HTC 7 Pro

Microsoft’s attempt to reboot its mobile phone platform has thus far been a qualified success.

With support from manufacturers such as Nokia, HTC, and Samsung, Windows Phone has some powerful allies, and the news that the operating system’s app market has expanded faster than its rivals managed to in a similar time frame is a positive sign of sustained momentum.

However, Microsoft and its hardware partners need to keep the pressure on in order to outclass iOS and Android, both of which have had significantly longer on the market. Big things are expected in 2011, and the HTC 7 Pro is arguably the opening Windows Phone salvo of year.

The first thing that strikes you when you pick up the HTC 7 Pro is its immense size and weight. It’s the kind of phone that feels like it could be quite a handy weapon in a fight, and showcases HTC’s trademark built quality.

One would be forgiven for assuming that the Taiwanese firm has some kind of aversion to plastic, so predominant is the use of metal in the construction of its phones.

A key reason for the HTC 7 Pro’s girth is the sliding Qwerty keyboard. Increasingly becoming a relic of a bygone era, this type of interface nevertheless has a place in the modern day smartphone arena.

Touchscreen typing may have come on leaps and bounds thanks to intelligent multi-input screens and text entry applications such as Swype, but you simply cannot beat good, old-fashioned physical buttons.

The way that the mechanism on the HTC 7 Pro tilts the screen is a neat touch, and grants an even better viewing angle during text input.

The only criticism we can level at the keyboard is the way it's deployed: it requires quite a harsh push to snap it into position, and we sometimes felt as if we were in danger of breaking the hinge.

Elsewhere, the HTC 7 Pro doesn’t attempt to break records with its specifications. The screen is 3.6 inches, which is well shy of the monstrous display sported by its sibling the HTC Desire HD.

The 5-megapixel camera feels like an entry-level proposition, although it does at least support 720p video capture.

Finally, the 8GB of onboard storage feels a little feeble, especially when you consider that you can’t add to that total with an external memory card – like all Windows Phone handsets, there’s no card slot on the HTC 7 Pro.

Digging deeper into the phone reveals a 1GHz processor backed by 448MB of RAM. While these numbers are well within the operating remits specified by Microsoft, you can’t help but feel they’re a little lacking when compared to the dual-core Android phones that are slowly entering the marketplace.

Such CPU-envy is actually rather unfounded in the case of the HTC 7 Pro, because it runs the Windows Phone OS with an impressive degree of speed and fluidity.

The Metro interface remains a joy to use, although we did note that some applications don’t rotate the screen when you open up the keyboard – something that possibly needs to be looked at in the next firmware update.

Being a Windows Phone device, there’s connectivity with the Xbox Live portal as well as a store packed with games. Microsoft’s approach to mobile gaming is commendable, and one hopes that it can keep attracting big-name developers to the platform.

The HTC 7 Pro is certainly a very capable gaming device, with the responsive capacitive touchscreen providing an excellent interface for finger-based interactive entertainment.

The HTC 7 Pro is a solid phone, but some might feel a little disappointed that more wasn’t done to make this stand out from the devices that accompanied the launch of the Microsoft’s mobile OS last year. When compared to some of the existing Windows Phone handsets, it actually feels like a step backwards, especially in terms of storage and photo quality.

However, that Qwerty keyboard is a joy to use, and gives the HTC 7 Pro its unique selling point. If you’ve been tempted by the potential of Windows Phone and desire a physical input method, this could be your dream purchase.