The HTC Touch 2 – a Budget Touchscreen Smartphone

<h1>The HTC Touch 2 – a Budget Touchscreen Smartphone</h1>Author: <a title="Simon Drew" href="http://www.articlesbase.com/authors/simon-drew/208816.htm">Simon Drew</a> The Taiwan mobile phone maker HTC is updating its first Touch smartphone released more than two years ago with a new makeover aptly called the HTC Touch 2.  Why it took that long is anybody’s guess but if that’s any indication, one should expect the Touch 2 to bring with it all the innovative features of a 2009 smartphone.  Sadly, it’s as if HTC resurrected a smartphone blueprint meant for release last year.  The second generation Touch handset could have benefited with a more upbeat hardware feature set but what we now hope to get this Christmas is souped-up but dated handset, both in looks and features. So what gives? The Touch 2 looks like its predecessor, inheriting the same build quality and materials as the first Touch on a similarly compact and hand-friendly body weighing just 110g.  What endears it the most is its non-glossy surfaces that are not a fingerprint magnet as many touchscreen monoblock handsets are. But not to worry, this is still a quad band GSM and a tri band UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA on 3g so you can surf away at high speeds.  You get Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR and A2DP. Built-in GPS/A-GPS as well as WiFi 802.11 b/g and a modest 512 MB RAM expandable to 15GB from its microSD slot Budget Features You have a 2.8-inch LCD resistive touchscreen display that basically screams 2008 as the right year when HTC should have released this.  It’s got a mere 240 x 320 pixels or QVGA resolution when it’s clear you could easily squeeze in a more dense Wide-VGA resolution seen on other smartphones in the same screen size. This, together with the Windows OS that remains incapable of having 16 million color depth, makes the Touch2 display one of the least appealing out there.  The HTC Touch 2 does get the job done alright, despite its sluggish response. There’s an average 3.2 megapixel camera that has no autofocus, no flash and comes out with mediocre shot that are often good indoors with artificially saturated colors.  Don’t go macro as you lose focus at close range.  Don’t expect a lot from its camera. HTC has managed to deliver a smartphone with features that work and matter most.  Rather than taking out the bells and whistles, HTC must have thought that putting them in even with mediocre quality, can give value to the handset.  Good thing this is a budget phone so it’s not polite to ask too much.  Expect this to be offered free by the major carriers with an affordable contract when it hits the market late this year.About the Author: With so many <a href="http://www.moby1.co.uk/phones/HTC/Touch-2.html">HTC Touch 2 contracts</a> on offer it can be hard to know which to go for. Moby1 can help by comparing all the <a href="http://www.moby1.co.uk">mobile deals</a> on offer, and they also have many <a href="http://www.moby1.co.uk/mobile-phone-reviews.html">phone reviews</a>.Article Source: <a href="http://www.articlesbase.com/">ArticlesBase.com</a> - <a href="http://www.articlesbase.com/cell-phones-articles/the-htc-touch-2-a-budget-touchscreen-smartphone-1437892.html" title="The HTC Touch 2 – a Budget Touchscreen Smartphone">The HTC Touch 2 – a Budget Touchscreen Smartphone</a>

The Taiwan mobile phone maker HTC is updating its first Touch smartphone released more than two years ago with a new makeover aptly called the HTC Touch 2. Why it took that long is anybody’s guess but if that’s any indication, one should expect the Touch 2 to bring with it all the innovative features of a 2009 smartphone. Sadly, it’s as if HTC resurrected a smartphone blueprint meant for release last year. The second generation Touch handset could have benefited with a more upbeat hardware feature set but what we now hope to get this Christmas is souped-up but dated handset, both in looks and features.

So what gives?

The Touch 2 looks like its predecessor, inheriting the same build quality and materials as the first Touch on a similarly compact and hand-friendly body weighing just 110g. What endears it the most is its non-glossy surfaces that are not a fingerprint magnet as many touchscreen monoblock handsets are.

But not to worry, this is still a quad band GSM and a tri band UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA on 3g so you can surf away at high speeds. You get Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR and A2DP. Built-in GPS/A-GPS as well as WiFi 802.11 b/g and a modest 512 MB RAM expandable to 15GB from its microSD slot

Budget Features

You have a 2.8-inch LCD resistive touchscreen display that basically screams 2008 as the right year when HTC should have released this. It’s got a mere 240 x 320 pixels or QVGA resolution when it’s clear you could easily squeeze in a more dense Wide-VGA resolution seen on other smartphones in the same screen size.

This, together with the Windows OS that remains incapable of having 16 million color depth, makes the Touch2 display one of the least appealing out there. The HTC Touch 2 does get the job done alright, despite its sluggish response.

There’s an average 3.2 megapixel camera that has no autofocus, no flash and comes out with mediocre shot that are often good indoors with artificially saturated colors. Don’t go macro as you lose focus at close range. Don’t expect a lot from its camera.

HTC has managed to deliver a smartphone with features that work and matter most. Rather than taking out the bells and whistles, HTC must have thought that putting them in even with mediocre quality, can give value to the handset. Good thing this is a budget phone so it’s not polite to ask too much. Expect this to be offered free by the major carriers with an affordable contract when it hits the market late this year.

With so many HTC Touch 2 contracts on offer it can be hard to know which to go for. Moby1 can help by comparing all the mobile deals on offer, and they also have many phone reviews.

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Article Tags: mobile, cell, phone, htc, touch, touch2

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