Are HTC phones any good without Android?

In my years of reviewing phones, I’ve only tried two HTC phones. One is the Windows Mobile powered HTC Touch Dual and the Android-powered HTC Dream. Before that, HTC was way down my list of phone brands. Until Android came.

Today, the HTC Magic is probably one of the most sought-after smartphones locally (although the price kinda ruined all that excitement). The phone was also the subject of focus between telco-rivals Smart and Globe.

htc dream

Yet, I can’t shake the ~~fact~~ feeling that all these attention is probably due to Google’s Android OS rather than the device itself. This brings me to the question — are HTC phones any good without Android?

htc magic

The HTC Magic isn’t the most powerful phone from HTC. I reckon that the forgotten HTC Touch HD was better specs-wise but I have yet to see someone owning that model ever since it was launched.

My the coolness factor that comes with Google Android, I would bet HTC will be going all-out Android in most of its upcoming handsets.

Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

https://www.yugatech.com

19 Comments

Raven says:

15 years ago

I heard a l0t of c0mments that aside fr0m what htc used as 0s bef0re (the winm0) which really disapp0ints m0st users is the quality itself. I d0nt kn0w but when c0mpared t0 other manufacturers, theirs are well maybe cann0t be with y0u f0r a l0ng time.
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chris says:

15 years ago

actually i am a fan of htc since my cousin and my friend from the states introduced it to me… their phones are durable and at the same time cool!
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Doc Harry says:

15 years ago

My friend bought the Touch HD. Last time we talked about his phone, he was still raving about it.

I test drove a per-owned HTC Dream. Android seemed great but it was really slow on start-up and in-between menu changes. Maybe if it some of the apps were unloaded it would run faster.
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Nil A. says:

15 years ago

‘Got tired of waiting for the Samsung i8910 Omnia HD; so, i recently got myself a HTC Touch Pro2 instead. It’s been great ever since i got it.
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Young says:

15 years ago

Yuga you should aslo look at the upcoming HTC-WinMo phones, like the HTC Touch Pro2 and Diamond 2. I don’t think HTC would go all Android any time soon.
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jumper says:

15 years ago

you probably haven’t been covering HTC much, hence your question. HTC phones are geared more towards business users, but they have fantastic designs and they’re usually powerful, packed w/ functions and features w/o sacrificing its appearance.

a list of “firsts” from htcwiki.com:

* First color palm-size PC (1999)
* First Microsoft Pocket PC (2000)
* First Microsoft wireless Pocket PC (2002)
* First Microsoft powered Smartphone (2002)
* First Microsoft Smart Music Phone (2004)
* Large 2.8″ TFT touch-screen LCD display
* First Microsoft 3G Phone (2005)
* First Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 Platform Phone (2005)
* First tri-band UMTS 3G device on the Microsoft Windows Mobile platform (2006)
* First Microsoft Windows 5.0 Smartphone (2006)
* First Tri-band UMTS PDA
* First intuitive touch screen to allow finger tip navigation (June 2007)

popular HTC phones unclude the Wizard, TyTN series, and the Touch series (Pro, Diamond, HD).

it is also the OEM manufacturer of great smartphones like the O2 XDA’s (I, II, and the Mini) and the SE Xperia.
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jumper says:

15 years ago

oh and here’s a list of HTC models and the brands they were sold under.

http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_pocketpc_smartphone.php3
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Knight says:

15 years ago

I agree with jumper. HTC has long been known a maker of quality phones.

HTC products are sold under several brand names â€” HTC, Dopod (HTC’s subsidiary company) and Qtek â€” and are often rebranded by major telecommunication carriers such as Orange, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, O2, Vodafone, AT&T, Alltel, Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility.

HTC is the Original design manufacturer for the following companies that retail Windows Mobile-based PDAs: Dell, Fujitsu-Siemens, HP/Compaq, i-mate, Krome, Palm, Sharp Corporation, and UTStarcom. It also manufactures ultra-mobile PCs.

I’m not sure if you remember Smart Amazing Phone. It was actually an HTC product rebranded for Smart telco.
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Abe Olandres says:

15 years ago

@knight and jumper – I guess they have good track-record outside but in the Philippines, they don’t make much buzz nor gain consumer-following.
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lance says:

15 years ago

Globe should grab the HTC Hero :p
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jumper says:

15 years ago

hey, i thought the O2 xda’s were popular in the philippines! :D

but yeah, they’re not “consumer” phones. they’re really pricey!
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jumper says:

15 years ago

but if you’re talking about HTC branded phones and not OEM’s, yeah…there isn’t a lot of buzz yet in the philippines, cuz they just started coming out with their own brands like probably 2 years ago.

but they’re trying to make some noise na. they appointed a local distributor to market their products (but hiwalay na sila, so HTC is probably shopping around for a new one).
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ed says:

15 years ago

i own an htc touch hd. its one of the best winmo devices in the market today.
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Abe Olandres says:

15 years ago

@jumper – I heard the huge discounts on HTC phones early this year was the result of the divorce. True?

@ed – wow, you’d be the very first one I know who owns the HTC Touch HD. That’s 50k a pop.
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jumper says:

15 years ago

ahh, i cannot confirm nor deny. ;)

pero really, i can’t say talaga for certain kasi i don’t have first hand info. narinig-rinig ko lang rin from ppl sa IT industry. pero if you connect the dots, i guess you’ll arrive at that conclusion rin. hehe.
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irispen says:

15 years ago

HTC HERO pls.. kailan kaya ilalabas ng HTC Philippines yun dito? atat na ako!
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livvy says:

15 years ago

i was browsing on ebay.ph and chanced upon an HTC touch HD priced at 26k. no warranty though. is this a good deal or not? help me out guys.. thanks!
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Alica says:

14 years ago

I want the heroo, But with a slide out keyborad ! : |
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Bruce says:

11 years ago

Wow that was strange. I just wrote an really long comment but after I clicked submit
my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Regardless, just wanted to say excellent
blog!
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