Product Category: PDA phone

Manufacturer: HTC

Where to Buy: Expansys [Affiliate]

Price: $524.99 USD

System Requirements: Comes with Windows Mobile 6.1 and HTC's TouchFlo 3D interface. Sorry, no word from HTC on 6.5 or 7 upgrade at this time.

Specifications: Qualcom MSM7200A running at 528MHz; 512Mb ROM, 288 Mb RAM; 3.2 inch TFT LCD screen in 480x800 resolution; Quad band GPRS/Edge + dual band (Europe/Asia only) HSPDA/WCDMA; 117.5g (4.1 oz) with battery; 108mm (4.3 in) x 53mm (2.1in) x 14mm (0.6in). Full specifications from HTC are available here.

Pros:

• Huge, bright screen with vibrant colours;
• Sleek, professional look; good feel in the hand and very pocketable;
• TouchFlo 3D interface is very smooth, responsive and finger-friendly -- little need to use the stylus for most functions;
• GPS Receiver is Phenomenal!

Cons:

• Soft reset button is located inside the unit so you have to take the back cover off if things get 'stuck';
• Really wish HTC would add a Tasks tab to TouchFlo.

Summary: Right from the top let me say I LOVE the Touch Diamond 2. It has a very classy look; the size and weight are very comfortable in the hand' and the WVGA screen is clear, vibrant and huge! HTC's TouchFlo interface is quicker and smoother in this version, with new features and greater depth into the Windows Mobile GUI. As a whole, everything about this phone just works exactly as you'd expect it to. Easy, Expected and Reliable is exactly what I'm looking for in a personal digital assistant and the Touch Diamond 2 has it all. I really hated to have to return this at the end of the review period.

The Package

The Touch Diamond 2 is the next generation of HTC's relatively successful Touch Diamond, which came out about a year ago. The focus of the Diamond series is on business professionals who want a powerful phone/PDA but don't require (or want!) the bulk of a slide-out keyboard.

When the Diamond first came out, it made quite a splash with its distinctive styling -- angular, glossy and black. The TD2 continues the basics of the look, but addresses many of the original's shortcomings.

Jason provides his usual excellent unboxing video here. HTC has always provided a pretty good kit of accessories with their units. The model we received for review is a European (UK) model, but I noticed that Expansys was good enough to include a North American plug adapter for the wall charger. Here's a shot of what was included in the box.

Figure 1: The Touch Diamond 2 package includes (from the top left): wall charger with North American plug adapter; the Touch Diamond 2 unit, including battery; HTC-branded leather slip case; screen protector (on top of the slip case); stereo earbuds, including microphone and foam covers; an extra stylus; and a mini-USB to USB charger/sync cable. The wall charger has a USB jack on the bottom, so you can use the same cable to charge from the wall as well.

According to the HTC website, the package should also come with a QuickStart Guide and the usual 'Getting Started' CD with the user-guide, Outlook and Activesync. It was missing from our package, but that could have been due to some other reviewer. ;-)

As you can see, the provided stylus is very small and difficult to handle, even in my smallish hands. To be honest though, I really didn't have much need for it during my 2 week trial. I think the only time I pulled it out was to reset the unit (to test how that looked) and to clear the unit before I shipped it back.