HTC MOBILE: HTC Touch Diamond 2

HTC Touch Diamond 2

While smaller than the two aforementioned touch-screen smartphones, the Touch Diamond2 is ever so slightly bigger and heavier than its predecessor, at 4.25 inches high by 2.09 inches wide by 0.54 inch thick and 4.15 ounces (compared with 4 inches by 2 inches by 0.6 inch and 4 ounces). However, it still has a slim-enough profile that you should be able to slip it into a pants pocket with no problem.

In addition, the smartphone has a solid construction and is comfortable to hold. The back is a bit slick since HTC decided to go with a simple flat plastic battery cover unlike the various versions of the Touch Diamond, which either had a geometric backing or soft-touch finish. While not a huge deal, we are slightly partial to the soft-touch finish since it gives the phone a non-slippery texture. More than anything, it's the Touch Diamond2's WVGA display that's the attention grabber. It's bigger and sharper at 3.2 inches and 480x800 pixels. Images and text pop with color and clarity, and the touch screen is quite responsive. It also has a built-in accelerometer, which will automatically change the screen orientation from portrait to landscape when you rotate the phone. Note that this doesn't work in all apps, but does for Web pages, e-mail, photos, and video. The accelerometer was fairly responsive; not instantaneous but no more than a second or two to switch.