Hands on HTC AT&T Tilt 2 with Android 2.2 and SOUND!
Seriously… just watch the video.
That about sums up my opinions about the Android experience on the Tilt 2. I even recorded a 8 minute video that I ultimately scrapped in favor of this since I had so many issues. It’s nothing against the XDAndroid blokes.. no, they’re awesome. Doing great work with limited resources. It’s the Tilt 2. I mean, the damn thing is slow as hell and there’s no saving it. Please, don’t come up with some excuse for it. It’s just NOT GOOD. And fighting with WinMo before I booted into android (and yes, it’s a custom ROM from NRGZ28 on XDA) was a very painful and humbling experience. I have officially adopted the iPhone 4 as my device of choice and will remain there until something better comes along. Will it be Windows Phone 7? Time will only tell. All I know, is that it sure as hell won’t be Android hacked onto an inferior device like the Tilt 2.
To all you Tilt 2 owners and operators: I’m sorry that I just crapped all over the Tilt 2. I really am. In the past, I honestly thought that I liked my phone. Now I see that I was just a little crazy. I just hope that you don’t use an iPhone 4 or an Evo 4G (or hell, ANY 1GHz+ phone w/Android) without having some extra cash laying around, cause you’re going to want one of those INSTANTLY.
If you’re still curious about experiencing the eye gouging I just endured, click over to the Android section of the Rhodium forums on XDA-Developers.com by clicking HERE.
I feel that I need to reiterate that I’m not hating on the XDAndroid people, the OS, or anyone that uses it. In fact, I like Android. I am however, hating on the Tilt 2 something crazy.
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Let me get this straight. You put an undercooked version of Android 2.2 on your custom ROM Tilt 2 and your saying it’s slow as hell and inferior and…..NOT GOOD. Well gee, maybe the phone wasn’t designed to run two operating systems at the same time. Why don’t you put Android on your iPhone or put WM on a Droid as see how well they play together. I have great respect for the folks at XDA-Developers but many of them are just tinkers, trying something just because they can. News flash: IF YOU WANT AN ANDROID 2.2 PHONE, GO OUT AN BUY ONE. SIMMONS WILL EVEN HELP YOU PICK IT OUT! It will be newsworthy when someone at XDA installs Android on a Tilt 2 and it works great. Until then its nothing more than a mad experiment.
And please don’t boast to me about how your 1GHz device is faster than my lowely 528MHz Tilt 2. That’s like telling me a Corvette has more pep than a Mustang. No shit Sherlock. If your device is not almost twice as fast I would be very dissapointed. But when did SPEED become the only factor in determining performance and a positive user experience. Don’t think I am all that slow and I find my Tilt 2 quite suitable for my needs. I am on my device at least 4 hours every day and sometime twice that, running any combination of the 100+ apps I have loaded. Freezeups are ver infrequent, maybe once or twice a week (except when testing unproven XDA applications).
And if the Tilt 2 is slow as hell and inferior and…..NOT GOOD, nobody has told the buyers over at eBay, as people are paying $275+ everyday for slightly used Tilt 2’s. I don’t mind reading about how new phones are bigger, better and faster. Because a year or so ago the Tilt 2 was bigger, better and faster. No surprise. Just don’t tell me my phone sucks because its…older.
Jim, I’m sure you know this already, but the method used to boot android doesn’t run both operating systems at the same time. Haret completely dumps the windows kernel and loads Linux in it’s place and then android starts up.
Yes, the tilt2 is pushing in age, and sure, they’re selling well on eBay (as are most $500-700 msrp devices from about a year ago). But I’m not posting on opinion, the video spoke to the facts of the matter. The experience was less than ideal, in fact it was downright awful. I’ve owned a “real” android device from a few years ago, and I’ve used every one of the latest and greatest android devices, and they are AWESOME, but putting it on a device like this is just not a good idea. Fun toy, but simply not as cool as I had originally thought. If you look on xda you’ll see that I had pledged some serious cash for a fully functional android rom. I really wanted this to happen. Now I’m only recommending that people upgrade if they want the android experience, and to do the same – if they can – if they are still rocking the tilt2. I know one person’s opinion can only be seen as a whisper in a hurricane, but after being a winmo fanboy for years, I’ve finally realized that there are much greener pastures to be in.
I would gladly trade my iPhone for a device that works better, but I haven’t used that device yet.
From the perspective of a windows mobile user who only utilizes android for the better web browser and apps, this is kinda cool to me … I think this is more suited for people who want to tinker with android in kind of an intermediary sense … people who aren’t quite eligible for an upgrade and cannot afford a new phone outright … when I’m ready though, I agree a full fledged android device is definitely necessary
@Chris – I went through the pain of watching your entire video and all I can say is that the Tilt 2 is still a popular and functional WINDOWS MOBILE device and I am proud to own one (actually more than one). I guess everyone has different needs. I could never own an iPhone but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t recommend it based on a user’s capabilities and requirements.
