HTC HD7

Available now
11th October 2010

Another Windows Phone 7 handset announced today, the HTC HD7 comes with a very large 4.3" 480 x 800 pixel touchscreen and powerful underpinnings that should make it a very attractive handset for power users.

In the UK, the HD7 will be exclusive to the O2 network, and in the US, the HD7 will be exclusively available on the T-Mobile network, although we don't know what arrangements there are in other parts of the world, but carriers will be pleased to have this particular phone in their line-up.

Most Windows Phone 7 handsets have a very similar specification, the HD7 comes with a 1GHZ Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and 512MB RAM, 16GB of internal memory, a 5 megapixel digital camera with HD video recording capabilities, WiFi and 3.5G support.

Windows Phone 7 is like no other mobile phone operating system, and it is far too early to tell if it will be popular with consumers. It certainly looks and feels very different from the iPhone, and one target market is likely to be people who don't want to be part of the "me too" crowd.

One of the closest rivals to this phone will be from HTC itself - the HTC Desire HD offers a very similar phone running Android instead of Windows. Both Samsung and LG are also heavily committed to the Windows Phone 7 platform, so expect plenty of competition.

The HTC HD7 measures 122 x 68 x 11mm and weighs 164 grams, almost the same size the Desire HD and about 20% bigger than a standard touchscreen smartphone. The battery is a 1230 mAh cell, which quite a bit smaller than some other rival Windows Phone 7 handsets.

The HTC HD7 should be available from 21st October in the UK, exclusively on the O2 network, and the phone will be free on a £40/month tariff or £379 for pay-as-you-go customers, and it should be available on T-Mobile USA perhaps a little later.

* Update: the HD7 will have 8GB Flash memory in Europe, 16GB in Asia.