HTC Touch Diamond review | Menu & Digital Camera
HTC Diamond with Windows Mobile
Menu structure & TouchFLO 3D
The menu structure looks familiar thanks to the Windows Mobile operating system. On top, you find the starting bar with all the available functions. As we have also seen on the latest HTC phones, the HTC Diamond too has a TouchFLO menu, now called the TouchFLO 3D. The desktop will display a quick access button for the weather, captured pictures, contacts and SMS text messages. This TouchFLO application facilitates the use, since you can now find various functions a lot quicker, sometimes even without the use of the stylus pen, whilst the normal menu consists of small icons, which makes it harder to operate. As briefly mentioned before, not all is carried out smoothly. For example, if you scroll through the pictures with your fingers, the phone wavers slightly. This is a pity, since the TouchFLO is kind of neat from a graphical perspective, and loses some of its splendour this way.
Internet on the HTC Touch Diamond
Internet Explorer & Email
The Internet Explorer web browser enables surfing on the Internet. In combination with all the available connection possibilities, comprising Wi-Fi, GPRS and fast HSDPA, everybody will find something to his own taste, and with the right speed. The included stylus pen is necessary for surfing the Internet with the HTC Diamond. The buttons are rather small and if you operate this function with your fingers, you are bound to hit the wrong button frequently. The speed is excellent. Email is enabled by webmail and with the built-in Email software, which can be found under messaging at SMS. All data of the email account can be inserted to enable mobile access from that moment forward.
HTC Touch digital camera
H TC has equipped the Diamond with a 3.2 megapixel digital camera with auto focus. This is reasonable as far as specifications are concerned, and definitely when comparing it with previous HTC models. However, you'd expect more from a device in this time and age. Every renowned manufacturer who wants to integrate serious mobile photography should add a camera with a minimum of 5 megapixels, in order not to make to make a fool of himself. The forecast is an 8 megapixel model crossing the counter by the end of this year. Activating the camera application is possible through the menu or through the quick access button at the TouchFLO photo viewer. This way it is not possible to start shooting immediately, also due to the some-what slow start-up time of the application.
HTC Diamond digital photography
Focussing with the camera phone
When the camera application is started, the screen fully serves as viewfinder. This is extremely pleasant, since it offers a clear view of what you are capturing. The viewfinder does not refresh that quickly as a result of which you will see annoying stripes on the screen when making a small movement. Upon taking a picture, the phone is slow in focussing and it also takes some time before the picture is actually captured. Even if you move the phone slightly after focussing, it still results in a blurred picture, very awkward!
Image quality of the HTC Touch Diamond
Colour reproduction of the photos
If you want to capture snapshots on the spot, you will have to think of a strategy, or keep a compact camera at hand. The camera of this HTC doesn't have its way with light. If there is a tad too much light, the true colour reproduction fails. In particular the colour red is difficult to catch correctly. The dynamic range is rather poor and it costs a lot to keep everything presentable. If HTC want to take mobile photography seriously, they will have to pay some more attention to this.
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