The TyTN II was HTC's last flagship model for those who wanted a serious work PDA-phone. Now, it will be succeeded by the Touch Pro, also a slider-style handheld meant for enthusiasts and business users. It has just started to go on sale with a retail price of S$1,248.

Design

Just looking at the front of the device, it's almost exactly the same as the Touch Diamond. Because we have gotten so used to how thin the Diamond is, it comes as quite a shock over how thick the Touch Pro is. But if you put it beside the TyTN II, HTC's last model with a slide-out keyboard, you realize the Touch Pro is just a hair thinner than that device. The fact that it has a slideout keyboard makes the increased depth inevitable--that much we can say. At 165g, it is slightly less heavy than the TyTN II which tips the scales at 190g. Even then, the Touch Pro cannot be considered light and is not likely to be very comfortable in tight jeans pockets or tiny clutch purses.

No screen tilt-up action for this PDA-phone.

Aside from features like a VGA display and other improved tech specs, another obvious change from the TyTN II is that the Touch Pro slides out to the right to expose the keyboard. When the TyTN II was launched, we asked HTC why it made the PDA-phone slide out in a different direction from the Dopod 838 Pro (the model it replaced). The reply was that feedback from customers indicated this was better. This reversion to sliding right feels very strange when taking that comment into perspective. We checked with HTC and its official stance is that the Touch Pro's design follows after the Diamond, which would require the camera to remain on the right side--sliding left will cause the front camera to be in an awkward position when making video calls in landscape mode. That's a weak argument considering TyTN II users upgrading to this will once again have to readjust the way they use the device. And in case you are wondering, no, the Touch Pro's screen doesn't tilt up slightly like the TyTN II's.

The layout of the five-row keyboard on the Touch Pro is excellent. If you are reading this from a desktop computer or notebook, take a look at your keyboard--it probably has five rows for the main QWERTY section with the number keys on the top. This layout is almost exactly reproduced on the Touch Pro, so you don't have to think much about where each key is if you work on a desktop keyboard regularly. As for the actual physical keys, whether you'll like them is up to personal preference. These are smaller than those found on the TyTN II and can feel a little cramped for those with large fingers. Nonetheless, we do feel it's something most can get used to.

The increase in the number of keys from the TyTN II's 39 to 47 on the Touch Pro sees the introduction of the Ctrl key. This allows you to cut, copy and paste exactly the same way you do on a PC. It's a very convenient feature and we hope to see it implemented on more devices. But it's not all good. For some reason, HTC removed the OK button on the QWERTY keypad so you have to move your finger up to tap the screen to get out of menus or to minimize applications.

Aside from the keypad, this handheld has a few shortcut keys below the display including a directional pad, volume buttons on the left edge and a power button on the top. The directional pad has a ring of white status LEDs which light up when you are charging, have an unread message or a missed call. The surface around this d-pad is also touch-sensitive, allowing you to zoom in and out of pages when using certain applications like the Opera browser.

A stylus slot is found on the bottom right corner and, like the Diamond, the stylus is held magnetically. The action of removing it will turn on the device if it is originally turned off.

As with all current HTC PDA-phones, the Touch Pro comes with just one mini-USB port for syncing, charging and connecting a wired headset.

The back of this handheld retains the prism-like motif of the Diamond, but instead of a glossy finish it has a matte soft-touch feel--a change we like. The back is also where the 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera is found along with an LED for lighting up darker situations.

Features

Given that it is the successor to one of the brand's flagship devices, the Touch Pro will need to have a full suite of connectivity features. It does not disappoint in that aspect with dual-band HSDPA, quad-band GSM cellular radios, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Also included is GPS for navigation.

The new keyboard on the TyTN II.
(click for larger)

Like the Diamond, the Touch Pro comes with HTC's TouchFLO 3D user interface (UI) to mask Windows Mobile's original UI. The most obvious component of this technology is the modified Home screen which allows the user to perform most tasks conveniently without having to use the stylus. Part of it is also how HTC has enabled scrolling by sliding your finger along the screen and enlarging items in context menus so you don't have to peck at them with a stylus or a fingernail.

When you slide open the Touch Pro, a new eight-icon menu appears on the screen. These are shortcuts for quick access to applications like email, messages and the calendar. It's also a way to get around the fact that the TouchFLO 3D Home screen isn't made for landscape mode.

Aside from that special landscape-mode menu, all the software elements available on the Touch Diamond are found on the Touch Pro. These include the Opera Mobile 9.5 browser, YouTube application and also the Teeter game which is essentially a demonstration of the device's motion sensor. If you prefer the airwaves for entertainment, there's also an FM tuner.

Unlike the Diamond though, the Pro does not have 4GB of internal storage. The good news is that you can add your own using the microSD card slot, though that means an extra cost.

Performance

One complaint about the Touch Diamond was that it felt sluggish, thanks to all the graphics processing required by TouchFLO 3D. Though the Pro has a similar processor, it felt more responsive in general. This could be due to improvements in the software and also the increased RAM--288MB compared with the Diamond's 192MB. There were still occasions of slowdowns, especially when the screen switched from portrait to landscape mode and vice versa. Most of the time, text typed on the keypad also took a while to appear onscreen. We would have loved to attribute this to our lightning-fast typing speed, but in reality, we don't have that ability and it's really the device's fault for not responding fast enough.

In our use of the Touch Pro, we noticed a strange phenomenon--applications running in the background would quit by themselves whenever we fired up something system-intensive like the Teeter game or YouTube. This shouldn't happen in Windows Mobile and can be potentially disruptive, especially if you depend on applications like always-on instant messaging clients to remain connected. Doing a search online, we discovered other users had the same problem and found a solution involving a registry tweak. Messing with the system files is a bit too much to ask of regular users so we feel HTC ought to correct this issue in a firmware update. We have contacted the company and are waiting for an official response.

The 1,340mAh battery gave us about 2.5 days of use. That's reasonable for something with a power-hungry VGA LCD. Voice quality was good and we did not experience any dropped calls. The speakers also worked well when needed, though as usual do not expect to be able to use them in a noisy environment.

GPS performance was good. We tested this out using Google Maps and found that getting an initial lock was quite fast. This was further improved using the A-GPS application to speed up the device's location of satellites. Note that HTC is not bundling any GPS software or maps with the Touch Pro.

Images shot with this camera looked fantastic on the Touch Pro's excellent VGA display. Even when transferred to a computer, these images turned out quite sharp and had accurate colors, which is uncommon for Windows Mobile PDA-phones in this class.

Conclusion

Those lamenting the lack of a physical keypad on the Touch Diamond will find the Touch Pro a worthy alternative. As a replacement for the TyTN II, a professional using the handheld for mainly work-related tasks may not notice a huge difference unless the sharper VGA display is a major consideration. But as far as QWERTY Windows Mobile PDA-phones go, it's a top choice compared with other models in the market now. One more thing. For those planning to buy one now, don't forget that its closest competitor, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, will soon be launched in a couple of months.