Review: HTC Touch Diamond Pocket PC

Simplicity in design is definitely NOT what the HTC Touch Diamond is all about. The very small compact unit fits comfortably in the users hand, but the backside design looks more like a piece of artwork than a Pocket PC backside. But if the art didn't match the devices capabilities it would all be for nothing, and luckily HTC managed to pack in an impressive array of features that help add to the devices allure and overall usability.

Keep reading for my full review.

HTC Touch Diamond Design

The front side of the HTC Touch Cruise is definitely of a minimalist design, the unit features only several buttons that include the send and end keys and a D Pad that is only noticed when the user pushed up and down or left and right by the D-Pad Select Button. By not using raised keys the unit is able to keep with its design as a sleek unit with a flat front surface design. Can we say iPhone?

Next if we turn our attention to the top front part of the device there is also a VGA conferencing camera hidden in the design of the device. Of course below the frontside camera is the units 2.8 inch touch screen which we'll examine in more detail later.

Below the screen are the send and end keys I mentioned earlier along with a Home Key which brings users to the HTC Home screen. The last key is the Back Arrow Key to the right of the Direction Pad.

Overall the keys on the front are responsive and well laid out, and the way they almost hide on the device gives a cool effect to users and anyone looking at the unit from a distance.

Moving over to the left we find the units volume rocker, clicking up or down will increase and decrease your sound and doing so will also display a vibrate and silent screen for easy access to those functions.

On the bottom end of the HTC Touch Diamond the pocket pc features the MiniEXT USB port that can be used for charging the device or for data sync capabilities, oh yeah and for listening to music as the device doesn't feature a stand along headphone port.

Looking over to the right bottom part of the unit users will find the Stylus.

Next on the top of the HTC Touch Diamond sits the units ON/OFF/Standby singular button.

Finally if we flip the device over we can see that the HTC Touch Diamond offers a new unique design, its obvious to see that the Diamond name comes from the raised edges that look like black diamonds that have become engraved in the device. Looking at the topside of the devices backside we can also see the units 3.2 mega pixel camera which is surrounded by a chromed out ring, a move that really draws attention to the camera lense.

Speaking of the backside, I should mention that the glossy finish attracts fingerprints like crazy. Take a look at this example:



Overall the devices very small 102 x 51 x 11.5mm size offers alot of functionality and uses the space it does offer to give users a nice big screen with easy to navigate buttons and a nice d-pad that hides its own design into the device really well. With no gaps and only a fingerprint issue the device really does deliver on build and design along with its very capable

HTC TOUCH DIAMOND FEATURES

The HTC Touch Diamond Home screen is a great addition for the device, aside from looking at a large easy to read clock, the device also features easy access to Weather updates and allows for easy access to the rest of your devices shortcuts. The Home screen can also be easily jumped to use the Home Screen key located next to the D-Pad. The Touch Diamond also allows for shortcut setup in a very easy manner. by the user. The shortcuts can be both vertically and horizontally set up. For instance you may access a phone number by using the menu option on the device then in an "iPhone" manner you can move up and down through your menu to find your contacts, with this feature users can find contacts, emails and text messages, launch their web browser, access photos and videos, play music, get the weather, change the Pocket PC settings, and access their favorite settings which can be setup as shortcut keys for onscreen one button push access, such as YouTube which comes as a standard part of the devices shortcut setup, of course hitting the home key will always bring you back to the start of the options available.

The newest and best feature is the HTC TouchFlo 3D option, unlike TouchFlo which only allowed for side by side swiping the new TouchFlo 3D allows users as I mentioned above to move up and down through menu's with ease. Users can literally scroll like an iphone, swipe their fingers across the screen for quick access to menus, or even drag their finger in order to scroll through menu's. Its a little hard to explain on paper, but if you check out a TouchFlo 3D video online it will not only make sense, but also make you want it badly.

I usually don't talk about memory on the Features section of reviews I have written so I will keep this short and sweet, the unit features 4GB of Internal Memory which supplants the usually MicroSD card slot which is missing from the unit, if you are a moderate user or are looking to open mostly office documents I doubt it will make much of a difference, beside 4GB can store a lot of songs, documents, photos and even some good sized videos.

