Pictures: Phone Guide Germany

For some size does matter: The HTC Desire HD is one of the smart-phones with the largest touch-screen in the market. It features a 4.3-inch screen which takes up almost the entire top side of the phone. With a size 123 x 68 millimeters the HTC Desire HD is bigger than the Apple iPhone 4 (115 x 59 millimeters) and with 164 grams it is also heavier than the Apple smart-phone (137 grams) - despite the aluminium housing. At the same time, with a thickness of just 12 millimeters HTC has kept the Desire HD pretty slim (Apple iPhone 4: 9 millimeters). And the smart-phone of Taiwanese manufacturer HTC raises the bar for competitors’ devices in other areas, as well. This is a short review of the HTC Desire HD.

What Is Special about the HTC Desire HD?

In addition to the large touch-screen, the HTC Desire features a powerful 1-GHz Snapdragon processor, 768 MB RAM, support of HSPA for fast data transfers over mobile networks with up to 14.4 mbps (download) and of WiFi n for accessing the Internet at hotspots, an 8-megapixel camera with auto-focus, dual LED flash and HD video recording (720p) and A-GPS for location based services. Just regarding the specs, that leaves almost nothing to be desired. Another interesting feature of the HTc Desire HD is called Fast Boot. With Fast Boot, the Android smart-phone doesn’t shut down completely and can be restarted within just a few seconds. To switch off the phone completely, the user has choose the special Restart icon or take out the battery.

 

What Are the Drawbacks of the HTC Desire HD?

There are two real drawbacks of the HTC Desire HD and a third one that is just a minor drawback in comparison to a few other super-phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S. The two real drawbacks concern the battery life and the camera quality. HTC says the smart-phone offers up to nine hours of talk time in GSM mode or up to 5.5 hours in 3G mode. But once other features are used as well - and that is what a smart-phone is for - the battery must be refreshed every second day. You better make sure to switch off apps and programs on the phone that you don’t need. And event though the camera offers a resolution of 8 megapixels snapshots usually turn out somewhat blurred and show image noise.

Talking of the third minor “drawback”: Unlike the Samsung Galaxy S or the HTC Desire, the HTC Desire HD does not feature a brilliant Super AMOLED screen but comes with a Super LCD touch-screen which allows multi-touch gestures. This SLCD is more power efficient than a conventional LCD, but still lacks behind a Super AMOLED screen. However, brightness, contrast and color intensity of the touch-screen of the HTC Desire HD are still very good and the resolution of 800 x 480 pixels is sufficient even for such a large screen.

 

What Is This HTCSense.com Service on the HTC Desire HD?

HTCSense.com is an on-line service that lets users find a lost phone or lock your phone or remote wipe all his or her personal data on the phone in case it is stolen. When you are at home and you notice that you have forgotten your HTC Desire HD at work or at a friend’s house, you can login into HTCSense.com at your computer and even forward calls and messages to another mobile number. This does even work when the SIM card has been taken out of the phone - as long as the HTC Desire HD is still connected to the Internet and nobody has reset it. With HTCSense.com it is also possible to A-GPS track your smart-phone and the on-line service offers a back-up function.

Who Should Buy the HTC Desire HD?

The HTC Desire HD offers familiar features of other super-phones running on Android and can be operated easily even by first-time users. Typical Android services such as Google Search, Google Mail, Google Talk, Google Maps, YouTube and Latitude are installed on the phone, also the HTC Sense user interface with seven home-screens and widgets, QuickOffice and a web browser supporting Flash. Further apps can be downloaded from the Android Market. Add to that the large bright screen which is great for browsing the Internet, for video sessions on the way and for reading and writing messages or editing documents. And call quality on the Desire HD is quite good: Both persons talking to each other sound loud and clear and there is almost no background noise. However, not everybody likes such a big smart-phone. The HTC Desire HD will fit into most pockets but people wearing really tight pants may feel bothered by it.

 

Where Do I Get the HTC Desire HD and How Expensive Is It?

The HTC Desire HD is available at all German operators’ stores. Telekom offers the HTC Desire HD for € 539.95 without plan, Vodafone for € 579.90. At E-Plus and Base stores the HTc Desire can be bought for € 624.00 and at O2 Germany stores for € 529.00. However, buyers save money when buying it without plan at at web store. For example, at Amazon the HTC Desire HD is available for € 475.00 without plan. Price comparison website www.guenstiger.de is listing the HTC smart-phone for purchase prices beginning at € 425.00 without plan at web stores in Germany. The smart-phone is bundled with an 8 GB microSD card.

Product Summary of the HTC Desire HD:
Processor: Qualcomm MSM8255 with 1 GHz
Operating System: Android OS 2.2 (Froyo)
GSM Networks: 850, 900, 1,800, 1,900 MHz
Data Transfer: GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA 14.4 mbps, HSUPA 5.76 mbps, WiFi b/g/n
Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB
Screen: 4.3-inch capacitive Super LCD touch-screen with 800 x 480 pixels resolution and 16.7 million colors
Keyboard: virtual QWERTZ
Camera: 8-megapixel with auto-focus, dual LEd flash and HD (720p) video capture
Other Features: media player with 3.5-mm headset jack, FM radio, Bluetooth 2.1 (A2DP), A-GPS
Storage: 768 MB RAM, 1.5 GB plus 32 GB microSD
Size: 123 x 68 x 11.8 mm
Weight: 164 g
Speaking Time: 9 hrs (GSM) or 5.5 hrs (UMTS)

Read more about the HTc Desire HD at www.teltarif.de (in German).