Gizmodo Reviews the HD2

Posted by Zealot on Nov 09, 2009

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John Herrman at Gizmodo has released an overview of the HTC HD2. Needless to say he loved the hardware, but deeply hated the Windows Mobile software, even obscured as it is by HTC’s Sense GUI.

Despite the fact that to a great degree the review is used to once again make WinMo into Gizmodo’s personal software piñata (truly, the Gizmodo editors hate WinMo like it killed their dog), it makes several goodpoints about the physical features of the device, and Herrman really doesn’t even seem to mind the software overly much, in practice. The fact that it is Windows Mobile just seems to eat at him like a tick. One gets the clear feeling that if he just didn’t know it was Windows Mobile underneath the gloss, he would have actually liked the GUI.

In this review, Herrman’s hatred of WinMo is so overpowering he doesn’t even give reasons, just keeps repeating that the “tragic” part of the phone is that it runs Windows Mobile, end stop. He is actually taking a lot of flak for his bias in the comments, he was THAT over the top about it.

The review wasn’t ALL bile however. Regarding the power of the Snapdragon CPU which everyone was expecting to be such a highpoint of the device, Herrman says it doesn’t disappoint…

One of the benefits of Windows Mobile not having changed much in the last few years is that it’s easy to compare new hardware to old, and let’s be clear about the HD2: It’s unbelievably fast. Applications open almost instantly and close without the slightest hesitation, and over Wi-Fi, web pages render in Opera Mobile as if you’re browsing on a laptop, not a cellphone. (And hell, if you put your face close enough to this ridiculous screen, it’s easy to forget you’re not.)

But about that OS?

Every time you notice the absurd lengths to which HTC has gone to deny this phone is running Windows—they’ve even replaced the calendar and text messaging apps, for god’s sake—you find yourself asking the same question: Why even bother?

Of course I could list lots of reasons to bother…but opinions are opinion and biased reviews are just that. The undeniable fact we could likely agree on is that this seems to be one fantastic phone.

See the entire review HERE.

Zealot (495 Posts) - Website | Twitter | Facebook


By day a department manager and writer for a major network device vendor...by night Zealot stalks the mean magnetic streets, striking fear into the hearts of bandwidth abusers and theme park mascots. Zealot has been involved with mobile devices for more than a decade now, starting off with dumb phones, moving to PDAs and then to smartphones, notebooks and netbooks with the odd PMP thrown in. Most of his mobile time currently is spent on a Treo Pro, Zune HD, Thinkpad T61, Gigabyte M912M or a Hackintoshed Compaq Mini 704. He proudly groks the Geek community and considers himself a Neo Maxi Zune Dweebie (thanks Will Wheaton!).

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  • pelton
    If Samsung is actually planning to drop Windows Mobile from most of its phones it would be really disappointing for most of the users who are happy like me using Samsung phones with Windows Mobile 6.5 in it. It was the best experience using Samsung Xperia as far as windows phones are concerned.
  • Why bother? Well, probably because HTC doesn't mind developing applications and user experiences, but they don't have the desire or skills to write a complete operating system. Duh, Gizmodo!

    And remember that HTC skins the media darling Android with their Sense UI, too. It's one way for OEMs to differentiate their devices from other devices running the same base OS and to make moving among your handsets simpler (like Verizon's maligned UI is meant to do).

    Maybe John Hermann doesn't have enough, um, Sense to get that. :D

    Steve
  • badersk
    I have learned to take anything Gizmodo does with a grain of salt. In fact I take that stance with most of the media. I understand preferences but when your only gripe is that WM is there even though you don't see and it is smooth and ultra fast, your (GIZ) bias is getting in the way of enjoying a quality device. Most people don't need more than what is in the sense ui just like most people never get to core functions of any computer os.
    Oh by the way I enjoy your writing. Thanks for being here.
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