[Review] HTC Diamond

[Krpano]

Since nobody has posted a review about it at Neowin, ill do it.

Its my first review, so excuse me if im not good as most of the other members at this.

I know there is lots of reviews about this device out there and much better than the one im about to write but ill be glad to answer to questions for those considering to buy it.

For the specs i wont go into details, you can find it at GSMArena, along with a much better review.

Here are some pics.

Well this is the Diamond. :p

This is the only connector you have.

This is how your Diamond will look like most of the time.

You cant scape from this. Unless you wear gloves during manipulation.

This is a proper device, Which you will only see when unboxing...lol

What a beauty.

This is compared to my old W800i. Which i kept for 2 or 3 years.

Sorry but i ran out of space at neowin.

Very sleek.

Much more discret.

This is the homepage with some of the default backgrounds as wallpaper.

You can only choose the wallpaper for this screen, all the rest will have some dull grey/black background. Lets hope someone will soon create some app to let us choose all the screens backgrounds.

The clock has a green area around because it is selected. You can still reduce the size of the clock by scrolling up the window.

This is the default WM incoming call screen.

This is the "contact" screen for the TouchFlo. Actually here you have to add manually (as far as i know) the contacts from your address book. Its like a shortcut for your favourites/most called contacts.

Im using some PNGs i found at deviantart, the default ones are dull.

Here is the Photo/Video for the TouchFlo, the pics/vids have to be in the correct folder to be displayed here.

Im not sure how many cities you can add here, i only have Geneva (where i live).

The little H up there means im updating using HSDPA, and the exclamation mark with the phone icon is a missed call.

This is the 2 ends of the single cable you will get (apart the phones). The cable is about 1mt long.

And this is the little power adapter. Kind neat, you only see HTC when connected to the electrical outlet.

Here are some camera samples.

All in auto mode.

On this one i was behind a thick store glass

Outdoor.

This was taken using the panorama option.

For the videos, i didnt take any yet.

Ok here are my impressions after a week using it.

Camera:

Can take some nice photos if resized down afterwards. The camera itself is a bit slow, even too slow but you get used to it.

Player:

Well, for video i use Core Player, which reads most of the needed formats and its great no frame drops or tearing.

For audio, WMP do the job perfectly. You can still use the oen from the TouchFlo interface.

Wifi/Data connection:

Its pretty fast, Opera does the job perfectly. I added my urlfilter from vista to my opera folder at my HTC and its even better.

This is kind of necessary when you use a DATA Plan from your operator (like me), it will avoid you to dl images from ads thus save bandwidth. I have a 50 MB plan for 7,00 CHF. Using with HSDPA is pretty fast too.

The device gets a bit hot in the lower back after a few mins using the net.

The Display:

Omg, its so clear. Its as clear as looking at my notebook.

Watching a movie on it is a real pleasure.

Battery:

Very poor lifetime, have to charge it all days if i use it too much.

During normal usage, calls and sms, it will last maybe 2 days.

Phones:

Fair sound, but i wish their have included some in-ear model.

Well, ill stop here.

I could talk about it for hours.

Its an amazing device, im very happy with this acquisition.

I was hesitating between this one and the SE G900. Im glad for my choice.

Apart the poor battery life, i cant complain.

Those complainning about the sluggish TouchFlo interface, indeed the original ROM is a bit like that, you need patience to use it.

I flashed mine with a tweak ROM (TLR Diamond ROM 3) from this board and now its very responsive.

Be careful if you plan to flash it, you can easily brick it.

Well guys i will stop for now.

If anyone have any questions, ill be glad to reply.

Edit here:

I forgot, i paid 350 CHF (350 USD) in a 2 year plan at 25 CHF per month.

Plus i pay 7 CHF more for the data plan with 50 MB limit. HSDPA

Edited July 21, 2008 by Krpano

[booboo]

Nice review! Makes me want it even more - I still have the HTC touch

[obiwong]

i would have got this instead of the 3G iPhone but it's way too expensive

can't justify spending $900 on a phone even tho it probably is one of the best phones on the market right now

[]SK[]

We have a loan unit at our office now. I am quite disappointed with it. The size and looks are fantastic but the user interface is a bit messy and as you say very slow. I don't want to compare the speed of the interface to the iPhone but there is just no comparison. Since the device isn't ours we can't be messing with its firmware, even if we could, why should we have to?

Thanks for the review though.

[Unto Darkness]

You didn't mention anything about the core function, the phone. What is the call quality like? The reception?