Glad you concluded that trying to put Android on a Tilt 2 was a bad idea (I think your video made that obvious). I realize the two OS’s are not running together, but even with a custom ROM, the Tilt 2 does not leave much room on the device for anything else, much less another OS. My point is trying to make a peach (got to avoid those Apple references) taste like an orange is just bad science from the start. So leave the fruit alone and let the WinMo and Android and Apple devices all do what they were designed and intended to do.
Seriously. Your comments are confusing.
I had to read your post three times to see that you were dissing the Touch 2 and not Android, or the XDA developers.
The Touch 2, it appears, sucks. Win 6.5 sucks. And attempting to run the latest version of Android on a 3-year old phone not designed for Android was a bad experience.
How odd, I’ve played with the XDAndroid port on my Sprint Touch Pro, and while certainly buggy (unusably so), it performed far better than what you’ve showed in this video. I’d wager there’s something wrong with your setup.
The Tilt 2 still has the best hardware keyboard of any device past and present. I recently played with a Droid 2 and couldn’t believe how cheap it feels in comparasion!
@Ghaleon, Nothing odd. It was a brand new flash (completely bare) and a brand new install of Android. Just… well, you saw.
@Dan ABSOLUTELY! There hasn’t been a Keyboard since the TP2 that comes close to it. Although on-screen keyboards are now faster, I’d debate the comfort and usefulness for long writing sessions.
@Havoc I thought I was fairly clear (granted I had a few drinks last night, but I recorded the video before them), and I am pretty sure that I’m not dissing Android or XDA in anyway, just targeting my frustrations at the Tilt 2 which I held in such high regard for so long.
I’m not saying that everyone should adopt my sentiments, but I thought it would be interesting to share my view of the hardware after moving on to the ‘next gen’ realm of devices. I’m sure that I’ll feel the same way about the iPhone 4 when ever the next big thing comes around. But for now I’m too distracted by netflix, hulu, and too many damned games to count to think that far ahead.
Jim, I am a daily user of the Tilt 2 and have been since the day it was released. I have to agree with Chris.
@hgtama: So you agree that the performance on a Tilt 2 is really, really, crappy when trying to run Android 2.2 on it. After viewing the video I agree with both of you.
But seeing more than 7500 posts (that’s 756 pages) in the Rhodium/Android thread over at XDA-Developers, I guess at least a few people think its worth pursuing (I am not one of them). And there is a reason that OS’s, UI’s and other memory and processor draining apps should not be run from an SD card. The video above is a good example.
No I’ve never used Android on the Tilt 2. I mainly use EnergyRom but I’ve tried quite a few ROMs including the stock ROM. Trust me, I was and still am a huge believer in this phone but to be honest the time has come to just admit it to myself.. the Tilt 2 is obsolete. Better devices are replacing it. Seriously just go pick up a new Droid device or an Iphone.. its so much faster and a much more enjoyable experience. I’m waiting to see what WP7 has to offer before parting ways with this phone for something else.. It just doesn’t bring me happiness anymore *tear*
you all always have something to complain about never satified with anyything im running android froyo blazin fast and it works great some issues but it works i mean how cool is it that u can have your choice of os on your phone awsome stuff
@kingflav
Not satisfied? Nope! It was damn near unusable. Of course I’d be unsatisfied. Complaining as much as stating the obvious? Not sure….
Yes, it IS awesome to have the choice of which OS to run, but at what cost? The functionality of the OS is lost in the poor execution. Still, I have to give Kudos where they’re due. XDAndroid devs did great work, just the Rhodium is lacking in available drivers and raw performance.
Chris; I run android on my htc tilt 2 on stock nothing added and it runs good except for a few f/c and slow downs but other then that it runs good I just download android to check it out I’m not sure if I want to upgrade to android it dosent convince me I don’t know I. Want to check out windows 7 and see what’s that all about I got at&t not that many choices but I don’t want to switch carriers
this is really interesting to me since i’m longterm borrowing a htc tilt 2 because of loss/theft of prior phone. looks like android just isn’t workable on it and that’s good to know–this is one of the top goog results for ‘htc tilt 2 android’. i’m not a huge gadget gearhead at all so i’ll just take your word for it and enjoy the nifty tilt 2 keyboard until i feel like dropping money on something else.
I’ve been running android for a while on my tilt 2 and it is running pretty sweet ,, i check for updates regularly and im pretty happy with it. it is quick and most features are working. I still use winmo for the superb youtube app that is still superior to most phones, and my office suite. overall it is nice to have the dual boot option and if it’s done correctly it will breathe new life into your tilt and it will be fast enough!
Chris
sorry for what seems a stupid question but Is there a way I can install Adroid on the tilt2 by removing the windows completely so the system will have only android and I can make better use of the memory and the ROM?
I have tried the XDA android and I agree with most of what you are saying and the system lacks a lot of stuff like wi-fi and the like as well as some of the applications crashes often