Box Contents

HTC Touch Diamond, AC Adaptor, Screen Protector, Stereo earphones with microphone, USB Cable, 2 x Stylus, Manual Documentation, Getting started Disc.

Specs

• OS: Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
• Processor: Qualcomm MSM7201A - 528 MHz
• Memory: ROM: 256MB, RAM: 192MB, Internal memory – 4GB
• Display: 2.8” VGA TFT LCD
• Cellular Connectivity: Tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: Europe/Asia: 900/1800/1900 MHz, Network HSDPA/WCDMA: Europe/Asia: 900/2100 MHz, Up to 384 kbps up-link and 7.2 Mbps down-link speeds
• GPS: Internal GPS Receiver with A-GPS support
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0 EDR, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, HTC ExtUSB (11-pin mini-USB 2.0 and audio jack in one)
• Camera: 3.2megapixel camera with auto focus, Secondary VGA video camera
• Audio - Built-in microphone, speaker and FM radio with RDS
• Battery: 900mAh
• Dimensions: 102x51x11.5mm
• Weight: 110g

Design

We have to admit this is one of the smallest and lightest Windows Mobile touch-screen phones we have ever used. Weighing in at 110g and measuring 102x51x11.5 mm the Diamond was easy to hold and use one handed, plus light enough to carry around in our top pocket without breaking the stitches.

Cosmetically the device is made up of a 2.8" VGA screen, with seamlessly integrated phone buttons and d-pad at the base. The d-pad we found to be a bit fiddly in operation - more so for games - but it does provide additional functionality by allowing you to rotate your finger in a circular fashion when increasing your music volume (from the TouchFlo3D front interface that is).

At the top you get an on/off witch and to the back you get a plastic case which has a diamond affect running throughout -hence the name. There is also a 3.2MP camera.

To the left side of the phone you get volume up/down buttons, to the right you get nothing, not even a camera shortcut button.

So far the above is following a familiar design pattern to Apples creation, this also holds true when taking into consideration the 4GB of storage that the Diamond provides, just like the iPhone it does not offer a memory card expansion slot.

Whilst this is only a minor inconvenience - due to having to plug your phone to your computer via Active Sync - in the Windows Mobile world a memory card slot is normally expected as standard.

On a positive note, Active Sync performance is really quick and 4GB of storage is impressive for a Windows Mobile device.

At the base of the phone you will find a miniUSB port which is used for the latter’s Active Sync connection, but it is also used for attaching your propriety headphone cable (we would have preferred a dedicated 3.5mm port in all honesty).

As with the iPhone and other touch-screen devices, grime, dust and smudges can build up quite quickly, so keep a cloth handy.

In Use

We have never been a big fan of HTC's TouchFLO interface, which offers a similar iPhone style control by allowing you to swipe your fingers to manipulate images and applications. However the Touch Diamond seems to have included the best and most functionality implementation of its interface so far.

The front screen does take an age to boot up, but once the system has settled down you can swipe your finger across a row of icons at the base of the screen and scroll between various applications, flip between music, contacts and manipulate photos, with a circular finger pattern providing additional zoom functionality.

Most of the time a bit more pressure is required on the screen in order to manipulate the options, but this could be a direct side effect of some intermittent lag that caused the interface to play catch up on itself.

In fairness because we had version 1.37 of the firmware the performance drag was not half as bas as other reviewers have implied and in theory all the issues with the TouchFLO 3D system are primarily due to the Windows OS running underneath.

Out of the 256MB ram that the Diamond provides you only have 50.90MB free (more with a hardware reset - 58.84 free), so it does use a hefty amount of system resources to power the interface.

Again with Windows Mobile underneath a lot of the TouchFLO system simply disappears once you leave the front screen and whilst the screen itself is VGA and the Windows start button can be enlarged to make it easier to press with your finger, you do need to utilise your stylus pen sometimes, because some of the on-screen options are just too small to be used with your finger.

This is more evident when using the on-screen virtual keyboard - which is also dinky - but with practice the various virtual keyboards at your disposal (Full Qwerty for example) do provide you with a useful means of inputting your texts/emails (but just don't expect this to be quick method of typing if you have large hands).

Applications

Applications are provided thick and fast on the Diamond, with the main highlight being the Opera 9.5 Web Browser.

Web pages render quicker compared to the clunky IE browser and websites automatically go full screen when the page has loaded. By double tapping on the screen you can zoom in on a section of your chosen website to get a closer look at the text, then another double tap will un-zoom the focus back.

With its accelerometer in place you can also rotate the screen and the device will automatically adjust the screen to landscape or portrait.

The latter is implemented to much greater affect with the supplied addictive game called "Teeter", which sees you holding the device in a landscape orientation and guiding a small silver ball along a maze until you find the green hole. Any time you hit the sides of the wall you get a realistic vibration effect.

Note: It would be interesting to see what developers can do in the future with this feature.