[]SK[]

I haven't used it to make a call. I have however heard the loud speaker when someone was on the phone. Pretty poor.

[Rappy Veteran]

I was put off after I got my HTC last year but this was one of their smartphone models but this does look sleak and the touch looks really good. Thanks for the review!

[peacemf]

but you still need to use the stylus :(

after all its a WM6 device......

also whats the web browsing like?

my ipaq its really pants.....good if i have no choose, but i prefer my pc.....

[Krpano]

You didn't mention anything about the core function, the phone. What is the call quality like? The reception?

Can it make calls too ?

j/k

The signal strengh is good enough, you have level bars. I never had them below 2 bars. Still i didnt go out of town with it yet.

but you still need to use the stylus :(

after all its a WM6 device......

also whats the web browsing like?

my ipaq its really pants.....good if i have no choose, but i prefer my pc.....

Browsing with HSDPA or WIFI ?

Anyway, both are really fast.

WHat bothers me is Opera still have some issues while using some websites, but i believe its most due to website design than Opera.

I.E. sucks really bad....it doesnt worth open it.

About the stylus, well dont really need unless you have huge fingers.

Dont forget its 640x480 VGA, its an important point to look out when deciding between the Diamond and iPhone (it has smaller resolution)

[Krpano]

Hey guys, i was about to made a little vid with the ROM im running to show how fast is it but i found a mate from xda forums that already did it.

So here is it.

You can see that the interface is no longer sluggish.

[Xerxes]

Looks awesome :) I think the iPhone is definitely gonna have a hard time in the mobile market (with competition like this), it won't be a walk in the park [to dominate the market] for Apple like it was in the mp3 player market. Which is fantastic really, I can't wait to see what the other companies come up with :happy:

[]SK[]

I disagree, you don't get people sat in queues to get their hands on other phones and if you do, they certainly don't wrap around street after street. Apple certainly have competition but all of them are trying to build a phone that can rival the iPhone. It's not hard to see why this is with the new 3G version.

I really didn't think Apple had anywhere else that they could venture into after the success of the iPod; I guess it took everyone by surprise.

[Ricardo Gil]

Looks awesome :) I think the iPhone is definitely gonna have a hard time in the mobile market (with competition like this), it won't be a walk in the park [to dominate the market] for Apple like it was in the mp3 player market. Which is fantastic really, I can't wait to see what the other companies come up with :happy:

I don't even think they're trying that (dominate the market) because, let's face it, it's quite an impossible task. The market is huge, they only have one phone model, and that single model is pretty expensive.

Even though they have built a really nice phone, I don't see them getting the same market share as they did in the music business.

[Glowstick]

How much of Windows Mobile is hidden? Everyone says that TouchFlo is just superficial crap. Seeing demos of it, it just looks like a silly toy and not a well designed UI. Seeing the email/SMS reader interface has me facepalm pretty hard.

[Ricardo Gil]

How much of Windows Mobile is hidden? Everyone says that TouchFlo is just superficial crap. Seeing demos of it, it just looks like a silly toy and not a well designed UI. Seeing the email/SMS reader interface has me facepalm pretty hard.

Mobile-review has a good review of the interface, with videos included.

[James123]

Nice review, this is indeed a superb phone. My contract for the iPhone (non-3G) ended last month and it was either get the 3G iPhone or this. I opted for this but at first thought I'd made a big mistake... the interface was painfully slow and pretty much unusable, but after the firmware update it's silky smooth and of course has the added advantage of a huge library of free windows mobile software to go with it.

[Cormier6083]

The diamond backing throws me off.

[Krpano]

What most of you dont get it is that HTC Diamond is a Windows Mobile 6.1 phone.

Dont expect to have a completely new OS.

The TouchFlo is just a shorcut area.

Much like a sidebar for windows or RKLauncher and etc. (but with more functions)

If you dont like it, just disable it.

You can replace it with 3rd party alternatives.

PS.

I made a small scratch on the lower part of my Diamond, damn it !!!

Even if its scratch resistant, i advise to use since the beginning the protective transparent film that comes with it. You cant notice you have it on.

[monsieuroctagon]

Since nobody has posted a review about it at Neowin, ill do it.

Its my first review, so excuse me if im not good as most of the other members at this.

I know there is lots of reviews about this device out there and much better than the one im about to write but ill be glad to answer to questions for those considering to buy it.

For the specs i wont go into details, you can find it at GSMArena, along with a much better review.

Here are some pics.

Well this is the Diamond. :p

This is the only connector you have.

