HTC Touch Diamond2

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The browser has become an integral part of any mobile phone and HTC has been employing Opera Mobile in its devices for some time now. While this is the same for the Diamond2, what's different is that this application is found in the firmware. It's constantly resident in the memory and launches instantly whenever you need it. Rendering of pages has also been greatly improved and in our test we found the browser to be on par in speed compared with the iPhone. While we can't say our test was absolutely scientific, we did make sure that both devices were on the same data plan from the same operator and that all pages tested were never accessed previously to avoid discrepancies that may arise because of the browser's cache.

Implanting the browser into the ROM was a good move and we dare say the Diamond2 currently gives the best Web browsing experience for any Windows Mobile phone. Of course, this is possible only because HTC gave this smartphone a massive 288MB of RAM, up from the Diamond's 192MB. One gripe we have is the fact that the operator Home page is fixed so your operator logo will always appear on the Internet page in TouchFlo 3D when you use the Connection Wizard to implement your network settings. To work around this, we skipped the Wizard and keyed in our operator settings manually.

Text input has been slightly tweaked and comes with more virtual buttons because of the increased screen length. Tapping on each button will cause the phone to vibrate slightly so you know you hit it successfully. Like on the iPhone, each letter will also expand so you can visually confirm that you've pressed the correct one.

The 5-megapixel camera on the Diamond2 takes pretty good pictures. Colors turned out accurately and details were pretty good for a mobile phone camera. One useful feature is the ability to pick a focus point by tapping on the screen. This lets you frame your shot without always having the subject in the middle.

Performance

HTC claimed that the Diamond2 has 50 percent better battery life than its predecessor. In our tests, we got the same sub-two day use from a single full charge. But it's necessary to qualify that, because of the much improved browser experience, we surfed using HSDPA and Wi-Fi a lot more on the Diamond2, as much as 2 full hours spread over about 10 occasions in those two days. If you make lots of phone calls over a day, it's very likely daily charging will be required. We are pretty sure the battery efficiency is better than the original Diamond as reviewed by us in the middle of 2008. But as to whether it's a full 50 percent more, we are not so sure.

The new TouchFlo 3D was very efficiently implemented and we hardly felt any lags in our period of use. You would expect the increased screen resolution to slow down the device because more pixels have to be drawn at any one time, but we didn't experience that at all, thanks probably to the large amount of onboard RAM.

Voice quality was excellent and video calls were good as the speakerphone was quite loud. We also had no problem with the GPS, but take note--HTC will not be bundling any GPS software that does turn-by-turn navigation, so factor that into the cost if you need one.

Conclusion

Ironically, the best Windows Mobile phones are the ones that don't look like they use Windows Mobile. That, essentially, is what HTC has managed to achieve with the Touch Diamond2. The new TouchFlo 3D is by far the best manufacturer-bundled custom interface we have used. Some advanced users may prefer certain third-party ones, but out-of-the-box, we believe many will be entirely satisfied with the Diamond2's interface.

At S$1,088, the Diamond2 is pretty expensive. That's the price without subsidies, and if past phones are any indication, you will likely pay anything from S$400 to S$800 for a set if bundled with an operator contract. For comparison's sake, an unlocked 8GB iPhone bought directly from the Hong Kong Apple store costs S$1,048. The Asus P835 with almost identical specifications (but which is slightly larger and heavier) is more affordable at S$798.

Aside from price, our other reservation is the lack of a dedicated 3.5mm audio jack. That said, HTC positions this smartphone as a stylish yet powerful device, and not for multimedia performance like the Touch HD which does come with the said audio port.

All in all, the strengths of the Diamond2 greatly outweigh its weaknesses. The performance issues we had with the Touch Diamond that prevented it from getting our Editors' Choice award have been addressed here.If those have been plaguing you, this new version is a worthy upgrade. Furthermore, HTC will be providing a free upgrade to WM6.5 when that becomes available, so this smartphone is pretty future-proof in terms of software.

If you are in the market right now for a good-looking, compact WM phone with a truckload of features, and are able to get a good discount from your operator, the user-friendly HTC Touch Diamond2 will be your best bet.

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

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