HTC Titan

Editor's Review of the Titan

The HTC Titan is the first Windows Phone 7.5 handset to arrive in the UK, closely followed by the HTC Radar. Unlike its brother, the Titan - as its name suggests - is huge, sporting a whopping 4.6-inch screen. Can HTC prove that big is beautiful, or is the HTC Titan just simply too large?

Design & Build

The HTC Titan's main-selling point - or put-off, depending on your preference - is its size. With dimensions of 131.5 x 70.7 x 9.9mm it's bigger than the Samsung Galaxy S2, which is due to its massive 4.7-inch Super LCD touchscreen. This screen boasts a resolution of 480 x 800, which while lower than the iPhone 4S's 960 x 680 display, is impressively bright and vivid.

The actual chassis is a unibody job, as you'd find on most of HTC's high-enders including the Sensation and the Desire S. Although stylish, we found the phone hard to grasp with one hand - both due to its size and slippery texture.

Under the hood of the HTC Titan, you'll find a single-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm processor, which although not dual-core like its Android rivals, manages to stand up against the competition. The HTC Titan is impressively nippy, and load times are much improved on last year's HTC Windows Phones (HD7, Mozart, Trophy).

OS & Interface

The main reason to get excited about the HTC Titan is its Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) operating system, which Microsoft promises delivers over 500 new features compared to the previous version of Windows Phone 7. These welcome additions include multitasking, Internet Explorer 9, and Twitter integration in Live Tile form.

Although Microsoft claims Windows Phone 7 - unlike Android - is one of the easiest platform's to get to grips with, it does take a fair bit of getting used to. Once you get do get used to it, however, you'll realise just how slick Mango really is. One tap of the People application, for example, will deliver all of your social networking feeds into one single place, which is much more convincing than Google's similar efforts.

Admittedly, we're big fans of Microsoft's Live Tile interface. However, customization goes as far as changing the background colour, and there is no way for the phone manufacturer to change the design, add, or customise the user interface - which can make every Windows Phone a little bit "samey". Saying that, HTC has added a bunch of pre-installed apps, including HTC Hub, HTC Locations and HTC Watch.

As for "other apps", Windows Phone is still lagging miles behind iOS and Android. There's no Spotify and no Dropbox, and you'll struggling to find you favourite apps from your iPhone, too.

Multimedia & Storage

The HTC Titan sports an 8 megapixel camera with dual-LED flash, a 28mm lens with f/2.2 aperture and BSI sensor for helping in poorly lit surroundings. There's also a dedicated camera button, so you don't have to fiddle around with an on-screen alternative.

Of course, it's camera quality which really matters, and thankfully the Titan doesn't disappoint. Images come out vibrant and full of colour and detail, although - despite the inclusion of a BSI sensor - the results are less exciting in poor light.

In terms of video, the HTC Titan can capture 720p HD footage - and it does the job well. Once you are finished there are a number of sharing options, however, you can't share video to YouTube. Sti.l, watching video looks great on the Titan's mammoth 4.7-inch S-LCD seen, which is further boosted by the inclusion of HTC's on-demand Watch service. From here, you'll be able to buy movies and watch on the go.

Everything Else

It's not just video playback where the Titan's screen excels, as it's also fantastic for browsing the web. This is made even more enjoyable by the inclusion of HSDPA and WiFi connectivity, which makes flicking through websites an absolute breeze.

Sadly, however, there's no flash support - and no BBC iPlayer app for catching up on your favourite TV shows. That means if you want to watch movies or TV shows on the Titan you've got to load them in yourself.

In terms of battery-life, we were surprisingly impressed, as we were expecting the big screen to sock up more than its fair shaThe Titan comes with an powerful 1600mAh juice-box, which we found powered the Titan through into a second day without a 'battery low' warning.

Conclusion

The HTC Titan is by no means for everyone, with its 4.7-inch likely to divide potential buyers straight from the get go. The same goes for its Mango operating system, which is unlikely to appeal to keen iOS users, or those wholly dedicated to Android OS.

For fans of Windows Phone 7, however, this is undoubtedly the best Windows Phone on the market. We were wow-ed by it's big screen - albeit hard to clutch in one hand - and its camera and connectivity proved equally impressive.

Not so keen on the gargantuan screen? Maybe wait to see what Nokia has hiding up its sleeve.