Design
Ordinarily we begin to review the design of a handset once we've removed it from its box, however, the packaging for HTC's Touch Diamond rates a mention. Keeping in line with the angled theme of "diamond", the stiff, black plastic box sits like an inverted pyramid on a flat bottom, like a diamond standing up out of a wedding ring.
Our initial impression of the handset is that it's smaller than we'd originally suspected. Compared to the iPhone 3G, the Diamond seems positively petite. Necessarily, the Diamond's screen is also smaller than its competitor from Apple — 2.8 inches compared to the iPhone's 3.5 inches — but features VGA resolution which is outstanding.
Very few buttons or ports adorn the edge of the Diamond; there is a power key, a volume rocker, and the combined USB charging/headphones port at the bottom. The warning sign here is no microSD card slot as is commonly found on smartphones, but more on this later.
With the power on, the magic of the Touch Diamond and HTC's new TouchFlo 3D interface comes to life. While the use of 3D is a misnomer — it's really faux 3D in a 2D space — the illusion is fittingly futuristic and stunning to look at. Instead of a point-and-stab grid layout for the main menu screens, as we find on almost all touchscreen phones, the TouchFlo interface operates horizontally. Almost all phone functions, particularly the ones you will use daily, are accessible from this menu system, meaning that for the most part the Windows Mobile operating system lives in the background.
Features
For such a small handset, the HTC Touch Diamond leaves almost no common feature by the wayside. HSDPA (7.2Mbps) data speeds, Wi-Fi, A-GPS, A2DP Bluetooth, an accelerometer and a 3.2-megapixel camera plus a VGA quality front-facing camera for video calling.
When it's released the HTC Touch Diamond will be available exclusively through Telstra and will include access to Telstra's range of online content services. We've had a chance to test Foxtel mobile TV on the Diamond, but strangely have only been able to watch the stream in a tiny postage stamp size, not even entering fullscreen mode has helped.
Disappointingly there is no dedicated mapping software to accompany the Diamond's built-in GPS chipset. Similar to the iPhone 3G, Diamond owners can access Web-based mapping services, but without a dedicated navigation solution there seems to be little point in having A-GPS at all.
Also similar to the iPhone, the Touch Diamond is quite a handy portable media player. Making use of Windows Media Player, the Diamond is capable of playing MP4 and WMV video files, and plays a range of unprotected audio formats. The Diamond features 4GB of internal memory for storing media and applications, but as we mentioned above, it doesn't include an SD card reader for expanding this memory.
Performance
With a 528MHz Qualcomm processor and 192MB RAM the HTC Touch Diamond is very nearly powerful enough to operate efficiently. Navigating the TouchFlo 3D menu is, for the most part, a pleasing experience, if you're prepared to move your finger patiently over the icons. That said, we did experience frequent lag spikes executing and closing applications, and the review unit we've been using reset itself more than once during testing.
Web browsing using a combination of Telstra's Next G network speeds and the modified Opera Mobile Web browser is fantastic, and on par with browsing using the iPhone's Safari browser. Combining touchscreen finger gestures and the Diamond's jogwheel makes for accurate and fast page scanning, and the Opera browser renders pages excellently at any magnification.
Watching video files or listening to music is great, though the bundled speaker set could stand to be louder. It's also a shame that the bundle headset connects with a non-standard mini-USB connection so you can't use your favourite headphones.
Far worse than any of the issues in our previous criticisms is our concerns over the Touch Diamond's below average battery performance. Unlike recent release smartphones with 1500mAh batteries — BlackBerry Bold and Nokia's E71 — the Diamond only uses a 900mAh unit and the difference is noticeable as by the end of each day of testing the Diamond ran out of juice. Even with light to moderate use of Web browsing and media, the Diamond would struggle to get us to the end of the day.
Overall
It's very hard to hate the Diamond, though the frequent lag spikes did test our patience and the touch interface still has a few areas which are difficult to navigate with fingers. In a world obsessed with Apple's iPhone, the Touch Diamond gives us a valiant competitor to consider. The TouchFlo 3D interface is fantastic and with a bit more power under the hood, and a bigger battery, this smartphone would be a winner. It certainly has us looking forward to HTC's next handset.
