HTC Desire Review

Available from Clove for £387.75

Straight from finishing my HTC Legend review (here, here and here) an HTC Desire dropped through the letterbox which gives me the chance to see if it really is worth the full £13 extra over the Legend. I am not going to write a full review because much of what is here is in the Legend, but I will highlight the differences and look at how it sits in the marketplace today.

For starters the specifications are much higher than the Legend and in this area alone it simply has to be worth the extra money. Or does it? There are many aspects of a smartphone to consider when purchasing one and specs alone do not make a great smartphone. Indeed, in many cases high specifications can cause more problems than solutions and the balance is key. The balance between hardware design and specs makes all of the difference in day to day use and there are countless examples of powerful smartphones where the balance is not quite right. I can quote the Motorola Droid / Milestone, Nokia N97 and BlackBerry Storm for starters, but it is a long list.

The Desire is quoted in many corners as the most powerful smartphone in the world and in theory that is correct; Android 2.1, 3.7 480 x 800 pixel AMOLED screen, 1GHz processor, 512MB ROM, 576MB RAM, 5 Megapixel camera with flash… The list goes on and on and is enough to have a smartphone nerd perspiring with delight. I must say that I do not think there is a more powerful smartphone on the market at this time and in a market as crowded as this something special is needed to stand out from the special crowd. At the risk of giving away the closing scene, the Desire is very special. It is much more special that I ever expected and from the first minute it hits you right between the eyes with its capability and dare I say it, beauty.

Hardware and design

The form factor is, in my opinion, better looking and ultimately more practical than the HTC Legend. The obvious benefits of a larger screen aside, there is just something special about the weight distribution and impossibly thin form. At only 12mm deep it really does feel fantastic in the hand and has the slab like feel of the HD2, albeit with slightly rounded edges that give it the touch of beauty I mentioned earlier.

The dominating screen is wonderful to use indoors, but like so many others suffers a bit in bright sunlight. It is without doubt one of the better smartphones I have used in bright conditions, but could be better. There are some other advantages to a screen this size though; data entry is much easier and I can now type in portrait quite well. I have to say that landscape typing is a revelation to me and without knowing why exactly, I can type much quicker on the Desire in landscape than I can on the iPhone. Strangely portrait typing is still slightly quicker on the iPhone. Go figure.

There is one extra screen factor which is not important, but which is unique in Android- the live wallpapers. Once you have a live wallpaper loaded that you can touch to make the water ripple you realise just how sweet it is to have.

The buttons are quite standard with a 3.5mm headphone jack at the top and the expected Android buttons below the screen; home, menu, back and search. They are quite flush, but work very well and become second nature after a day’s use. I was surprised to find myself looking for the back button on my iPhone when I switched back to it. Some commentators quote the back button of Android to be a disadvantage because it moves away from the all screen input mechanism, but on the Desire I quickly became used to it and it did feel natural. Just maybe all of this talk about consistency of input is a load of old tosh because any human can get used to anything and I certainly did with the Desire.

So, the front is great and perfectly designed, but is the plastic backing a weak link in the Desire?  To be fair it isn’t and makes the phone much easier to grip. It does not have a cheap feel and looks quite smart. The Desire overall will not stand out in a crowd, but that does not mean it is ugly. In fact I would say it is a great looking phone overall and one which grows on you over time.

Performance and features

For media the Desire is excellent with a rich sound coming from a good pair of headphones and great video quality. The large screen married to the sound quality come together to make a mobile video experience that puts the iPhone to shame. If you watch a video that is encoded to take advantage of the resolution you are in for a treat and I would as far as to say that it is the best mobile video watching experience I have experienced to date.

The camera is a 5 Megapixel unit with auto focus and a flashlight and in my tests produced some superb snaps in good light. It is very easy to use and is a capable stills unit that is up there with much of the competition. Video recording is also excellent visually and one of the best I have seen to date, but sadly the microphone does not pick up noise accurately and this can sound dull and lifeless if there is a lot of background noise.

Overall performance is lightning fast and everything happens in an instant. From multiple home pages through to running multiple apps, there has never been a point in my tests when the Desire slowed at all. The specs should obviously offer blistering performance, but to experience it is another matter. It has been called the most powerful smartphone in the world and I will concur at this time- it is a rocket in terms of performance.

Call quality is surprisingly crisp and loud and next to the ear it is not far from a BlackBerry, but the speakerphone sounds very tinny and I struggled to hear it when driving. This issue with the speaker does translate to watching videos without headphones as well and I presume that this is down to the lack of depth on the Desire which must mean that only a small speaker can be fitted in.

So far it has almost all been positive, but there must be a point where things don’t feel quite so positive and the battery is that point, maybe. In the first two days with the Desire I found myself charging it quite often, but when reviewing a phone this will inevitably mean more usage which does not represent real-world use. Wi-Fi has been on constantly and I have taken quite a few snaps, but I would advise charging properly and not just via USB because this seems to have a much more positive effect on life. I feel that that Desire will last a day quite easily, but heavy use may mean that a charge is required by mid-afternoon. To put this in perspective, my iPhone use means that I have to charge by lunchtime every day so I am without doubt heavy on batteries.

Conclusion

The Desire has surprised me a great deal. Before Clove sent me the Legend and Desire I was looking forward to the Legend, but I have to say that there is no contest between the two when the price points are considered. In fact I would say that there is little contest between the Desire and the rest of the growing Android bunch of smartphones. The Nexus One and Sony Xperia X10 are obviously very close with the X10 actually being ahead in terms of spec, but that only comes with Android 1.6.

If you asked me to compare it to other smartphone on the market I would genuinely put it above the iPhone 3GS. In almost every area it beats the iPhone quite easily, apart from screen clarity outdoors, but the iPhone has iTunes which is the killer app. If you are prepared to spend some time moving your media to the Desire and want the extra integration with Google services the Desire should be at the top of your list, the very top.

As the Android Market grows, the range of third party apps will follow and could one day threaten iTunes as the perfect smartphone add-on. Android is a beast waiting to be fully unleashed on the world and the Desire tames it well. It is without doubt one of the most impressive smartphones I have ever used and an example of what is possible in 2010 and beyond.