





Software

The f/2.2 maximum aperture really does make a difference with low-light performance. We took a shot in our kitchen, which was poorly lit with a single main energy-saving bulb, and we were blown away by the quality of the skin tones and the lack of noise. Overall image quality was also aided by sensible jpeg compression, which generally reduced our eight megapixel images to somewhere between 1MB and 1.3MB. We'd still rather have control over the level of compression, rather than HTC deciding for us, but at least this camera doesn't ruin images by pulping them into a 600KB mess -- like the Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo does, for example.The same applies to the 720p video: a one-minute clip was generally compressed to around 80MB, which preserves just about enough information to make it watchable on a TV or desktop, even during fast pans and wobbles. In comparison, a one-minute 1080p clip from the HTC Sensation XE is compressed down to a mere 65MB, which looks terrible and goes to show just how irrelevant video resolution is unless you get a higher bit-rate to match. Another key upside to the Titan's video recording: it adjusts auto-exposure smoothly and relatively slowly, as opposed to the sudden switches we saw in the Sensation XE, which means videos are less jarring when the light changes.The camera software lives up to the promise of the hardware, with a whole range of clever touches from Microsoft and HTC. For example, when you're scrolling through photos and you reach the end of the camera roll, it automatically switches to camera mode, as if to say "go on, take another one." Plus, you'll find HTC's Panorama feature in there, which is incredibly fun and easy to use and gets some decent results too. The only problem we had was that sometimes OS X failed to recognize the proper orientation of shots we'd taken on the Titan -- but then it's perhaps too much to expect complete harmony between rivals. (Incidentally, the Windows Phone Connector icon on the OS X dock is indisputably ugly.)Unlike HTC's pre-Mango Windows Phone handsets, the Titan also has a front-facing camera. It has typically poor resolution and dynamic range but its good to have it -- even though there's still none of our promised Skype action . Sure, there's Tango , but we had no one to test it with and frankly, who's got the energy? We'd rather just wait for the app that everyone already uses.The Windows Phone OS is an amazing experience at this screen size. Sure, we don't have the resolution needed to cram loads of shrunken live tiles into our home screen, but that's not what this OS is about. The overall aesthetic is one of minimalism, boldness and space to breathe, and spreading those tiles and apps over 4.7 inches takes this to another level. We have never felt so calm and relaxed when using a smartphone. Whether we're searching for media, loading up Bing to recognize a music track, or bashing out an email, the experience is serene.



The huge keyboard might look like a series of simple rectangular blocks, each with a single character in the middle, but it's actually triumph of design -- and just about the exact opposite of the busy mess that handles text entry in HTC's proprietary Sense UI on its Android devices. As soon as you start entering your login details to connect up to your email accounts, Twitter and so on, you notice something totally unexpected: you're no longer hitting backspace all the time. The button press somehow always ends up being precisely the button you want to press, and it's a breath of fresh air. We're not going to start writing full-length feature articles on the Titan, but in an emergency we probably could.



Now, there are many times when the serenity breaks down due to bugs in the software. We've been over the key weaknesses of Mango in our full review of the updated OS, but we can't resist mentioning a few more minor issues here too. You'll be surfing the net and suddenly realize that the 'back' button takes you back to the home screen rather than to the previous page. You'll be typing in a 'Name' field to register an email account when you realize that it doesn't capitalize the first letter, and the 'Email' field doesn't present you with the @ symbol. You'll try to connect to the Marketplace only to get some random error number, even though you have a strong WiFi signal and you connected fine just a few minutes ago. When you finally gain access, you'll discover that the Search button is no longer context sensitive and instead of searching the Marketplace it always transports you to Bing. You'll finally get over the general dearth of good apps and decide to purchase one, only to discover that you can't add credit card details because a few decades ago you registered your first ever Hotmail account in a different country. (If this happens to you, you'll have to reset the phone and create a fresh Windows Live account with your current home country, and then add your main account back in as a secondary account -- even though this will lose your Xbox Live avatar and achievements. ) (We've just been alerted to an Xbox tool specifically for switching your gamertag to a different profile -- it's here.) It's obvious that this OS is still having teething problems, and they can be infuriating -- but they could all be rectified in future updates, and we're optimistic that they will.



We don't want to go out on a sour note, because it just wouldn't be fair. The fact is, we've used Windows Phone on a range of handsets by now, but the big and bold Titan is the first that's really allowed to us to tune in to what the software designers at Microsoft have been trying to achieve, and how they want to differentiate themselves from the others. Aesthetically speaking, we sometimes think of Android as a house that you build yourself: the base materials are relatively neutral, but there's plenty of scope for personalization in the way you fit them together. Meanwhile, iOS is like somebody else's house, built by a super-creative person with strong opinions who really doesn't care if you love it or hate it. So what about Windows Phone? Well, on the Titan's glorious display, it too feels like a house built by somebody else -- but this time it's the handiwork of someone who's primary goal is to make you happy. You'll notice neat little features that you might have missed on a smaller screen, like that fact that you can read all your notes on the Notes app's corkboard without squinting or having to open them up, because the text is just about large enough even despite the poor resolution. Animated tiles remain animated even while you're scrolling down the home screen -- subtle but delicious.

Wrap-up





Of all the different handsets that pass through our hands, many are good, some are bad, but there's only very few that surprise us. The Titan can certainly count itself among that standout minority, thanks to the way its oversized display, superb camera and overall build quality jibe so well with the generally slick and wonderful Windows Phone OS.Not all the surprises are positive, though. The WVGA panel delivers poor pixel density, the 16GB of flash storage is inexplicably non-expandable and the lack of apps and occasional bugginess of the OS may all be bothersome, depending on your priorities and temperament. Perhaps there's an argument for waiting to see what Nokia has in store for us -- those guys also know a thing or two about design, and Nokia World is just ten days away. However, if you're ready to make room in your pocket for a phone this big, and room in your heart for a fledgling OS that occasionally requires some patience, then you will love the Titan.Thanks to Dev, n4blue and others who pointed that you can switch gamertags to a new Windows Live account if you're forced to create one, and also that the back button was deliberately made non-context sensitive in the Mango update.