Right after the Google/LTA event, I went over to HTC HD2 Media Launch Event at ION, Orchard. The event was held at Level 4, at “The Nautilus Project”. The event was not a big one. However, that makes it even more exclusive as we are able to play with it for a longer period of time.
HTC Country Manager, Melvin Chua and Product Marketing Manager, Wayne Tang, were there to present to us the HTC HD2. The Nautilus Project is a very nice restaurant.
Here is DK as my model
The first person was Melvin Chua, talking about HTC and also HTC direction in the market.
Next, we have Wayne to give us a more indept details about HTC HD2 and HTC Sense.
Here is a powerpoint presentation on HTC HD2
Some of the nice features, in my opinon, for HTC HD2 are: -
- Large Screen (some view it as an disadvantage)
- High Speed Processor
- HTC Sense
- Wifi Router Integrated
- Dual LEDs
The presentation ended quite quickly and we were greeted with lots of food. As mentioned, we have a small group. Therefore, almost anyone of us has a HTC HD2 in our hand. For the first 20 minutes, no one touches the food. Everyone is trying to test out every single function on it.
Here is the HTC HD2 Front and Back.
The battery cover is not plastic. It is made of some metal. The battery (1230mAh) is very small for a phone with a big screen.
Here is the back of the phone without the battery and cover.
This HTC HD2 has a micro USB port. It is using the universal standard for port charging.
It is very slim and is 1mm thinner than HTC Touch HD. It has a few physical buttons which I think is quite ok.
One of the main thing about this HTC HD2 is the Dual LED. Here is a close up.
I tested the light. It was blinding. I love the way it acts as a video light when you are taking video and a powerful flash light when you take pictures.
I did a power on/off test. The HTC HD2 with 1GHz Snapdragon processor can really boot up fast 
Also, I tried out the Weather demo on it. Quite cool to watch the animation.
Finally, a compass on HTC HD2. I miss my compass since Dopod D810.
I checked out the Camera mode. The flash can be set to automatic, forced or none. Under “forced mode”, it is always on, which you may need it in dim light condition.
Here are some shots taken on HTC HD2 and uploaded direct to Twitter. I have resized the pictures for this blog. you can check them out yourself on the original uploaded ones with the links. No editing was done on the pictures. I only selected the white balance to reflect the actual condition.
Check out the Picture at TwitGoo
Click Here to Check out the Picture at TwitGoo
Here is using the video mode on HTC HD2. Notice the lag is lesser?
I did a comparison between HTC Touch HD and HTC HD2. First, lets look at the size.
Obviously, the 4.3-inch screen on HD2 did not look that big when I placed it with my Touch HD. Actually, I felt that HTC HD2 is slimmer because of the curve design of the casing. Nice.
Next, I did a video recording check. I can confirm that the HTC HD2 is superior in this. The video is usable as it has minimal lag (still some, but acceptable) as compared to Touch HD. (BTW, video shot by DK. I was holding on to both phones. Thanks! DK)
That is it! The event and lunch was not that long. But a small group of us kept asking and talking until 3pm.
BTW, the HTC HD2 does not come with front facing camera. Therefore, you can cannot do video conferencing. And, if you got my HINT on the other post, you should know what to do when it launches in early December (RRP: S$1,188)
Hope you enjoy my coverage!
November 20th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Pray tell what is the hint? Are they going to increase the price after the promotion?
What navigation software (if any) does the Singapore version of HD2 comes with?
Thanks.
November 21st, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Hi, Andy,
Not sure about the promotional price. But with the specs of this phone, I think many ppl who has been following tech news (esp phone news) will grab it (if they are WM fans
).
As for the navigation software, there is none. But Google Maps has been trying hard on their navigation software (on Android). I am praying hard that they upgrade the current one to have that feature.
November 22nd, 2009 at 8:54 am
heys, u all manage to test out the batt life?
and u mean we won’t be able to use the navigation function for this phone in sg?
November 22nd, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Hi, shafiq, we played the phone for more than an hour. for my unit, it has only 2 bar left. By the time we finished playing, it is in low battery. However, we did some intensive testing that you don’t usually do. Like using the Dual Flash many, amny times. Turning on the dual flash for a period of time. Turning on the camera and messing around with all the settings.
Plus according to HTC, the ROM may not be the latest that has been optimized for best battery performance.
So, it is too early to say anything on the battery life.
As long as there is GPS on it, you should be able to use any navigational software.
If you are talking about Google Maps, the navigational map is only available for Android 2.0 (Eclair) only (at this moment).
November 30th, 2009 at 10:13 am
once I saw the review of the HTC HD2 I was hooked. Finally a phone with the screen size to match my PSP. Plus all the other bells and whistles. I am an avid Windows Mobile user so I was a little disappointed that once in the states, the HD2 will not be running WM on the Verizon version (Passion). However, that’s just my own lack of experience or change. After reading a bunch of reviews, it sounds like not having WM OS will be a plus. If you own a HTC HD2, you discuss the phone at http://www.HTCHD2Forum.com I will be there often to share tricks.
November 30th, 2009 at 10:33 am
Hi, coolfx35, thanks for the link. It depends on personal usage. For me, Windows Mobile may not be perfect but it is fine as it integrates into my daily needs
.