HTC Touch2 review: Beyond the basics

Keeping you organized is the PocketPC game

Windows Mobile offers several time-management features and all of them are easily syncable with Outlook.

The Calendar offers daily, weekly, monthly and even yearly views. When viewing tasks, you can also see weather information for that particular day if available.

The Calendar daily and monthly views • viewing and editing a task

The To-Do list allows you to add tasks and assign them priority. The Note editor will also come in handy. The Voice recorder and Calculator need no explanation.

The Alarm clock has three alarm slots. Each Alarm can have its own repeat pattern. Unfortunately, due to the limited customization options in the default Alarms application, we suggest you check out some free third-party alternatives.

Document editor is also aboard

Among the other WM core applications is the Office Mobile package featuring support for viewing and editing Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files. With the latest version of Office Mobile, you also have the OneNote application.

The Office Mobile allows viewing and editing Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote files

Thanks to Adobe Reader LE, there is also support for viewing PDF documents. We are pleased with the performance of the Touch2 in this area, as opening and handling PDF documents is usually rather slow on handhelds.

Opening a PDF document with Adobe Reader LE

See ya at the Marketplace

The HTC Touch2 comes with plenty of preloaded applications - the essentials are already installed, which means you can start using them straight away. There's the regular stuff such as an RSS Reader, a YouTube application and a Streaming Media manager. There is also Facebook intergration and MSN Money app.

As we've come to expect from HTC, their nice Task Manager comes preinstalled. It blends in with the TouchFLO interface seamlessly and is convenient for switching between open apps or stopping them (not that there's any shortage of RAM, but still).

The Task Manager is available, as always in the top right corner of the homescreen. You can also access it through the settings menu, which comes in handy since an application's close button replaces the Task Switcher button. This does hamper its task-switching ability a little and we'd have liked to see a more elegant solution to the problem.

The Touch2 task manager is available on the TouchFLO homescreen

The Touch2 comes with two preloaded games - both classics - Bubble Breaker and Solitaire.

Bubble Breaker and Solitaire against boredom

The RSS Hub app is an RSS reader for staying up-to-date with the latest news and content at your favorite web places. The Streaming Media manager allows access to custom sources of streaming audio and video.

The RSS Hub reader • the Streaming Media manager

The YouTube application is here again. It offers a fluid, excellent looking interface - shinier than even the iPhone's.

The Touch2 YouTube client • video quality settings

Another application is the rather handy Search software, capable of searching throughout applications and the whole file system. You have the option to set filters so that the application searches only in the places you need.

The system-wide Search application

As for the Search widget, when you enter the keyword you are being redirected to the Bing website.

The Search widget in action

The MSN Money application keeps you posted on the latest in stocks.

The MSN Money app

Nowadays almost every device comes with some sort of Facebook integration. And the Touch2 is no exception.

Facebook is a click away

Now, that's what you get on the phone. But if you need more - the Touch2 will gladly take you to the Marketplace. The structure is reminiscent of what we've seen before (read Appstore) but still needs another touch or two to get user friendly enough. As for the number of the available apps, it is still limited but growing. Follow that link to find out more about the Marketplace.

The Marketplace needs some final touches