Video Reviews of AT&T Propel Pro and HTC Touch Diamond2

Video reviews of the new AT&T Propel Pro, a non-touch-screen device with an unusually large screen, are starting to appear online. This week I want to point you to these reviews, plus videos of the HTC Touch Diamond2, which is now available in an unlocked version and which should be available from various carriers in the coming months.

AT&T Propel Smartphone

The AT&T Propel Pro is a Windows Mobile Standard device, meaning that it’s a smartphone without a touch screen. But unlike most of the devices of this kind that are quite popular, such as the BlackJack, HTC Snap, and Moto Q, which have 320x240 displays, the Propel Pro has a 320x320 screen. According to PocketNow, it’s the only Windows Mobile Standard phone to have a screen so large.

As we noted a couple weeks ago, this device, which costs $150, has a front-facing QWERTY keypad form factor, but the keypad slides out, leaving more screen space. Other features include aGPS, Wi-Fi, a light sensor, microSD slot, a joystick for navigation, and a 3.1-megapixel camera.

PocketNow has posted an unboxing video and a hardware tour, so you can get a good sense for what this device looks like. The chrome-all-over design is gorgeous, but the reviewer notes that this makes it a magnet for fingerprints and scratches.

HTC Touch Diamond2

Of course, a lot of the excitement in the industry has moved away from non-touch-screen devices toward the iPhone-like finger-controlled devices, and among the leaders as been HTC, with its popular HTC Touch phones that use the TouchFlo interface.

The current state of the art is the Touch Diamond2, which is reportedly available now overseas in an unlocked version for around $725. That’s expensive, and so most will want to wait until it’s offered by their carriers — which should be sometime this summer.

PocketNow has both an unboxing video and a hardware tour of this device, which has a 3.2-inch WVGA screen, microsSD slot, FM radio, aGPS, Wi-Fi, a 5-megapixel camera, and a second, front-facing camera for video calls. The screen is highly sensitive and some reviewers say that it comes close to being as sensitive as the capacitive display of the iPhone. Also, the video recording offers true VGA recording.

Tracy and Matt’s Blog also has an 18-minute video review. And PocketPC.ch also has a bunch of videos, including one comparing this iteration with the previous Touch Diamond.

As we’ve noted, the currently available Touch Diamond2 has Windows Mobile 6.1 but will receive a free upgrade to WM 6.5, which by the way is expected to be officially launched May 11, according to Engadget.