HTC Touch Diamond2 review: Director’s cut

Retail package is decent

The moderately-sized retail box may not exactly be brimming with content but it has all the basics duly covered. It doesn't have the fancy inverted pyramid styling as the original Diamond either.

If you are too keen on accessories HTC have launched quite a range of extra stuff for the Diamond2, much like they did for number one.

You get a one-piece handsfree but, considering the lack of a standard audio jack on the device, this is hardly an issue as you most probably won't be replacing the headphones anyway (unless of course you get a hold of a regular miniUSB-to-3.5mm adapter that you can find quite cheaply online).

Not the most exciting retail package

The other included accessories are a miniUSB cable and a charger with a supplied adapter. Thanks to this way of dealing with the charger you only need to replace the adapter when you change power socket standards. It is certainly cheaper to make different adapters than different chargers.

Finally, the Touch Diamond2 retail box will welcome you with a quick start guide and a CD with the syncing software required - nothing you cannot download off the internet anyway.

As you have probably noticed, the big one out is a microSD card. Without a card the HTC Touch Diamond2 is well short of adequate storage, so a trip to the nearest store will be a must for potential adopters.

HTC Touch Diamond2 360-degree spin

A side by side comparison to the original HTC Touch Diamond reveals that the Diamond2 has grown a few millimeters in every direction. The biggest difference is in height and thickness, at 107.9mm, the Diamond2 is visibly taller than its predecessor, which stands at only 102mm, and it's quite noticeably thicker at 13.7 vs 11.5 mm.

HTC Touch Diamond2 next to HTC Touch Diamond

Anyway, the result is that the Diamond2 fills the palm more than its predecessor but pocketability hasn't suffered much. After all, there simply wasn't enough space on the original Diamond for a bigger screen, which the sequel generously offers. The price to pay though is the missing D-pad.

Design and construction

In terms of design, the Diamond2 is really hard to call a sequel. So much has changed from the original diamond. The front panel controls have been reduced in size to accommodate the larger screen, while the gem patterns at the back were also removed.

Simpler design approach this time

Those changes certainly have a positive impact on usability as the uneven back of the original Touch Diamond made it wobble on a flat surface. However this exact styling of the rear was what gave the original Diamond some of its character (and its name?). The consensus on our team is that the Diamond2 plain back isn't as attractive and looks a lot simpler.

Unfortunately the panels of the HTC Touch Diamond2 are just as easily ruined by fingerprints as its predecessor's. It takes so little for the handset to get all greasy and miserably looking.

The good news is HTC have released an alternative back panel for the Diamond2 that is supposedly more smudge-resistant. Unfortunately one doesn't come in the retail package, but is only available as an additional accessory at about 35 US dollars.

The front panel is dominated by the 3.2" screen of the exciting WVGA resolution. Riding on the immense pixel-to-inch ratio, the Diamond2 offers remarkable picture quality.

The Diamond2 has 22% more screen area than the first Diamond but it has 25% more pixels so the sharp and vibrant picture is even better than the original.

The display is a winner

It seems PocketPCs are no longer a synonym for poor display and that is most certainly good news. Instead, they are now comparable to some of the excellent screens on the market. The usual 65K-color dispute is quite ungrounded considering the great final result.

Probably the worst part of the HTC Diamond2 display is sunlight legibility. Customary for a PocketPC, it hardly is the best device to work with in the bright sun. It's about the same as its predecessor which barely broke the average mark.

We do hope the problem of the original Diamond getting its display easily scratched is sorted. The HTC Touch Diamond screen used to get starched by its own stylus and that is nothing short of ridiculous.

Above the display we find the earpiece, the ambient light sensor and the secondary video-call camera plus the LED status light.

The Diamond2 has a status light atop of the display

Then at the bottom, we find four hardware keys and the touch-sensitive zoom bar. The regular keys are the same as on the original Diamond only this time they are a whole lot smaller, and definitely look better.

The four keys below the display have been redesigned, while the scroll wheel has been replaced by a zoom bar

The back key is a nice addition to recent HTC devices getting you one screen back wherever you are in the Diamond interface. Simple though it might sound it's a definite boost to user-friendliness.

The zoom bar has basically the same functionality as the touch-sensitive overlay of the original Diamond's scroll wheell. It can be used on images, web pages, messages, and doubles as a music control. We are delighted with the response of the zoom bar, which works like a charm in the image gallery.