HTC Touch Diamond2 Design

A side by side comparison to the original HTC Touch Diamond reveals that the Diamond2 has grown a few millimeters in every direction. The biggest difference is in height and thickness, at 107.9mm, the Diamond2 is visibly taller than its predecessor, which stands at only 102mm, and it's quite noticeably thicker at 13.7 vs 11.5 mm.

The front panel is dominated by the 3.2" screen of the exciting WVGA resolution. Riding on the immense pixel-to-inch ratio, the Diamond2 offers remarkable picture quality.

The Diamond2 has 22% more screen area than the first Diamond but it has 25% more pixels so the sharp and vibrant picture is even better than the original.

Above the display we find the earpiece, the ambient light sensor and the secondary video-call camera plus the LED status light.

Then at the bottom, we find four hardware keys and the touch-sensitive zoom bar.

The back key is a nice addition to recent HTC devices getting you one screen back wherever you are in the Diamond interface. Simple though it might sound it's a definite boost to user-friendliness.

The zoom bar has basically the same functionality as the touch-sensitive overlay of the original Diamond's scroll wheel. It can be used on images, web pages, messages, and doubles as a music control. We are delighted with the response of the zoom bar, which works like a charm in the image gallery.

On the left side of the Diamond2 we find the volume rocker, which is long enough but a bit to slim for our taste.

The bottom features the miniUSB port for connecting the data cable, charger and the headphones. The other thing to note here is the stylus compartment, which unfortunately isn't magnetic this time.

The stylus of the Diamond2 however is still active so it will wake the phone up automatically when pulled out.

The backside of the Diamond2, as we mentioned, is a lot plainer than the original Diamond. Considering that WinMo-fans are mostly into functionality, sacrificing some of the appeal in favor of practicality may be considered a good trade.

The only thing to see at the back of the Diamond2 is the 5 megapixel camera lens. There is no flash whatsoever, so low-light shooting with this handset is pretty much out of the question.

Opening the battery cover reveals the upgraded 1100 mAh Li-ion battery that powers the HTC Touch Diamond2. 200 mAh more capacity has are supposed to cover the larger and higher-res screen but as one might imagine it hardly does wonders.

It managed about 15 minutes of telephony, an hour of using the other phones features plus three days on standby, which is passable. When put under heavy pressure it can last for a day tops, but considering how things go with recent phones, that's perhaps OK.

The other thing of interest under the hood is the microSD card slot, which is at the right hand side of the handset next to the stylus. While you will need to remove the cover every time you change the card, the hot-swap support is all there.