By John Chan, CNET Asia
19/09/2007
URL: http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/mobilephones/0,39051199,41108074p,00.htm

Anticipation is a funny thing. Traveling an hour to fulfill a food craving, going on a blind date or even buying a simple household utensil you've been eyeing can lead to immense satisfaction or horrible disappointment. So, in replacing the Dopod 838 Pro, which end of that spectrum does the HTC TyTN II (read: Titan two) fit? In all honesty, it's probably closer to the middle.

Design

The color scheme of the TyTN II is a mix of black, gray and silver. The glossy plastic part is limited to the edges around the front, surrounding a matte-gray metal-like finish which, in turn, goes around the display. The sides and back of the device all feature a black soft-touch material. This is attractive and comfortable to hold, but there is concern that it will discolor, or worse, degenerate from heat or over time. That said, this is mostly a preference issue, and a moot one if you decide to use any kind of case.

The dimensions of this handheld are 112 x 59 x 19mm. This is almost identical to the 838 Pro's 112.5 x 58 x 21.95mm measurements. Though marginally thinner, the TyTN II is no featherweight. It is, in fact, 190g--about 7 percent heavier than its predecessor. This is quite a load to carry, so it certainly won't fit the needs of those who love slim, superlight mobile phones. Though the TyTN II is not much smaller, its sharper edges compared with the 838 Pro's curved ones make it look more compact at first glance.

Shortcut buttons on the TyTN II are plentiful, spread out along the sides and front. Aside from the directional pad below the display, it also comes with a scroll wheel along the left side. Like the 838 Pro, the only connector is a single mini USB jack found along the base. This works as a charge/sync connector and doubles as a wired headset connector, too. We would have preferred a dedicated audio mini-jack. The SIM card slot position is now not under the battery but found behind the slider. Removing the SIM card still turns the device off though, just like if you removed the battery, but it does make changing SIMs slightly more convenient.

The biggest design change from the 838 Pro is certainly the slider direction. When held upright, the screen now slides out to the left instead of right on the previous model. This does make it easier for the right thumb to expose the keyboard, but it will initially cause long-time users of the 838 Pro to stumble. We got used to it after a few days and found the direction change did not affect normal use after acclimatization.

The sliding mechanism on the TyTN II is excellent because it is much easier to use now. A spring finishes the opening and closing actions, making exposing and retracting the keyboard effortless. In the open position, the screen can be further tilted up by about 45 degrees so it can rest on a table with the screen facing the user. This does not help for typing because it is meant to be used with the thumbs, with the device held in the hands. It does help if you are watching a movie or making a video call at a desk. This also makes it great for a car dashboard, especially when using the GPS for road navigation.

The size and tactility of the QWERTY keyboard do not differ much from the 838 Pro. But because of the material used, each key does not feel as distinct as they did previously. Again, this takes getting used to and may annoy some current 838 Pro users. But this next thing much more than makes up for it. Above the W and E keys are two little lights which tell you when the shift and function keys have been pressed. This lets you know if you are getting an alternate character instead of the regular letter. While an onscreen indicator does the same job on the 838 Pro, this implementation is much harder to miss and is a great inclusion which helps in the TyTN II's usability.

While bright enough, the QVGA screen on the TyTN II is not exactly the same as its predecessor's. Different batches of LCDs exhibit different characteristics, and we found the TyTN II's has a yellow tinge to it and doesn't show colors as richly as the 838 Pro's. We would have loved a VGA display on this new model, but sadly, it was not to be. It would have been a great feature that would really have set it apart from the older model.

Features

The 838 Pro was one the very first phone devices with HSDPA connectivity. This partly explains why it stayed popular for such a long time, and also gave HTC a reason to provide a free upgrade to Windows Mobile 6. To be a proper replacement, the TyTN II needs to at least match up with the former's connectivity options, and we are glad to report that it does, and more.

First up, all the data connectivity options remain intact. It comes with triband HSDPA and quadband GSM with support for EDGE. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are still standard. The additional factor here is the built-in GPS. This feature will be useful out of the box because HTC will bundle maps when the TyTN II goes on sale. In our test, the GPS worked wonderfully. It got a lock very quickly and, while traveling, pinpointed our position accurately. For those interested, the GPS chip is integrated with the Qualcomm processor. This is in contrast to most other devices which have separate GPS chips built into them. Also, though named differently, there is a form of assisted GPS on the TyTN II called QuickGPS.

First found on the Touch, the TyTN II also comes with TouchFLO, HTC's addon application for page navigation. This allows you to scroll quickly through lists by swiping a finger on the screen, somewhat like pushing a piece of paper upward when reading down a page. The modified home screen is also present here. This gives quick access to oft-used applications and settings, as well as a big digital clock and weather information which can be useful at times.

The camera on the TyTN II has been upped to a 3-megapixel autofocus one. Like many other phone cameras, don't expect to get Ansel Adams-like prints from your shooter. It does reproduce color quite accurately in auto mode, but you get the usual noise and slight loss of sharpness. Also, note that the LED light and preview mirror as found on the 838 Pro are not on the TyTN II.

Performance

We didn't encounter any problems making and receiving voice calls on this handset. Video calls displayed fine as well, its speakers powerful enough to let us hear the other party clearly. The mic did require us to speak quite loudly for the other party to hear, so that might cause some problems for those making video calls in noisy environments.

The new 400MHz Qualcomm MSM7200 processor integrates the phone radio, system processing and GPS all into one chip. This is supposed to be more power efficient, but the TyTN II has a shorter rated battery life of 4.4 hours compared with the 838 Pro's 5 hours. In actual use, we found the battery life excellent, lasting for almost three days on a single charge. This included some Wi-Fi use but not GPS. Like a camel at an oasis, the GPS really sucks up the juice--we got only one day's use on a single charge when a 30-minute navigation session was included.

Even though the clock speed remains the same as the 838 Pro's 400MHz Samsung processor, the HTC has twice the RAM at 128MB--good when multitasking. Users will also be pleased to know that the new processor works fine with Skype, which was a problem with the Samsung one in the Dopod.

Conclusion

With all its features, the HTC TyTN II is a worthy successor to the Dopod 838 Pro. That said, current 838 Pro users may not see a need to upgrade unless theirs is broken or if GPS is a huge consideration. We felt HTC could have sweetened the deal with a VGA display, like the ones found in the E-Ten glofiish X500+ and X800 handhelds.

The TyTN II will be available across Asia Pacific in October at a retail price of S$1,348. It will come bundled with local maps, business card scanner, BlackBerry Connect applications and a 1GB microSD card.