HTC Touch Cruise Review

The review unit was provided by Negri Electronics.com

Introduction:

HTC has wowed us recently with top of the line offerings such as the Diamond and Touch HD, and smartphones are penetrating the consumer market at impressive rates.  The reality is that not everyone can afford these high-end devices though, and HTC has the little guy in mind with its update to the Touch Cruise.  It features many of the things we loved from the Diamond, including a small form factor, responsive touchscreen and a plethora of connectivity options.  It may not be as pretty or polished, but with a focus on GPS services it holds its own where it matters: performance.  Included in the box you’ll find:

•    HTC Touch Cruise
•    AC power adapter with USB connector
•    USB data/charging cable
•    DC power adapter
•    Suction cup window mount with cradle
•    Stereo headphones
•    1GB microSD card
•    Carrying pouch
•    Screen protector
•    Extra stylus

Design:

The weight is the first thing you’ll notice when picking up the Touch Cruise.  At only 3.63oz it shaves nearly a full ounce off of the original and even a quarter ounce off of the lightweight GSM Diamond, all while packing a higher capacity battery.  While not quite as small as the Diamond, its dimensions are similar and the rounded backing gives it a better feel, arguably better than the CDMA Diamond that we proclaimed had the perfect feel.



You can compare the HTC Touch Cruise with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

The basic layout of the phone follows the Touch family design style: there is a 2.8” touchscreen that dominates the front, and below that is a cluster of navigation controls.  In this case you’ll find four flush buttons arranged around a navigational pad encircled by a navi-wheel.  The keys are housed in silver and are, moving clockwise from top left: Navigation (Tom-Tom), Footprints (more on that later), End and Send.  The navi-wheel moves incredibly smoothly and is coated in rubber for a better feel.  It functions like the Diamond’s touch-sensitive d-pad, but being mechanical it produces much more consistent results.

The left side of the Cruise has a single, slender key that runs along the top third which functions as the volume rocker.  The only other key is the equally slender power key on the top.  The top housing is slightly concave, allowing a finger to easily rest in it when pressing the button.  HTC continues to impress us with subtle design elements such as this.  The right side is totally bare, and the bottom houses the miniUSB charging/data/headset port found on most recent HTC devices.  Most manufacturers have moved to the microUSB port by now, and it frustrates us that HTC has yet to follow suit.


The back battery door is nondescript.  The 3.2 megapixel camera sits at the top and is housed in elegant brushed aluminum housing, and there is a small speaker slit off to its right.  The stylus is tucked at the top left, when looking at the back.  The door is coated in the same bespeckled soft-touch finish found on the CDMA Diamond, this time in black with subtle silver flecks.

If it weren’t for the display, the Touch Cruise would probably cannibalize sales from the Diamond.  Unfortunately it is only a QVGA panel, and anyone who has used the higher VGA resolution would never go back.  Compared to other 240x320 displays the Cruise is just fine; it’s plenty bright and we had no problems reading it in various lighting conditions, but the crispness and quality just doesn’t compare to its big brother.  We’re sure it was a conscious decision on HTC’s part, but it’s a shame really because the Cruise has some features we’d have liked to see in the Diamond.

Interface:

The Touch Cruise runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional skinned with HTC’s TouchFLO 2D interface, first found on the Viva and Touch 3G.  It’s not as polished as TouchFLO 3D, but functionality remains almost the same.  The tabs found on TF2D are Home, People, Messages, Mail, Footprints, Internet, Photos and Videos, Music, Weather, Map Search, Settings and Programs.  For a more in-depth look at the tabs check out our Diamond review, we’ll only examine the new ones- Footprints and Map Search- here.

Footprints is a new feature by HTC that integrates geotagged photos into the device features.  We’ll take a more in-depth look at it under the software section.  Map Search is a pretty simple but incredibly handy integration with Google Maps.  Its function is similar to the homescreen plugin found on the Treo 800w, but since it uses Google Maps it is more functional.  We’re hoping the ROM chefs out there will find a way to add this to TF3D because we’re jealous that our phone doesn’t have it!


Beyond these TF2D tabs there isn’t anything new to say about the interface.  Windows is still Windows, and even those who are only familiar with TF3D will feel right at home on the Cruise.  While the pretty animations may be gone, TF2D is incredibly snappy especially on the well-powered Cruise.