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grass0716
27/08/2008, 12:32 AM
rating
7/10
i like the design and everything about the touch diamond but im spending hours trying to get used to the user interface..something so simple like sending pictures from the htc device to another via bluetooth...can anyone help me out with that?
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JTrevanion
26/08/2008, 10:34 AM
rating
10/10
Hows the phone going with next g and everything, im planing to get mine next week.
To get the rom update go to the htc home page ( http://www.htc.com/www/default.aspx ) then go to "support", select htc diamond, click on "software download" then click "rom upgrade" and there you go :)
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nav
23/08/2008, 10:21 AM
rating
10/10
i have a htc diamond on telstra next g - how do i upgrade rom ? my s/n wont work on official club site
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qantas
17/08/2008, 05:06 PM
rating
10/10
the best 1 yet much better then the iphone and e71 although the e71 is a bit different as it screen is not touch
Pros: all
Cons: some lag but rom update fixes it
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BlackShadow
17/08/2008, 10:30 AM
rating
9/10
I have had my diamond for 3 weeks now, on Telstra and for those of you who bag Telstra... Wake Up... They have the best coverage and speed of all the carriers, sure it might cost a bit more, but it's like comparing a Holden to an Audi... Hmmm which one would you choose? Not to mention why are nearly all Govt departments on Telstra to their contracts?
The phone itself is very sleek, the screen resolution is 480x640, name another phone that pulls this res? Hmmm.... None, not even the iPhone.
The interface whilst laggy sometimes is a vast improvement over the windows mobile home screen, static junk that doesn't even look good.
Coming from a DOPOD 838, the only advantage the DOPOD has was the slide out keyboard.
The Diamond having an inbuilt GPS module means navigation on the go is fantastic when coupled with TomTom or other well known GPS Software.
For those of you who are concerned about battery life, get an in car charger and desk cradle. But I will admit the battery life does get better with a few charges.
Pros: 480x640 Screen, currently the highest resolution on any mobile phone
Touch Flo Interface, Aestecically pleasing.
Inbuilt GPS - Fast Satellite Locking
Size: 102mm x 51mm x 11.5mm
MMS out of the box (iPhone fails here)
IM SMS, you can see your conversations just like messenger (Feature of WM6.1)
Onboard 4GB memory, plenty for music, photos and movies. Who has more than 4GB of decent music they listen to everyday?
HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP
3.15MP Camera. (iPhone Camera Sucks as we all know)
Weighing in at a mere 110 grams
Cons: Interface slow in original ROM (But have upgrade ROM to latest and now battery life is longer and interface much faster).
No slide out QWERTY keyboard, on screen only (Getting better with more practice).
Ultra shiny back cover, not good for fingerprints.
Inbuilt speaker sucks for music but quality far superior over bluetooth or FM transmitter.
Limited accessories available at the moment. In the pipeline though
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cocacola
13/08/2008, 07:36 PM
rating
10/10
had 1 for a week it was laggy and buggy but upgraded the rom and it was all improved. now i love it
Pros: ROM upgrade
Cons: price but i think its worth it
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cameronmort
13/08/2008, 07:33 PM
rating
10/10
Sounds good but i am worried about that price tag. but i prefer it to the iphone.
Pros: the phone
Cons: the price
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ayalasaf
08/08/2008, 09:57 PM
rating
9/10
Had the Diamond for a month now.
i just grew to love it as time passed. It does take some time to get used to the phone and the UI, but once you do, you learn to appreciate it. It is a great alternative to the iPhone, looks better than the iPhone and does stand out in the crowd. Battery life does improve with time
Pros: ui
Screen
DESIGN
Cons: Price
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slerts
05/08/2008, 09:43 PM
rating
8/10
battery life improves after a few charge cycles. Now lasts a few days
Pros: iphone functionality on a smaller, friendlier size phone
Cons: Lag spikes despite latest firmware upgrade (HK English version)
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John Kirkham
04/08/2008, 05:07 PM
rating
10/10
The HTC phone to wait for is the Touch Diamond Pro :
More RAM
Mini SD slot
Larger Battery
BTW, those of you that have bought it need to actively update the ROM Version via HTC. The problems mentioned in the article were alleviate by using the latest update.
Pros: Heaps
Cons: Telstra Only.
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