes any complaint I had about the tilt.
  • Oh Sorry, great review. Its nice to see a treo fan (not a bad thing) like something else. It really says something about the device.
  • I am waiting for the Tilt2 to come out and really enjoyed reading the review on the Sprint model. I am drooling all over my keyboard here.
  • I'm somewhat disappointed by all the different "shapes and sizes" we are getting these devices in with different carriers. As much as some may or may not like different looks and keyboards with the different CDMA, and GSM versions, it is going to make things like hard cases, and clear scratch resistant coatings a pain to find. You'll have to make sure they clearly label their product for fitting your brand of Touch Pro 2. I remember running into that with the Motorola K1, as the CDMA version had buttons on the front, and the USB port on the other side versus the GSM model. Oh well, too good of a phone to complain too much about!
  • Anyone else notice the first picture in the Final Verdict section shows the Touch Pro 2 with WinMo 6.5 and TouchFlo3D 2.5? I haven't seen those custom ROM's come out yet... am I missing something? Thanks.
  • Yeah, I see that too. I went to but a TP2 at a Sprint store, but they said that they are not coming out in stores until sometime in Oct. And that when they do, they will be preloaded with WM 6.5.
  • Great review. Regarding soft reset -- doesn't a power off/on using the End key do a soft reset? If so, seems to me the reset button under the back cover is a non-issue.
  • Sounds like a nice phone...
    The problem is that I don't want to use anything without a front-facing QWERTY keyboard.
    But if Mal liked it, even over his Treo Pro (my current device) it has some credibility...
  • Excellent comprehensive review.
  • WOW!!! This was a great review, with practical information. Thanks a lot. \ I initially was very excited about the TP2, but since the release, my interest has cooled off. After reading this, I'm going to check out my early termination policy and figure out where I'm going to get the $300 (give or take) It's good to hear that the weather tab is sped up. That bothers me on the Tilt, even when I have full 3G service. Also, I like that the back of the phone is totally flat. On my tilt, when I set it on a table to type, the rubber plug for the GPS external antennae, makes it rock slightly. Has there been any word how TouchFlo3D will be affected by the upgrade to 6.5? I am hoping it doesn't affect it at all. The reset button being under the battery cover, kind of bums me out. I don't use it every day, but a couple times a week, particularly if I am loading/unloading a lot of software. Can't wait to try out that keyboard, also. The space between the keys should make a huge difference from the Tilt. Thanks again for the great write up.
  • That's quite the write up. Just a comment on the battery / heat thing. 95% of the time, I don't have a problem on my Telus TP2. I have observed on three different Telus TP2 handsets though - you CAN make the problem occur. If I run Google Latitude, with the GPS on and keep it as the foreground application I get about 10 minutes before the green/orange flashing light instead of charging, and also the unit gets hot to the touch. Now it should be noted that this is using the GPS and a lot of data at the same time. Problem is particularly noticable if I use my dashboard mount for the phone. I've stopped doing this and the phone is perfectly happy. From what I've read, this is nowhere near the levels of pain the TP1 owners had. If I run Garmin Mobile XT, the unit is ok. Of course, I'm the type of person that runs Latitude full screen, while running BT (in case I get a call) and blasting tunes out my car stereo -- from the TP2, often in flaky coverage areas so I might be taxing the poor thing a bit :)
  • for a free, finger-friendly rss hub, try yomomedia
  • "sure it would have been nice for something to scroll with on long pages (swipe, swipe, swipe gets tiring)" This is precisely why I hate the iPhone and every iPhone-wannabe, including touch-only WinMo phones, and also the TP with it's unusable d-pad and the TP2 with no d-pad or scroll wheel at all!
  • Agreed. That was a big reason I didn't last a week with the Pre. After seeing the size comparison with the Treo Pro, I think I'm going to skip the TP2 and rock it old school with the Touch Vogue flashed with WM 6.5. I miss having physical soft keys and a d-pad in one phone. And I'm getting a little tired of the more-is-better mindset when it comes to phone sizes. I don't need to carry a netbook in my pocket.
  • Seriously, have you actually trademarked "Black Slab" or do you just like using the
  • The having to swipe on long pages, I blame the browser as well for not having a fucntional side scroll bar. That is one of the reasons's I still use PIE along with Opera Mobile. End and Home keys would be nice also, although there are pageup and pagedown. One other thing that I will miss from my Tilt is the volume wheel. That was handy for scrolling through lists.
  • WOW the best review so far in my opinion. I am also a treo user and ready to jump on the TP2. I will be buying mine with the 6.5 :) I can't wait for October to be here :) Thank you thank you for the great excellent review.
