HTC Leo Mini Review : The King of Phones Unleashed

[WFTW]

Specs:
http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_hd2-2957.php

Some notables:
- 1 GHz Snapdragon SoC
- 4.3" Multi-touch capacitive screen
- 480 x 800 pixels resolution
- Sense UI
- Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate
- Proximity sensor for auto turn-off
- Ambient light sensor
- Pick-to-mute a call
- Speaker with 3.5mm audio jack
- 448 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM
- 5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus, Dual LED flash with geotagging
- HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 2 Mbps
- Stereo FM radio with RDS

Battery
- Talk time Up to 6 h 20 min (2G) / Up to 5 h 40 min (3G)
- Video playback Up to 8 h
- Music play Up to 12 h

HTC's own demo video:


HTC HD2 hands-on and impressions... on video!
http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/06/h...ions-on-video/



By the way, Windows Marketplace also launched on Monday which will ultimately make up to 20,000 apps available for download.
http://www.itpro.co.uk/609884/mwc-09...ws-marketplace
(there are easily 2-3 times that number of apps in the wild, just going through XDA-Devs, PPCG, PPCW, WMexperts, etc forums one can come across thousands of apps that are not commercially available elsewhere.)

[LORD-eX-Bu]

very nice! I was about to get an iphone but I'll wait for this

[WFTW]

Originally Posted by LORD-eX-Bu

very nice! I was about to get an iphone but I'll wait for this

It's launching in the US sometime in the next few months, slated for a Q1 release.

Oh, and it adheres to the Windows Mobile 7 chassis requirements, so when WM7 is made available, this phone will be ready for the upgrade.

[LORD-eX-Bu]

I hope sprint picks this up by then otherwise I'm switching to whoever gets it.

[WFTW]

Originally Posted by LORD-eX-Bu

I hope sprint picks this up by then otherwise I'm switching to whoever gets it.

Man you said it.
This phone could be the only thing that would make me consider dumping my SERO plan, as godly as the SERO plan is.

I may just have to bite the bullet and pay for 2 phone bills per month and use my SERO plan on my Touch Pro as my mobile internet plan since I already tether with it anyways.

[LORD-eX-Bu]

haha SERO FTW!! I still have till next april on my plan.

[ViCyniC]

Very nice! I wanna avoid Apple software and now I have a good reason to . But by the time I'm ready to buy something, something better will probably come out...

[WFTW]

Originally Posted by LORD-eX-Bu

haha SERO FTW!! I still have till next april on my plan.

Yeah, I could never part with SERO all the way, so Sprint better get this phone damn it!

HTC has really outdone themselves with the Leo/HD2.

This thing is as perfect as a phone can possibly get with today's tech, and is far ahead of anything else out there in terms of processing power, so its Windows Mobile 7 compliant too.
But as it stands, with the Sense UI virtually entrenched in every single nook and cranny of WinMo, and WM 6.5 itself being intrinsically more finger-friendly, this device is already nothing short of amazing out of the box on day 1.

Originally Posted by ViCyniC

Very nice! I wanna avoid Apple software and now I have a good reason to . But by the time I'm ready to buy something, something better will probably come out...

Not for a while.
It'll be a race between the 1GHz Snapdragon and the 600+ MHz Tegra SoC's for quite some time to come.

This HD2/Leo is relatively future proof, as it meets MS's requirements for WM7 as well, which will be available next year.

[Zero]

You work for HTC or something?

[WFTW]

Originally Posted by Zero

You work for HTC or something?

Wouldn't mind if they're considering hiring.

Just love the tech, and everyone who's seen this phone either in person or a demo online has had nothing but great things to say about it, so I pay respect where respect is due. This is one hell of a device especially for us gadget geeks.

It could have been a Toshiba, LG, Samsung, Nokia, Motorola, Dell, HP, or any other manufacturer's device, and I would still praise it due to its sheer awesomeness.

