Carrier Design Philosophy- Touch Pro2
Did you know that there are at least 5 unique versions of the HTC Touch Pro2? The original HTC design, then each of the 4 major U.S. Carrier-branded versions. Below is an exterior comparison of the HTC Touch Pro2 (codename: Rhodium) and how each U.S. Carrier has left its own unique mark on the appearance.
As a baseline, presented is the stock (unlocked, GSM) HTC Touch Pro2 straight from HTC. This is how the device was originally drawn out by the designers at HTC.
FRONT- As you can see, there is a small 'HTC' logo centered on the top of the device for the front, along with the screen and the chrome sides.
BACK- On the back, there is silver text that says 'HTC Touch Pro2' on the brushed aluminum back and a white outer surrounding edge.
KEYBOARD- For the slide-out keyboard, there are silver keys on a brushed aluminum backing. Standard QWERTY keyboard.
T-Mobile Touch Pro2
FRONT- For the front of the device, T-Mobile has the now ubiquitous Carrier branding on the left upper side and the HTC logo on the right. For the sides, T-Mobile has opted to use a graphite-like pastel.
KEYBOARD- T-Mobile has moved away from the silver and white mixture that HTC used and has black keys on a dark gray backing, with silver sides.
BACK- For the back of the device, T-Mobile has had their own battery cover designed. There is a dark silver speaker grate with a bright silver design around the Camera Lens and Speaker phone button, with text stating '3.2 Mega Pixel'. On the upper half, there is a black box. At the bottom there is a Fav 5 image.
AT&T TILT 2 (Touch Pro2)
FRONT- From what can be gleaned from the above image, the AT&T model has a chrome outer housing with the standard screen. If you look closely, you will be able to see a AT&T branding logo on the upper right of the device and the HTC logo on the upper left.
*Interesting tidbit- Based on the image above, it is sporting WM 6.5, unlike any other carrier device, which have all been seen running WM 6.1. It appears to be the lock screen for WM 6.5.
KEYBOARD- AT&T has gone with white keys set against a black backplate, but unlike the other 3 U.S. carriers, has gone without a dedicated number pad, instead opting for a numeric keypad and blue Fn keys.
BACK- Without any images surfacing of the back battery cover for the AT&T Tilt 2, we can only guess at what it will look like. This post will be updated as soon as more information becomes available.
Verizon Touch Pro2
FRONT- Verizon has placed their well-known logo front and center at the top, and towards the bottom, below the Zoom Bar, sits the HTC logo. Everything is swathed in a black fashion.
KEYBOARD- Standard black keys on a light gray back plate and black sides. Completely opposite of the unlocked HTC device.
BACK- The outer half of the device is a matte silver and the inner half of the battery cover lies a speaker grate with lots of little holes running from the camera lens to almost the bottom. Right below the Speaker phone button, there is '3.2' text in silver and mid way lies another, smaller, HTC logo. On the bottom half of the black speaker grate there lies a Map of the World (alluding to the fact that this device is a world phone).
SPRINT TOUCH PRO2
FRONT- Upper left there is a Sprint logo and across from it there is a HTC logo. The sides are crafted in a gray shade.
KEYBOARD- For the keyboard, Sprint has opted for black keys on a dark gray backing, with black sides.
BACK- By far the most far reaching redesign, Sprint has opted for a brownish covering. Center and towards the bottom, there is a HTC logo, midway and towards away from the volume rockers is '3.2 Mega Pixel'. What I can only describe as a reverse block cut out design envelops the upper half of the battery cover. It goes around the Camera Lens/ Speaker Button, and tapers down to the bottom of the cover.
Hardware differences-
Hardware wise, there are 3 major differences (besides exterior components) to be found.
Cellular Technology supported-
The Sprint and Verizon models are CDMA and the T-Mobile/AT&T are GSM. Verizon/Sprint both offer EVDO Rev A support while T-Mobile and AT&T have support for their HSPA 3G services. Also, Sprint/Verizon have decided to offer their phones with Quadband GSM support, meaning that these devices can be used worldwide using a SIM card.
