*sniff* I have tears in my eyes. Looks like HTC finally listened and has built my dream phone—or something close to it: the HTC Touch Pro2. I really liked the first generation HTC Touch Pro but the inadequate screen size just didn't do it for me. However, the new HTC Touch Pro2 features a whopping 3.6 inch widescreen display, now that's enough screen size for me.

Design

Taking a page from the design of the HTC TyTN II, the HTC Touch Pro2 offers a slide-out QWERTY keyboard with a tilting screen, but what's great about the screen is that you can tilt it manually at any angle you choose. One of the things that turned me off with the previous HTC Touch Pro was its bulkiness. Up front, it looks good but turned sideways, it looks and feels heavy. HTC was only able to slightly address that design issue with the HTC Touch Pro2 since it's now only 17.3mm, it's still thick and I wish they were able to squeeze the thickness of the device so it would be as thin as the Nokia N97.

Features

Looks like HTC is really learning its lesson. I saw the first gen HTC Touch Diamond in its demo version and it's the interface was not quite there back then and from the complaints of the first HTC Touch Diamond users, it looks like HTC wasn't able to address the lagginess on their production model. The demo version shown at the MWC 2009 seems to have its quirks ironed out and the user interface was really fast and the touchscreen was much more responsive than on the previous models. I actually drooled upon seeing how good the new TouchFlo 3D is. However, looking at all videos of the Touch Pro2 on YouTube, I didn't see anyone actually handling the device. All of the videos feature the HTC demo guy holding the phone so it made me wonder if the UI was actually REALLY fast or its just an illusion since the demo guy knows which button actually works fast. Then again, it might be my imagination.

So, aside from the big screen, what else is new on the HTC Touch Pro2? Well, there's the enhanced loudspeaker which is a feature of their Straight Talk speakerphone innovation. According to HTC, the dedicated noise-canceling microphone can deliver high quality conference calls. Well just have to hear that to believe that.

Disappointingly, aside from the revamped design and the faster and more responsive UI, HTC decided to retain much of the previous HTC Touch Pro specifications including its Qualcomm 528MHz processor, 288 MB of RAM, and MOST disappointingly—the 3.15 megapixel camera. The HTC Touch Diamond got a 5 megapixel upgrade, why did HTC scrimp out on the HTC Touch Pro2? Again, the answer may be because HTC learned from its previous mistake of making the HTC Touch Pro better than the Touch Diamond without putting a distinction between the two so naturally, users went for the better device, thus making the Touch Diamond's sale slump. Good strategy for HTC, bad for undecided consumers, but then again, there are other options from other manufacturers.

Outlook and Conclusion

I was totally blown away by the HTC Touch Pro2's design and user interface. I must admit, this device definitely looks promising. However, those who already have the Touch Pro may want to think twice before upgrading since you'll only get a UI update which, hopefully, you can get from custom ROMs or firmware upgrade (if HTC is willing to make the enhanced TouchFlo 3D available to their lesser devices). HTC TyTN II users who didn't upgrade to the Touch Pro may want to upgrade this time around. As for me, I'm willing to consider this to be my next device if HTC promises to upgrade the OS to Windows Mobile 6.5.