  • I must admit i liked the TREO - PRO way more then the touch pro eventhough i couldnt install roms. The phone just worked well. It didnt need roms. It always makes me sad to think that TREO PRO just kinda died.... it was such a good device. I wish PALM would continue with it and that old design. It was very good. I dont like their new PRE so much its too small, the keyboard sucks and it has crappy battery life. I now use XPERIA X1 and it is the only phone i have tried (out of many) that let me drop the Treo Pro Xperia just works damn well with the other roms. The battery life is almost 2x the Treo Pro, and 3x the damn Touch Pro crap. I would get the TouchPro2 but only with the 3.5mm Headphone jack and it does not look like its comming to AT&T
  • the palm pre is the best smartphone on the market
  • If you are new to smartphones it is. If you know better the Pre is a child's toy, and a poorly built one at that.
  • No way. I played with my sister's pre for hours yesterday and it doesn't come close to what my Touch Pro can do. Now if only I could get a TP2...
  • I can't believe this review. It is like I wrote it.
    My history of WinMo devices have been: Moto9Qc (personal), HTC Ozone (personal), Palm Treo 700wx (work), Samsung Saga (work).
    I am now ditching the Saga in favour of a TP2. This will be my first device without a front facing QWESTY keyboard.
  • There is no reason to ever soft-reset this device. If you do need to kill everything and reboot your phone, learn how to shut it down properly: hold down the power button for 3 seconds.
  • Great review Malatesta. I have used the At&t 8525 / Tilt / Fuze. I can not wait to get my hand on the Tilt 2
    and crack it open like a pineapple! Cooked roms, here we come!
  • Great write up it covers mostly everything. Can someone please let us know if Google maps my location works without having GPS from Sprint? does it being a "world phone" mean that i can travel to Mexico, insert a Telcel GSM sim card, and use it with Telcel's GSM network without having to pay Sprint their $1.49 per minute? also which version of Kinoma if any does it come with? These three things are keeping me from finally upgrading my original Touch. Thanks in advance for a response.
  • Does the Touch Pro 2 have java? I don't believe it does, can someone confirm this? I have the original touch (XV6900) and it has java, which is a big plus for me.
  • If it doesn't, you just head over to XDA and download a Java VM ;) That's the best thing about having a HTC phone, the XDA Community! And if it doesn't have Java, it is your carrier's customization's fault because they determine what goes on the phone and what doesn't.
  • I don't know if my comment will help anyone on sprint, but I have the Palm Pre the Blackberry tour, and the Touch pro 2. Let me first say they are all great smart phones and depending on what your looking for will decide. The pro 2 is the best windows mobile phone ever made. Period. None can compare. The blackberry Tour is one of the best out. The Pre is the greatest what if device ever made. If you love windows this pro 2 is the greatest, to answer yes it has java, if you have sprint the sim is unlocked for any sim., and slingbox is excellent on it. And google can work with the phones onboard gps. Windows mobile is just and old platform and when you use webos, android, and the iphone you feel the sluggisness (not a word) of the phone, but if your a windows user you will love it just like the blackberry. The two most dominate markets have the worst operating systems and thats just life, but for a true business person the tp2 is all you will ever need.
  • The WVGA resolution on this phone makes Remote Desktop amazing. 5x the pixels of my Q9c and 2.5x that of an iPhone. I got the phone a week ago and I absolutely love it.
  • If it hadn't been for the pandemic failure of the keyboard on my Touch Pro, I never would have upgraded. I am now on my 4th generation of HTC WM Touch/Type devices dating back to the retro HTC Apache and I notice a few things that I disagree with in the review. Battery Life
    If you've ever used the Apache and the Mogul as your main phone and device, you NEVER would have complained about the Touch Pro's battery life. I had to have the cancer packs attached to my phones to last half of my business day. With the Touch Pro, I went almost a full 24 hours without trouble and I talk upwards of 60 hours a month plus heavy data usage. Lack of a DPad
    This was touted as a GOOD thing? Even the horribly implemented pad on the Touch Pro was incredibly useful. Walking down the side walk or riding in the car (not driving) I'd much rather select the option using up and down clicks than try and stab it with my finger. A DPad with the screen keyboard, makes this a one-handed device. The Apache was awesome in that it had both. Horrible time to emulate the iPhone. Touch Flo 3D
    If you use this abysmal feature, you might as well go get a Palm or some other off-brand, halfbaked OS. You're not a power user taking full advantage of your WM Device. I had this deactivated before I left the Sprint store. I turned it back on to see if it was any more usable and quickly found that it wasn't. This interface reminds me of every Touch knock-off out there. On the way to the store, I was setting options for a friend on his enV. Many of the features missing from his phone are missing from Touch Flo still. Why have a Windows Mobile phone, if you're just going to handicap it so that it "looks prettier"? Go buy a theme and install it. Everything else I pretty much agreed with. I have a few issues with the screen, but not much. Take your zoom bar and give me back my DPad.
