HTC has torn up the rulebook on what Windows Phones are capable of with the HD2, bringing an intuitive user experience and the cream of multimedia functionality to a massive touch display and super-fast processor.

Taking Windows Mobile as the starting point, the HD2 is the culmination of HTC's tweaking mobile platforms to make them fun to use for the uninitiated.

Windows Mobile 6.5 doesn't traditionally work with capacitive touchscreens, nor does it do multitouch, but the Taiwanese phone maker has managed to achieve the impossible and shoehorn the latest smartphone technology into a massive and marvellous device.

We like the result very much.

Form and Features

The HTC HD2 is big. We mean really big. It's not a fat device, nor is it heavy or overly cumbersome. But upon seeing it, there is a reason that there has never been a phone to sport an epic 4.3-inch display before the HD2. It's just a little too big to remain portable, the common rectangular smartphone form factor not lending itself well to pockets and purses when blown up to such lofty proportions.

However, all of these reservations fall away as soon as the HD2 is juiced up and the screen sparks into life. The huge 480 x 800 WVGA display is goes from expansive to stunning, and the richness and quality of the initial home screen is nothing short of phenomenal.

Menu icons have an unforeseen level of clarity, whilst the massive amount of real estate that such a screen affords mean that plenty of information can be displayed at one time. The HTC Sense interface is very visually driven, with cute animations for every swipe of your finger from navigating menus to customising the versatile homescreen.

A carousel of menu options appears as a band at the bottom of the display, allowing quick swipe access to any of the HD2’s salient features from anywhere on the device.

Every aspect of Windows Mobile has been overhauled, with music now taking on an iTunes style album art navigation, and messaging and photos being depicted as virtual pen and paper correspondence (complete with envelope) and swipable Polaroids respectively. Both cute touches, lending a scarcely seen warmth and accessibility to the Windows platform.

The HD2 embodies that sense of character, style and fun, but this smartphone still has Mircosoft’s operating system stoking the flames down in the engine room.

Certain elements can rear their head if you dig deep enough (facets of the mail client, for example), but it’s a testament to the complete and thorough makeover that HTC have given it that these occasions are fleeting and infrequent, giving a cohesive total experience whilst making the most of WinMo's strengths.

The speedy 1GHz SnapDragon processor also makes the Sense UI a great experience, with swift transitions between options, a quick and responsive full touch keyboard, and a robust internet browser that bucks the Windows phone trend by enabling multitouch and pinch to zoom support.

The 5-megapixel camera impresses, as the LED flash and autofocus prove that HTC have made up for omissions in previous handsets, and are offering a strong alternative to a dedicated snapper. That's not to say it isn't slightly annoying, the lens juts out a good quarter of an inch, ruining the otherwise smooth lines of the device, and resulting in the HD2 often resting on it when placed on a surface. Without a cover, it's almost as though they have made the camera a target for scratches... 

Connectivity

Being a smartphone, the full gamut of connectivity options is placed front and centre – Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth – whilst features like GPS and a dedicated Twitter application are there to make full use of them.

Being a Windows Phone, Microsoft Exchange support for corporate mail is robust and fully featured, as is the Marketplace for a myriad of applications, software and digital distractions in the form of games. It’s not quite the smorgasbord of delights in Apple’s App Store, but plenty of titles from the big publishers are available, many of which are visually impressive thanks to the PSP-equalling screen size.

Verdict

Whilst the expansive display makes it easy to thrash out a message, the HTC HD2 is so large as to make it slightly strange to use as a traditional mobile. The phone’s width makes it to hold, whilst one handed texting is certainly out of the question!

The phone is nicely designed, the marriage of Windows Phone brawn with HTC Sense beauty makes for a dynamic duo, but we can’t help but feel that this mobile phone behemoth was a watershed device, and a motivating factor in this new flood of ‘mini’ mobiles.

The HD2 is nothing short of brilliant for movies, music and messaging alike, and has performed miracles in bringing multitouch and a high-quality capacitive screen to a Windows phone, however the device sacrifices a little too much in the portability stakes in its unwavering quest to become the ultimate multimedia device.

Perhaps something the forthcoming HTC HD mini will address, taking all of the HD2's loveliness and placing it ito a smaller form factor? We think so.