Im not partial to HTC, in fact I have some grievances that I would like to take up with them for their past mistakes, but they've made up for it in spades with this device.

Now if Sprint doesn't carry this state-side, then I'll have some grievances with them too!

[Debello]

Is it going to be AT&T or tmobile?

[WFTW]

Originally Posted by Debello

Is it going to be AT&T or tmobile?

It supports CDMA and GSM bands.

It could be either or both, or perhaps Sprint, or even Verizon.

Perhaps all of the carriers for that matter, since the HTC Touch Pro 2 is being released on all 4 of the carriers networks.

But then again this is a phone that Im sure all of them would love to have exclusive selling rights to, unlike the TP2 -- and while the TP2 is nice, it's really outdated tech from last year that wasn't really worth procuring exclusivity rights to ...The Leo/HD2 on the other hand is the tech of tomorrow made available today.

I just hope Sprint gets it, but the phone could be made to support any of the 4 major carriers networks.

[VW_Factor]

Jayme has a touch pro 2. I havent played with it that much, but its a really slick phone.

Wouldnt mind having one of these guys here.

[Sundance Kid V2]

sweet momma!

My next upgrade...

[WFTW]

Originally Posted by VW_Factor

Jayme has a touch pro 2. I havent played with it that much, but its a really slick phone.

Wouldnt mind having one of these guys here.

Yeah, got my fiancee a Touch Pro 2 as well just a few days ago, and while it's a good phone, it seems soooo dated compared to this, well I guess because it is.

It's still using that crappy MSM7201 Qualcomm chip, and it still lacks proper 3D video drivers, and not to mention lacks a lot of the other niceties that the Leo offers.

TP2 is basically 2+ years late to the market, as the 7200 family of processors have been used by HTC in 3 generation of devices now dating back to late 2006.

Snapdragon on the other hand is a different beast altogether. This will make WinMo fly, oh and the 448MB of RAM and stellar GPU certainly don't hurt either .
You should be able to multi-task with breeze, launching dozens of apps simultaneously, the Leo demos also show it flying through 3D apps and elegantly handling video without breaking a sweat.

[Alientank]

Retail price of 550 POUNDS. That's like over $1k US. I don't know how anyone can justify that for a ****ing phone

[ViCyniC]

I'm not gonna pay more than $500 for a phone with a 2 year plan.

[WFTW]

Originally Posted by Alientank

Retail price of 550 POUNDS. That's like over $1k US. I don't know how anyone can justify that for a ****ing phone

How about justifying FREE then:

"HTC Leo looking confirmed for O2 UK debut, will be free on the right plan"

If you needed another reason to frown upon the state of the North American wireless industry, allow us to go ahead and turn your attention to Exhibit A here. What you're looking at is some promotional material backing up earlier rumors that the HD2 / Leo is en route to O2 in the UK, but what's especially upsetting (though not terribly surprising) is the knowledge that customers will be able to scoop up HTC's new ultra-high-end WinMo beast for zilch on an O2 1200 tariff -- a plan that runs something like £45 (about $72) a month. Oh, and that's on an 18-month contract, not 24. Meanwhile, we'll be lucky to ever see the Leo land in its natural, original, HTC-approved state on a carrier at any price in the US, but hey, at least we've still got some more Touch Pro2 launches to look forward to, right?

http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/25/h...free-on-the-r/

FREE.
Yes, Free.

Believe me, no US carrier will put a sticker price of more than $399 after rebates on this phone.
We subsidize the mess out of phones here in the states, and while not FREE as in the case above with O2 UK, still if history is any precedent for HTC devices, then we should be seeing this launch for ~ $350 with a 2 yr plan.

[WFTW]

Originally Posted by Alientank

Retail price of 550 POUNDS. That's like over $1k US. I don't know how anyone can justify that for a ****ing phone

Oh, and I think you're quoting the unsubsidized price.

