HTC Touch Diamond2 review: Director’s cut
- 2
- 2PP
- Mwg
- 10 Aug 2009
2PP 2 possible probl, 30 Jun 2009Great review, thanks. Other reviewers said the Diamond 2 di... more
Further to my comment below, I decided to buy the Diamond 2 and solved the problems.
The camera works fine, you just need to hold it straight to avoid problems of strange angles in the picture. The missing flash is not a real problem because you can adjust the luminosity and contrast and thereby take pictures indoors without at flash. No problemo....
I solved the problem of the missing M- key on the calculator by finding a different way to change numbers from positive to negative. You just need to click the minus key once and then click the equals key = twice. That converts any number in the display from positive to negative.
The problem of the missing 3.5 mm jack is easily solved by buying a short adapter plug for a few Euros or dollars and presto, the miniUSB plug can be used with a normal 3.5 miniJack plug.
With those problems solved, there's no downside to this phone, and lots of advantages. The battery life is not as long as that on my former pda, but that's the case of all smartphone batteries. A vehicle that is simultaneously a car, an airplane, a boat, a snowmobile, a bulldozer etc will naturally use more fuel that a vehicle that is just a car. The solution is to charge the battery more often (it automatically charges when hooked up to your pc) or just buy an extra battery. they're small and thin and easily portable.
compare this phone with other smartphones, and you'll be impressed.
2PP
- 2
- 2PP 2 possible probl
- iC4
- 30 Jun 2009
Great review, thanks. Other reviewers said the Diamond 2 didn't have Year or Week views in the calendar, but you astutely pointed out that it's still there in the Windows mode.
Two small worries -
a) The sample camera pics in your review seem to indicate that the Diamond 2 pics suffer from straight-line distortion. The vertical lines on each side of the pics seem to curve/lean out to the edge at the top. A shame. Someone said there are software download patches to correct this, but I don't know where to look.
Has anyone tested the D2 camera by photographing a test grid of crossed lines?
b) The calculator doesn't seem to have a M- key or a +/- key. That's bizarre because those are basic needs for the cumulative memory in a calculator. When adding up expenses or other budget items, you keep putting them into M+ while calculating new items, but occaionally you need to substract something from the cumulative memory, and that's when you use Memory subtract (M-) key or alternatively you change the sum to minus with the +/- key and tehn add it to the Memory as a negative number (thereby subtracting it). Has anyone tested the calculator? I suppose I can always download a free one that has the missing buttons.
I'll probably buy the Diamond 2 because I'm tired of waiting years for the phone the Has It All. This comes close enough on all the important points with good quality on most. Not too big and heavy, not too small. It has Windows and Adobe so I can download and read lots of business docs while travelling. Google maps is really handy in foreign cities. And it has good music quality if I just buy an inexpensive little adapter to make my 3.5 headset plug fit the miniUSB on the D2.
2PP
- a
- andy
- 33d
- 09 Jun 2009
Tenny, 22 May 2009can i know Diamond 2 or Touch Pro 2 which one is better? Depends what you want..
For a lot of texting and browsing, TP2
For taking pictures and for it's smaller size, D2
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- Anonymous
- tVn
- 28 May 2009
Erick, 25 May 2009It is quite an unacceptable state of affairs where customer... moreBefore lashing out at the Touch Diamond 2, check first. The Diamond 2 and Touch Pro 2 are WM6.5 ready. They're the first 2 devices officially running WM6.5. If its the OS, then either you're not familiar with WM or just not familiar with the WM architecture. There are custom ROMs in the internet that would allow you to install WM6.5 on older devices (assuming the device has the hardware). WM isn't cookie cutter O/S. You're free to customize it.
- E
- Erick
- p$K
- 25 May 2009
It is quite an unacceptable state of affairs where customers pay a high price for an operating system where it is applauded when the operating system is hidden from the home and other screens through graphical overlays. To add to this people have to wait to check whether a particular device will be eligible for the next version of the OS. Why can't Windows Mobile be like its desktop counterpart: affordable and practical?
