HTC Touch Diamond2

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The original HTC Touch Diamond was the product that introduced the company's fancy TouchFlo 3D interface to the world. This was a more advanced version of its first TouchFlo interface and subsequently made appearances in other products like the Touch Pro and Touch HD. It's fitting then that the latest version of TouchFlo 3D should debut in the Touch Diamond2. This new smartphone's updated interface is by far its strongest feature--we tell you why.

Design

A quick glance at the Diamond2 reveals that it shares the same DNA as the original. Its shape can be described as lanky, with a footprint of 107.9 x 53.1mm. Though it doesn't retain the prism motif on the back like the Diamond, the Diamond2 is thicker at 13.7mm, up from 11.3mm. While most of this new handheld is black in color, its sides and front button area come in a silver brushed-metal finish. If you liked the look and feel of the original Diamond, chances are you will like this one, too. The downside is that the same tendency to attract fingerprints on the back has also been inherited.

The back of the Diamond2 doesn't come with the prism motif.
(Click for larger image)

Buttons have been kept to a minimum, with four on the front, a power button on the top and volume control on the left side. In keeping with the requirement from Microsoft for a future Windows Mobile 6.5 (WM6.5) upgrade, one of the front buttons has the Windows logo and brings up the Start menu when pressed. The Diamond2's stylus is found on the bottom right corner and, like its predecessor, causes the screen to turn on when pulled out.

The touch-sensitive display on the Diamond2 measures 3.2 inches diagonally and has a WVGA (800 x 480) screen resolution. Comparing this with other WM phones sporting WVGA screens shows that the Diamond2 is a touch larger than the 3-inch display on the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 but smaller than the massive 3.8-inch panel on the HTC Touch HD. One of the potential problems of having so many pixels packed in a small device is with reading text. While the pixel density allows for sharp images, letters and words can sometimes be too small for comfort. This issue is addressed by a zoom bar found right below the screen. In the browser and maps application, this zooms in to Web pages and maps, while in a text or email message, it lets you change the text size quickly.

Instead of a 4GB built-in storage like the original, the Diamond2 comes with a microSD card slot. This is found under the battery cover on the right side of the device. HTC does not provide a microSD card with the standard package but that's not a big deal considering how cheap this category of storage media is these days.

Like almost every other HTC smartphone, the Diamond2 has a single mini-USB port for charging, syncing and connecting a wired headset. This means an adapter is needed if you want to use your favorite 3.5mm audio headphones for music, an optional accessory that doesn't come with the device. One thing that does come bundled is a slim slip case with a leathery texture.

Features

On the surface, the wireless specifications of the Diamond2 don't differ much from the first iteration. Like the Diamond, it supports HSDPA and has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS for navigation. But there are improvements. For one, it comes with HSUPA for faster uploads over the cellular network. Also, the GSM radio is now a quad-band version instead of tri-band.

The physical changes may not be incredibly significant but the software enhancements are. A new version of TouchFlo 3D, HTC's package of OS tweaks meant to make the WM-based device more user-friendly, is found in the Diamond2. The Home screen looks basically the same, displaying a large digital clock by default and having tabs at the bottom which let you navigate to other screens showing items like your emails, text messages and music.

What's changed are the improvements made to the contact list. Instead of just being a means of seeing the contact details when you pick a name, tabs at the bottom of the panel let you see all interactions with the contact including text messages, emails and call logs. HTC has also improved the context menus by making them larger for fingertip operation. This works at the OS level so all third-party applications benefit from this, not just the HTC ones. The Start menu has also been changed, and you can no longer access the regular programs page. The new one has large icons not unlike what you see in Palm OS and OS X on the iPhone. Read more about this new TouchFlo interface together with some screenshots in our earlier preview story.

Tags: Smart Phone, E-mail, HTC Touch, High Tech Computer Corp., Wireless

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