HTC Touch HD Review

Let’s not forget that high definition is mostly used for video playback, and we should take a look at the performance of this multifunctional phone. The YouTube player is cool like always but doesn’t offer quality video. Lately, the market has been flooded with models with great video support (including DivX and XviD) and with large screens. Unfortunately, straight out of the box the HD is not one of them. The only clips that plays (MP4 with H.264) have the potential for good quality but are choppy if they are in high resolution (over 640 pixels wide), needed for this screen. To say the least, we were disappointed but never lost hope. We installed Core Player, but nothing changed – we were able to play all types of files but they didn’t run smooth, and the image quality was bad, because of the many artifacts visible.  According to HTC, the cause was Core Player's lack of hardware acceleration. So basically you’ll have to rely solely on the built-in player, which has quite limited functionality. HTC still hasn't responded to our questions regarding the troubles we experienced with the few formats it supports. Any additional information we receive will be posted here.


We wonder if the rest of the applications will help the big guy?

Music player

The music player is not modified and is identical to the one seen in the other TouchFLO 3D phones, but we have nothing bad to say – it’s not an iPOD, but is very easy to use and beautiful. Usually, HTC scares the music fans away with the miniUSB headphones but this has been corrected in the Touch HD, which comes with a 3.5mm stereo jack on the top. This will allow the use of better headset and therefore improve the music sound level. Do not expect anything that nice from the speaker – it’s neither loud, nor can produce quality sound.


The phone really comes with a lot of functions but there’s nothing surprising besides the display. Since this is a top-shelf Windows Mobile smartphone, it naturally offers many business features. Usually though, such a phone wouldn’t come with a quality camera. Currently the OMNIA is the leader with its 5-megapixel sensor, good picture quality and a very user-friendly interface. When it was announced, the HD also sounded like a phone with great camera. Unfortunately this did not prove correct during our testing. The interface is minimalistic, and similar to the iPhone’s, with an icon for shooting only. HTC introduces a few extras but they could’ve done a better job with the menu. If at least the pictures were good that wouldn’t have been such a problem but alas, they are not. Even outdoor pictures taken during the day do not have good quality; incorrect exposure, unreal colors and a low detail level are the main issues. Since there’s no flash we won’t even talk about indoor pictures.