PIM and Messaging:

The PIM functions remain the same as well.  The dial pad and in-call screen is laid out exactly like the Diamond and the Pro.  Everything else is WinMo stock, including messaging options.  The Cruise supports SMS and MMS, and text messages are threaded like any other WM 6.1 device.  The user can set up several personal email accounts as well as connect to an Exchange account for managed email.  The TF2D interface lets the user read text messages and preview emails without opening the messaging application.  It has the same keyboard options and layout we first saw on the Diamond.


Connectivity and Data:

The Touch Cruise is a global device, offering quad-band GSM.  The Asian/European version features UMTS on the 900 and 2100 bands, and the upcoming US version will have 850 and 1900 MHz support.  It allows for high speed cellular data with HSDPA 7.2 Mbit/s and features Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 on the local side.  It has GPS and utilizes aGPS when available.  Of course, ActiveSync/Mobile Device Center is used for data syncing with your PC.  As with recent HTC offerings, Opera Mobile 9.5 is included as the default browser and is as good as ever.

Camera and Multimedia:

The 3.2 megapixel camera took respectable shots.  They were a bit blurry, most likely due to the lack of auto-focus.  The camera is very snappy, pictures were captured in under a second and the start time is under 3s.  The interface and options are the same as other recent HTC devices, but there is now a GPS Photo option for geotagging photos.  In this mode GPS has to initialize, which can take a few minutes.  Video performance is more pedestrian but on par with the likes of the Diamond and Pro.



The HTC music player is integrated into TF2D and is basically the same as the TF3D player.  Again, it is not as polished but functionality remains the same.  HTC Album is the default picture and video viewer, and we prefer it over the stock Windows Mobile applications.  Windows Media Player is also available for those who prefer it’s video or music playing capabilities, and indeed we like its library function better for music management.

Software:

Like the original Cruise, the refresh has an emphasis on GPS applications.  It comes preloaded with TomTom Navigator, and the user is given one city map at no cost.  A very cool feature is the included car kit, which consists of a suction cup window mount, vehicle power adapter and custom mount holster.  When the phone is placed in the holster it automatically goes into NaviPanel mode.  This is a finger friendly menu with six large panels: Footprints, Phone, Go Home, Address, Recent Destination and Navigation.  The last four all link to TomTom’s functions.  Stand alone units beware, setups like this offer serious competition and allow the user to carry one less device.  We’ve been using a similar setup with our Diamond for a few months now, but the NaviPanel makes it even more convenient.


Footprints makes its debut on the new Touch Cruise.  It goes beyond geotagging by using the embedded coordinates to map and navigate.  For instance, you’re out for a night on the town in Boston and find a great little pub tucked away in the shadows.  After a few pints and a cab ride home you can’t exactly remember where it was…Footprints to the rescue!  Simply pull up one of the GPS photos you’ve taken in Footprints and you’ll be given all available details, such as the name, phone number, address and coordinates.  You can add notes to help you remember, and then either map it using Google Maps or navigate there with TomTom.  This feature will appeal to certain users more than others, but we definitely see it as an evolutionary step to bridging the gap between cool technology and it actually pertaining to our everyday lives.

Other included software is standard by now, including Office Mobile, Adobe Reader, Windows Live and HTC’s Quick GPS and YouTube programs.

Performance:

To cut to the chase, the Cruise is one of the best performing phones we’ve encountered.  Sound quality was phenomenal, and callers rated us “close to a 10,” saying it was “possibly the best we’ve ever sounded.”  On our end they sounded nearly as good, though just a bit soft.  In a quiet room they were plenty loud, but if there is significant background noise callers may be faint.  Nevertheless, we were extremely pleased with the results.

It is rated for 6.7 hours of talk time in GSM mode and 6.25 in 3G, both more than respectable.  Data and multimedia usage will of course affect this rating, so individual usage patterns may produce drastically different results.  In our testing we were quite pleased.  We used the GPS and internet quite a bit and noticed minimal battery drain.  The Cruise has plenty of power, with a 528mHz processor, 256MB of RAM and 512MB of ROM, nearly the same amount of memory found in the Touch Pro.

Conclusion:

There are a lot of things to like about this new Touch Cruise.  It may not be the flashiest device HTC offers, but it more than makes up for it with solid all-around performance.  The integration of GPS services is slick; TomTom is one of the best navigation suites out there and Footprints will certainly appeal to users.  TouchFLO 2D is as fast as ever, and the addition of Map Search makes it even more useful.  Performance was among the best we’ve ever seen, with excellent call quality and top notch battery life.  HTC has put together a very compelling package with the Cruise, and even though it doesn’t have the VGA screen of its big brothers it fits into the Touch family quite nicely.