Android On My HD2… Three Days And Counting

August 18, 2010 | By WenWP

Just a few days ago, I wrote this article talking about what a good job HTC did with the HD2. One of the commenter’s called Bug Blatter left a note talking about how awesome Android ran on his device is. After following the link he left in the comment, I found myself running Android on my device regularly.

I have been using it for just about three days now, and wow is it smooth. The porters did a great job, and after a couple of day I can say I am enjoying the time I have with Android. The main reason I like it so much is because I have been addictively playing Need For Speed Shift Xbox Mobile phone Secret telling smile ever since I got Android going. The game is very interesting and I am sad Windows Mobile does not have it. Other things that rocks about having my HD2 run Android is the amount of apps I found in the app store, and the speed test app that I can finally use to determine my networks connection.

I am now back on the Windows Mobile side, but I will return tonight to Android just to play a little game and I will return with the comfort knowing all my settings are the same.

One thing about all this. My HD2 was recorded better than just about ever other available Android device. Talk about a moment of happiness. So if any Android owner talks about their phone being faster than mine, ill say… “hay, read the stats, I win”.

Try it out for you HD2

P.S Please Do Not leave comments like “Why would I want that on my device”, if you do not want it, do not try it. I am sure many others like trying new things and being level headed.

About Wen M

Working for WMPU is awesome. Love to write personal articles, and I do it very often. I am the reviewing editor (self appointed), so you will see alot of reviews and giveaways from me. I own quite a few devices not just Windows Phone but Android and others. I live in Minnesota, USA and love traveling to other places.

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Tagged android, Build, device, htc hd2, port, release

Blacked_Out

Funny, I was actually perusing the Android twitter widget in HTC Sense on my HD2 when I saw this post.
It actually works really well, the guys at XDA did a great job.

http://twitter.com/WMPerson @WMPerson

Yes they did.
I am proud of their accomplishment.
I am sure it wont be long till a ROM for this will be available.

http://www.facebook.com/Bugblatter Bug Blatter

Ooh fame at last I'm glad you found it useful.

I'm still in two minds about whether I'll flash an Android ROM when it's available or whether I prefer the dual-booting. Right now dual-booting seems the better option, but once I get more comfortable with Android that may change.

I'm also wondering if triple-booting might be possible, if they get WP7 working on the HD2. That would take the HD2 to a whole new level, the only phone in the world that you can run the big three OSes on.

I think Android runs better on my HD2 than WM does, at least in terms of acceleration. Ironic but not surprising.

http://twitter.com/WMPerson @WMPerson

I know how you feel.
My HD2 feels much smoother, and responsive. Not to mention texting is amazing on the device.

Foamy

I sent my HD2 off to be repaired last week (due to it constantly crashing) had to hard reset before i sent it (for obvious reasons). i think i'll give android a go when i get it back since i have to have a fresh start anyway.

The thing that finally convinced me was when i considered what it would be like to finally have programs work on my phone when i wanted them to.
NuShrike

To be fair, the high numbers are with a tweaked kernel that does a bit of overclocking. Isn't it great?

In fact, the great Cyanogen recently tweeted a pic in the 3K and then the 9K range, showing how you can also mess with the benchmark.

I'm still getting robot voice off the stock TMOUS rom and that just yells "uninitialized variable"; meaning, WinMob will be needed to boot the device into a stable-state for Android for quite a while yet — barring rumors of some big nand boot announcement from Cotulla/others.

Jos Dewey

What radio are you running?

Even though many claim that your WinMo ROM can be the cause of robotic voice under Android, I think it has a lot more to do with the radio version. Or maybe it has everything to do with the radio version since I'm running Android over the stock 1.66 ROM from HTC and it's fine even though many say stock ROM + Android is a recipe for disaster and for robotic voice issues.

If you have a different radio version give one of the 2.10 ones a go since I haven't experience robotic voice with that using any WM ROM.

