What is it: Touchscreen Windows Mobile smart phone
What we think: HTC has once again pushed the boundaries of Windows Mobile, but the Touch Diamond lacks the responsiveness we expected
Average user rating
6.7
good
Average user rating from 13 users
Agree? Disagree? Write your own review of the HTC Touch Diamond
HTC Touch Diamond user reviews
February 7, 2009
Posted by: tallbloke
"Don't believe the hype"
What I like:
small and light, GPS, Opera browser, FM radio, good camera.
What I don't like:
Average reception, sluggish interface, onscreen keyboard.
Review:
Great hardware crippled by slow OS.
I selected this handset for pragmatic reasons. I'm not a fan of windows mobile, but it lets me run memory map's pda client, so I can have proper digital mapping in my pocket without having to enter calibration coordinates for many map tiles. the VGA screen is a double bonus, giving beautifully rendered maps of a reasonable span to see what's up ahead as I navigate.
In combination with the excellent GPS, the unit's VGA screen, light weight, FM radio for weather, 3MP camera and small size, this is a good choice for ultra light backpacking in the mountains.
I knew I'd have to put up with the sluggish performance suffered by any hardware forced to run windows mobile, but decided the benefits listed above were sufficient compensation. After making this decision, I simply adjusted my attitude to one of patience and all is well. However, there are some additional annoyances. Scrolling long pages in the Opera browser is a pain, and the onscreen keyboard obscures the boxes you are typing into.
Not a bad first effort at a nice interface for windows, but HTC should consider other OS options.
Once a small linux distro is able to run memory map natively or in an efficient emulator, I'll be moving on.
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