Because even the iPhone for example = ~ $800 unsubsidized.
http://gizmodo.com/5210590/800-gets-...ne-from-buycom

Same with the Palm Pre, only its $850 unsubsidized
http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/25/b...lm-pre-at-850/

[WFTW]

Originally Posted by ViCyniC

I'm not gonna pay more than $500 for a phone with a 2 year plan.

HTC devices don't sell for that much on any carrier's network when subsidized.

Im sure you can pick this up for ~ $350 on a 2 yr plan after rebates. What Alientank is referring to, God only knows. But on the O2 network in the UK, this phone can be had for FREE already which = 0 pounds which = 0 dollars.
Which also = an 18 month contract, and not even a 24 month one

[CurrentlyPissed]

Originally Posted by ViCyniC

I'm not gonna pay more than $500 for a phone with a 2 year plan.

If its 500$ with a 2 year commitment I am going with the 3GS for only $200 thats just silly to pay that much with a 2 year commitment.

[WFTW]

Originally Posted by CurrentlyPissed

If its 500$ with a 2 year commitment I am going with the 3GS for only $200 thats just silly to pay that much with a 2 year commitment.

Like I noted above.

In the UK on the O2 network, it's FREE on an 18 month contract.

There is NO way in hell this is going to cost $500 on a 2 yr contract here in the states.

HTC phones for the last 3 generations haven't gone for more than $350 for a 2 yr contract on any carrier. We could be seeing this for ~ $299 or so, since the Touch Pro 2's today can be had for free even, as with TMobile, or for $199 as with Verizon.

No way will this thing even hit $400. Let alone $500.

It will be between $299-$349 at most.

[Hidavi]

Just bought a new TP2!!! FOR $170!!! NO EXTRA COMMITMENT!!!

[WFTW]

Originally Posted by Hidavi

Just bought a new TP2!!! FOR $170!!! NO EXTRA COMMITMENT!!!

That's a lot of exclamation marks.

[WFTW]

I thought this would be an interesting tidbit of news as well.

Seems like some people were a bit apprehensive about the phone's size due to its massive 4.3" screen, despite however thin it may be.

However, what's often overlooked is that the screen itself consumes much of the entire surface of the phone, unlike the iPhone, TG01, Touch Pro 2, the original HD, and virtually ever single other device, where the bezel takes up an inordinate amount of space.


For having the largest screen of any phone on the market, it's surprisingly small, considering the fact that the iPhone has a 3.5" screen, whereas the HD2 has a 4.3" screen.

The HD2's screen for example is 21+ mm larger than the iPhones
But the overall height and width dimensions of the HD2 are only 6 mm larger than the iPhone, although its thinner by about 1 mm.

So in essence, the iPhone is wasting about 15 mm of space on the surface due to its excessive bezel size.

The TG01 fairs even worse, with a 4.1" screen but with a ridiculously large bezel.

The original HD with its 3.8" screen, seems to fair a bit better than most, but it too falls short in terms of maximizing real estate on the phone's surface.



The aforementioned 4.1" screen TG01 on the left next to the 4.3" Touch Leo/HD2


http://pocketnow.com/thought/htc-hd2-size-comparisons

[Deaderinred]

Can it toast my bread?

[Zero]

Originally Posted by Deaderinred

Can it toast my bread?

No need, just butter the phone and eat it.

[badboy]

Windows mobile 6.5..............
Its like putting a turd inside a diamond

[Elysian]

Originally Posted by badboy

Windows mobile 6.5..............
Its like putting a turd inside a diamond

This. I'd be onboard with this phone if it was sporting Android. I don't have high hopes for WM7 either, MS couldn't get it right in 6.5 versions, whats to say they got it right with 7? We'll see, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Razeus]

HTC is one of the better WinMobile makers. And that's because they know it's a crap OS and tweak with their own interface. But it's still 6.5 and that's enough alone to let it fly under my radar.