HTC Touch (A.K.A HTC P3450, HTC ELF) REVIEW

HTC released a new innovative device, the HTC Touch. The device runs Windows Mobile 6 and introduces the new TouchFLO technology from HTC.HTC categorizes this new phone as TOUCH PHONE since it is the world's first released touch phone that gives you a whole new touch panel experience. The HTC Touch with TouchFLO revolutionizes the way you use the touch screen by allowing finger scrolling and panning. It also features the Touch Cube which is a unique user interface that makes quick dialing and navigation a breeze. The HTC TOUCH is also know as HTC P3450 (codename HTC Elf) and it is currently on sale for aprx. 350 GBP.

HTC TOUCH REVIEW: Design

The HTC Touch besides the innovative features that introduces to the world of Windows Mobile devices it also has another characteristic, its small size. In fact the HTC Touch is the smallest Windows Mobile Pocket PC available in the market today. It measures only 99,99 mm in length, 58 mm in Width and only 13.9 mm in thickness. The table below shows the size of some of the most common devices currently available in the market. It is clear that the HTC Touch is the smallest devices of all. Compared to a small device the O2 XDA Atom Exec, the HTC Touch is smaller in all dimensions. Also the weight of the HTC Touch is just 112g.

HTC TOUCH REVIEW: Size Comparison Table

HTC Touch panel:

Being the smallest pocket pc device in the market, it is expected that the HTC's Touch screen is also small. In fact it measures only 2.8 inches and supports a resolution of 240 x 320. What makes HTC Touch's screen standout and distinguish it self from other pocket pc devices is the TouchFLO technology. The TouchFlo technology allows you to operate the device with a series of taps and movement of the fingers on the screen. To enable this kind of functionality HTC had to create an interface with large icons so that the user can use the fingers to browse between the menus instead of the stylus. For these reasons the operating system on the HTC Touch is Windows Mobile 6 but with customised changes made by HTC. In the home screen there are shortcuts which offer single touch access to the calendar, messages, call list (and other applications specified by the user). It is something you can have on a normal Windows Mobile application if you are using third party applications.

Once on the home screen you can drag your finger on the screen (from the bottom to top) to switch to the TouchFlo screen. The TouchFlo screen has a number of options, which you can select using your thumb. The TouchFlo also introduces the HTC Touch Cube. You can use your fingers to navigate around the cube in a 3D interface. Sweeping your thumb from top to bottom takes you back to the home screen. This new technology was well prepared by HTC since it is clever enough to understand the user's intention and differenciate from a tap on the screen and a finger sweep.The whole navigation experience offered by HTC Touch is great and expectional. It will be even better if the techonology could work in landscape mode as well but this is something that HTC may fix in the next upgrade. When working in landscape mode you can use the stylus which is also available in the HTC Touch.

One of the drawbacks of the HTC Touch interface comes when you want to enter text in messages. The only way currently to do that is using the stylus as you would do in any other Pocket PC that has no build in keyboard.

The controls of the HTC Touch include the Talk and End buttons located below the screen and a five-way navigational key which can be used to navigate and open applications.. The right side of the device includes the dedicated Camera button as well as the slots for the SIM card and MicroSD card (covered). On the top of the right side there is also the stylus holder. The left side includes the volume control button and the miniUSB port. On the back of the HTC Touch there is the 2 mega pixels digital camera, the battery cover, the loudspeaker and the hidden antenna.

HTC Touch - in the box:

When you buy the HTC Touch you can expect the following items in the box:

HTC Touch Phone
AC Adapter
Stereo Headset
1 GB MicroSD Card
USB Synch cable
User Manual
Carry Pouch
Screen Protector
Removable Battery
2 x Styli
Get Started CD
Application CD
Warranty Card CDROM

HTC TOUCH REVIEW: Features

Besides the new techonology, HTC TouchFLO, the HTC Touch has the following features and characteristics:

Processor: The processor of the HTC Touch is a TI OMAP 850 running at 201 MHZ. It is the same processor you will find on the latest pocket pc devices from HTC (HTC P3300, HTC P4350, HTC P3350). The perfomance of the TI OMAP 850 processor is not bad, as we already stated in our HTC P3300 review, but it can sometimes leave the demanding pocket pc user unhappy. It would be better if the HTC Touch had a faster processor since it has a lot of processor demanding features like the HTC Touch Cube technology.

Memory and Expansion Slot: The HTC Touch ROM is 128 MB and the SDRAM is 64 MB. The expansion slot is a microSD memory card (SD 2.0 compatible).

Connectivity: In terms of connectivity the HTC Touch does not offer anything innovative or exiting. It offers support for Bluetooth 2.0 and Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g. There is not support for 3G or internal GPS receiver, features that become very popular in pocket pc devices (see the upcoming ETEN X800).

Network: The HTC Touch network options includes GSM/GPRS/EDGE Tri-band: 900, 1800, 1900

Camera: The HTC Touch camera is located on the back, it is a 2 mega-pixels camera with 8x Zoom and call also record Video.

HTC TOUCH Specifications