If you haven’t noticed at all in the last few weeks, Microsoft’s very own Windows Phone has been building a lot of buzz of late – thank primarily to the highly coveted Nokia Lumia 900. Well, we know how crucial that smartphone is to the entire Windows Phone landscape, but we can’t forget that it isn’t the most memorable device to sport Microsoft’s platform. Heck, we might also have the HTC Titan II as an alternative right now, but as we look through the selection of Windows Phone thus far, there have been very few to choose from. Needless to say, the fierce competition in the mobile market is surely the culprit, but regardless of that, we’re certain that Microsoft will pull out a winner as its mobile platform continues to grow and mature.
Peeking over the current crop of Windows Phone, devices like the Nokia Lumia 900, Samsung Focus S, Dell Venue Pro, and HTC Titan II easily all stand out as the premier of the crop, but long before them, Microsoft built its reputation around its aging Windows Mobile platform. No doubt, we’ll continue seeing some drool worthy Windows Phones, but before we all go gaga over them, we really need to look back and see some of the key contributing Windows Mobile smartphones that aided Microsoft in establishing itself as a force to reckon with in the mobile industry. With that in mind, let’s go down memory lane and check out 10 of the greatest Windows Phone smartphones ever.
Also, don't be shy to let us know what are some of your favorite Windows Mobile devices as well!
1. LG eXpo
Strange to say, but we only have one Windows Mobile device from LG’s camp on this list. After putting out the dismal LG Incite, AT&T got itself a beauty in the LG eXpo. Aside from it sporting a landscape style QWERTY keyboard, this device provided business users with the functionality of a fingerprint reader and an optional pico projector attachment.
2. HTC Touch
When the original iPhone landed, many manufacturers quickly rushed into the whole touchscreen hysteria. Although it might be fuzzy for some people, the HTC Touch was one of those devices that tried desperately to challenge the iPhone, as it became the starting point for the manufacturer’s intent to develop high-end phones. We all know HTC’s Sense UI, right? Well, the HTC Touch first established the whole customized UI thing with Windows Mobile thanks to its TouchFLO interface.
3. Samsung SGH-i760
If you’re a button aficionado, you would surely fall in love with Samsung SCH-i760. Despite donning a boring numeric name, the Samsung SCH-i760 was covered from head-to-toe with buttons all around – thus, making it one lovable smartphone for business class users. Sure it was massive because of it built-in keyboard, but it managed to pack on a numeric keypad and sizable touchscreen as well.
4. Palm Treo 700w
Oh Palm! How can we not forget about the Palm Treo 700w, you know, the very first Palm made device to run Windows Mobile – as opposed to its own platform. Indeed, some saw it as blasphemy, but nevertheless, it embodied all of the wonderful aspects we associate with a Palm device. For example, it featured that wonderful portrait style QWERTY form factor.
5. Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1
Everywhere we look nowadays, Sony’s line of smartphones have the XPERIA branding on them. Some people might forget that the XPERIA line actually didn’t start off with Android, but rather, it came to light with Windows Mobile in the form of the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1. In addition to being its first Windows Mobile smartphone, it flaunted one killer industrial design on top of its high-end specs.
6. Samsung OMNIA
As we reminisce, it’s rather difficult to say why the Samsung OMNIA stands out of the bunch. Actually, not only does it get the credit for being the first OMNIA branded smartphone, but it was also the first respectable high-end offering from Samsung’s camp. In fact, it featured an optical trackpad, 5-megapixel snapper, 3.2” touchscreen, and supported both DivX and XviD out of the box. Oh yeah, did we forget to mention that it also featured this thing called TouchWiz?
7. HTC Touch Pro2
How can we forget about the HTC Touch Pro2? Simply, it’s one of HTC’s finest smartphones ever, as it balanced things out with its impeccable design for a QWERTY based smartphone. Thankfully, HTC brought back the tilting action with its touchscreen – essentially emulating the look of a laptop. Even to this day, it has probably one of the best landscape style keyboards around.
8. Toshiba TG01
Even though Toshiba is still trying to established itself in the smartphone market right now, we have to give the TG01 some credit for the reasoning that it was the first to market with a 1GHz processor – something that seemed so awe-inspiring back then. Running Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon chip, it exuded a sense of speed in nearly everything it did. Additionally, it managed to pack an impressive 4.1” WVGA touchscreen and this cool looking paneled UI.
9. Palm Treo Pro
Alas, the absolute most memorable Windows Mobile smartphone from Palm came way too late – in fact, it was Palm’s last one EVER! If there was a Windows Mobile smartphone gunning at the BlackBerry form factor, the Palm Treo Pro was it! We can’t think of anything sexier looking using the portrait style QWERTY form factor other than this device. Interestingly enough, it was HTC that actually manufactured the Palm Treo Pro.
10. HTC HD2
Today, we’re spoiled by these gargantuan sized smartphones that are packed to the roof with cutting edge hardware. Frankly, the HTC HD2 was in a whole league of its own, since it featured many things we tend to see so commonplace in today’s market. Certainly, it was a larger than life smartphone thanks to its killer industrial design, a then ridiculously large 4.3” WVGA display, and 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. Therefore, the next time you pick up monster-sized devices like the HTC One X or Samsung Galaxy Note, you really need to give thanks to the HTC HD2 for starting it all.
From: phonearena.com
Posts