NuShrike

the stock radio of the stock TMOUS rom. I'll try your suggestion of a radio-swap; maybe 2.12 after HSPL3.
NuShrike

Tried 2.12 radio+HSPL3; no joy.

Robot voice is definitely the audio sampling at the wrong rate, so the current kernel initialization isn't setting up something properly.

http://www.facebook.com/Bugblatter Bug Blatter

I'm using radio 2.06.50.23_3 and have no issues with call quality using the version of Android Wen's used.

Thom Belmont

Oh, in case anyone is confused, Thom Belmont = Jos Dewey.
sonny

so wenWM, why did u go back to winmo after a few days in android country? if i were to boot my hd2 from my sd card, how do i bring my appointments and contacts over?

http://twitter.com/WMPerson @WMPerson

You have to have it synced with Google. Which you can do with activesync on your device.
And why? Because it kills power, and your screen stops works periodically. But other than that, I also had to flash a newly released updated Elegance ROM.
One last thing is… Sometime the phone reboots by its self, so I end up back to the WM side.

pinguino1

Isn't this a Windows Blog? I come here to read about Windows Mobile/ Windows Phone.
Why there are people so excited about the Android on this blog and bashing WM?
I guess there are good Android blogs to read and discuss about it.

NuShrike

Because we're hacking our WM phone that's been openly discarded by MS to its fullest capabilities as a WMPowerUser. It's the same as flashing a different WM ROM for more "features".

Thom Belmont

Well said, I agree.

I can't believe some people are such fanboys that their entire sensibilities are torn to shreds at the mere mention or acknowledgment of the competition. Give me a break.

pinguino1

My coment was just a calm opinion of the posts I read, I value this Blog for they have a courage to stand by what they believe. Everybody has preferences, that doesn't qualify me as fanboy.

However, reaction with drama "sensibilities are torn to shreads" may qualify you as a fanboy.

In the other hand the reply from Wen (I don't agree all the time with him) is balanced and informative.

Thom Belmont

You might want to check out the definition of fanboy. Pointing our someone's overreaction does not make me a fanboy in the least, sorry to break it to you.

http://twitter.com/WMPerson @WMPerson

Very true,
Its just a sidenote. And think about it like this.
Only Windows Mobile can switch to Android, Android cannot boot Windows. And also, Windows Mobile devices run better than Android devices even though they arent really optimized.
But yes, I limit myself to 5 Android related articles a month just because people like you do not like hearing about it. Which you have good reason not to considering this is a Windows Mobile blog.
BTW no one is bashing WM.

tryde

I'm using both OSes almost equally now, Android for the sheer amout of apps unavailable to WM and WM because I also have WM apps and functions that are not on android. For example the camera is not working properly on android (oversaturated, brightness issues with flash, not 5MPx) and the compass is acting funny.
But there are fewer and fewer apps in that category and soon android will fulfill my needs. Anyway it is nice to be able to choose which OS you want without changing phone.

About Quadrant results, I have run the tests on the HD2 and a Desire side-by-side, and while the Desire had more FPS in 3D tests, the HD2 was globally smoother and faster, especially during I/O tests where the Desire was sluggish.
Fred Beiderbecke

I am new to running a different OS on my phone but curious about Android.

If I read this correctly, using the link above, Android will run on the phone, but not change the ROM. Is that correct?

When flashing a ROM with a non-HTC/T-Mobile version, is there anyway to go back?

http://twitter.com/WMPerson @WMPerson

You dont flash a rom to get it work. You put in on your SD card and run it. Thats pretty much it. And it does nothing to WM.

http://twitter.com/WMPerson @WMPerson

Enter text right here!
NuShrike

Somebody could do an experience and performance comparison between HD2 Android and WM. It’s a unique opportunity.

My anecdotal experience is Opera Mini is much more enjoyable from anti-aliased fonts, pseudo-pinch zoom, faster? rendering, smoother filtered scroll, etc.