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- Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 63 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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18 out of 20 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Stylish, sexy phone bloating with features, HTC's bugfixing resolved most issues so far"
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.
Where to buy
HTC Touch Diamond:
$387.57 - $614.99
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
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$387.57 | Yes |
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$614.99 | Yes |
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