HTC Touch Dual mobile phone review

HTC Touch Dual mobile phone review

As with its older brother, the HTC Touch, the new HTC Touch Dual takes the proven Windows Mobile 6 formula and bolts-on elements to make navigating with a finger far easier. What differentiates the HTC Touch Dual from the original Touch is a slide-out keypad, either in a 12-key numeric layout like a regular phone, or a 20 key SureType-like QWERTY layout similar to that seen on some Blackberry and Samsung devices. This addresses the principal concern of the original Touch: data input. Most everything else about the device is the same as the original, which is far from a bad thing, so be sure to check out our review of that device as well as this one. There HTC Touch Dual.

The original HTC Touch Dual received a Highly Recommended rating from us, and most deservingly so. Our main gripe with the original was its lack of an adequate text entry system, which the HTC Touch Dual has addressed. While it still might not be ideal for road warriors looking to get through vast amounts of email or editing of documents (though the SureType-esque semi-QWERTY version goes far to help here), the addition of a keypad makes the HTC Touch Dual much more usable overall.

Another gripe we had with the original was its lack of 3G data, which again the HTC Touch Dual has addressed. This is offset, however, by the removal of WiFi access. For users that are predominately in 3G areas, this may be the perfect trade-off, but personally I don’t think this really helps the situation from the original.

Looking past those two areas, the HTC Touch Dual maintains all the things that made the original great, including the easy to use touch scrolling and menu, the intelligent touch screen to make small items easier to hit, and the great foundation of Windows Mobile 6. This is a business device at heart, but is a device that will easily bridge the work-personal divide, especially with the great gallery and camera applications, and be a handy addition to anyone’s organizational arsenal.

There is nothing about the HTC Touch Dual that would prevent me from giving it a Highly Recommended rating. It is everything that was wonderful about the original and then some.

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