This has been a much awaited upgrade to HTC’s popular Touch Diamond handset. Unlike most movies, mobile phone ‘sequels’ do tend to fare a little bit better than the originals. The Diamond 2 seemed to live up to that but here’s what I think overall.

Form Factor
This handset, in my opinion, is definitely better designed than its predecessor. It’s slimmer and sleeker and the large display at 3.2-inches makes quite a lot of difference for touchscreen functionality. The display resolution is 480 x 800 pixels with 65K colors. Just below the display is a touch sensitive zoom bar that can be used for WebPages, images etc. A set of volume keys are located on the side with a universal all-in-one mini USB port (though it may not look like it, it accommodates standard mini USB cables) located at the base.  A thin stylus can be popped out of the corner from beneath the handset. The Diamond 2 has a microSD card slot that can only be accessed by slipping off the rear panel. A VGA camera for video calling is placed above the display and the main 5 megapixel lens is located at the rear.


It’s so much lighter and easier to carry around considering the lack of a bulge due to its slimmer form as compared to the previous model. The screen is not scratch resistant so you might want to get a screen protector as it tends to pick up marks every time you slide it into or out of your pocket.

Features and Performance
Interface
HTC’s proprietary TouchFLO 3D user interface isn’t any different in this handset as it was in the last. The larger display, as I mentioned does make it a little easier to navigate. The quick access pages make activating and using various functions very easy. Though HTC has tried to make this handset’s UI as finger friendly as possible, the underlying WinMob UI seeps through the cracks ever so often and then you find yourself having to remove the stylus and use both hands instead of just one.


The onscreen keypads are available in a variety of forms – Full QWERTY keypad that also automatically gets activated when in landscape mode via the accelerometer, an alphanumeric mobile keypad, the regular WinMob QWERTY keypad and forms of handwriting recognition options as well. The problem is that the keypads are a bit too small, even in landscape. It’ll take a lot of getting used to and even after extensively using it I couldn’t. The Phone keypad is a little better if you prefer that option, but there was surely room for that to be larger too.


The good thing is with a Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional OS and UI along with a Qualcomm MSM7200A 528 MHz processor, the handset is quite quick even with a page full of apps running in the background.

Media
The bundled headset is very comfortable to use thankfully as you can’t really opt for an easy change considering it has a mini USB port for connectivity. So no AV out option is available. For music you can opt to use the Default Windows Media Player for the TouchFLO player, which is easily accessible. The issue of quality emitting from each player specifically is moot as the handset’s audio capacity is pretty good from volume to tone. The Audio Booster provides additional quality and preference options with EQ presets and a 10 channel graphic EQ setting that can be customized. An MP3 trimmer is available for making your own ringtones. I found that the speaker phone was not very conducive for taking calls as the volume was a little low.


What’s also quite impressive is the FM radio. It took about 13 seconds to store and preset all the nine available stations and reception during my commute was also quite decent. There’s no recording option but there is a stand alone voice recorder for memos.


From the video section, the Diamond 2 supports popular mobile video format playback like 3GP or MPEG4 files. I’d recommend using Windows Mobile to play video files as the secondary player is quite annoying when it comes to touch control for scanning and pausing. Other video options include a quick access to YouTube by a Native application and a separate app for Streaming media. The flick control for viewing images works smoothly.