3.5 MM Headphone Jack-
Second major difference is that both Sprint and Verizon have included a 3.5 MM headphone jack while T-Mobile has omitted this feature. This allows any user to plug in their favorite pair of headphones while any T-Mobile user has to use the included USB dongle to use a 3.5 MM set of headphones. The AT&T device is currently unknown if in possession of a 3.5 MM Headphone jack.
CPU/Other-
Any user of a Touch Pro or Diamond will feel right at home when it comes to hardware muscle. All carrier branded phones have made no major chipset-wise upgrades. The GSM models (T-Mobile/AT&T) have the well-known Qualcomm® MSM7200A™ CPU, clocked at 528 MHz. The CDMA models (Sprint/Verizon) have upgraded to the Qualcomm® MSM7600™ chipset. Other than the inclusion of Quadband GSM support, this appears to be the same basic CPU used in the CDMA Touch Pro and Diamond, as the clock speed of 528 MHz is the same.
Other than the above mentioned differences, the following specs are the same for all 3 devices.
| Model | HTC Touch Pro2 (T7373) |
| Operating System | Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional |
| Memory | ROM: 512 MB RAM: 288 MB |
| Dimensions(LxWxT) | 116 X 59.2 X 16.65 mm (4.57 X 2.33 X 0.66 inches) |
| Weight | 178.5 grams (6.3 ounces) with battery |
| Display | 3.6-inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen with 480 X 800 WVGA resolution Adjustable tilt screen |
| Network | HSPA/WCDMA:
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:
|
| Device Control | TouchFLO™ 3D Zoom bar |
| Keyboard | Slide-out 5-row QWERTY keyboard |
| GPS | Internal GPS antenna |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth® 2.1 with Enhanced Data Rate and A2DP for wireless stereo headsets Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g HTC ExtUSB™ (11-pin mini-USB 2.0, audio jack, and TV Out* in one) |
| Camera | Main camera: 3.2 megapixel color camera with auto focus Second camera: VGA CMOS color camera |
| Audio supported formats | AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, QCP, MP3, WMA, WAV, MIDI, M4A |
| Video supported formats | WMV, ASF, MP4, 3GP, 3G2, M4V, AVI |
| Battery | Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery Capacity: 1500 mAh Talk time:
Standby time:
Video call time: Up to 160 minutes |
| Expansion Slot | microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible) |
| AC Adapter | Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60 Hz DC output: 5V and 1A |
| Special Features | G-Sensor Straight Talk™ Noise-cancelling dual microphones and speakers |
Overall-
In relation to the original design laid out by HTC, all three carrier's have made their own unique contributions for their own network. For T-Mobile, removal of the 3.5 MM headphone jack is the biggest loss for any customer, while Sprint users will work with a back battery cover that is unlike anything else out there. AT&T (new name not withstanding) has removed the user-friendly dedicated numeric key row and has reverted back to using a numeric keypad accessed by first pressing the Fn button. Customers of Verizon have the device that has stayed mostly true to the aspirations of HTC when they first went out to design this cellular device.
I hope sprint will have additional backs to add to the tp2. I hate that back. Vzw and tmo looks sweet. Sprint looks lame.
At&T’s verison is better looking, but its all bout Sprint baby!
the original htc design gets my vote.
HTC Design FTW! In leau of that, I’ll take Att, then Verizon’s, then the redone edges of Sprint…..and you can keep T-Mobile’s LOL
I wonder if the Verizon back will fit on the back of the Sprint TP2 and match as far as colors. From the leaked pictures it looks as though the front of the sprint tp2 is the same color as the back of the verizon tp2.
I’m with tsowen- I’d like to know if these backs will be interchangeable.
What the heck were they thinking with the new Sprint back?
That plus the lack of a camera light (which I use as a light mapped to a key on a regular basis) is creating all sorts of hesitation in my head. Why can’t they just make a phone without crapping up *SOMETHING* already!
In a perfect world…
GSM screen/face(only HTC logo)
Verizon’s battery cover
GSM keyboard layout
AT&T keyboard key/background color combo
T-mobile and Sprint didn’t contribute any style, IMHO
Sprint usually takes the worst model of the bunch
Why does everyone hate Sprint’s back? I think it’s awesome.
