If you’re a betting man, HTC was always favourite to be the iPhone’s cardinal challenger. It’s series of Touch blowers, and in particular its finger-licking TouchFLO interface, showed signs of evolution beyond pretenders like Samsung and LG.
So, we’re not surprised to see it latest Windows-powered caresser, the Touch Diamond, rock up with ticklish moves straight out of class Cupertino.
Yep, the Touch Diamond is the closet any handset has come to matching the iPhone’s fluid touch UI. But while it shows off some slick finger-friendly chops, it still, unfortunately, lacks the fruit machine’s silky sensitivity. But at least HTC is on the right lines.
And timing perhaps isn’t HTC’s forte, because right up until Apple recently rolled out its 3G/GPS-toting iPhone, its feature list spanked the original iPhone’s set-up red raw. But the Diamond’s line-up is impressive nonetheless: turbo HSDPA and Wi-Fi connectivity, built-in GPS, a 3.2-megapixel snapper, 4GB of internal memory, an eye-popping VGA-quality 2.8-inch display and the latest Windows Mobile 6.1 OS.
One advantage, the Diamond has over Apple’s mobile is size. Stand them side-by-side and it’s incredibly bijou and pocket smart compared to the iPhone. It’s also the most stylish of HTC’s Touch destiny, sporting clean lines and a light shifting prism pattern on the rear.
On cue, HTC has extensively improved its TouchFLO UI, drafting in iPhone-style pinkie navigation when working around full HTML web pages over the peerless Opera Mini browser and cover flow style photo grazing. HTC still hasn’t licked Apple’s Multi-touch manoeuvres just yet, but a double-tap will zoom straight into a web page, while a highly responsive touch wheel surrounds the mechanised five-way joypad for more precise snooping.
Old-schooler’s get a stylus for more tricky operation but generally your digits are accommodated, even for text messaging on the virtual keyboard, although this can be hit and miss. HTC has also considerably funked up the stuffy IT-esque Windows interface to gives it perceived business rep a more consumer smiley face.
One of the sweetest draws of the new Windows 6.1OS is the ability to support flash based video. This means you can feast on YouTube home vid tomfoolery and a dedicated web link gives quick access to the online video channel where footage sparkles on the VGA quality display.
Elsewhere, the 3.2-megapixel snapper with autofocus is steady, rather then Cyber-shot perceptive, while the Diamond utilizes Google Maps for navigation with the GPS receiver capable of latching onto a sputnik fix in no time.
Verdict
If the iPhone 3G delivers on its promise then we still can’t see the Touch Diamond toppling it from its number one touch phone billing. However, HTC’s richly featured ticklish smartie is undoubtedly the slickest touch handset we’ve pawed in recent months.
Best features
Vastly improved touch UI
Compact and bijou frame
Enhanced front end UI design
High speed connectivity
Stunning VGA-quality display
Not so good
So-so camera performance
Touch operation still not iPhone sensitive
4GB storage still inferior to iPhone quotas
No expandable memory option
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