Another huge feature is the units use of a 528mhz processor and the 192MB SDRAM and 256MB of rom offers on the Diamond. Compare those specs to the HTC TyTN II and you can see the improvements immediately.

The unit also features a built-in GPS receiver with Assisted GPS, I found Google Maps and TomTom Navigator 6 Maps worked perfectly on the device and a GPS signal was usually ready to go within 15 seconds of my initial connect attempts.

Finally the Touch Diamond features Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional which means access to threaded text messages, Exchange Server 2007 support, improved Instant messaging and much more.

HTC TOUCH DIAMOND DISPLAY

The HTC Touch Diamond comes equipped with a nice 2.8 inches of usable screen space. The touch screen is flush with the device which is really needed for TouchFlo purposes, I like the hard feel of the glass and the responsiveness I have off the unit. The screen outputs at 65,000 colors and the 480 x 640 pixels of resolution.

While those numbers are semi-impressive the screen actually appears more crisp then the specs would make you believe, I think the black background and bold colors on icons and the fonts really help make the screen images pop out at the user. The screen also seems to have better TouchFlo responsiveness than past models which is always a plus.

One issue I did have was the glare on the screen, I've included a picture at the end of this review to show the glare issue on the devices screen.

HTC TOUCH DIAMOND INTERNET

The Touch Diamond is a Tri-band GSM Device (Although a Quad-Band Rom Update is now avaiable from HTC Asia) For European customers the unit features 3G internet, which is great for faster download and upload times, but in non 3G areas users can still access most data networks via Edge / GPRS functionality. The device also ships with Mobile Internet Explorer with the ability to finally open multiple windows, which is a nice feature however I would still suggest upgrading to Opera Mini which will add a ton of functionality to your device.

HTC TOUCH DIAMOND CAMERA

Why does HTC leave off the Camera quick launch button? I may never know the answer to this, but I can say its annoying. On the other hand the devices 3.15MP camera does offer great picture taking, I didn't notice alot of undertones or overtones and video recording is pretty clear. One quip I had is that when using the video recording mode you can't really zoom out or you get really bad quality return, its the same for picture taking as well. The Directional Pad while in camera mode is a nice addition that allows for shortcuts to areas such as Panorama mode and MMS Video alogn with Video mode, etc.

Is the camera perfect? Far from it, its missing alot of needed functionality such as flash and the ability to stabilize on the zoom function, but overall its great for quick pictures and the video functionality isn't bad either.

HTC TOUCH DIAMOND AUDIO

Support for MP3, AAC, AAC+, WAV, and WMV files are all supported on the Diamond and the audio playback is actually really clear, even on a Motorola S9 headset with A2DP support. The audio player is actually really capable as well thanks to TouchFlo 3D, in fact it almost felt like the iPhone media player, but don't tell Apple that. My one complaint is that I had to use the provided HTC headphone via the MiniEXT USB port when not using Bluetooth, this means you either can't charge the device at the same time or you need to cough up some change and buy a Y-Cable.

HTC TOUCH DIAMOND CONNECTIVITY.

Connectivity on this device is not a problem, aside from 3G and Edge/GPRS functions the unit also offers WiFi 802.11 b/g internet access and the ability to ActiveSync via the MiniEXT USB port. All functions are fast and easy to connect with. Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP also makes Bluetooth streaming easier than ever.

My one complaint is that the device while it does feature 4GB of on-board memory, completely lacks a MicroSD card slot, which means no memory expansion for heavy users.

CONCLUSION

If your looking for a business device that still offers style this is the perfect device, between Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional and the ability to connect virtually everywhere users really can't go wrong. Now with the 850mhz spectrum included the device can also be used in pretty much any country worldwide, if your a business user or just love to travel, heck if you just want a cool device with great multimedia abilities I would highly recommend checking out the HTC Touch Diamond. I've Included a few more pics below that show off the device and its design.

This first picture shows the front side of the device.


This second picture shows the Glare issue I had with the unit


HTC Touch Diamond Specifications and Price Check