HTC Touch2 review: Beyond the basics

3 megapixels worth of disappointment

The HTC Touch2 has a 3 megapixel fixed-focus camera producing photos with a maximum resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels. The camera offers an intuitive user interface and shoots in landscape mode.

It lacks a dedicated camera key so the only way to capture is the virtual shutter key on the screen.

The Touch2 camera lacks a flash whatsoever.

Interface and features

The Touch2 viewfinder is free of any overlaying controls by default but you can display those by touching the dedicated key under the "capture" button.

In terms of camera features, the HTC Touch2 has the usual: self-timer, white balance presets, light sensitivity settings (up to ISO800), color effects and viewfinder gridline.

The HTC Touch2 camera options

There is no geotagging (strange, but not unseen), but this time the biggest letdown is the lack of autofocus. This means you have no macro mode and you can't focus either on a preferred object.

There is also a panorama mode that offers on-screen framing guidance. After all the individual shots for the panorama are taken, the Touch2 stitches the images together automatically.

When it comes to image quality, we have to admit that the Touch2 camera is generally not as good as we would have liked.

Noise suppression is too aggressive at times, eradicating all fine detail (notice that the building facades lack any kind of texture). Worse yet, noise is still an issue - especially in the shadows - and color rendering is inaccurate on many occasions.

There is some red tint in many of the images too (take a closer look at the clouds, for example).

Sample images of HTC Touch2 camera

Synthetic resolution

We also snapped our resolution chart with the HTC Touch2. You can check out what that test is all about here.

HTC Touch2 resolution chart photo • 100% crops

Video

The Touch2 video capturing capabilities are rather basic - CIF recording at 30fps. It takes a lot more to be impressed these days and given the reasonably powerful CPU on the Touch2, we probably expected more.

But what we didn't expect at all is the actual video quality - it's well below the decent line, the detail is way below normal, the colors are not accurate at some places and at times the picture is simply blurred.

The interface of the camcorder resembles the one of the still camera. You can only adjust the white balance, resolution, brightness and finally add some color effects.

The Touch2 camcorder interface

Here is a sample CIF video (0.5MB) produced by the Touch2.

Full pack connectivity

When it comes to connectivity the HTC Touch2 has it all - HSDPA 7.2Mbps, Wi-Fi, stereo Bluetooth + EDR.

The Touch2 has quad-band GSM support and dual-band 3G - 900 and 2100 MHz are the compatible bands (that's Europe and the like). You can check out our Worldwide Network Bands distribution database.

USB 2.0 is supported as well through a miniUSB adaptor. Actually it's extUSB, but miniUSB cables fit just fine, and the port also serves audio input and output. When paired with a computer, the Touch2 prompts you to select among ActiveSync, Mass Storage or Modem modes.

In Mass Storage mode, the memory card is handled as a removable drive on the computer for faster file transfers. The only downside is in this mode you have no access to the memory card from the handset UI itself.

Web browsing is a single landscape-mode short of top-notch

The HTC Touch2 as usual comes with the Opera v9.5 browser. There's IE Mobile if you really want it, but the default browser launched from the homescreen is Opera. And with good reason, since it puts IE Mobile to shame.

The Opera browser is extensively touch-optimized and draws inspiration from the iPhone's Safari. The browser has matured since its inclusion in the Touch HD and now suffers no rendering bugs.

GSMArena.com on HTC Touch2 (Opera 9.5)

The browser is heavily optimized towards vertical scrolling - it rolls complex pages without missing a beat. Panning sideways is a little slower - a checkerboard pattern appears for a moment before the content is drawn, but this lasts for no more than a second so it's no big issue.

Zooming in and out is also very fast. Here the Zoom bar can be used or you could opt for the regular double-tap zoom. Double tapping is more accurate as it zooms in to where you tapped, eliminating the need for much panning. On the other hand, the Zoom bar gives you finer control over the zoom level.

Landscape mode is not supported though and that's a major downside. The on-screen QWERTY keyboard is also portrait only.

And a few words about the Opera 9.5 interface. By default web pages are opened fullscreen free of any overlaying controls. A tap on the bottom right corner, however, brings up the available controls. When entering a URL there's a special '.com' button on the keypad, saving a few presses.

First, you've got the address bar at the very top. At the bottom of the screen there is a row of icons that can take you back, take you to bookmarks, bring up the tab switcher (you can open up to two tabs), the home page or the browser settings.

Opera 9.5 has a handy download manager which tracks the progress of the files you're downloading.