HTC Touch Diamond Part two – TouchFLO 3D and software

Mobile-review have posted part two of their HTC Touch Diamond review. Here is their final conclusion.

The Diamond’s reception quality is nothing to write home about – while it catches the signal wherever it’s only possible, it takes much longer (up to 30-50 seconds!) than normal to actually find a network. Its earpiece volume is just fine – 60-70% volume level should be enough to ensure a crystal clear conversation. As for the loudspeaker it’s nothing special, we even missed some calls with it in a noisy room.

So, what the HTC Touch Diamond really is? This phone’s debut ushers in a new era for the maker and the market altogether. To be honest, HTC has never made such huge leaps forward ever since they established a brand of their own. You could argue that it doesn’t pack in nothing new bar the display and TouchFLO 3D, but you’d be mistaken. With the Touch Diamond the company is changing the way Windows Mobile devices are perceived, this time – for real. The system’s default awkward interface and fiddly applications are now outshined by a straightforward and easy-to-use interface with intuitive applications and navigation. All these factors are exactly what other Windows Mobile based phones lack and that’s the only thing that has been setting back this segment so far.

The HTC Touch Diamond comes to being a user-friendly phone as close as its OS and hardware can only let it. And that’s the point where we come across the corner stone of this device – while it packs in the company’s latest and greatest interface along with a variety of software enhancements, its overall performance is hampered by a pretty dated type of display with insufficient diagonal. The thing is, this screen can’t process several taps simultaneously, so to make it more finger-friendly they have to go to great lengths and make up elaborate schemes and solutions. So it’d be only logical for HTC to ditch this type of screen on the next stage and go with multitouch displays that will have bigger diagonals. Will Windows Mobile 7 have the honor to enjoy these marvels? May be.

HTC have created an interesting and captivating product, probably the most brilliant phone they have ever made or even in the history of Windows Mobile altogether. It’s not without some glitches, but every one of them is outweighed by a bevy of surprising and fetching features. If the HTC Touch planted a spark in you, but you never really considered going for Windows Mobile phones, the Touch Diamond is probably your best chance to try them.