HTC Touch Diamond review

Before the iPhone came along it seemed that every manufacturer's main aim was to produce the slimmest, lightest, tiniest phone. Now, however, ease of use is the main order of the day, and - despite their best efforts - HTC's TouchFLO 3D-enabled Windows Mobile phones struggle to keep up.

There's still plenty to admire about TouchFLO 3D. It hides the ugliness of Windows Mobile under a snazzy graphical wrapping that, now the ROM has been upgraded, works smoothly. Moving between your email, web browser, calendar and weather views, for instance, is a matter of sweeping your finger along the bottom of the screen.

We liked its different configurations of keyboard, too. The Qwerty layout is fiddly and should only be used for entering long web addresses and names, but the 20-key version (two letters per key, BlackBerry Pearl-style) is great for quick texts.

However, underneath it all lurks Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, which means you'll have to use the stylus frequently. But there are benefits that Windows Mobile brings over and above the iPhone and Symbian-based phones here: namely, document compatibility, software flexibility and file handling. Not only can you view Word and Excel files with this phone, but you can create and edit them, plus there's a huge library of cheap and free software for download.

The Touch Diamond has plenty more to recommend it, too. It's slim and sleek - the smallest smartphone here, just edging out the HP Voice Messenger on that front. It has a fantastic 480 x 640 resolution screen, which makes browsing the web an enjoyable experience. Plus, it has all the hardware one would expect of a modern smartphone: HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, assisted GPS and an FM radio.

It's one of the cheaper phones on contract, too, but there are a few caveats. The first is there's no way of upgrading the 4GB of onboard memory. The second is that you need an adapter to plug in your 3.5mm headphones.

The third is that battery life is poor. The 900mAh battery lasted only 51hrs 57mins in our real-world test. And it's this that prevents us from recommending the Touch Diamond this month.

Author: Jonathan Bray