Currently labeled as one of the most powerful smart phones on the market i just could not wait to get my hands on a HTC Touch Cruise. Unfortunately my contract is not up for renewal any time soon so i decided to bite the bullet and go and buy a factory unlocked Sim free model for the handsome price of approx £400 British pounds.
When the phone arrived i was a little shocked that my distributor (Total PDA) had chosen packaging that came across as flimsy but never the less i accepted receipt of the goods and “signed my life away”
Upon opening the City-Link mail bag i was presented with an elegant black box that i must say looks very executive. I carefully opened the box i was presented with the luxurious looking smart phone.
Upon turning on the phone i was prompted with various questions you might expect from a Windows Mobile device. For example i was asked to select my time zone and enter my locale information.
After doing this the phone then went to the next screen and prompted me to align the display correctly. This was easily done using the on screen targets and the stylus that is provided with the phone.
Now the phone had loaded to the “Today” screen a useful box then popped up that automatically configured my GPRS / HSDPA settings to my operator T-Mobile UK.
Straight away i loaded the pocket Opera version bundled with the phone and began to browse the Internet, instantly i had a HSDPA signal and was able to browse at decent speeds.
After my venture with Internet browsing via the mobile phone network i then went on to configure the phone for wireless LAN this was all a breeze using the built in comms manager. I was soon connected to my own WiFi network in under 30 seconds.
I discovered i was able to access the comms manager from the Touch Flo interface making it quick and simple to turn options such as WiFi, Blue-tooth and Data Connection on or off.
Overall the phone is fast and fun to use, the integrated Touch Flo interface is bordering on the functionality of Apple’s iPhone but no where near as powerful.
Some disadvantages i think the phone have are.
- Lack of IMAP IDLE support
- No advanced touch interface
- Poor battery life
- Laggy camera viewer
I hope that HTC decide to refine this model and bring out possibly a HTC Touch Cruise II with longer battery life and a more advanced touch interface.