Performance

Quite a considerable amount of time was spent testing this phone and therefore, this section will be unusually long and very detailed in order to comment on just aboue every area of performance that many have failed to focus on since the release of this phone.  Everything will be covered here including call quality, signal quality, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, camera quality, voice recording and even some overclocking tests!

Reception & Call Quality

I would like to start off with call and signal quality only because there are some very important things potential buyers should know.  I've followed each and every HTC product release very closely and will say that they have a reputation of marketing their products in a way that not only mislead a majority, but in some cases, downright outrage those who end up purchasing some of their products.  The HTC MTeoR was a perfect example.  Upon its release, it was marketed as a quad band phone when in fact, it was only a tri-band phone.  The official specs were later changed and many ended up returning the phone.

But enough blabbering and venting and let's get to the good news here.  The HTC Touch, although still marketed as a tri-band phone, does indeed support the 850 band and anyone who tells you otherwise apparently does not know what they are talking about and did not take the time to not only do some research, but test the product extensively to figure this out. 

Better yet, after extensive use on a AT&T (orange) account in Florida, I can honestly say that this is without a doubt the best performing Windows Mobile phone I have ever used.  Reception is outstanding and call quality is excellent. 

In terms of overall call quality, this phone will impress.  I would also like to add that the speakerphone on the Touch is extremely loud and one of the best I've heard.  So if you are concerned about the 850 band, don't be.  This phone does support it and its reception and call quality is highly impressive. 

Storage Performance

**click to enlarge**

For those wondering, there is at least something positive to say about its specs.  The HTC Touch features a MicroSD slot that is SD 2.0 compatible.  What this means is that it will support SDHC cards with practically no limit in capacity.  However, be careful here and do some research before purchasing a high capacity card.  I personally would not recommend the use of a SDHC card that does not feature at least a Class 4 rating.  Unfortunately, the technology isn't quite there yet and there are no Class 6 cards available yet in this format.  The highest capacity SDHC card I could find with a Class 4 rating was a 4GB card from Kingston.  I'm very pleased to say that this card performed flawlessly on the HTC Touch and mostly all software was tested on this card, including GPS navigation software.  However, make sure you have the proper hardware to read these cards properly.  I had a very hard time transferring data to it via the included adapter or other rigs to try and get it to work.  Out of four machines, I could only get it to read properly on one.  However, once the data is there, you will not have this issue at all on the device itself.  This simply refers to access via a desktop PC.   This is perhaps a whole other article planned, but just make sure your card reader supports these cards.  I found that even if they did, they would have a hard time accessing this particular card.

Bluetooth & GPS Performance

Many who own a Windows Mobile phone will take full advantage of its built-in Bluetooth and will not only use it with headsets, but also to expand its functionality by pairing it with a Bluetooth GPS receiver.  With that said, its Bluetooth capabilities were tested using both headsets as well as two GPS receivers.  For headset use, it was tested using both a Motorola H3 and a Bluespoon AX2.  For Bluetooth GPS, two different GPS receivers were used, as well as two different navigation programs to test them.

Starting with the headsets, using both with the HTC Touch was quite pleasant.  Pairing them was simple and call quality was just about what you'd expect.  While the H3 did perform better, there were no issues or dropped calls with either of the two products.

The second part of testing, which took quite a bit of time, was its performance with GPS hardware and software.  The lack of built-in GPS functionality on the HTC Touch was another area of major disappointment.  To make matters worse, the fact that there is a CMDA version of the Touch (Vogue) planned for release under a US carrier than actually will have GPS built-in was what seriously irritated me.  I would have felt at ease knowing that it just wasn't possible to include it on such a small device rather than find that the exact same phone is planned for release with such capability.  With that said, the HTC Touch was tested with a CoPilot (branded) SiRFstarIII GPS receiver as well as the super impressive 32-channel Qstarz BT-Q818 which runs on the newer MTK chipset.

GPS performance was tested quite heavily not only to determine how well its its Bluetooth connectivity was, but also to see how well the HTC Touch handled the navigation software.  This consisted of both Google's own mapping software for mobile devices as well as the excellent iGuidance V4 navigation suite for Pocket PC.  Both were tested with the device overclocked and running at 300MHz.  Many test trips were taken and recorded, including a couple of long (1 to 2 hour) concert trips out of my county.

