HTC Touch Diamond 2: The Sophisticated Business Phone Model

January 18th, 2020

 A more sophisticated design is applied to the Touch Diamond2. The handset is smoother with a glossy panel design. The display bezel and chin of the Diamond2 are also trimmed in the same brushed aluminum, giving it an understated, business look.

The Diamond2 also has a touch-sensitive zoom control running along the bottom of its screen, which intelligently solves the problem of having a resistive screen: the lack of multi-touch. Since you can’t zoom with a pinch of the fingers and zoom menus can be difficult to use on a touch-screen, the fixed zoom control slide really comes in handy.

HTC’s tried-and-tested TouchFLO user interface gives the Windows Mobile-powered phone more finger-friendly shortcuts for the main features. The TouchFLO home screen has an easy-to-use sliding menu that you use by dragging your finger horizontally along a series of customizable icons. Also, if this device is connected to the best wifi extender, you can guarantee how fast and efficient this phone model is. 

The menu certainly looks good, but because the Diamond2 uses a resistive touch-screen, you’ll have to exert pressure to make it respond. It’s possible to make it work with a fingertip, but I often found that I accidentally selected things when I only wanted to scroll through a list of options.

It worked better with a fingernail, but the best response was achieved when I used the stylus, which is neatly hidden in the lower right corner of the unit.

Despite these difficulties with the screen, the Diamond2 offers a good texting experience, thanks to the huge array of text-entry options from QWERTY and alphanumeric soft keypads to handwriting recognition and useful functionality like copy and paste. Using the virtual keypad was surprisingly finger-friendly, especially with the vibrate feedback turned on and the word completion tool activated.

Surfing the Web on the Diamond2 is a breeze, thanks to HSDPA and Wi-Fi connectivity and a great built-in Opera browser. There’s also a YouTube application built into the browser so you can keep track of the latest uploads and your favorite videos. There was no trouble accessing videos, which looked fantastic on the Diamond2’s screen. The device also has a stereo Bluetooth and GPS, which works with the built-in Google Maps.

The 5-megapixel camera does a great job capturing photos, but you’d have to do this in well-lit conditions. There’s even an easy-to-use stitching feature that you can use for wide panorama shots. All your photos, files, and other apps may be stored in the onboard memory or a microSD card.

Battery life is relatively good for a Windows-powered device. On a full charge the previous night, the test unit lasted two-and-a-half days before I needed to charge it again. A good result considering the numerous calls and texting I made plus the constant fiddling and exploring of the numerous phone features.