This is how your Diamond will look like most of the time.

You cant scape from this. Unless you wear gloves during manipulation.

This is a proper device, Which you will only see when unboxing...lol

What a beauty.

This is compared to my old W800i. Which i kept for 2 or 3 years.

Sorry but i ran out of space at neowin.

Very sleek.

Much more discret.

This is the homepage with some of the default backgrounds as wallpaper.

You can only choose the wallpaper for this screen, all the rest will have some dull grey/black background. Lets hope someone will soon create some app to let us choose all the screens backgrounds.

The clock has a green area around because it is selected. You can still reduce the size of the clock by scrolling up the window.

This is the default WM incoming call screen.

This is the "contact" screen for the TouchFlo. Actually here you have to add manually (as far as i know) the contacts from your address book. Its like a shortcut for your favourites/most called contacts.

Im using some PNGs i found at deviantart, the default ones are dull.

Here is the Photo/Video for the TouchFlo, the pics/vids have to be in the correct folder to be displayed here.

Im not sure how many cities you can add here, i only have Geneva (where i live).

The little H up there means im updating using HSDPA, and the exclamation mark with the phone icon is a missed call.

This is the 2 ends of the single cable you will get (apart the phones). The cable is about 1mt long.

And this is the little power adapter. Kind neat, you only see HTC when connected to the electrical outlet.

Here are some camera samples.

All in auto mode.

On this one i was behind a thick store glass

Outdoor.

This was taken using the panorama option.

For the videos, i didnt take any yet.

Ok here are my impressions after a week using it.

Camera:

Can take some nice photos if resized down afterwards. The camera itself is a bit slow, even too slow but you get used to it.

Player:

Well, for video i use Core Player, which reads most of the needed formats and its great no frame drops or tearing.

For audio, WMP do the job perfectly. You can still use the oen from the TouchFlo interface.

Wifi/Data connection:

Its pretty fast, Opera does the job perfectly. I added my urlfilter from vista to my opera folder at my HTC and its even better.

This is kind of necessary when you use a DATA Plan from your operator (like me), it will avoid you to dl images from ads thus save bandwidth. I have a 50 MB plan for 7,00 CHF. Using with HSDPA is pretty fast too.

The device gets a bit hot in the lower back after a few mins using the net.

The Display:

Omg, its so clear. Its as clear as looking at my notebook.

Watching a movie on it is a real pleasure.

Battery:

Very poor lifetime, have to charge it all days if i use it too much.

During normal usage, calls and sms, it will last maybe 2 days.

Phones:

Fair sound, but i wish their have included some in-ear model.

Well, ill stop here.

I could talk about it for hours.

Its an amazing device, im very happy with this acquisition.

I was hesitating between this one and the SE G900. Im glad for my choice.

Apart the poor battery life, i cant complain.

Those complainning about the sluggish TouchFlo interface, indeed the original ROM is a bit like that, you need patience to use it.

I flashed mine with a tweak ROM (TLR Diamond ROM 3) from this board and now its very responsive.

Be careful if you plan to flash it, you can easily brick it.

Well guys i will stop for now.

If anyone have any questions, ill be glad to reply.

Edit here:

I forgot, i paid 350 CHF (350 USD) in a 2 year plan at 25 CHF per month.

Plus i pay 7 CHF more for the data plan with 50 MB limit. HSDPA

thatz kool

[]SK[]

Did you need to quote the whole post to post just two words?

[Krpano]

Just a quick tip.

For those thinking about flashing your devices, i advise [sWIFTBL WWE DIAMOND ROM] at XDA forums.

Its the fastest and most stable one, imo.

Ive tested most of the ROMS there.

Just in case, dont forget to read how to do it.

Otherwise you will brick your Diamond.

If you need any help, just let me know.

Im not an expert but i flashed mine lots of times.

[mspeak]

good review, nice pictures.

I'm hoping to get the Touch Pro :woot: Hopefully there will be good things about it, similar to this phone.

[Raa]

I'm hoping to get the Touch Pro :woot: Hopefully there will be good things about it, similar to this phone.

Same, I really want one of those puppies... But i'm really loving my TYTNII, I love the tilt factor, and losing that could be a big loss for me :/

[+.Vamp Subscriber²]

I've got my eye on the Touch Pro - Looks like it could be really nice.

But my main focus is currently on this: http://www.sonyericsson.com/x1/

I do so love SE phones :-) though it looks a bit large!

[+.Vamp Subscriber²]

It double posted for some reason -_-'