After much guesswork and anticipation on the HTC Leo, the Taiwan mobile phone maker HTC finally releases the Leo under the name HTC HD2 as its latest flagship mobile phone.

The new HTC flagship provides one the most delightful movie viewing experience on a mobile phone. Its expansive 4.3-inch WQVGA 400×800 touchscreen display using the same multitouch capacitive technology found on the iPhone account for its standout appeal that few flagship smartphones can boast of.

With the HTS Sense user interface on the Windows Mobile OS, the HTC HD2 handset delivers a more intuitive navigation made possible with homescreen widgets that made access to any application, game, file, media content, contacts and social networking sites just a touch away.  HTC certainly took advantage of the generous viewing real estate of the HD2.

At a Glance

The HTC HD2 confirms most of the leaked specifications on the HTC Leo.  It has the usual multimedia element of a full-featured versatile smartphone.

It’s a quad band GSM/GPRS/EDGE mobile phone with 3G support for high Speed HSDPA/HSUPA that makes internet surfing and downloading a breeze.  There’s WiFi 802.11 b/g support and Bluetooth 2.0 for high speed wireless local data connectivity. There’s wireless stereo earphone support from its Bluetooth 2.0 A2DP support. A generous 512 Mb internal memory and 312 MB reserved for user apps and phonebook data as well as files and media content.  This can be expanded to 32Gb with microSD memory expansion support In contrast to the rumored 8 megapixel camera on the HTC Leo, there’s a more modest 5 megapixel autofocus snapper on the HD2 with video recording. It has the usual sensors like an accelerometer for automatic viewing orientation with the corresponding handset tilt.  There’s the standard proximity sensor that disables the touchscreen when holding the handset against your cheeks in a call. The Windows Mobile 6.5 OS allows true multitasking desktop-like experience on the handset. You don’t need to exit phone apps or of offline when jumping form one to the other. The HD2 is equipped with attachments for an optional car kit that makes the handset finger-friendly in vehicle GPS navigation guide placed below the rear view mirror or on the dashboard.

The HTC HD2 is housed in a slim and sexy body that measures 120.5 x 67 x 11 mm which is just slightly wider than the HTC Touch sporting a smaller screen.  The narrow bezel around the screen gives the handset an all-screen look and its compact size for a large screen.  A bit hefty at 157g, but that’s quite acceptable for full featured flagship handset with one of the largest screens in the market.