To be real about this….why mess with the phone when it was already sweet. It looked nice htc did a good job. Why fix it if it aint broke…lol
I don’t hate the Sprint back, I just think it was incredibly poor color choice. The phone is intended to be a sleek and classy, yet powerful phone. It would me much more appropriate to use a neutral color like silver or black. The texture is nice, but colors like orange should be OPTIONS.
It’s possible, just possible, that Sprint wanted
to distinguish this phone as a:
Non-iPhone-Johnny-Come-Lately-Clone-Look-&-Feel
In addition there’s the possibility that the back
cover design also provides better protection
against normal use and better performance with
the perforation layout? Maybe…
And I’m not promoting Sprint in any way here;
But maybe someone over there figured that many of
us that will buy this behemoth would customize
it anyways with protective covers and such. So
unless you prefer a clear cover, this issue is
basically moot, no?
But the missing LED, especially one that could
have been used as a regular light source, would
have completed this phone properly and made it a
true candidate as the phone-to-beat; along with a
more flawless WM 6.5 OS, 5MP camera and good photo
editing software, and the missing FM radio?
Ok, one more thought regarding yea or neh, which
I believe does belong here in the design
philosophy section;
First, my prejudice for this issue regards that
I’d be upgrading from a Mogul that I’ve been
using for 1.2 years now:
So my line of thinking says that if this phone
can handle multimedia and multitasking without
much fuss or soft resetting constantly, and
I can get 1.5 to 2 years use out of it without
feeling that I’m losing out because of another model, then this phone would be a good purchase;
Because from what I’ve read, researched, and studied, it’s going to be a good 2 years before any major advancements appear on the market for
phone hardware, software, and network capability;
At least in the North American market.
The only item I’ve seen with a ‘wow’ factor was
some video for an nVidia phone that could play
some interactive first-person-shooter game that
used the phone’s camera to place you as a player in a model landscape placed on a table.
So coming from a Mogul: The keyboard, screen, and
more SPB-Mobile-Shell3-Pro-like-app HTC
interface, along with the great work from PPC
Geekers, XDA, and all the other other developers,
make the TP2 seem like the phone the Mogul should
have been in the first place;
Late to the party but anticipated with reasonable
enthusiasm.
I personally like the Sprint version. My openion about the battery cover is they are trying to fix the overheating issue they had with the Touch Pro. The one thing I’ve seen missing from all the carrier pics is the front video camera. It pisses me off that the carriers decide what we want and give no choice to us.
That’s right, the VGA front camera for, whatever. I
remember a while back someone mentioning video
phone service for Sprint, $149.00, or something to
that effect.
Hmmm.
At first, I liked the back on the Sprint version. It looks to me like the holes look suspiciously like a speaker grill. I see that the backs of the others are perforated as well and probably for the same reason. I bet it has nothing to do with cooling, but everything to do with that dual mic and speaker system. It makes sense with the idea being to lay the phone face-down and hit the speakerphone button thats right below the camera.
I haven’t seen anythng about it but I wonder if the TP2 will play audio in stereo. This could be the “Music phone” of the PPC world. I just wonder how loud it will get. As a musician, and especially as a guitar player I appreciate the loud, LOL! As a PPCGeek, I’m waiting for all the “PLEASE HELP, My TP2[insert issue here]” posts.
T-Mobile’s looks very cheap and about ready to break. AT&T has the best looking device, the keyboard is not a big issue as I like the e-mail functions more so than the number pad, since the device is to be used for e-mail and text on the go, we AT&T users don’t have to hit a symbole key. Verizon’s is next in line, with Sprint way at the bottom because the device will likely need to be replaced before it’s taken out of the box!
Personally, I kind of like the Sprint back. The VZW back, I think, looks terrible. When the phone is held upright, its hard to tell the speaker grill is fashioned into a map of the world, it just looks like parts of the plastic are flaking off exposing the metal underneath and that just looks tacky to me. I am a little disappointed to see there is no longer a LED flash and I could just see myself constantly putting the phone into speakerphone mode accidentally due to the placement of that button… LOL.
Where is the flash for the camera! I would have like for HTC to have kept that option.
verizons version just hit the website in my area!!(301/703/571/202/240)metro dc area!! i will buy mine for $100!!!!
thank u new every two!!! hint to verizon customers u can save the credits!!!
AT&T’s keyboard is a deal breaker for me. Contract is up, I am going Sprint or Verizon.