HTC Touch Diamond review

We review the eagerly-awaited HTC Touch Diamond smartphone - can this impossibly sleek Windows Mobile handset live up to the hype?

If a Windows Mobile device was ever eagerly awaited it was the Touch Diamond from HTC. Small, sleek and with a version of HTC’s fancy TouchFLO interface that was expected to knock the socks off its predecessor, the arrival of the HTC Touch Diamond was a bit of a ‘baited breath’ moment.

Now it is here the verdict is mixed. In one important respect it is a bit of a disaster, to be frank, in some others it is so-so, but in many others it is something of a pleasant surprise.

Let’s start with the worst aspects of this device. Taking the wooden spoon is the Touch Diamond’s battery life. The device can’t accommodate a very big battery and we reckon it can deliver about half the average battery life of other current Windows Mobile smartphones.

Now that is a worry not only because we think you might have trouble getting through a day between charges but also because everything but the kitchen sink is crammed into this smartphone, and much of that gubbins is power-hungry stuff.

The other thing we don’t really like, and this is admittedly more a matter of taste than of fact, is the diamond cut styling of the back fascia. Nokia has a series of mediocre mobiles called Prism which have a similar styling. On the Touch Diamond, HTC’s current flagship, it just feels all wrong. Sleek flat lines are what is required, and not the oddly irregular appearance of the diamond cut.

The below screen controls aren’t what they could be either. They look rather nice, especially the navigation key which pulses with a white backlight when the Touch Diamond is charging. But it is not that easy to press. It is easier to use when in touch-sensitive mode – you can run a finger round it to zoom in and out of photos or jump around in music tracks, for example.

So, what’s to like? Well, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS are on the like list, as is HSDPA support up to 7.2Mbps and a front-facing camera for two-way video calling. The main camera shoots stills at resolutions up to 3.2 megapixels, which is as good as you’ll get from a Windows Mobile smartphone currently though image quality isn’t always great.

Then there is the overall size. The Touch Diamond is minute for a Windows Mobile Professional smartphone. It measures a mere 102mm tall, 51mm wide and 11.35mm thick, and weighs just 110g. It is significantly smaller than any of its competitors, and competes more with the likes of LG’s Secret than it does with other Windows Mobile Professional smartphones.

The screen isn’t compromised by the Touch Diamond’s size. At 2.8 inches across diagonal corners it is as big as that of HTC’s popular TyTN II. But it has a surprise up its sleeve in its 640 x 480 resolution. Clear and sharp it may be, but we aren’t sure the higher res is a good idea. Keeping it running drains more battery juice than a 320 x 240 screen would require, and we’ve already commented on the battery’s poor performance.

The 4GB of built in storage is not unwelcome and this comes over and above 256MB of ROM and 192MB of RAM. The Touch Diamond runs Windows Mobile 6.1 too, putting it at the cutting edge of Microsoft’s mobile software platform.

But let’s go back to memory for a moment. Generous as the built-in quota is, there is no way to expand on it via microSD cards, and that, we think, is a serious problem. The 4GB is great for carrying lots of data – such as tunes – around, but what about the times when you just want to pop a card out and refresh the tunes stored via microSD card slot in your laptop or a cardreader? Forget it.

And while mentioning music, the headset connector is mini USB so you’ll need a converter to replace HTC’s mediocre (at best) set with your own headphones. Shame on you HTC for not going 3.5mm into the device.

So what about that TouchFLO stuff then? Well, there is a new version here, called TouchFLO 3D, and it rocks. The home screen is stunning with its flip-over style clock prominent. A ribbon along the bottom of the screen can shunt you to other areas of the device which have had a TouchFLO makeover. You can flick through contacts – identified by photo – by swiping the screen, ditto SMS messages, emails, photos you’ve taken, music – differentiated by album art obviously enough, and even a weather forecast which is downloaded over the air as needed. (Another blatent steal from the Apple iPhone, admittedly).

The web browser is the superb Opera Mobile and sports a YouTube client for those who can’t get enough movies on the move.

When it comes to data entry there is an on-screen T9 keyboard and compact Qwerty option. Both share the same 20-key grid, with one key sharing two letters most of the time in Qwerty mode. The keys are large, and text entry is quite speedy. There is also a larger, one letter per key Qwerty option.

Eventually you break through TouchFLO into the standard Windows Mobile interface, and seeing it is quite a shock. Fortunately, though, you can do a lot without going there.So, overall, Touch Diamond is a mix of good and bad. The good is great, but the bad lets the whole show down, leaving a device which could well have come out with a five-star rating and Best Buy status somewhat below that exalted level.

 

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