  • I currently have a Treo 800w and trying to decide whether to upgrade. (I may have no choice.) I really like the 800w but would appreciate a bigger screen & better browsing but am not sure I want to give up the one handed use. My big complaints with the 800w are instability (I have to do a soft reset at least twice a week, probably more often lately) and the fact the screen is not flush to the device. I know the second complaint is fixed on both the Treo Pro and Touch Pro 2 - what about the stability? I did purchase sbp Mobile Shell and like it but still like the traditional Windows feel as well - it is my understanding that the Touch Flo slows down the performance of the phone much more than the mobile shell - any input here??? Any other advice??
  • Pretty much hit the nail on the head with this one. I'm currently trying a Touch Pro 2, but not ready to give up my Treo Pro. The capabilities of the Touch Pro 2 are awesome, but just not as productive for everyday tasks. It's also not a one handed phone either. It just doesn't rest as well in the hand as the Treo Pro. Plus, a d-pad is needed to navigate any non touch optimized programs and settings, otherwise you need to pull out the stylus. I'm still undecided which phone I'm going to stick with. The Treo Pro is super practical, but videos sure look beautiful on the Touch Pro 2.
  • I've been using the TP 2 for about a month now and while all the reviews rav about how good it is, I have 2 major negitive issues with it. 1. All of the alerts, including the ringtone, on the TP2 lack enough volume to hear in anything but quite locations. I can't even adjust the alarm clock alert loud enough to wake me. 2. Do not get this phone anywhere close to a magnet (which most belt cases use). Even in the locked mode a magnet brought within inches of the TP2 will turn it on and activate all kinds of things. I contacted HTC and they there is no fix for either issue.
  • I just picked up the TP2 on Friday - before I saw your review - and I love it so far. Previous Treo guy also. I'd really like someone to answer shootthis question from 9/27 about GSM cards in other countries. I'd love to be able to slap SIMs in from all the other places I have to travel...right now, I have to check out a loaner unlocked phone from my company for everywhere (except Japan which is even more locked down than the US). Anybody know the answer? Thanks!
  • MALATESTA YOU ARE AWESOME!:
    Thanks (and Big D5 too!) for being persistent heroes of the modern tricorder, helping us mobile power user geeks to navigate the myriad features and select among the best. WHAT I LIKE:
    I'm a SERO user trying to decide between the Treo Pro and the Touch Pro 2 (apparently the two best phones available to me). I have only owned the Treo 700wx and have rocked it hard, sending tremendous amounts of SMS to several hundreds of different contacts, Google-mapping, note-taking, websurfing, voice-commanding (music playlists and calls while biking on the go), copy/pasting, tethering and shortcutting (Start button, one-letter quicklinking) my way into high efficiency multitasking speed user territory.
    Also really important to me is excellent reception & call quality and longest possible battery life. I'm tempted by the Touch Pro 2 for its large screen real-estate, nice keyboard (far less cramped than the Treo Pro), GSM capability (for Int'l travel) and cushy features (such as nice homescreen w/ weather & add'l HTC & slick chef-brewed tweakage) that Malatesta hints at. WHAT I'VE LEARNED:
    The two most helpful reviews I've seen are Malatesta's:
    http://www.wmexperts.com/review-sprint-touch-pro-2-confessions-black-sla...
    and this somewhat more negative one by Waveydavey:
    http://www.4winmobile.com/forums/reviews-windows-mobile-hardware/20610-h... This latter review highlights a couple things that I noticed testing the phone out in the store:
    No OK button (WTF?! I use that button constantly to surf through menus!)
    No D-Pad
    No customizable button (how else will I initiate voice command?) I also tested out the WinMo6.5 based Samsung Intrepid, and even with the presence of these buttons I found myself very annoyed that I couldn't reach my favorite programs in two button presses by pressing Start+Shortcut letter, and that I couldn't easily highlight txt for Copy&Paste without digging through a couple menus first. ADD'L FEATURES I WANT:
    I would LOVE to have the following features to better manage all of my contacts & calendars, which I currently can't do on the Treo 700wx.
    Are these available on either new phone (either by default or with a tweak or app)?:
    1. Send SMS to MUCH more than 10 contacts at once (a limitation of the Treo 700wx or Sprint or Windows Mobile 6.1 & earlier?), preferably through contact lists/groups
    2. Search through Contacts for specific keywords in notes I made about people and generate contact lists/groups (there's a search in WinMo5 but it doesn't work 80% of the time)
    3. Integrate with Facebook contacts, WebOS-Synergy-style for contact list/group management
    4. Synchronize my Google calendars (1 minimum, more desirable) & Contacts for free (GooSync used to be free, not any more) WHICH PHONE IS FOR ME?