When configured properly, Google Maps did indeed work flawlessly and not only was the Bluetooth connection solid throughout, but its EDGE performance managed to keep up as well.  For those unfamiliar with this application, Google's free navigation software for mobile devices will eat up most of your bandwidth in order to display its route without any noticeable lag or performance impact.  As long as you were not running it in satellite view, it performed flawlessly without any lag or connectivity issues, both from the Bluetooth and EDGE connection.

Moving on to the more resource intensive iGuidance navigation software, it was primarily tested in 3D view with just a couple of minor tweaks for performance.  I was pleased to find that the Touch managed to run this software quite smoothly.  Just a few instances were the map would lag a bit at very high speed.  A minor positive note is the external speaker on the Touch.  As I mentioned earlier, it is very loud and voice commands came in super clear and I would like to add that its unique TTS functionality actually worked very well and was a nice change from other options I've used in the past.  The only issue encountered here was when using the CoPilot receiver.  It took countless frustrating hours to get it configured properly for use with this particular software and even then, it failed to perform properly.  However, the higher-end MTK receiver was a breeze to configure with the app and was the main one used in mostly all test routes with this software.

Wi-Fi Performance

Despite just how small the HTC Touch is, it does feature built-in Wireless LAN 802.11b/g.  For a device this small, its Wi-Fi performance was quite impressive.  Primarily tested on my home network which consists of higher-end D-Link equipment that has been tweaked for maximum performance, the HTC Touch had absolutely no problem connecting to this network and its speed was impressive.

Range was pretty damn good considering its size.  When I was fairly close to my router, I would get full signal strength.  At the farthest point while still indoors, the lowest signal strength was two bars.  Now, the complex where I live is infamous for its high number of wireless networks that are unprotected.  I've always been quite astonished by this and while causing no harm, I always like to tap in to many just for fun.  Indoors, the HTC Touch managed to pick up a total of four wireless networks, two of which were unprotected and I could easily tap in to them.  Moving outside and walking around my complex, the HTC Touch was able to pick up quite a few others and I was able to connect to a number of them as well.  Overall, I was impressed with its range and is indeed better than a number of other Windows Mobile phones I have used, especially in comparison to the HTC S710 Smartphone.

What about actual performance?  It wasn't spectacular, but still very impressive.  Also keep in mind that with these devices, speed will not be entirely accurate and dependant on the performance of the device and the application being used.  The average wireless download speed was roughly around 130Kbps and I was able to download a 1MB test file in just under eight seconds. 

EDGE Data Performance

One of the major downsides to owning this device is the lack of 3G.  Why HTC opted to exclude it with the Touch still frustrates me and is the one feature that has kept many from actually giving in and purchasing this device.  The Touch II, which has just been officially introduced, does have 3G support but the device is much larger and a bit less appealing in design.

However, despite my frustrations, I was pleasantly surprised with its EDGE performance, especially when compared to the HTC Star Trk (Cingular 3125).  AT&T has actually improved its EDGE performance over time and while I still prefer a 3G phone, it is actually quite decent when used with the right device.  The HTC Touch happens to be one of these devices.  I start with some results from my preferred speed test site, Broadband Reports...

While some may not find these results impressive, keep in mind that these were the average speeds based on countless tests performed over a few days.  Also, mostly all tests were run in the very early morning hours where latency and server load times are at their lowest.  While I was actually able to hit some impressive speeds at times, including a max speed of 396kbps, maintaining an average speed well over 200kbps for and EDGE capable phone is actually quite impressive. 

Final tests were conducted using the speed test specific to EDGE devices from Bandwidth Place.  The following were the fastest results out of all performed at different times of the day. 

Not the highest speed achieved with Broadband Reports, but 384kbps for EDGE is certainly above average when compared to the norm in most areas with AT&T, particularly Miami, FL.

The Camera

Personally, I can care less about built-in cameras on phones.  I barely use them and all are far from satisfactory.  2 megapixels, 4 megapixels, 8 megapixels, it doesn't matter.  They are all far less superior to just about all current digital cameras on the market.  However, some phone cameras are significantly better than others and the one on the HTC Touch is decent.  In addition, this 2 megapixel camera on the Touch is controlled via one of the sleekest interfaces I've seen on such a device.  Let's have a detailed look...

Considering the HTC Touch is purely a touchscreen driven device, I was pleased to find that the interface was indeed "finger friendly".  Only after you familiarize yourself with its interface and control features, you can easily control all its functions with your finger and the d-pad.  It all works well and also blends in quite nicely with its TouchFLO interface.

In terms of performance testing, a number of pictures where taken under different environments and camera settings.  The sample pics below were the best out of a large number taken with the HTC Touch.

