HTC HD2 preview: First look

Introduction

The dragon in the HTC camp has awoken, ladies and gentlemen, and it's time it shows what it's capable of. Be it a dragon, or a lion, the HTC HD2, codenamed HTC Leo, is truly a spectacular device. It seems to have all modern mobile technologies in its pocket, bridging the gap between phones and tablets.

HTC are pushing the boundaries of the impossible by fitting the 4.3-inch screen in a phone smaller than the Toshiba TG01, which was the first Snapdragon-based device ever to be released. HD2 is certainly a feat of engineering and something to really look up to.

HTC HD2 official images

Now that it has just hit the market, the HD2 is bound to make some serious waves in the high-end smartphones pool and we guess many of you would probably be checking it out this holiday season. And you would be right to do so. Let's go over its impeccable specs sheet one more time:

HTC HD2 at a glance:

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 900/2100 MHz, HSDPA, HSUPA
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar phone
• Dimensions: 120.5 x 67 x 11 mm, 157 g
• Display: 4.3" 65K-color TFT capacitive touchscreen, 800 x 480 pixels WVGA, multi-touch support
• Platform: Qualcomm QSD8250 Snapdragon 1 GHz processor
• OS: Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional; HTC Sense user interface (formerly TouchFLO 3D)
• Memory: 512MB storage, 448MB RAM, microSD card slot, 2GB card included in the retail box
• Camera: 5 megapixel auto-focus camera with touch focus and dual-LED flash; VGA@30 video recording
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS, 3.5mm audio jack, FM radio
• Battery: 1,230 mAh Li-Ion; up to 6 h 20 min talk time, 490 h standby, 8 h video playback, 12 h music playback
• Misc: Built-in accelerometer and digital compass, proximity and ambient light sensors, carrying pouch in box, optional car kit
• Software: CoPilot navigation software (trial version), Wi-Fi router software, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter integration, HTC Footprints

The HTC HD2 most certainly feels great in hand - the quality of the used materials is nice and the slim bezel around the screen is almost as spectacular as the slim profile. For the fist five minutes you can't help but simply sit there and just stare at the amazing screen.

But with touch smartphones getting screens that large sooner or later ergonomics had to be sacrificed. We somehow thought that the original Touch HD had almost crossed the line, but the HD2 has definitely crossed over. Reaching your thumb to the opposite angle of the screen is quite a task and it's not really comfortable to use the phone single-handedly. But we guess many of you would find the compromise with ergonomics quite worth it.

The HD2 is impressive

Join us on the next page where we'll get into some unboxing action, and as part of this brief preview article we'll get into the ins and outs of HTC HD2 design and construction.