Not Everyone Is Wowed By The Diamond

[Ed Hansberry]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.jeffkirvin.net/2008/05/07/htc-diamond-is-fatally-flawed/' target='_blank'>http://www.jeffkirvin.net/2008/05/0...fatally-flawed/</a><br /><br /></div><p>There has been a ton of press in the past few days on the new HTC Diamond. It has a slick interface, a ton of mouth-watering specs and is sure to be a successful device for the Windows Mobile family. Not everyone is wowed by the product though. It doesn't seem to be aimed at corporate users, which is fine. I think it is about impossible to design a device that works well for the enterprise and is desirable for consumers. The Diamond was clearly designed for the consumer, but some feel that at a consumer device, it falls short.<br /></p><p><em>&quot;HTC just announced their newest smartphone, the Diamond. The successor to the Touch, the Diamond offers some amazing hardware and software innovation that should have made it an iPhone-killer, but as with seemingly every Windows Mobile device, it suffers from a few design flaws that keep it from reaching its full potential.&quot;</em><br /></p><p>Jeff goes on to largely criticize the 4GB limit on storage and the USB audio connector. I personally have an 8GB mini-SD card in my TyTN II and it is about 80% full, but honestly there is about 20-25 hours of video on there that I keep on the device rather than my laptop. I'd never need all of that, or even half of that, so for me the 4GB seems reasonable for the average person. I am not a huge fan of the USB audio though, and agree with Jeff on that. In fact, I wish the device makers would just wake up and stick a 3.5mm jack on these things, even if that meant a slight hump. It is certainly better than these huge adapters hanging off of them just so we can use our favorite headsets. Read the rest of Jeff's thought's on the device. Do you agree with him?</p>

[adamz]

I've actually become a big fan of the single extUSB port. Adapters are easy to get, but the biggest advantage is in the car. I only have to plug in one wire in order to get the audio routed through my car stereo AND keep the device charged. It is very convenient. Have two ports would mean having to plug in the charger into one area, then plugging the audio cable into another area. Who needs all those wires coming out of the device? It's a mess. The extUSB is very smart.

[moaske]

Today's consumers are spoiled too much... ;) But i would agree that leaving out an expansion-slot is just not very smart...as storage needs grow more rapidly than the need for a new device (i just love my TyTN II, and it'll service me for some years to come with 8gb Micro plugged in there).

But as for the audio-connection.... I don't understand all you people in bashing HTC for coming up with this solution. To be frank, i've written off quite some WM devices since the dawn of the OS in 1997 somewhere, and NEVER ever has an 3,5 audio-jack survived the entire lifetime of the device. These stone-age audio-jacks just break internally after some hundreds or thousands re-connects... Doesn't anyone see that HTC has actually fixed a major problem here? (and also making devices smaller in the process, since only one connector services all needs!). I applaud them for the ExtUSB jack, and their innovative phones which i'll keep using for many years to come (that also goes for my trusted Trinity which is my backup).

Think about it... How long did your 3,5mm jack survive? And am i the only one out here, or does anyone agree on this?

[Stinger]

I'd never need all of that, or even half of that, so for me the 4GB seems reasonable for the average person.

4GB is pretty tiny for a consumer device aimed at music/video lovers.

Compare it to the competition - the iPhone currently has 16GB and the N95 comes in 8GB and expandable variants. The imminent N96 has 16GB and a microHCSD slot (that's potentially 48GB of memory!). I'm sure the 3G iPhone will be released with 32GB.

[bearxor]

For me, what makes the Diamond or Raphael undesirable is that they are HTC devices.

HTC can design the hell out of some hardware. Hardware-wise, I have no problems with HTC phones. In day-to-day useage, however, they are horrible, especially if you need to use them as a phone. They're very slow and often times just hard to maneuver around using one hand. HTC takes a full install of Windows Mobile and then tacks on all type of crap on top of it and the Diamond and TouchFlo 3D are no exception.

This is why I still have my almost two year old Treo 700wx. Palm took the time to really work on Windows Mobile for the phone and it shows. The device is faster than any HTC device I've used in the last two years, which includes the Tilt, Mogul and Touch, even though on paper the specs are in HTC's favor in every contest. It just works without the need to spend hours setting the phone up or worrying about flashing ROMS and such.

