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"Stylish, sexy phone bloating with features, HTC's bugfixing resolved most issues so far" on by 7dee
Pros: Awesome VGA touchscreen, all the connectivity I desired, good and fast call functionality especially for a touch phone
Cons: Earlier versions had some issues, needs some prerequisite knowledge in order to get decent battery life
Summary: I used to own a Blackberry Pearl and was looking for a new phone, which for me, had to be able to deliver all the great functionality of a Blackberry and add in some connectivity options that I really missed in the Pearl. Usable software, excellent connectivity, small form factor and good looks are my main demands in a phone and basically the Diamond was, for me, the perfect blend between the main selling points of both the IPhone and Blackberry models, the two phones I was trying to decide between before running into this gem.
My main reason for writing this review is commenting on CNet's review. First off, performance, as this has been a main issue on most 'reviews' (quotes used because most reviews out at the moment are based on early, non-final and certainly not the latest versions).
HTC has made new ROMs available which greatly improve the speed of the device, it is very stable now, consumes less battery and the whole interface has become very responsive. HTC is still working on more vital updates, so it can only become even better. In the meantime, using XDA forums as good source for tweaks, I have been able to manually tweak the phone to be absolutely perfect for me, but, since this is not factory default, it is the only thing that prevents me from giving it a 10.
Call quality was about the first thing I asked the people I called, since I read this review prior to buying the device. Nobody could confirm what CNet said, I sounded fine, like with any other phone with decent call quality. It may be that the software for the mic had to be tweaked as the microphone is inside the phone, preventing wind blowing into the microphone which is very useful for me as I use the phone outside a lot.
Back to software. TouchFLO3D is very, very nice. It gives the whole phone a visual appeal which is hardly bested by any phone, and while being subjective to taste, once you get used to it switching between applications and functionality is extremely fast. The horizontal selection menu allows me to choose apps in a second, which is good, especially when you have a software platform that allows just about any 3rd part application that you can dream of.
Opera 9.5... amazing! It looks good, it runs very fast (3G does work like a charm here in Europe) and compares best to the Iphone's Safari (or even beats it in several areas, as stated by some tech sites).
Call functionality, people hardly mention this but it is of course the most important aspect of a phone. I want to be calling somebody 5 seconds after taking the phone out of my pocket. Fortunatly, huge contact lists are easy to manage and very accessible, making this an absolute plus. Integration with tasks, calendar events, address books and other management software confirm that I made a good decision in choosing this phone to replace the Blackberry's functionality.
Multimedia and connectivity is more than I could want. Wi-fi, GPS & AGPS (working perfectly with Google Maps, TomTom, Route66, etc), 3.5G, Bluetooth 2.0 with many features make it into a phone that just connects with anything.
As far as battery life goes, it is not spectacular. My first day of playing around with it a LOT (remember to charge the battery BEFORE using the phone to maximize its endurance, and always discharge the phone completely the first few recharges) resulted in half a day of battery life, while right now, with not having everything turned on by default (bluetooth and wireless only when needed) I get over 2 days with quite heavy usage (gps and calling quite a bit), so it's certainly not bad anymore.
So, to round it up, a very practical, very good looking phone that really allows you to do whatever you want to do with it. HTC is doing a good job in fixing the few remaining, minor issues with it, and chances are good that if you buy the phone right now, most of the latest and most important fixes are already there, as was the case with mine. Thank you for reading. -
"Looks Great, Needs Work" on by Dave_2112
Pros: very sleek, easy to use
Cons: slow, memory problems, web surfing terrible
Summary: I've had my CDMA Touch Diamond for 5 days now. I've had to power it off and reset it at least once each day. The phone function works fine, as does the e-mail. However, when I try to surf the web the phone either freezes or the web browser (Opera) just shuts itself down and the phone calls whoever is last on my recent calls list (very annoying). Sometimes the web browser starts up fine but when I tilt the screen to view it in wide mode, the browser automatically shuts itself off.
I have returned the phone. The constant freezing and re-booting was just too much grief for me. I was really excited about this phone but overall it was a letdown.
Other times I think the phone is frozen but it's just taking a long time to do something (like open my contacts list or start the camera). When I received an e-mail with a link to a webpage, I clicked on it and a box came up saying there was not enough memory to perform the function and that I must close my e-mail program. I closed it and the web browser started.
For phoning, texting, and e-mailing, this is a good phone. But if you intend to use the internet, this phone isn't for you.
Updated on Sep 25, 2008 -
"A well designed phone with good performance" on by randalllewis
Pros: Apperance, rich feature package
Cons: No US 3G version (yet)
Summary: First, my experience with the Touch Diamond as a phone was vastly different than the Cnet reviewer. I have had international calls as well as local that are clear and distortion free here in the Puget Sound area. Problems that Cnet had are undoubtedly a result that the current phone is a non-US version and uses only part of the ATT spectrum in this country. I have noticed I don't get as many bars on the Diamond as I have seen with 3G ATT phones, but call quality has been fine.
