HTC TyTN II review: Kaiser of PocketPCs

One of the hottest PDAs around lately, the HTC TyTN II is one feature-loaded son-of-a-gun. It's got what it takes to quench your daily communication needs, and more: HSDPA/HSUPA, Wi-Fi, 2.8" touchscreen TFT display, hardware QWERTY keyboard, 3 megapixel camera with auto focus and a built-in GPS receiver. A 400 MHz processor is in charge of all that on a Windows Mobile 6.0 Pro platform. If that's more than enough to tickle our curiosity - and yours - we seem to have the right scratch: the HTC TyTN II review.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
• Tri-band HSDPA/HSUPA 3.6 Mbps with video calls
• 400MHz Qualcomm processor
• 2.8" 65K color touchscreen TFT display with QVGA resolution
• Integrated Qualcomm GPS receiver with pre-bundled TomTom navigation software
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
• 3 megapixel autofocus camera
• microSDHC memory card slot
• HTC TouchFLO technology allows smooth finger scrolling and panning
• Hardware QWERTY keyboard
• Slide and tilt construction
• Sturdy build and quality casing

Main disadvantages

• Hefty weight of 190 g
• Processor is not powerful enough
• No graphics acceleration hardware
• No FM radio
• Out-of-the-way On/Off key
• TouchFLO cube is not available
• TomTom allows download of only one city map

The HTC Kaiser platform, which the HTC TyTN II is based on, is supposed to have several different flavors - one with no cameras whatsoever, another with only a primary camera and no video calling, and finally, the third one (which we are reviewing) has both a primary and a video-call camera. Currently, the HTC Kaiser is incarnated in a few units under different brands: HTC TyTN II P4550 (our test unit), T-Mobile MDA Vario III, AT&T Tilt 8925, Vodafone v1615, and Vodafone VPA Compact V. It will be no surprise if more are to join the crew in the future.

The HTC TyTN II is not groundbreaking in the Windows Mobile realm - it's hardly compact measuring 112 x 59 x 19 mm and weighing 190 g (much like the Qtek 9100 but heavier, or like the original HTC TyTN but slimmer). OK, the fellow has a belly, but it also has the guts. Besides HSUPA and the integrated GPS receiver, the sliding QWERTY keyboard is a definite highlight. Once you slide it down, you can tilt the display to as much as 120 degrees up, so that you can lay the device comfortably on your desk and get perfect visibility of the screen. Check out our 360-degree spin of the HTC TyTN II after the jump.

Final words

The HTC TyTN II is a wonderful device and it packs in some nice features. Its design is high-tech, yet solid and functional. The communication capabilities allow using it in almost every out-of-the-office scenario. We liked the QWERTY keyboard and the notebook-like usability of the device. The integrated GPS receiver is another really cool feature. The battery too is on par with the rich feature set of the device.

The downsides we found with the TyTN II are that it doesn't have a VGA resolution display and it's not really pocketable. It doesn't have a 3D accelerator or USB host function either . The 400MHz Qualcomm processor is somewhat sluggish and is incapable of playing video at a resolution higher than QVGA.

So although the HTC TyTN II will be a highly sought after gadget, we don't find it to be the ultimate communication device. The particular mix of features will probably account for its high popularity but it fails to justify an upgrade from the original TyTN though, as the innovations it offers just don't seem to balance with the swollen price. However the HTC TyTN II is a great option if you are upgrading from an older device, or if it's your first step in the PocketPC world.