    Now that there's this brand spanking new update to WinMo6.5 for the Touch Pro 2:
    http://forums.wmexperts.com/showthread.php?t=176001
    Does this phone's new features match up better with my needs?
    I'm willing to install chef brewed specials on either phone, I just really want to get all I can out of whichever phone is the best for me (or is there another SERO compatible phone I'm missing in my search?). Thanks for any advice you can offer, and thanks for being such wonderful resources for the true power user community! ~Rich DDT
  • Update: From Bid D5:
    Treo Pro vs TP2:
    Its all the form factor bottom line both devices will fit your needs. If you realy like the front facing qwerty then stick with that but if you thing you can get used to having to use 2 hands to type then the TP2 will do. I had a treo 700wx then the 800w but in the end i just cant deal with the small screen. Response from rddt:
    I took some more time to play with the TP2 & Treo Pro in the store and I have a couple more specific questions about both hardware buttons and the new 6.5 update. Limitations of the TP2 (as compared to the Treo Pro): HARDWARE:
    No OK button: Correction- Well it turns out the Back Button is also the OK Button, however there is a long delay after you press it until it activates. Compare side-by-side to tapping OK and you'll see what I mean. Same long delay for the Start button. This really slows navigation down tremendously - is there any way to speed up these buttons?
    No D-Pad: Yeah, I still miss that, D-Pad would be much faster than your finger esp when flying through long menus.
    No customizable button (how else will I initiate voice command?): Correction- You can actually customize the Send button so that a Press+Hold becomes a custom button - Nice. Keyboard & Word Completion:
    Damn I really miss the Treo700wx keyboard - Treo Pro is slightly too small & TP2 is slightly too large for my hands. The Treo Pro has excellent word completion however (configurable under Setting->Input->Word Completion), this really enables me to type faster on the Pro. The TP2 does NOT have this feature though! Also slowing me down on the TP2, or rather missing from the SenseUI/TouchFlo3D interface is the lack of 1-Letter Shortcuts to jump to commonly used program names or items in long menus.
    Is there any free & recommended 3rd party program that will provide word completion or 1-Letter Shortcuts on the TP2? Maybe there is an updated virtual keyboard for SenseUI/TouchFlo3D that features this? Speaker Volume & Call Quality: I discovered the Pro has a louder speaker phone and speaker in general, with shriller highs that are easier to hear in noisy rooms. However, TP2 sounded less choppy than the Pro. Reception: I couldn't test this - is one better than the other? Critical Upgrades I seek - for EITHER phone: SOFTWARE:
    Contact Groups:
    As I hinted at before I have a million contacts to manage and the single most compelling feature about WinMo 6.5 for me is the ability to use Contact Groups. Is this new feature well integrated into the People/Contacts interface of SenseUI/TouchFlo3D?
    If it is not, is there some other free & recommended 3rd party program that will let me group contacts for SMS or Email? Search/Copy+Paste:
    Likewise for searching info within contacts in order to add them into groups - has Search been improved in 6.5 and is it better integrated into SenseUI/TouchFlo3D?
    And within a contact card, though the new HTC interface looks nice, I can't find a way to copy/paste the information there - I use this feature all the time to txt a contact's phone or address to another person - what's the best way to grab and send that info in SenseUI/TouchFlo3D? Facebook:
    Another compelling feature of SenseUI/TouchFlo3D is the linkage of a Contact with a corresponding Facebook profile. I REALLY WANT THIS FEATURE. However, pre-upgrade this feature is a major disappointment - all it can do is add a photo and birthday, and in fact I tested it and the birthday part is broken. It has an Updates & Events section within the contact card, but Facebook info (which info I wonder?) does not update there at all. All it can do is update the photo. LAME! It should pull phone & email from Facebook, and current status too!
    Has this been fixed in the 6.5 update? If not, is there some other free & recommended 3rd party program that will let me integrate like this? Calendar/Contact Syncing:
    What is the best way to do this? Ideally wirelessly with Gmail & Facebook, rather than having to plug it in and sync with Outlook via the USB cable. Voicemail:
    Is there any way to restore those Voice Mail Buttons (on the Treo 700wx it was under Today->Speed Dial Options->Voicemail->Menu->Edit->Advanced)? That feature makes flying through VM so much faster! Maybe it comes with a package (if it exists) to restore Picture Speed Dial? From all these feature requests you can guess - I'd jump to WebOS or Android or even iPhone in a heartbeat, if I wasn't so attached to SERO on Sprint Any further advice and links to the appropriate ROMs or CABS would be very much appreciated! Please PM me @ rddt.
  • Windows mobile phones require a bit more commitment and knowledge to use, but with a small amount of googling will find a huge potential. HTC has been faithful to the Windows Mobile platform, and its products continue to improve. This phone is a mobile computer.