Hands On With the HTC Titan *Updated* 11/12/11

This article has been updated to ad additional photos taken with the HTC as well as a demonstration of the 720p capabilities. A few new remarks have been added to the end of the "Camera" section. 

A quick initial note. I will not be reviewing this phone and comparing it to other OSes. I intend to review this phone solely on the phone's features rather than Windows Phone's feature set as best as I can. 

By this point most everyone following Windows Phone knows about the Titan and the hardware it holds. Well I was lucky enough to snag myself an HTC Titan at the Windows Phone Inner Circle Event that was held last night in downtown St. Louis. I figured this would be a great way to write my first hands on review, seeing as the phone still won't be released for another week in the US.

To start, the phone I won was an unlocked, unbranded, HTC Titan. It was clear that this is not the same Titan that AT&T will carry because it's missing the obvious at&t branding as well as it being boxed with a european wall charger. Neither of these are an issue to me (and the unbranded note makes it even more attractive to me) but I was a little worried that it may not be the same exact phone that AT&T will be bringing to the table.

Update: This was a non-issue. The phone is the exact same offering as the AT&T phone will be, just unbranded.

Hardware:

To quickly recap what, exactly, the HTC Titan is packing, here's a quick and simple list of specs.
- 4.7" SLCD (Super LCD) Screen (400x800)
- 1.5 GHz Processor
- 16 GB Memory
- 512 MB RAM
- 8 MP Rear Camera with dual LED Flash and 1.3 MP Front Facing Camera (more on these later)

To start, the screen is very bright and very, well, big. It's no lie that this is absolutely the biggest Windows Phone on the market, as of now, and one of the biggest phones on the market period (of course dwarfed by the 5" Samsung Note).

The combination of the 1.5 GHz processor and Windows Phone OS makes this a very quick and snappy experience with virtually no lag when swiping, dragging, zooming, and opening apps. It goes to show that with proper hardware/software integration the user experience can be extremely satisfying.

While I was looking to snatch up a 32 GB phone this year I must say that I am not completely upset by the small storage. I have quick and easy access to skydrive, spotify, and even my Google Music beta account which makes it easy for me to access my music (which is what takes up most of the space on my phones) from anywhere.

At just 9.9mm thick and utilizing a unibody design, the HTC Titan feels excellent in the hand and while the large screen may be too big for some, I found it to be just in my taste.

Initial Start-up:

When turning on the phone you are greeted with a soft tone and a blaringly bright white screen that quickly changes (perhaps not quickly enough) to an HTC and Windows Phone intro. When the phone starts up you are asked to sign in with a Windows Live or Hotmail account (or set one up). I, of course, chose to use the same login as I use for my Xbox gamertag. As you continue setting up the phone it asks you for a few more initial logins, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, GMail, etc. I found this very quick and painless and very straight forward. Very good for a first time smartphone user.

After set up, I toyed around with the phone and browsed the settings and finally had everything set up for use in the US. Of course, those of you purchasing this phone subsadized through AT&T shouldn't have that issue at all.

Camera:

The HTC Titan comes equipped with an 8 MP camera with an F2.2 lens, dual LED flash and BSI sensor. The camera, from what I've used it for so far, has taken excellent photos all around. As with many phone cameras you're going to have some issues in low light but not as much as I've seen on other premium phones. The dual LEDs really help light up the photo but can also result in photos being washed out if you're not careful.

As with all Windows Phones (required by Microsoft) the HTC Titan has a two stage, dedicated camera button which makes taking pictures a very comfortable experience on this phone. Another Windows Phone exclusive is the quick camera launch from the lock screen. Because all Windows Phones have dedicated hardware buttons, Windows was able to utilize this feature very well. A long press of the camera button, while on the lock screen, will bring up the camera app. After taking a photo you'll even have the option of sharing it while still locked.

While I, of course, wouldn't use this camera for any professional photos, I would trust this phone to take excellent vacation and event quality photos. I would say this is a borderline point-and-shoot replacement. On that note, the zoom is something that will not likely replace point-and-shoots for a long time due to the space restrictions on the lens. The first phone with optical zoom will be the first casual camera killer.

One feature that was exclusive to the HTC device is panorama stitching. I was able to very quickly, and very accurately, take a quick panorama and stitch them together. The result, when used in confined spaces, is a curvey, almost surreal image. It makes for a very fun effect when indoors and a very useful capture method outdoors.

