When I received the HTC Touch Diamond 2 to play with, I was not as excited about it as when I received the HTC Magic. Quite simply because Windows Mobile sucks. I would not recommend a WM phone to anyone, ever.

When you insert your SIM card and switch the phone on, it’s still in “offline” mode. The phone isn’t user-friendly so if you’re using this phone for the first time, like me, you will only realise that its offline when you attempt to make a phone call, which is when you’re prompted to switch to “phone” mode.

After taking a few pics, I plugged in the USB cable and thought I’d be seeing the images in the few minutes it would take to transfer them via USB. But no. Windows Mobile loves making your life difficult. It will not let you read your phone as a mass storage device, as Nokia does. No, you have to install the software that comes in CD in the box first before being able to transfer the images. Can anyone explain the logic in this?

Before installing the software, I tried transferring the images to my PC via bluetooth. You think that even worked? There was no option under send image to send via bluetooth. Again, logic?

The touch interface on the Touch Diamond 2 was supposed to be better than its predecessor. Fortunately for me, I didn’t get to play with it. After experiencing Nokia’s responsive touch technology, the touch interface on this phone was a big disappointment. For a phone with a large enough screen – 3.2″ LCD, the icons at the bottom are fairly small, forcing you to use the stylus. I hate using a stylus.

Setting up your Gmail is quite simple, you just need your username and password, and the mail app searches the web for server details. Connecting to a wireless LAN is (surprise) easy.

I tried watching a Youtube clip via the one touch access (it was a Dane Cook making fun of Vanessa Hudgens clip), the video took very long to download. After about two mintues, only 13% downloaded, which I couldn’t view. It was then that I saw that two connections to the internet were being run simultaneously! Er, what? Logic? So Youtube was trying to load via my crappy Vodacom 3G connection.

The 5MP camera (which takes good quality images) and Bubble Breaker (oh yes) were the only two good things about this phone.

To say this phone was dubbed an “iPhone killer” is a joke. It doesn’t come anywhere near the iPhone or the N97 for that matter. It’s not an easy phone to use. If you’ve been using HTC / WM since forever, then maybe you’d like this phone.

Full specifications here.

Check the next edition of Digital Life to see what Theo has to say about it.