I'm not here to go on about how I think the Treo is a better phone, because I know there's a lot of Treo-hate in the WinMo community. I'm just here to tell you why I won't buy an HTC phone until they prove they can innovate at the operating system level as much as they can at the hardware level.

[Paragon]

I'll be damned if I'm going to pay more for my device just because it has 16-40gig of memory. What I think would be a fantastic design feature is if they designed some sort of memory slot that allowed an individual to simply insert the size of memory card they like into it. Thus keeping the cost of the device down, and allowing people to choose their own level of memory.....or has that been done already. ;)

Dave

[Darren Behan]

Wow, no memory slot - no purchase. I would have considered it with 16 gb, 8 even but not with 4. Too bad cause there was a lot to love about this device and I was ready to buy. I would have been seriously upset had I gotten it only to find out my 8 Gb MicroSD card was useless.

db

[Don't Panic!]

My pet peeve is the 2.8 inch screen but aside from that I have to agree with Jeff that a consumer media flavored device should have an expansion slot even with the more than generous 4GB storage provided. God save us from these proprietary headphone jack solutions. I'd much rather have a larger device than live with these shortcomings.

I have to disagree with moaske though. The 3.5 inch headphone slot standard is a good solution, the problem is with the headphone manufacturers. For devices like ours which spend most of their time in our pockets or on our belts a stairght in plug is just asking for trouble. The solution is to use an L-shaped plug thus reducing the protrusion factor which is what causes the connecting wires to tear loose from the motherboard. I personally use an L-shaped adapter from Radio Shack whenever I feel like using wired headphones. I started using one after I was the first person to send an iPaq 3800 to PPCTechs with the headphone jack wires completely ripped out of the motherboard This was caused by my grado headphone wire getting caught on a bus railing. Had I been using an L-shaped adapter this probably would have not caused as much damage as it did.

[moaske]

...For me, what makes the Diamond or Raphael undesirable is that they are HTC devices....
....This is why I still have my almost two year old Treo 700wx.....
That's mighty interesting ... If i'm not mistaken that halfhearted attempt at a WinMo device with it's horrible square screen is being manufactured by..... HTC ... :D

[netboy]

That's mighty interesting ... If i'm not mistaken that halfhearted attempt at a WinMo device with it's horrible square screen is being manufactured by..... HTC ... :D

the phone might be manufactured by HTC, but the brains go to Palm! also the Brains go to Sony!
HTC making kickass device for Palm and Sony!
y cant they make something kickass for themself??
hyping May 6, 2008 for nothing!
if u going to make something as a iphone clone or iphone killer! the least u can do is put in 3.5" screen like the iphone! or put in 3" WVGA like X1 but with 2.8" VGA? i'm been using 2.8" VGA pdaphone for half a year now!
HTC used to be a leader, now they just a FOLLOWER!

[JesterMania]

Like others said, the extUSB doesn't bother me as unlike most other proprietary standards, it does have some benefits. I am very interested to see real-world performance from the 900mAH battery, WiFi and 3G usage being my primary interests.

The 4GB flash memory does bother me somewhat. I was expecting about 8GB being reasonable. This amount of storage space may well tip the scale in favor of the iPhone. Also, as the device has GPS, a larger flash memory would be handy for storing multiple maps - especially if you travel between various countries and require several GPS programs/mapsets. I generally like to have space for installation .cab files, GPS maps, 1-2GB music, and another 2GB of music videos so 4GB may not be enough.

I also hope the built-in flash memory is fast. One of the main complaints of the Nokia N95 8GB was slow flash, making many stick with the MicroSD N95 variant.

[PdaAddict]

HTC used to be a leader, now they just a FOLLOWER!

***long quote trimmed by mod JD***

My sentiments exactly! After owning countless HTC devices I am really frustrated and ready to abandon WM and HTC ship. I am still considering Treo 800w. The sad part is that HTC will still make a killing on Diamond and all the other "cutting edge" devices they will introduce later this year.

[chrisspera]

One of the biggest problems that I'm seeing right now is that everyone is trying to one-up the iPhone. the iPhone is successful because it went back to the beginning to figure out what needs, wants and desires weren't being met, and then provided a solution to them. For Windows Mobile to be as successful, we're going to have to go back just as far and design a device AND interface/OS that meets those needs, wants and desires.