- J
- JoJo
- fvI
- 23 May 2009
Tenny, 22 May 2009can i know Diamond 2 or Touch Pro 2 which one is better? Diamond 2 Ofcourse Smaller,Higher resolution camera, No slide at all, thiner, and the same performance of Pro2...
- T
- Tenny
- tVm
- 22 May 2009
can i know Diamond 2 or Touch Pro 2 which one is better?
- Z
- Zee
- M4{
- 21 May 2009
Can someone please give me an honest account of the Texting interface on this phone please?
I know you can select QWERTY keypad, both landscape and portrait modes but how does it perform when you select the numerical keypad?
And also the Texting interface isn't TouchFlo 3D is it? Can someone confirm this please? Because from what I have heard, the Texting interface is Win Mo 6.1 and that isn't very responsive to touch.
I don't want to have to quickly type a text using a stylus.. too long!
I just want to be able to send a text message very quickly similarly to a traditional mobile phone.
Oh and also please elaborate on the battery life.
Thank you
- P
- Private Prozac
- mCW
- 18 May 2009
Unfortunately mine's going back after just 2 days!
It came with a trial of TomTom 7 but it just wont run. It's installed, the splash screen opens, it connects to find out how many days of the trial you have left and then just hangs. You have to power the phone off in order to clear the running app'.
Also, the on screen keyboard is too small. I'm by no means 'fat fingers' but you have to be deadly accurate with your digits or use the stylus when typing. And, to be honest, who wants to faff around with the stylus when trying to bang out a text message!
And you can't set an alarm and then turn the phone off, (like the Nokia's). The phone has to stay on, wasting 7-8hrs of battery, in order for the alarm to wake you up.
The phone itself is very well made, nice to handle and to have in your pocket and the Touch Flo is gorgeous but ...it is a very business users geared phone and not a 'Joe Texter' phone. Also, you have to be prepared to put up with it crashing. And the battery life is pretty poor in my opinion.
As said, mine's going back and I'm sticking with my Nokia N95 with my £10 per month Vodafone sim - 200 minutes & 500 texts. I'm now waiting to see what the next iPhone brings when announced in June.
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- Anonymous
- R57
- 18 May 2009
Dhir, 16 May 2009I agree that winmo is not for everyone as it is meant to do... moreOn the issue of hanging, to be honest, 6.0 / 6.1 is extremely stable. My phone doesn't hang (Touch Dual). When it does its usually a hardware rather than software issue. Low memory not the OS.
On lagging, its usually a hardware not software. Windows Mobile like the Windows desktop comes with minimum requirements, because Microsoft only makes the OS not the hardware. Hence its the phone manufacturer that usually fumbles on the specs like offering a phone on the mare minimum spec and sell it like it performs as well as the high end version. Think Vista. There is a difference between minimum requirements and recommended. Symbian, Apple and Blackberry doesn't have this problem because Nokia, Apple and RIM are both the main drivers of software and the main phone manufacturer for the platforms respectively. In other words, they control both software and hardware. Microsoft controls only the software.
Seriously. If you pack enough processing power and RAM into a Windows Mobile device, it will outperform any mobile handset on the market in terms of performance. Let's put it this way, by design, Windows Mobile technically has no limits on multi tasking. You have the RAM and processor it will run any background process you throw at it. Just like a PC. Hence this is the reason why each new generation of WinMo device, may use the same O/S but have updated processor and in particular, RAM.
Hence why Microsoft is quite specific in its hardware requirments for WM6.5 and WM7.0. To prevent the experience you've mentioned. On lagging and crashing.
- D
- Dhir
- utd
- 16 May 2009
Anonymous, 11 May 2009I think we can all agree Windows Mobile isn't for everyone.... moreI agree that winmo is not for everyone as it is meant to do business than being a visual pleasure. but what about the frequent hanging and lagging of the set? there's already a long debate abour windows not being good enough for pc either so when coming to mobile they must have been more reliable.
