Ah HTC, a company that most of us know at least 1 product from. Now, they are known for phones like the One X that runs Android, but years ago they made stuff that ran on Windows Mobile, which should not be confused with the Windows Phone we have today. Back then, Windows Mobile was actually good software, as I don't really like the new interface Microsoft is pushing on us, but that is a different story. Let's start the review, since that is what you are here to read, not my ramblings.
The HTC TyTN II, or as this specific device is branded, EMOBILE EMONSTER S11HT, went under a few different names, such as the AT&T Tilt , and its own internal code name, the Kaiser. These are all pretty much the same unit, with some minor details really, but it still worth mentioning for anyone who just put TyTN II, or Kaiser, or Tilt into Google and found this page. For simplicity, I will refer to it as the TyTN II, as I believe that was the most common of the different names.
Looking at the phone, it looks like a standard smartphone did before the iPhone changed it all. Buttons and a screen on the front was a standard thing for a while. Now we just have a huge screen and no buttons. The first thing to do would be take a walk around the phone I guess.
On the front, which is a logical place to start as any, contains a 2.8" screen, with a resolution of 240x320, or QVGA. Compared with phones of today, that is pretty low resolution, especially when you see rumors of an upcoming 4.7" screen that does full 1920x1080! But that is a different section. Above the screen is the speaker grill, which also contains the LEDs such as battery and notifications, as well as wireless. There is also a small VGA front facing camera. Under the screen, you have a once standard directional pad, with center select, call and end keys, as well as 2 soft keys and 2 application keys, and 2 system keys. That is a lot of buttons!
Moving down to the bottom, we see a micro SD slot, covered by a flap, which does support micro SDHC cards as well as normal micro SD cards. Remember when that was called Transflash? Not many people do, or what a TF card was but I do! Useless trivia is always fun! Next, we have a lanyard attachment, and a weird looking, but still standard-ish USB port. Ok, technically speaking, it is an 11 pin variant, but accepts a standard mini B USB cable. This is also your audio jack, which works with the adapter I got from Brando. You also have a reset button and a microphone. Ah the days of the reset button!
Moving to our right, we can see the STYLUS! Yep, resistive touchscreen! No fancy capacitive screens back then! We also have, much like a real camera, a 2 step camera button. Hold it down halfway, and the autofocus works, then click it in all the way to take a picture. This is also where the power button is found.
There is nothing on the top, pretty boring!
The left side has a lot of things on it. Starting with the first button, which is mapped to the Comm Manager on mine. This is full reprogrammable on mine. I have heard some like the AT&T Tilt model, this is mapped to Push to Talk, and is unchangeable. We have a nice little scroll wheel, which can be pressed in to select, and an OK button.
On the back, we have a 3MP AutoFocusing camera, a speaker grill, and a GPS antenna port, but I should not there is an antenna for the GPS inside the phone, this is only to connect an external one.
Opening up the phone, we have a QWERTY keyboard, that is
backlit, and we can now TILT the screen up! Yes, that is where the AT&T
model got the clever little tilt name.
The keyboard is pretty nice, and works well once you get used to it. In
a world where the onscreen keyboard is now the standard, it is pretty nice to
have a keyboard you know. There isn't a whole lot I can say since it is a
subjective matter in my opinion. You can love it or hate it, so it is best to
try it for yourself.
Software wise, there is not a lot I wish to say. If you have
used a Pocket PC or Windows Mobile, you know what to expect already. It has the
standard stuff like a to do list, date book, contacts, and stuff like Word and
Excel. I have a custom ROM on mine, so I can't comment on anything that HTC
preloads on it.
So, before I end this little review with the specifications
list, I want to add some final thoughts on the TyTN II. For one, the camera, while it isn't the absolute worst camera
there is, it isn't that great either. It works, but don't expect a lot of great
pictures form it. The fact that there is no 3.5MM headphone jack means that
you need the adapter which takes up the USB port, meaning without a different
adapter that has another USB port and headphone jack, you can't do audio while
charging, which also goes for calls unless you have a Bluetooth headset.
Speaking of Bluetooth, there are the standard WiFi and
Bluetooth radios along with the 3G
radios, and since I don't use this as a phone, I have no comments on that
matter. The only thing I will say about it phone wise is that the SIM card slot
if on the back half of the screen, and is only accessible with the slider
opened. Opening the SIM slot will also power down the phone.
I have taken these from Wikipedia, but here are the
specifications.
Manufacturer HTC
Corporation
Series HTC TyTN
Compatible networks Quad
band GSM 850/900/1800/1900, GPRS, EDGE
Tri band UMTS 850/1900/2100, HSDPA, HSUPA
aGPS
Availability by country September
2007; 5 years ago
Discontinued September
3, 2009
Predecessor HTC
TyTN
Successor HTC
Touch Pro
Form factor Slider
Dimensions 112
mm (4.4 in) H
59 mm (2.3 in) W
19 mm (0.75 in) D
Weight 190
g (6.7 oz)
Operating system Windows
Mobile 6.1, unofficial Android port
CPU Qualcomm 7200
ARM 400 MHz
GPU: Qualcomm Q3Dimension
Memory 128
MB RAM
256 MB ROM
Removable storage microSDHC,
up to 32 GB
Battery 1300
or 1350 mAH Lithium-ion polymer battery, user accessible
Data inputs QWERTY
keyboard and touchscreen
Display 240x320 px,
2.8 in (71 mm), 65536 color LCD, 3:4 aspect ratio
Rear camera 3.1
megapixel
Front camera 0.3
megapixel
Connectivity USB
Mini-B
Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)
Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