We might have to think outside the box a bit, and perhaps redesign the WM paradigm to get it right, but it is definitely possible. I'd love to see it happen!

[Frankie1]

if u going to make something as a iphone clone or iphone killer! the least u can do is put in 3.5" screen like the iphone! or put in 3" WVGA like X1 but with 2.8" VGA? i'm been using 2.8" VGA pdaphone for half a year now!

***long quote trimmed by mod JD***

I agree
The most innovative thing that HTC has develped, to me, would be that glass ceiling of making devices with displays no larger than 2.8" :(

I MEAN C'MON ALREADY, WHY ARE THEY limited TO 2.8" DISPLAYS, SHOW SOME HTC INNOVATION.

I've (momentarily) given up on HTC: XDA Flame with WM6.1

[wmm]

The only real issue for me with the Diamond is one that hasn't been mentioned here: there's no flash for the camera. I have an 8525, which does have an LED flash, and have just started using Evernote; I find that the Evernote OCR works better on documents I photograph with the flash (faster shutter = less blur).

That said, however, I'm almost certainly going to get a Diamond if AT&T offers it with a reasonable subsidy for extending my contract. I'm not a heavy multimedia user and always have my PC nearby for a refresh, so 4GB is more than enough for me, and everything else sounds really ideal: VGA, small, fast, lots of RAM, spiffy UI, better browser, GPS, etc.

A note on the audio connector: as far as I'm concerned, that's a wash, neither better nor worse than a standard phone plug. My problem with the phone plugs is that after a year or so of plugging and unplugging, oxidation sets in and I have to jiggle the plug to make a good connection, and eventually no amount of jiggling will help. I'm beginning to experience the same thing with my 8525, so it's no better, and having to use the adapter is only a tiny inconvenience, so it's not really worse.

[bearxor]

That's mighty interesting ... If i'm not mistaken that halfhearted attempt at a WinMo device with it's horrible square screen is being manufactured by..... HTC ... :D

As pointed out, HTC does the manufacturing and probably the hardware design for both the Treo's and the X1,but the software is done by Palm and Sony.

About your 'half-hearted' comment... Have you used a WM Treo for a significant period of time? The ease of use and speed of the device surpasses any WM device currently available in the NA market and the device itself is over two years old.

You'll get no disagreement from me that it's old, ugly and lacking some significant features in todays market, like WiFi and GPS. The 800w will rectify the situation. I think the fact that Palm has been able to lean on the 700wx for so long shows just how great a phone it is.

I felt the same about it initially - Why would I want a Palm WinMo device? HTC makes great phones. Then I got the 6700 replaced from my 6600. What a piece of crap. I called Sprint and they switched me out for a 700wx and I couldn't have been happier. I also bought (and returned after a couple of weeks of use) the Mogul when it came out. I've also used a Tilt for a couple of weeks. The 700wx is still better than them, even with it's square screen and 240x240 resolution.

[jgrnt1]

I hate the usb adapter for audio. I have an AT&T 8525 (TyTN). In my car, I have an installed powered Proclip (Brodit) cradle. To run sound from the phone, I can't charge it or even leave it in the cradle. Because of this, I have a separate mp3 player. If I could have a WM phone which would handle a 32GB SD card, and which had a 3.5mm jack, I wouldn't carry an mp3 player at all (I have about 38GB of music, in mp3 and wma formats).

[stmcgill]

It has 900mAh battery. That has to be a concern with a VGA display...

[gregh]

the iPhone is successful because it went back to the beginning to figure out what needs, wants and desires weren't being met, and then provided a solution to them.

***long quote trimmed by mod JD***

Absolutely spot on. HTC are taking Windows Mobile and trying to engineer a new interface on top of it, it's never going to be good as designing it into the base OS & hardware from day one....

[indiekiduk]

Wait, what?? You mean people actually listen to music on watch video on a windows mobile? Personally I don't have a spare week for the time it takes to copy a media file over active sync.

