As the arms race for smartphones enters its second decade each newly introduced device ups the ante on both style and functionality. Include HTC amongst the brands going for the gusto in a crowded marketplace. Unveiled earlier this week at a top-notch venue in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village is the highly impressive HD2 (available from T-Mobile).

Hit the jump for rest of preview

Speaking of which, the HD2 has a very clean look with a very crisp high-res 4.3-inch screen. It’s thin but still has enough weight to feel substantial (important for people like me who likes to know where their phone is at all times) and its features include the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system, GPS functionality, Opera web browser, a pre-installed 16 GB microSD card, and an advanced 5 megapixel autofocus camera with dual LED flash for capturing images in low-lit areas. But that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The HD2 also comes with built in apps like a Barnes and Noble e-reader, Blockbuster Video on-demand, a music player (FM, MP3, etc included), easy email access to such accounts as Gmail and Microsoft Exchange, instant messaging access to such names as Yahoo Messenger and Google Talk and built in Wi-Fi. Simply put it’s a damn nice phone, and though there’s no physical keyboard, there are enough buttons to keep it respectable for those who demand a tactile option when pressing buttons.

Also of note, in previous HTC models the touch screen has been almost too responsive. As the owner of a Touch Pro I can attest to the annoyance of trying to scroll through the phone and zipping right by whatever I was looking for. The HD2 touch screen is far more accurate and allows the user the control the phone in a much more efficient way. Though only an initial look, I found the phone to be highly cerebral and a realistic comp for any of the market leaders in the smartphone category. It will be out this spring and I expect it to do well. HTC has done their homework. –K. Salaam

Tags: HTC HD2, smartphone, T-Mobile

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 18th, 2010 at 4:12 pm by KHA and is filed under Gadgets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.