HTC Touch Diamond2 review

HTC Touch Diamond2 is next on our roll call of MWC debuts but this time it's less about the brand spanking novelty and more about balanced and sensible upgrades. People tend to have second thoughts about sequels but this one here is signed by HTC and may as well be the director's cut of a blockbuster.

It is only recently that Windows Mobile fans are receiving the treatment they deserve after years of undeserved exile. The WinMo devices are no longer stigmatized as ugly bricks with awkward handling and HTC are one of the main agents of this change. The HTC Touch Diamond was one of the most complete devices and its stand-out styling earned it well deserved popularity.

HTC Touch Diamond2 official photos

We now welcome its successor, somewhat insipidly named HTC Touch Diamond2. Improving the functionality of the original Diamond, the Diamond2 comes with rather different design that is certain to raise some degree of discussion. But it's the performance that will make the difference between a mere Number 2 and a real gem.

Key features:

• 3.2" 65K-color WVGA display
• Latest TouchFLO 3D
• Qualcomm MSM7200A 528 Mhz CPU and 288 MB RAM
• Dedicated graphics chip (64MB RAM reserved for graphics)
• Quad-band GSM support
• 3G with HSDPA 7.2Mbps and HSUPA 2Mbps
• Wi-Fi and built-in GPS receiver
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• 5 MP auto focus camera with excellent image quality
• microSD card slot
• Touch-sensitive zoom bar
• MS Office Mobile document editor
• Opera 9.5 web browser
• Standard miniUSB slot and Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP
• Teeter game
• Great audio quality
• YouTube client
• Excellent video playback

Main disadvantages:

• Fingerprint nightmare
• Average sunlight legibility
• Questionable build quality
• No TV out port
• No standard 3.5mm audio jack
• No magnetic stylus

The HTC Touch Diamond2 outdoes its predecessor with a larger and higher-res screen, a vastly superior camera and more RAM. The TouchFLO 3D UI has also been improved and now covers the underlying Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional OS from tip to toe. Sounds like a decent update with a keen eye on the competition too, which is getting stiffer by the day.

HTC Touch Diamond2 views

While the original Diamond had only the Samsung i900 Omnia to tackle, the HTC Touch Diamond2 faces a tougher battle. With a few new arrivals on the touchscreen market (Symbian S60, Android and BlackBerry OS have all jumped in) the Diamond2 will need spotless performance to match its predecessor's success.

Samsung B7610 OmniaPRO

Samsung are not quite the standard-setter in communicator devices but are obviously keen to have their say. Playing catch up seems well in order for a debut but we guess someone here is set to play for keeps. The Samsung B7610 OmniaPRO is a generously spec'd device that's poised to tackle the best in the class and even raise the bet. While sheer size and scope confine it to a niche, the Samsung communicator might be just the right option for those served by that niche.

Samsung B7610 Omnia Pro official photos

Having acquired a pre-release sample of the side-slider PocketPC we are squeezing in a short preview, introducing its most important features. The chunky bloke does give a decent first impression, but handling will be the ultimate test. For starters, let's look at the key items on the Samsung B7610 OmniaPRO's balance sheet.

Samsung B7610 OmniaPRO at a glance:

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 900/2100 MHz, HSDPA 3.6Mbps
• Form factor: Full QWERTY side-slider
• Dimensions: 112.6 x 57.8 x 16.2 mm, 159g
• Display: 3.5" 16M color (65K effective) resistive AMOLED touchscreen of WVGA resolution
• OS: Windows Mobile 6.1 (upgradable to 6.5), TouchWiz 2.0 UI
• Memory: 1GB built-in storage, 256 MB RAM, hot-swappable microSD (up to 16GB)
• CPU: 800 MHz processor with dedicated graphics accelerator
• Camera: 5 megapixel auto-focus, with dual LED flash and VGA video at 30 fps
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS, TV out, 3.5mm standard audio jack
• Misc: Accelerometer for screen auto rotate and turn-to-mute, FM radio with RDS, DivX/XviD video support, work and leisure modes
• Battery: 1500mAh Li-Ion battery

Samsung are obviously eyeing market penetration at all levels. The B7610 OmniaPRO is their scout in a long colonized territory. HTC.are clearly the key target, though the communicator game is competitive enough with XPERIA, Nseries and Eseries all keen to take the lead.

Samung B7610 OmniaPRO at ours

LG GD900 Crystal

When talking about good design it's usually all about placing the right elements in the right places. And in the rare cases when an R&D team actually comes up with something innovative, they usually reserve it for a 2000 buck handset like the Motorola Aura. The LG GD900 Crystal and its see-through keypad, however, prefers walking among the mortals to sitting on mount Olympus and drinking ambrosia.

LG GD900 Crystal official photos

And luckily the sleek handset is much more than a pretty face. The rich feature set of the GD900 Crystal places it only a short step away from LG's multimedia flagships. However the lack of GPS is easily made up for with cool features like gesture shortcuts and multi-touch input. Sure, these may seem like fancy additions rather than key features, but sometimes it's all about winning the hearts of the users rather than their minds. And the Crystal seems pretty well designed to do that.

Key features

• Unique see-through alphanumeric touch-sensitive keypad
• 3" 16M color capacitive TFT touchscreen of WVGA resolution (480 x 800 pixels)
• S-Class Touch UI
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
• 3G with HSDPA (7.2 Mbps)
• Wi-Fi
• 8 megapixel autofocus camera, LED flash, manual focus, geotagging, image stabilization, multi face detection (up to 3), smile detection
• D1 (720x480 pixels)@30fps, VGA@30fps, QVGA time-lapse and slow-mo video recording
• 1.5GB storage memory
• Hot-swappable microSD card slot(up to 32GB)
• microUSB v2.0, mass storage mode
• TV-out port
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP
• Gesture shortcuts
• Accelerometer for screen auto rotate
• Multi-touch input
• DivX and XviD support
• FM radio with RDS
• Dolby for Mobile audio enhancement
• Office document viewer
• Smart dialing

Main disadvantages:

• Poor screen sunlight legibility
• Below average camera image quality
• No built-in GPS receiver
• No standard 3.5mm audio jack
• Records video in 3GP format
• Email attachment size limit is 1MB (both ways)
• Limited DivX/XviD video support
• All-plastic build

So what we have on our hands here is a handset that's dressed to impress and with a mind bright enough to keep your attention. We really like it when there's something new thrown at us and a see-through touch-sensitive keypad is certainly a first in the mobile world.

LG GD900 Crystal live shots