[Jason Dunn]

Doesn't anyone see that HTC has actually fixed a major problem here? (and also making devices smaller in the process, since only one connector services all needs!). I applaud them for the ExtUSB jack, and their innovative phones which i'll keep using for many years to come (that also goes for my trusted Trinity which is my backup).

If I could get Ultimate Ears, or really any good pair of headphones with an ExtUSB jack, then sure, I'd applaud HTC. But I can't. The entire audio industry, from MP3 players to headphones to cables, is all based around the 3.5mm headphone jack. HTC is off doing their own thing, and while it might be technically superior in some ways, that doesn't make it practical.

[Jason Dunn]

Wait, what?? You mean people actually listen to music on watch video on a windows mobile? Personally I don't have a spare week for the time it takes to copy a media file over active sync.

Well, that's one of the reasons why memory cards are useful - you can pull them out, fill them up with media, and pop them back into your device. I've heard that the Diamond mounts as a mass storage device, so you can drag and drop directly to it, bypassing the slow-as-ever ActiveSync/WMDC.

[Jason Dunn]

It has 900mAh battery. That has to be a concern with a VGA display...

Yeah, I'd have thought so as well, but apparently they've done some great power saving things, and Windows Mobile 6.1 has improved battery life management. I guess we'll see...:)

[Rob Alexander]

I pretty much agree with Jeff. The Diamond is very attractive to me at first glance, but these issues he brings up are collectively deal-killers for me.

I have more than 4 GB of my 8 GB microSD card filled on my Touch already. I could get by with 4 GB if I had to, but why should I have to? There is no way I would buy a device that did not have either an expansion slot or at least 16 GB of flash built-in. This is a deal-breaker for me.

I guess we'll have to wait and see how the battery performs in the real world, but that size really worries me. That is one of the things that bothers me the most about my Touch. I went from an HP 2210 that only needed charging every four or five days to the Touch that just barely makes it from wake-up (I charge every night) to bed each day. Sometimes, it's really pushing it by evening. I get by with the way it is now, but I really couldn't live with less. This one could be a deal-breaker depending on whether the new OS and CPU really cut the power usage as much as they'd like us to believe.

I take the point of some folks who find the extUSB useful. If I used my phone the way some of you do, I'd probably like it too. But I don't. The most common time that I listen to music on my WM device is when I'm traveling... usually on long flights. I love being able to take along my favorite set of ultra-comfortable earbuds, plug them into my PPC for music, then into the airplane seat for the movies. Now, with my Touch (although I really like it in most ways), I have to carry along this whole set of adapters, which fills up my carry-on space and just gives me three more small pieces to drop on the floor and lose. This isn't a deal-breaker for me, but I would rather go back to a standard audio jack.

I don't know why everyone is so down on the 2.8" screen. I thought that would be an issue for me when I went from the 3.5" 2210 to the Touch, but now I love this screen size. This isn't a laptop replacement for me; it's a smartphone. I love how small the Touch is and how unobtrusively is sits in my pocket or hangs on my belt. The smaller screen looks dramatically more sharp and crisp than a larger screen of the same resolution (of course). Putting a VGA screen on this size would finally give you magazine quality images. I know I used to say, 'the bigger the better' about screens, but I was wrong.

Anyway, it won't matter to me for a long time. I'm with Alltel and they're never early about adopting cool new phones. (They only got the Touch about 6 months ago.) By the time the Diamond makes it to Alltel in a CDMA model, it'll probably have 16 GB of flash and a better battery. (I think the single power/audio connector is here to stay.) I could definitely see moving to this phone if they did that.

[netboy]

I don't know why everyone is so down on the 2.8" screen. I thought that would be an issue for me when I went from the 3.5" 2210 to the Touch, but now I love this screen size.

the problem was HTC hyping about May 6, 2008 then u get disappointed! iphone, X1, and diamond are about the same size, but iphone got 3.5" screen and X1 got 3.0" WVGA, and this diamond only got 2.8" VGA??

[Stinger]

I've heard that the Diamond mounts as a mass storage device, so you can drag and drop directly to it, bypassing the slow-as-ever ActiveSync/WMDC.

The Samsung SGH-i300 had mass storage support. I'm surprised more Windows Mobile phones don't support it.

[Jason Dunn]

I'm surprised more Windows Mobile phones don't support it.