Quick panorama from the break room of my "other" job.

Inside the settings in the camera app you'll find tons of options. Some of them being "Effects" which is the usual Sepia, B&W, etc., "Burst Shots" which takes 6 pictures at a very rapid speed (the shutter lag on this device is non existent), "White Balance" which is the usual options such as Daylight, Fluorescent, etc., "Contrast", "Saturation", and "ISO" ranging from 100-800. You'll also find adavanced settings which contains Face Detection, Metering Mode, and Flicker Adjustment.

The HTC is also capable of recording 720p video. I have not been able to test this feature but I will upload a test video within the next 24 hours.

UPDATE 11/12/11: Alright I managed to snag a video using the 720p mode on the HTC Titan. Below are some additional comments and the video.


So when I went and shot the video on the HTC Titan it was overcast and overall not very nice out. However, the Titan performed on par with other phones of it's stature given the weather. One feature I did learn about this phone is that while filming you can turn on the dual LEDs for some additional light to really make a dark scene pop. I have not used this feature as of yet, but it's a safe bet that it will mostly only work on objects close to the camera.

In addition to the video below I have posted some additional pictures taken from the same area (same bad weather) as well as some more appropriate panorama shots. These are all taken without changing settings in phone or on the computer, however, the phone should, in theory, perform better when using the additional white balance and ISO settings.

Here's the video uploaded at 720p:

Here are some additional shots taken with the camera:

And some outdoor panoramas:

Performance:

While I have already touched on the performance and speed of the OS, I would like to quickly touch on battery life.

While I have only had the phone for a day (and don't intend to run a harsh battery drain test on my phone) I have no complaints. I went through a day of above average use (showing it off to everyone uses quite a bit of data time) and as I sit here now 20 hours later, it stil isn't dead. Microsoft has gone and taken the extra step, however, to ensure that you won't be stuck without a phone in case of emergencies. When the phone is about to take it's last breath of the day it will prompt you to turn on a sort of power saving mode in the settings. This, according to Microsoft, can extend your battery life for an extremely large amount of time. However, as you might guess, your live tiles will not be updated and your phone will not send/receive email updates. It's a nice feature for when you may be somewhere unfamiliar and away from a charger.

While benchmark apps are hard to come by on Windows Phone I managed to snag one up from the marketplace and put the Titan through it's paces. In WP Bench the Titan, when run three times, averaged at about a 98 which is amongst the top 5 (as of now) on the WP Bench charts. Not bad seeing as the only other competition is coming from Samsung's Focus S (as shown in the charts). One of the results of the benchmark was an average of 41 frames/s which should make for some excellent gaming.

The HTC Titan does not take advantage of the LTE service on at&t (it's not supported on Windows Phone... yet) but it does use the HSPA+ which is plenty fast for even the most demanding users. Since I was given the UK version I had a bit of an issue getting it set up on AT&T's data network but after I got it all up and running it stayed connected to the H+ network the whole day (St. Louis, MO). I was very pleased to be able to quickly get my updates, make my downloads, and most of all, show off the feature set of the phone to the people around me.

Call quality on the device is good, but not superb. The person on the other end sounds almost distant requiring me to turn the volume all the way up on the speaker. However, this could just be me. I have not yet received any complaints of issues from the other end so it's a safe bet that call quality is on par with other flagship devices. This brings me to my final point. The HTC Titan gives you the option to output 5.1 surround sound to speakers, or headphones, when available. HTC is known for emphasizing sound quality in their devices and they didn't fail here. Listeing to music and in game sounds from the speaker is often pleasing and far from the ear splitting highs we hear from a lot of other phone speakers.

Summing It Up:

If you're in the market for a Windows Phone and you can't decide between the Titan and the Focus S, you can rest assured that you won't be wrong in choosing either. HTC, in my opinion, feels better in the hand than the Focus S and looks a lot more like a flagship device. Samsung tends to stick with their plastic designs while HTC often utilizes a sleek metal body. Overall, the device was very quick and responsive, gave excellent results accross the board, was easy to set up and use, and is feature packed to the brim, so much so that you'll find yourself trying to think of an app to download, because you simply aren't given a need as with other OS flavors.

Got questions or comments? Post 'em up in the comments section below and I'll get back to you!

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Posted in: HTC,Microsoft,Mobile,Titan,Windows Phone