HTC Desire HD - Review

“Desire HD offers everything you could want from a smartphone and is also a top-end cameraphone. However, the phone’s poor battery performance means you’ll be tied to a power socket”

Android goes super-size

HTC's Desire HD: Big

Superseding one of 2010’s most popular smartphones - the HTC Desire - isn’t an easy task, but HTC hopes its new Desire HD has everything necessary to become one of the world’s best smartphones.

Its major difference from the original Desire is its supersize 4.3in screen. The dimensions make the smartphone a good choice for on-the-go films and YouTube because - unlike rival smartphones with smaller screens - the large viewing area lets you see content clearly.

Despite its name, the Desire HD doesn’t actually have a high-definition resolution touchscreen. The “HD” actually refers to the smartphone’s video camera, which I’ll discuss later.

Slim and undeniably attractive from the front, I wasn’t overwhelmed by Desire HD’s patchwork back cover which includes removable panels hiding the SD memory card slot and battery.

Desire HD	Desire HD	Desire HD	Desire HD
£26.00/month	£29.00/month	£26.00/month	£26.00/month
400 min Unlimited texts	600 min Unlimited texts	600 min Unlimited texts	400 min Unlimited texts
Go	Go	Go	Go

Sub-standard battery life

The patchwork rear isn't pretty

This brings me to my first, and perhaps only, major issue with the Desire HD - its dreadful battery life.

The phone’s supersize screen does mean it consumes more power than smaller screen phones, such as the Nokia N8. But when HTC quotes the Desire HD’s maximum standby battery life as 490 hours, I shouldn’t need to reach for the charger with a few short hours of a recharge.

I charged the phone fully one morning and then used it intermittently over the following hours to take photographs and find my way, via Google Maps. Much of the time the smartphone was sitting unused in my bag, though.

But by 6pm the phone’s battery was almost entirely exhausted. Other online Desire HD reviews have also criticised the smartphone’s battery life.

One of Desire HD’s best features is its camera: a superb 8Mp lens with an accompanying flash so bright that the phone also functions as a torch - HTC actually pre-installs a handy app for this!

Images can be touched-up after you’ve taken them using photography tools which, unlike those on rival cameraphones, really do make a noticeable difference. Check out my before and after images on the “Photos” tab to see for yourself!

Desire HD is also a superb video camera, capturing smooth and crisp footage of my friend’s dog chasing a stick. And because motion was captured in 720p high-definition, the footage looked good when I watched it back on my PC.

I really don’t see any need for a compact digital camera or video camera when you’ve got the Desire HD in your pocket.

An excellent cameraphone

Pictures were consistently good quality

Since Desire HD runs Google’s Android operating system it offers easy access to the entire range of Google-developed apps, including Google Search, Android Market for downloadable apps, Latitude and more.

HTC Sense - a custom user interface available on several HTC smartphones, including the HTC Desire Z - is then overlaid onto Android to make using the smartphone even simpler.

Desire HD has another trick up its sleeve. From my PC I was able to remotely track the phone’s physical location to anywhere in the world - extremely handy if it’s been lost or stolen.

The software didn’t always work first time, but when it did I could also forward calls and messages to another number and remotely lock the phone to keep thieves out. If the phone really is stolen then a remote wipe button helps prevent identity theft by allowing you to format everything (pictures, texts, emails, etc) from the phone’s memory.

Oh, Desire HD can also be used for making telephone calls and sending texts. But you won’t want to waste time on either when so many other top-notch features are available, including:

• Both in-car sat-nav navigation and as an A-to-Z for pedestrians
• Flash videos support so you can play games and videos online
• Quick and easy wireless mobile internet over 3G and wi-fi.

Thanks to Virgin Media (www.virginmedia.co.uk) for lending us the phone for review.





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