HTC Titan review

The big news on the HTC Titan is the upgrade to Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango). This is a huge improvement on the previous version, with built-in multitasking (complete with webOS-style card view for running apps) and the faster IE 9 mobile browser. In our tests, this rendered pages faster than Safari on the iPhone 4, but our Apple iPhone 4S arrived too late for a comparison. Other headline features include deeply integrated social network support, so you can get all your Twitter, Facebook, Google and LinkedIn updates sent directly to the Windows Phone personal hub.

Other Mango improvements include Local Scout, which searches around your GPS position, the Google Goggles-like Bing Vision, accurate voice control and smarter home screen Tiles that now display more information such as new Tweets. We were previously reticent about recommending Windows Phone 7 handsets due to the lack of apps, but the numbers are growing rapidly – there are now thousands to choose from, so you no longer have to put up with a second-rate range.

We’re seriously impressed by Windows Phone 7.5, and if you’re willing to take the plunge the HTC Titan’s huge screen makes it an ideal showcase for the OS. If you’re after something smaller and cheaper, though, you’ll get a similar experience from the HTC Radar.