Hands-on review: HTC Touch Pro (Sprint)
Tue Nov 4, 2008 3:35PM EST
See Comments (11)
It's essentially the same phone as Sprint's HTC Touch Diamond, except with a slide-out QWERTY keypad. Does the physical keypad make living with the tricky Windows Mobile OS a bit more bearable?
Measuring 4 by 2 by 0.7 inches and tipping the scales at 5.4 ounces, the Touch Pro about 35 percent thicker and 1.3 ounces heavier than the slender Touch Diamond. That's not to say that the Touch Pro won't fit in a jeans pocket—it will. But believe me, you won't forget it's there.
Still, the Touch Pro's roomy, slide-out QWERTY keypad is worth the extra girth—indeed, it’s a godsend for tapping out messages in Windows Mobile. The squarish, backlit keys are easy to tap, and you get a row of dedicated number keys plus dedicated period and comma buttons. There's no dedicated "@" key, but that's not a deal-breaker.As with the Touch Diamond, the Touch Pro comes with HTC's gorgeous TouchFlo 3D interface, which sits on top of Windows Mobile and gives you one-touch (or one-flick) access to e-mail, alerts, music, photos, the current weather, and so on. Indeed, as long as you're tapping and flicking in TouchFlo, navigating the Touch Pro's various menus is a pleasant (if occasionally sluggish) experience.
But as with the Diamond, you're on your own once you arrive (and you inevitably will) in the tricky, often tiny menus of Windows Mobile 6.1, a highly configurable but confusing OS that demands a stylus and a steady hand. On the plus side, Windows Mobile means full-on Exchange support, along with push e-mail and the mobile versions of Word, Excel, and Outlook. The mobile version of IE is still a pain; luckily, Opera Mobile is the Touch Pro's browser of choice.
The Touch Pro matches the Touch Diamond when it comes to wireless connectivity—we're talking support for Sprint's speedy EV-DO Rev. A data network (yep, that means 3G), plus Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (including support for stereo Bluetooth headsets).And yes, the Touch Pro makes calls, too. Reception was solid in New York City, and callers sounded loud and clear, with no dropped calls to report. The Touch Pro's speakerphone was relatively loud, if a bit tinny. Sprint promises four hours of talk time, and you should plan on charging the handset each night.
Media junkies will appreciate the Touch Pro's access to Sprint's streaming video and music services; also, the TouchFlo interface includes a snazzy music player, complete with Cover Flow-like album browsing. Unfortunately, the Touch Pro lacks a 3.5mm headset jack, which means you'll have to use the awkward adapter if you want to listen over a standard headset.
Other features on the Touch Pro include a 3.2-megapixel camera with flash and auto focus (my snapshots looked impressively sharp, actually), GPS (with Sprint's TeleNav-powered navigation service, and a slot for microSD memory expansion (up to 16GB).So, overall? While I don't think I'll ever warm to Microsoft's smartphone OS, the Touch Pro makes for one of the friendliest Windows Mobile handsets I've tested, and it bests the Touch Diamond thanks to its physical QWERTY keypad (which, I've concluded, is essential for any Windows Mobile phone). If you need something slimmer, there's always the slim Windows Mobile-powered Palm Treo Pro (click here for my review)—although at $549 unlocked, it's way pricey.
Questions about the Touch Pro? Post 'em below.
Comments on Hands-on review: HTC Touch Pro (Sprint)
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2 Posted by rejjr@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:35PM EDT Report Abuse
I am enjoying the HTC Touch Pro for the first two weeks so far. The battery does need to be charged continually if you are using it for a work phone or GPS. Other than that I have been very pleased. The video screen is so much better than the Treo I just tossed.
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3 Posted by victor6885@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:34PM EDT Report Abuse
hi
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4 Posted by dhoffman0513 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:42PM EDT Report Abuse
I have an HTC mogul and tried the diamond touch pro. Because there are fewer hard buttons I found access to features more difficult than the mogul. Also the screen is smaller. The size difference if negligable. It took the touch pro back because I liked my Mogul better.
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5 Posted by ebonypaws on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:51PM EDT Report Abuse
I had the Mogul until I broke it, I've never been happier about breaking a phone because the Touch Pro is just better (I was even running the HTC Home Customizer on my Mogul which is similar to TouchFlo interface). It has more memory, the Mogul never had enough to take advantage of all its features. It handles the internet better and faster although I'm not sure if thats because of Opera, as a long time Apple user I've never really liked IE. The back menus (setting, programs, etc) are still confusing and I would like to know how to keep my keyboard lit all the time when it's opened (the setting isn't in the same place as the Mogul).
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6 Posted by kjsunnydays on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:52PM EDT Report Abuse
I have had the HTC Pro since November and I can't say I am happy with it, I guess I should say my lack of being a tecky person has a great deal to do with my disatisfaction. I use the phone only, but I plan on going to Sprint for help. My biggest complaint is that it does drop calls in my house every time I work from home, I live in Irvine I don't know if that makes a difference.
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7 Posted by uzunoff on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:30PM EDT Report Abuse
I have the AT&T 8525 and I really don't like the key lag, especially when you try to answer or save calls. it is very annoying I am curious if the touch pro or the Fuze, will have the same lag. That will definitely be a deal breaker then it is the G1.
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8 Posted by branz83 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:12PM EDT Report Abuse
I have a question regarding smart phones and nextel. It seems that when sprint bought nextel that both of their products have started to improve. A lot of the sprint phones look phenomenal and work great. However, sprint phones will not work for nextel because they need the push to talk button and whatever software to make them run. The only smart phone for nextel is the blackberry with a ptt button but it doesnt send text messages. The ability to send and receive them is vital in my situation. Is there any remedy to this? It doesnt seem like it would be that hard to re task a button on a non nextel phone so that one could stay on nextel(sprint) networks, have a smart phone that also text messages. With the new phones acting like pcs nowdays, is there any mod that will allow this to work or is there a phone out there that does all this that I dont know about? All ideas and info welcome.
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9 Posted by harpreet_b on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:16PM EDT Report Abuse
I have the touch pro and I'm a little diappointed with the mobile webpages you get when you go to a most web sights. My friends with Iphones go to the similar sights with the safari browser and get the standard webpage. I think it's okay, but I'm not that impressed with it so far. I bought it because of the feature list compared to an Iphone, but the Iphone seems much nicer with a much larger screen.
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10 Posted by scottwilkins on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:10PM EDT Report Abuse
No true "Gadget Hound" would find Windows Mobile tricky. It's an OS for people with brains. I wouldn't use a phone without it.
1 Posted by demonic_memories on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:41PM EDT Report Abuse
@scottwilkins Agreed. Also, a true "Gadget Hound" would know that the HTC Touch Pro includes a flash, a microsdhc slot, more ram and a larger battery. And I have been using my finger on windows mobile for 5 years, I don't know how you can type with any proficiency if you have that much trouble.