Second, this is just one cool phone. It looks great and even non-tech oriented people want to see it when I use it. It is also cool because of the full feature package it has. There is a lot of stuff packed into this small device. It was designed to be used with one hand, and that is certainly how I've been able to use it so far.
The Touch Flo interface on earlier HTC phones was sort of like a frosting- just a coating on the surface of Windows Mobile. Touch Flo 3D is far more intergrated into the device. It is possible to use the phone for long periods without ever seeing the standard WM interface.
What Cnet and others have chosen to call lag is to me more an indication that the user interface is faster than the processor. It is possible to slide the home screen icons so rapidly that it takes a second or two once you stop for the requested program to open. This may annoy some users but it isn't unique to the Diamond. I frequently dial my office phone faster than it can handle. Sometimes humans move faster than machines.
A special note of thanks to HTC is needed for inclusion of the Opera browser. This program, which is the default, gives a much richer web experience than IE.
Is the Diamond perfect? No. Long lists that you can scroll through: contacts, programs, weather locations can only be scrolled in one direction: A to Z. Being able to go either way would make it much faster to find weather locales, for example, or a contact beginning with Z. You can rapidly scoll through these lists with finger flicks or the navigation button, but being able to move both directions through a long list would reduce time and frustration. Also, a standard headphone jack would be preferable. That is about it.
I have European/Asian version of the phone and use Wifi for my net surfing. I will certainly purchase the promised US version so I can enjoy 3G speeds. -
"WORST PHONE EVER! DON'T BUY IT ! RETURNING IT TODAY!" on by tc282
Pros: Looks cool and has a great camera (if you can figure out how to get to it). I carried the 755p trio for 18 months prior to this device.
Cons: 1. Battery is woofully inadaquet. 2. It is VERY sluggish. 3. It isn't intuitive AT ALL. 4. TOO complicated doing simple tasks. 5. it beeps and chimes all the time (calendar) and I can't figure out how to turn it off. more on the bottom line
Summary: For starters, it was hard to find the actual phone on this ?phone?. Every program you open stays open (hidden) and it burns both memory and battery. When you "X" a program, it doesn't close it, just makes it go away. The program remains open until you go into a "hidden" screen to properly close it. The phone is ALWAYS getting turned on in my pocket. I find myself trying to navigate it and the wrong program opens. The contour of the key board doesn't give your fingers enough feedback to tell the keys apart. Using the touch screen to locate your contacts is cumbersome and tiny. Navigating the touch screen in mail is WAY too sensitive. When trying to slide up or down, a pop-up menu will continue to appear with a menu of options when all I want is to scroll.
Navigating the web is great on this phone. However, you can?t adjust the zoom very well. It is tiny and larger with no in-between.
The screen should be larger. Everything is cramped in a too small area. It makes it difficult to navigate through programs.
Bottom line - If you: 1. Don't care about money 2. You don't want to use your phone after 5pm (battery is dead) and 3. You love to be frustrated, this is the phone for you. If there is someone that you don't like and have to buy a Christmas present for, buy them this phone. -
"Much faster after software update, has everything!" on by Blue_straggler
Pros: The HTC Diamond is a remarkably complete smartphone, with all the
features I could think of. After software update (ROM update of 31/7/2008, AFTER
your reviews) the phone performance has greatly improved.Cons: The stylo is still a pain, and I dislike MS drop-down menus. Also, it lacks shortcut-buttons, for instance to connect to wi-fi (the Treo Pro has that) , which
would bypass the cumbersome drop-down menus.Summary: This is an excellent phone, way ahead of the pack, and vastly superior to the much.-touted iPhone. A fair part of my enthusiasm is due to the release of the new
ROM software (which for me in Europe came as an Internet download, but most
of you folks will likely get it from the outset); this update removed completely
the phone sluggishness (slow? NO way Josè) . Also, i suspect call quality may
depend on operator: in Europe (and I visited all major countries in the last two
months, i.e. since I bought the phone) there is no trace of such poor performance
as related by your reviewers.
One can hardly be completely satisfied with a Windows OS, of course; still, the
phone operates through 2-3.5G connections, has wi-fi, bluetooth, GPS,
connection to a fast GPS location system, Google Maps, Opera browser
(thank God for sparing me the humiliation of using IE),; I would have found
it useful to have a short-cut button to link to a wi-fi connection (like the
treo Pro has), and it would be nice to have Skype already downloaded on the
system (but that surely would be asking too much, wouldn't it?) ; also, it is
disgraceful that the MS OS does not come with a version of Active Sync that
works on Linux systems too, but then again I might be now asking too much.
In short, the very best phone I set my eyes on so far, while waiting for the HTC dream, of course.
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