When it comes to speed, the HTC Desire HD has a 1GHz processor trucking everything along. The HTC Sense widgets weigh heavily on the phone. The fact they're so useful means they are worth it, but the phone does lag every so often. Symbian fan-boys, please cover your ears, now: despite occasional lag, we would nevertheless take the added functionality of Android with HTC Sense coupled with some lag, over the all-in-all more stable Symbian^3 with its clunky interface and dated functionality.
With active noise cancellation, call quality on the HTC Desire HD is very good indeed. When calling from the phone, the in-call speaker delivers great audio quality, with the person on the other end sounding audible. When talking on the HTC Desire HD, the listener found the call quality good with no complaints. With reception also being good, it works reliably as a phone. HTC's dialler and contacts tools are also easy to get to grips with and use daily.
Battery life is without a doubt the HTC Desire HD's weakest area. With regular use and at mid to full brightness, the phone would usually struggle to make it to the evening before prompting us to put it into power saver mode. Quoted at 9.16 hours of talk time (5.3 hours 3G) and 18 days of standby time. However, if you have an HTC Desire HD, you will want to use it a lot, because it's so functional. You will want to crank up the brightness, watch a movie and surf the web while listening to music and getting directions when you're done. This means your battery may not make a whole day if you don't show some restraint (notably with screen brightness). For all this functionality however, it could be a worthwhile sacrifice depending on the kind of user you are, and whether or not you’d think of getting a spare battery.
The HTC Desire HD is more of an exciting phone than it is a perfect phone. We're as excited about how HTC are evolving Sense UI, as we are about the hardware. As it happens though, the hardware and software are married into a wonderful mix, so well done, HTC. You're not really getting the best of anything. The Nokia N8has a much better camera, the Samsung Galaxy S has a richer screen of a similar size and the iPhone 4has a way better app support. What the HTC brings together however is the best amalgamation of everything, with a mouth watering injection of innovation to go with it. It's certainly one of our favourite candy bar Android devices at the moment. Battery life being the only big drawback, the HTC Desire HD is nevertheless on our highly-recommended list. Alternatives would be the iPhone 4 as mentioned for an alternative operating system, the Nokia N8 for a stronger camera experience, or an HTC Desire Z if you're enamoured by much of the functionality mentioned, but want a QWERTY keyboard.
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With active noise cancellation, call quality on the HTC Desire HD is very good indeed. When calling from the phone, the in-call speaker delivers great audio quality, with the person on the other end sounding audible. When talking on the HTC Desire HD, the listener found the call quality good with no complaints. With reception also being good, it works reliably as a phone. HTC's dialler and contacts tools are also easy to get to grips with and use daily.
Battery life is without a doubt the HTC Desire HD's weakest area. With regular use and at mid to full brightness, the phone would usually struggle to make it to the evening before prompting us to put it into power saver mode. Quoted at 9.16 hours of talk time (5.3 hours 3G) and 18 days of standby time. However, if you have an HTC Desire HD, you will want to use it a lot, because it's so functional. You will want to crank up the brightness, watch a movie and surf the web while listening to music and getting directions when you're done. This means your battery may not make a whole day if you don't show some restraint (notably with screen brightness). For all this functionality however, it could be a worthwhile sacrifice depending on the kind of user you are, and whether or not you’d think of getting a spare battery.
The HTC Desire HD is more of an exciting phone than it is a perfect phone. We're as excited about how HTC are evolving Sense UI, as we are about the hardware. As it happens though, the hardware and software are married into a wonderful mix, so well done, HTC. You're not really getting the best of anything. The Nokia N8has a much better camera, the Samsung Galaxy S has a richer screen of a similar size and the iPhone 4has a way better app support. What the HTC brings together however is the best amalgamation of everything, with a mouth watering injection of innovation to go with it. It's certainly one of our favourite candy bar Android devices at the moment. Battery life being the only big drawback, the HTC Desire HD is nevertheless on our highly-recommended list. Alternatives would be the iPhone 4 as mentioned for an alternative operating system, the Nokia N8 for a stronger camera experience, or an HTC Desire Z if you're enamoured by much of the functionality mentioned, but want a QWERTY keyboard.
PROS
- Screen is ideal for movies on the go
- Keyboard input offers one of the best touch experiences
- Dolby Mobile / SRS provide great sound variation
- HTC Sense offers fantastic functionality out of the box
CONS
- Poor battery life
- Occasional lag when multitasking
- Fiddly battery / card covers
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