Yeah, I agree - I think it should be a standard feature...it would solve a lot of problems.

[eagle63]

This is why I still have my almost two year old Treo 700wx. Palm took the time to really work on Windows Mobile for the phone and it shows. The device is faster than any HTC device I've used in the last two years, which includes the Tilt, Mogul and Touch, even though on paper the specs are in HTC's favor in every contest. It just works without the need to spend hours setting the phone up or worrying about flashing ROMS and such.


I couldn't agree more. My last 3 WM devices have been: PPC-6700, Treo 700wx, HTC Touch. (in that order) The Treo is far and away the most stable of the 3, and also the fastest. I love my Touch and wouldn't go back to the Treo 700, but that's mainly because of the sexy sleek hardware. It has some show-stopper level defects that HTC should be thoroughly embarrassed by. The funny thing is, I read lots of reviews of the Touch before I got it that raved about how fast it was. If you compare it to other HTC devices, then yeah - it was faster. But not compared to the Treo 700wx/750.

Like you, I have very little faith that HTC knows how to write software. My own experience with 2 of their devices has made this painfully obvious. Hopefully the Diamond will be stable, but I have my doubts. If only HTC could design the hardware and have Palm write the software layer....

[eagle63]

Today's consumers are spoiled too much... ;) I applaud them for the ExtUSB jack, and their innovative phones which i'll keep using for many years to come (that also goes for my trusted Trinity which is my backup).


Question: is this going to be like the HTC Touch, where the jack is sort of a modified mini-USB? If so, then I don't get it. I have no problem with making the mini-USB be the universal interface for charging, syncing, and audio as long as the actual port on the device itself is mini-USB, not that ridiculous hybrid thing on the Touch which forces you to always have an adapter plugged in.

[BBF]

I agree with Jeff that the Diamond is not for me nor him...
However, as a "touch" replacement, I think it's got the correct mix.

Alot of "normal" users won't ever change the microSD card that's in the touch anyways, so having 4GB built in is not much of a problem for everyday users...

I'm sure that HTC will come out with different versions based on the core features that the Diamond has, just look at all the touch derivatives and the fact that the Mogul shares the core technology that the touch does. I'm looking forward to power-user version using the reference hardware that the diamond is constructed on.

Certain aspects of the Diamond impresses me, but not enough that I'd get one... but since it's the Touch's replacement, I'm really looking forward to the Mogul's replacement.

[bearxor]

You guys know the Raphael is the same device with the keyboard attached, 4GB internal missing and a mSD slot added, right? It'll be running everything else the same.

[jngold_me]

I couldn't agree more. My last 3 WM devices have been: PPC-6700, Treo 700wx, HTC Touch. (in that order) The Treo is far and away the most stable of the 3, and also the fastest.

Well the same cannot be said regarding the Touch Cruise. My TC is much faster, stable, and more responsive than the 750 I had. That's even with all the graphics driver issues that affect the Touch family.

I am not surprised you feel the 700wx was faster considering the Touch was powered by the 200mhz OMAP.

[eagle63]

Well the same cannot be said regarding the Touch Cruise. My TC is much faster, stable, and more responsive than the 750 I had. That's even with all the graphics driver issues that affect the Touch family.

I am not surprised you feel the 700wx was faster considering the Touch was powered by the 200mhz OMAP.

No, I have the CDMA Touch which has the 400mHz CPU. (same as the Cruise I believe) Maybe the 750 is different (I don't see how) but the 700wx is unquestionably faster, which is pathetic given the big hardware disadvantage it has to the Touch.

So the Touch Cruise doesn't suffer from some of the disastrous bugs on the Touch? Such as: phone periodically won't come out of standby mode (for those of you who have/had a 6700, this is the good 'old DSOD you're no-doubt aware of), or the problem where the storage card gets corrupted, or the bug where if you enable password protection it minimizes all open applications when you turn the screen off?

If these don't exist on the Cruise, then I'll hold out hope that HTC's upcoming ROM patch for the Touch might fix these things.

[Jason Dunn]

You guys know the Raphael is the same device with the keyboard attached, 4GB internal missing and a mSD slot added, right? It'll be running everything else the same.

I'm definitely looking forward to learning more about that device. :)