HTC Tilt2 – AT&T – Another HTC masterpiece
For:
Comes with Windows Mobile 6.5 OS, call quality is excellent, big touch screen, QWERTY keyboard is spacious.
Against:
Expensive, bulky, doesn’t have a 3.5 mm headphone jack.
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
Tilt2 is a WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM phone with support for WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900 bands. It has a slider interface. HTC Tilt2 has a 3.6 inch screen which gives a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels. The display comes with proximity sensor and accelerometer. Supported audio formats are WMA, WAV, MP3, AMR and AAC. The phone is powered by 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7201A processor, has 512MB ROM/288MB RAM and memory is expandable up to 32 GB. Application software includes Microsoft Internet Explorer Mobile, Windows Media Player Mobile, Microsoft Office Mobile, Microsoft ActiveSync, File Explorer.
The phone runs on Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional. Messaging/Data features include Microsoft PowerPoint support, Macromedia Flash support, Microsoft Excel support, Microsoft Word support, Zip Manager support, PDF support, RSS feeds. The handset has a 3.2 mega pixel camera. 1,500mAh lithium ion battery has a rated talk time of 8.5 hours and standby time is 20 days. On the sides of the phone there is a push-to-talk button and volume rocker. The memory card slot is located behind the battery compartment. The handset comes with software disc, an extra stylus, USB cord AC power adapter and audio adapter.
Razzle Dazzle:
The name says that this is the successor to the HTC Tilt, but the design is more like HTC Touch Pro2. The unlocked version of the latter phone has a striking resemblance to the Tilt2, with the same camera and speaker layout at the back and mirrored face in the front. The device looks really pretty with the big screen and HTC has avoided clutter of buttons below the screen so this adds to the beauty of the phone. If looks are important for you and if you want to turn heads while walking on the streets, HTC has made Tilt2 just for you.
Inside Dope:
We all know what HTC is capable of when it comes to smart phones. They have given us plenty of them and very rarely have they failed to make an impact in the market with their handsets. They along with Samsung have been really good in smart phone sales. Such is their impact that Nokia recently announced that they will be cutting down on smart phone production and will be instead concentrating more on mid range handsets because they are unable compete with these two big players. We have always had a soft spot for HTC phones because they never fail to deliver with their devices and hence we pounced on the Tilt2 when it landed in our test centers. This is officially the successor to HTC Tilt but looks more like HTC Touch Pro2 which is available on Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile. The design of the two phones is the same, it has the same speaker layout and the chrome edges which we saw in the unlocked Touch Pro2. One big difference in this handset is the inclusion of Windows Mobile 6.5 so you can expect whole lot of new features in the Tilt2. So let’s see what this phone is all about.
Display
The 3.6-inch WVGA display of the phone gives a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels which is absolutely gorgeous when watching videos and browsing the web. It is vibrant and sharp and comes with goodies like proximity sensor and accelerometer. HTC Tilt2 comes with Windows Mobile 6.5 so there are some changes made to the interface. You get the Lock screen button which shots new messages, missed calls, appointments, etc which you can click on and then go directly to the respective apps. The Start menu too has been improved; you get a honeycomb layout of icons.
Navigation array and keyboard
The keyboard has been changed from earlier HTC models. The number keys at the top have been moved and you get the letter keys which now double up as number buttons. Some might not like this feature but we were quite ok with it. There is ample spacing between the buttons, the screen tilts up at an angle to the keyboard which is great ergonomics for typing. The number buttons are highlighted in blue color and hence easy to recognize while typing.
Phone book
There is no limit to the entries in the phone book as long as aren’t short of memory space. A single entry can take multiple numbers, work and home addresses, IM screen name, e-mail, spouse’s name, birthday, etc. There is a Search Phone widget that looks in messages, contacts, calendar, e-mail, Word documents and tasks for finding results.
Camera
The camera of the Tilt2 gets upgraded to 3.2 mega pixel over its predecessor which had 3 mega pixel camera. However, this isn’t reflected in the quality of photos, the colors could have been better. Options for camera include variety of resolutions, flicker adjustment, ISO settings, brightness and white balance controls, and a camcorder mode. You can use the pictures as photo caller ID or as background images. For storing your photos, videos and music, the Tilt2 has offering 512MB ROM/288MB RAM and memory is expandable up to 32 GB.
Windows Mobile 6.5 OS
We were looking forward to what the new OS had to offer on the handset. To start with, the look of the menu is changed and there is a lock screen button for quick access of missed calls, messages, etc. You also get access to Microsoft’s My Phone backup service and Windows Marketplace for Mobile. There is a revamped version of Internet Explorer Mobile browser but still continues to be lamentable when compared with iPhone’s Safari. On the bright side, there are better tools for page navigation and Flash Lite support. The latter lets you check out videos from websites like YouTube. You also get Opera Mobile browser and it comes with features like in-page search, onscreen refresh button, tabbed browsing which we would like to see in Internet Explorer Mobile.
Windows Mobile hasn’t changed much in productivity for the new OS. The handset comes preinstalled with Microsoft Office Mobile Suite which let you edit Excel and Word documents and view PowerPoint presentations. You also get Microsoft’s Direct Push Technology which delivers e-mail in real time and automatically synchronizes with your Outlook contacts, tasks, and calendar through Exchange Server. Finally there is also support for IMAP and POP3 accounts.
AT&T services
Tilt2 has AT&T Navigator which you can use with the preinstalled GPS. Other goodies include AT&T Video and AT&T music. There is also WikiMobile, The Weather Channel and MobiTV. PIM tools on the device include calculator, voice recorder, notepad, task list and Adobe Reader LE. The handset has 3G and also comes with Wi-Fi so you can use the latter where 3G services are not available.
Other important features
The handset offers speed dial, quad-band world roaming, voice commands, smart dialing, multimedia and text messaging, three-way calling, speakerphone, conference calling, push-to-talk calls, and push-to-talk calls. The latter feature costs $5 per month. Bluetooth 2.0 is onboard for use with stereo and mono Bluetooth headsets, object push, hands-free kits, personal area networking, file transfer, dial-up networking, etc. For music, the phone doesn’t have a 3.5 mm headphone jack which is a bummer. Instead you get a proprietary jack with a clunky adapter which lets you plug in the standard headphones.
Call quality
We had no problems with the call quality when we tested the Tilt2. The volume can get loud enough so it can be easily heard even in noisy backgrounds. The voices sounded natural and clear when we were talking to our friends on the phone. Our friends too gave similar results but they said they could hear some occasional background noise. However, this certainly didn’t get irritating while talking. Bluetooth calls were also good but that depends on which headset you are using. We tried Motorola S9 Bluetooth Active Headphones and the Logitech Mobile Traveller Bluetooth headset and were satisfied with the results.
Battery life
1,500mAh lithium ion battery has a rated talk time of 8.5 hours and standby time is 20 days. In our labs, the phone lasted for just 7.5 hours when tested for talk time.
Verdict:
We would certainly recommend the HTC Tilt2, it is a great smart phone for business user and multi media enthusiasts. We didn’t have much to complain in the phone apart from the camera quality and exclusion of the 3.5 mm phone jack. The performance of the device out weighs its limitation to make it a great smart phone.
