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The Touch 2 runs Windows Mobile 6.5 with HTC’s own TouchFlo interface over the top. Running a finger along the icons at the bottom of the display scrolls through various screens. Useful information, such as a clock, the current weather and your next appointment, are displayed on the Home screen. The Contacts screen lets you add favourite contacts from your address book, although you’ll have to add a photo for each manually. Screens for text messages, email, photos and music can be browsed with a flick of your finger, and you can fill the last screen with favourite apps. Integration with desktop Office applications is Windows Mobile 6.5’s forte, and the new Windows Phone service is clever. Your phone data is backed up to your Windows Live! Account, and can be browsed online. The only problem is that synchronising with Outlook or an Exchange server is a separate process, and all that data transfer will eat into your monthly allowance unless you do it manually over WiFi. The phone itself is one of the smallest here, although it’s not the lightest. It feels well built and is easy to grip. The screen has a low resolution of 240×320 and pixellation is noticeable. Colours aren’t wonderful, either. The touchscreen is hit and miss. It’s smooth on the home screens, but with applications running it tends to judder, and trying to hit checkboxes is frustrating, even if you use the stylus. The display’s orientation doesn’t change when you tilt it, although pictures and movies are automatically displayed in landscape mode. Battery life is reasonably good, but with GPS, synchronisation and WiFi usage, you’ll be lucky if it lasts more than a day on a single charge.
Unfortunately, we were unable to test the new Marketplace, but we’re sure Microsoft will have a wealth of third-party apps available. Windows Mobile 6.5, although superficially more finger-friendly than previous versions, still relies on a stylus for fiddly menus and checkboxes. The Touch 2 is a decent enough device, but HTC also makes more user-friendly Android phones, which we prefer.