- ?
- Anonymous
- tVn
- 11 May 2009
I think we can all agree Windows Mobile isn't for everyone. People who find UI and accessibility important may well dislike Windows Mobile. I myself dislike the Touch Flo interface. I like the classic / traditional Today screen. I also like the idea how Windows Mobile's real value lies in software. If people think Apple with its App Store is the real deal, Windows Mobile has long relied on third party apps to extend the platforms functionality. I like the idea of plug-ins on the Today screen. I like being able to choose from a list of software rather than just 1 software for 1 function. I like the idea of being able to tweak the phone. I like the tight integration with Windows. Most important, I like touch screen. Its the next generation and Windows Mobile has a head start. I tried the N97 (demo) and the UI is just weird and its just not as customizable. So can we all agree Windows Mobile is not for everyone and just because its not for everyone doesn't make it a bad platform.
- O
- Oliver Queen
- p7A
- 10 May 2009
Anonymous, 09 May 2009HTC build quality hardware, and are built wonderfully as we... moreI'm afraid i disagree with the idea of judging a phone based on its interface. Whats the use of having a great Graphical interface with very little features.. HTC and windows are the best HW/SW couple ever.
WinMo 6.5 has at last a better graphical interface. But one judges the deliverance of the OS. The today screen was always the best thing compared to other OS Today screens. In Windows you add Today screen plug-ins to enhance your capability of accessing your programs or folders in a quicker and more comfortable way. There are lots of plug-ins out there to play around with which makes it more fun using your WinMo and feel that you own a new device everyday or every time you modify the features.
WinMo are way too advanced than some graphical eyes-catching devices.
An HTC device says it all...
- ?
- Anonymous
- 2CJ
- 09 May 2009
HTC build quality hardware, and are built wonderfully as well. It's a shame they persist with windows, IMO the poorest smart interface. Would love to see HTC do a really nice android phone (not the current one), or even better build the hardware for the next iPhone! LOL. Apple make good software, but poor quality phones, HTC make good quality phones, but use poor software. Catch me drift.
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- Anonymous
- S9G
- 08 May 2009
Cool Where can I buy This Sim Free?
- i
- india
- u1y
- 05 May 2009
good review GSMARENA...on time...generally ur review comes out vry late..so a good step forward...hope to see u ppl continue this for the remaining devices...cheers
- J
- Jassy Dubai
- nCb
- 04 May 2009
Dear battery drained in 15 minutes doesn't mean that,it means the diamond 2 battery talk time is 15 minutes more than the touch diamond,and overall standby time is much more than the original diamond,rest i also agreed with the other comments that HTC didnt do much with this handset,what i think it is little cheap in price as u know the crises all over world ,thats why they made the box of touch diamond 2 very normal box no carry case inside,but over all its a nice handset cause HTC gives all customers windows 6.5 upgrading free of cost when it is available,thats a nice step taken by HTC,keep it up HTC
- ?
- Anonymous
- j}4
- 04 May 2009
Good review but the remarks on the battery are striking: "It managed about 15 minutes of telephony, an hour of using the other phones features...".
Does that mean the battery drained after 15 minutes of talking?
- S
- Snake Doctor
- p7A
- 04 May 2009
This is late and nothing compared to what's coming soon from hTC..
I'm happy with my HD and thought this was promising.. But i'll be waiting for news from hTC about htc Star with Nvidia chip..
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- Anonymous
- pF0
- 04 May 2009
Diamond 1 is still super expensive what is this going to be?
Comparing D2 with Omnia: Omnia still outdo's with LED flash (also great as flashlight) and Omnia is still cheaper than the D1.. so D2 is out of the picture man
The HD rules this over D2...
HTC? Where's the ground breaking next gen devices man...!