Pic1 - Indoors Artificial Lighting

Pic2 - Florescent Lighting

Pic3 - Outdoors Daylight (Auto Setting)

Pic4 - Outdoors Daylight (Day Setting)

Pic5 - Outdoors Night (Auto Setting)

Pic6 - Outdoors Night (Night Setting)

As expected, the lack of flash resulted in some horrible night shots and once again, the Auto setting yields the best results.   The most impressive shot of all here though was the one taken of bar sign with florescent lighting.  Considering how poor a number of camera phones have performed when taking such shots, this was the highest quality shot I have taken of this sign with a camera phone. 

Voice Recording

As with all similar phones, taking voice notes or making use of the voice recorder is always quite useful.  However, what I immediately did not like with the HTC Touch was the non-standard format of the files.  Files in .amr format are really a pain to deal with and unless you have the proper tools available, conversion for playback on any PC will be quite an issue.  Not sure why they chose this format and converting them properly at the highest quality was an unnecessary waste of time.  To add to the disappointment, after you hear the sample below, you'll probably agree that the quality of the recordings are far from impressive.  Heck, the mic on the HTC Star Trk produces much better recordings. 

  Sample Voice Recording

Battery Life

Despite just how small the device is and the fact that it has a large 2.8" screen, its battery life was very impressive.  The HTC Touch comes with a respectable 1100mAH battery that does hold up a charge quite well.  However, I was quite skeptical when looking at its specs and found these numbers to be a bit too high under normal use.

Plenty of time was spent testing its performance.  This consisted of tests running both at maximum O/C on wake, as well as stock speed.  It consisted of fairly normal use of the phone with occasional use of all its features, including Bluetooth and a couple of Wi-FI connections. 

Not bad at all.  In fact, the Touch exceed my overall expectations and the difference when overclocked was not substantial enough to not consider it at all.

Build Quality

I have mixed thoughts about its overall build quality.  While is has been able to hold up quite well since I first started using it, it just doesn't "look" like a phone that was all that expensive to build.  Its outer shell feels great and does hold up very well and not prone to scratch easily.  However, the side trimming and volume switch are far from high quality.  With that said, as long as you do not plan to remove and re-insert SIM or storage cards on a regular basis, it should hold up quite well. 

Now, moving on to the screen, I also had some mixed feelings here.  The display is quite picky and when customizing this phone, I found that it ended up displaying lower quality custom images better than those tweaked for the device in Photoshop.  In addition, the viewing angles are horrible and this was something I was immediately not impressed with the second I turned it on for the first time.  However, there were some positive things to note though.  First off, unlike a majority of those who own the device, I personally did not find it and issue to view the screen in bright daylight.  Some have stated it is impossible to read the screen.  I beg to differ, and when you have it at the right angle, it is not really something to complain about at all.  Finally, unlike its fairly unimpressive image quality, video playback on this phone was a sheer pleasure.  Its quality and playback was impressive. 

Overclocking

Finally, we end performance testing with some important details regarding the actual performance capabilities of the HTC Touch.  Other than the lack of 3G, what deterred many from purchase was its somewhat unimpressive specs that were not any different from a majority of similar devices that have been on the market for a few years now.  This includes its somewhat standard 201MHz processor.  However, this should not discourage most and nothing would be complete here at ExtremeMHz without some attempt to push a product to the next level.  Yes, if you do your research, you will find that like many similar devices, the HTC Touch can indeed be overclocked easily and most importantly...safely.  However, I have found that not every Touch owner has been able to overclock their phone as high as other users.  Some report that the phone simply crashes, while others report some common GUI related issues. 

The most reliable synthetic benchmark for Windows Mobile devices was used for testing OC performance.  With my Touch, I was easily able to overclock it to 300MHz without any issues.  It has been running at this speed for as long as I owned the product.  The results above clearly show a significant boost in performance.  In fact, application load times and overall responsiveness was significantly noticeable.  However, after extensive testing, I found that the bench results themselves varied depending on a number of very important factors such as power source, available memory and number of installed applications. 

I've read a few reviews where they put down this phone for its "sluggish" performance.  I strongly disagree with this.  Other than a few menus, whether it was running at stock or OC speed, the HTC Touch was more than acceptable for everyday use.  In fact, it handled CPU intensive apps quite well, including some GPS navigation software that tends to bog down similar phones on the market.  Folks, do your homework before you come to such conclusions.  Performance is not really an issue with this phone and best of all, its impact on battery life when running at its maximum stable overclock is quite minimal. 

Next: Accessories