HTC Touch Pro Review

Introduction:

Touch Pro – the name clearly hints that we are dealing with a phone, created for work. The HTC model with the richest functionality is based on the popular Touch Diamond, but adds some to the specifications, sports a hardware QWERTY and is larger of course. It is the successor of the Tilt and targets the QWERTY dependent audience.

The very box shows the desire of the leading Windows Mobile manufacturer to raise the bar even higher. It reminds us of a diamond, it’s made of quality materials and houses classy accessories.

The package includes:

• HTC Touch Diamond
• Leather case
• Headphones/handsfree
• miniUSB cable
• Charger (only used with the cable)
• Spare stylus
• Screen protector

The charger, handsfree and cable have a glossy surface and fit the new image of the HTC phones. When you plug in the charger, a small HTC logo will light up, reminding you of the manufacturer.We are not happy however, that the leather case made to protect the phone cannot be attached to a belt. Since we consider this a large device, we think that the most appropriate way to carry it would have been exactly this. Apparently, HTC had something else in mind.

Design:

The front view of the Touch Pro is identical to the beautiful Touch Diamond, and on the back, it is similar, but it’s not shiny and the diamond pattern has a smaller relief. The main difference between the two is visible from every other angle. Pro has a “waist” of 0.7”, meanwhile, Diamond measures at only 0.5”. This definitely wouldn’t bother you when holding the “fatty” in your hand, but the contrast becomes apparent when you carry it in your pocket. In addition, you’ll feel the weight, which has been increased by 50%.



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

As we’ve already mentioned, Pro’s face is a copy of Diamond’s and similarly to it, it is a fingerprint magnet. You’ll have to be constantly cleaning it so it looks good and to be able to see the display when you are outside. If it’s kept clean, the screen remains usable even in the brightest sunlight. However, it will be a lot easier to read black symbols on a white background, compared to the opposite combination (TouchFLO 3D interface). Typically for a Windows Mobile phone, only 65k colors are supported and you can easily see that when reproducing pictures or video, it’s not always done smoothly.

The buttons below are flat, but are easy to press with a good tactile feedback. Only the D-pad’s directions are troublesome and hard to operate due to their smaller size. Interestingly, its backlight takes the role of a system LED. When you have a missed call or message for example, the light indicates it with a circular movement. This looks good and suits the overall design of the phone, but is hard to notice during the day in contrast to the classical orange LED.

We have nothing bad to say about the power button (top), unlike the volume control, which is located on the upper half of the left side and when pressed, moves the slider lightly. The annoying process happens due to the fact that the slider is very sensitive and can be pushed opened no matter where you apply pressure. Our review unit had an irritating (not loud) sound coming from the spring, which was in contrast with the quality make.


Sliding the Pro open reveals the hardware QWERTY with five rows. Since there are a lot of buttons, they are smaller compared to previous models like the Tilt and the Wing and are tightly jammed but still very user-friendly. Because there are five instead of four rows, the manufacturer has decided to arrange the buttons as on a computer keyboard. Therefore, the question mark (?) for example, will be combined with the slash (/), which on the other hand, will be located on the right of the letter M. You’ll find the exclamation mark in the very beginning of the numeric row (1), and the brackets (9 and 0), at its end. This helps for easier navigation when looking for a specific symbol and we only have one small short remark: in computer keyboards, these symbols are accessed via the Shift, as opposed to FN (it’s only needed for the ones located on letter buttons) and that’s why you’ll need some time to get used to it.


The only connector is miniUSB port, which is used for computer connection, headphones/handsfree and charging, is located on the bottom. The slot of the stylus, which is of medium length and is not telescopic, is located in the lower right corner. As in Touch Diamond, pulling the stylus out will power the display on and when putting it back in, a magnet will assist it into place.


As we’ve mentioned above, the piano black on the back has been replaced by a rubber-coated finish, which is not that attractive but on the other hand, it doesn’t get dirty as fast as the glossy surface and helps for a better grip. On this side, we find the LED flash next to the camera lens.