HTC Touch Review (HTC Touch Diamond)

Member Name: Atatat

Product:	HTC Touch Diamond
Date:	27/12/08 (54 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Stylish, Windows Mobile OS, GPS, Wifi, High Quality VGA Screen

Disadvantages: Can be sluggish

In the past, HTC have strived for a reputation as being a business only, back to basics style phone; their latest 'Touch' line however strives to change that, focusing more on entertainment - the HTC Touch in particular being there most media-friendly device in terms of looks and affordability. While the slide-out keyboard as seen on the HTC Touch Pro is nowhere to be seen, the looks of the two are fairly similar; gloss black, with a large screen dominating most of the front side.

The screen has excellent quality, and provides more than enough space to watch videos, browse the internet or indeed explore what the Windows Mobile OS has to offer. Windows Mobile is far from perfect, occasionally crashing when overloaded with software, but the easy to use HTC styling makes the software more interesting to use, and at first glance barely recognizable next to the bland interfaces found on similar phones.

In terms of media playing abilities, the phone is exceptional in all areas but battery life; I found that watching videos really drained the life out of it, with the Diamond needing to be docked and charged almost every day. This is the case with all Windows Mobile devices however, simply due to the power they use to run; the vast features come at a price, though an admittedly small one.

The phone feels nice and balanced when in hand, and comes across of being of exceptional quality. The diamond-ridged back is unique, the camera (also found on the back) being of a high-quality though admittedly not as good as the latest offerings from Nokia and Sony Ericsson.

As seen on the latest iPod devices, the HTC Touch has a sort of motion sensor which can tell which way you are holding the device, rotating the screen accordingly. An interesting novelty, particularly useful when watching movies as to take full advantage of its crisp VGA screen.

On top of its software (which includes basically anything you can think of, with hundreds of Windows Mobile programs also available to download online) the phone features useful hardware such as Wifi, Bluetooth and GPS. The phone is certainly better looking than online pictures can convey - I was surprised by its small size and sleek appearance. Call quality is generally good, though unfortunately can suffer quite badly in areas of low reception, worse so than other phones I've used.

The phone is certainly worth a consideration when on the lookout for a new Windows Mobile device, particularly as it can be found for a good £100 less than the competition. While perhaps not ideal for business use due to the lack of physical full-letter keyboard, it should be more than suitable for the casual entertainment-based user. The aforementioned sluggishness can be quite easily avoided by simply not overloading the phone with programs, but this doesn't stop it from remaining as one of the phone's key drawbacks.

Summary: A worthwile consideration when looking for a Windows Mobile device.

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