2009's Top Win Mo Smartphones
Some good releases despite iPhone, Android
Kit of the Year It hasn't been a good year for Windows Mobile. The relentless rise of the iPhone in consumerland, Research in Motion's strength in the business world and Android's capture of the 'what's new, what's hot' category has left the Microsoft's increasingly anachronistic OS looking like an also-ran. This despite a raft of new WM handsets from key manufacturers - HTC in particular.
HTC Touch Diamond 2
The Touch Diamond 2 is the best all-rounder in the HTC canon so far. The screen is gorgeous, the browser excellent, connectivity is as good as it gets and the 5Mp camera is better than any we've yet seen from HTC. It has all the versatility options of Windows Mobile without the disadvantages, since the TouchFlo 3D UI means you rarely need to look at the OS directly. If you do, HTC has already posted a free Windows Mobile 6.5 update. In short, it's a great little do-it-all handset.
Read the full review here
Reg Rating 90%
Price £450 (SIM-free)
HTC Touch HD 2
The HD 2 is a gorgeous multimedia device with lots of points in its favour, not least its impressively huge screen, Sense UI on top, Windows Mobile 6.5 underneath and social networking functions. The camera still isn't up to much, and we'd have liked to see the social networking apps integrated a bit more intuitively into the system. And, of course, we'd have liked the price to be a wee bit lower, but it does almost everything really well, making it a worthy contender for the iPhone.
Read the full review here
Reg Rating 85%
Price £500 (SIM-free)
Acer Tempo M900
Acer's final Windows Mobile 6.1 handset - there's no update to 6.5 - is its most compelling smartphone product to date. The combination of a fine slide-out Qwerty keyboard, a 5Mp camera and some subtle additions like the three-way jog wheel and assisted GPS keep the M900's failings from coming so far to the fore. Despite being something of a chunky monkey, it’s also a better-looking device than a fair few other Windows Mobile smartphones in our book.
Read the full review here
Reg Rating 80%
Price £200 (SIM-free)
Best of the Rest
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HTC Touch Pro 2
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HTC Snap
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Samsung GT-C6625
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COMMENTS
Missing the point
A "normal" phone user doesn't buy any of the above. A normal phone user buys a mobile, not a smartphone.
Nokia might end up dead in the computer-in-your-pocket arena but its range of mass-market phones that make calls and send text messages (shock!) means that Nokia's demise very much depends on your a point of view...
Sure...
Ha ha, of course, I bet you see loads of Touch HD2 users using "the" stylus. Despite the fact that it's a capacitive screen and doesn't come with a stylus.
I realise that you can get a stylus for capacitive screens, but I find it highly unlikely that many people have them.
No wonder you're posting anonymously.
Re: Couldn't agree more
These are recommendations for readers looking for a Windows Mobile handset. We've done a similar piece for readers after an Android phone - http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/12/02/koy_2009_android/ - and we'll do other varieties too.
Personally, I'm not a WM fan, but a fair few Reg readers are and can't be ignored.
@IT specialist
As a 'specialist' you're making alot of assumptions there, and you know what 'assume' makes. Most, if not all, WM phones have some form of skin sitting on them added by the manufacturer and I've been getting along perfectly fine without a stylus on any WM phones I've used. I don't think it's an issue unless you have particularly pudgy fingers.
There's alot of apps out there for windows, if you're read many of the WM6.5 articles throughout the net most comment on the fact that the amount of apps out there is growing at a decent rate, hardly reflects your claim that the platform is being fled from. Bear in mind that the Windows Apps store is not the definitive place to get apps, it's not a closed shop like the Apple Apps store where a developer must market their apps.
Omnia2???
Seems to be getting good reviews elsewhere (and rated as highly as the Diamond2) but there has been no reg review at all. Still I have ordered one tonight (on the strength of the other reviews) to replace the original Omnia that has been a good companion for over a year. Gripes with the original, well 6.1 is fiddly but I have never had to resort to the stylus and SPB mobile shell makes it easier, 6.5 is better from what I read. My main gripe was the lack of memory for mails and sms which the II fixes. I will be upgrading to 6.5.1 as soon as I can as it fixes most of the issues with 6.5. Still life in the old dog yet I reckon.
