HTC Desire HD review

The HTC Desire was one of the most sought after Android devices this year, so its successor, the Desire HD, was always going to have rather large shoes to fill.

With dimensions of 123 x 68 x 11.8mm, the Desire HD is nearly the same size as the HTC HD7 running Windows Phone 7. However, we found this Android handset will comfortably fit into most pockets.

The device has two removable covers, one for the battery under the volume control on the left hand side, and one on the bottom of the device allowing access to the micro SD and SIM slots. The bottom cover does feel a bit fragile and we had to be gentle to avoid any damage.

Its 4.3in 480 x 800 WVGA screen displays a crisp, clear picture and is super responsive. When using the pinch-to-zoom feature there is no visible pixilation when zooming in on words.

HTC ships the device with the Android 2.2 platform and the HTC Sense overlay. It is also the first to provide extra services through the all-new HTCSense.com portal.

Interface
Android 2.2 runs smoothly and is one of the most intuitive operating systems on the market. There are seven home screens and each page can be customised within 10 seconds with widgets and applications.

HTC provides a number of overlays, or 'scenes', which allow users to customise the device and swap between these customisations quickly. The Classic scene is the default setting, but users can alternate between Social, Work, Play and Travel. More scenes can be downloaded from the HTC Hub.

Each scene automatically loads different widgets on the seven panels. These can be customised and are remembered by the device.

The Desire HD has plenty of extra features, and HTC has tweaked the Sense interface to make it even better. As well as being able to remove widgets on the home screen, it's now possible to use the Edit feature to move them to different locations. However, this option is context sensitive, so not all widgets can be edited.

Applications
Business users will be pleased to know that the Desire HD is packed with office-related applications, with QuickOffice allowing the viewing and editing of documents on the move.

The reading and editing of Word documents rivals that of the mobile Microsoft Office application found on Windows Phone 7 handsets. Users are able to pinch and zoom into text, which is automatically reformatted to fit the screen so there is no need to scroll horizontally.

Adobe Reader is another useful business tool, allowing PDFs to be viewed. The ability to synchronise Microsoft Exchange along with POP3 and IMAP accounts is also present.

The Search app is excellent and searches the contents of the device, apps and the internet with one click. Results are displayed in an easy-to-read manner, which is particularly useful when looking for a message or contact.

Navigation has also been improved, and HTC owners can download city maps for free. Maps are cached, so there is no roaming charge when abroad and no loading times when zooming in and out of the map.

A new Car Panel app provides specific turn-by-turn navigation when driving. This boasts an impressive helicopter preview feature, which can be set to activate automatically when the car stops at traffic lights, for example.

The preview gives an overview of the remaining route, and the device automatically returns to the standard directions when the car starts moving. Furthermore, if a call is received, the map peels up slightly and gives the option to take the call without losing sight of the directions.

When using the navigation feature while walking, a compass button can be pressed to automatically reorient the map in the direction the user is facing; a small but powerful tool.

Other applications include an FM radio, Facebook, Friend Stream, Twitter, YouTube, Peep, Location and Latitude. The Android Market houses over 100,000 additional apps, a high-proportion of which are free.

HTC Sense
One of the most prominent additions is the ability to synchronise the device with the HTCSense.com site. This allows users to remotely manage, control, back up and customise the HD from a desktop browser.

Impressively, if the handset is lost or left at home, users can log into their HTC Sense account and forward calls to a different number until it is retrieved.

The portal also allows the Desire HD to be tracked, and users can send and receive text messages via the site at no charge. If the device is not recoverable, it can be locked and the contents remotely wiped, which will no doubt appeal to business users who keep confidential data on their phones.

Contacts are also backed up and stored on the portal, and users can add contacts or synchronise the contacts and calendar when connecting the device to the PC.
Although there have been reports of some bugs with the HTC Sense site, we found no problems in our tests and it's an excellent service that will be useful to consumers and business users.

Internet
The Desire HD excels when it comes to a high quality mobile internet experience, and it's possibly the best currently available.

The 4.3in screen is more than capable of showcasing web sites in all their glory, while the incorporation of Adobe Flash 10.1 means that users will not have any problems viewing video on the move.

Sites loaded very quickly over 3G and Wi-Fi in our tests using a Vodafone SIM. The device can be tethered to a PC which is particularly useful for business users who attend conferences and need to securely connect a laptop to the internet.

Navigating between pages is easy in portrait and landscape modes, and the menu button brings up the options to go backwards, forwards, add bookmarks and open new windows. Additional features include the ability to find text on the page, select text to copy, look up or share via social networking and messaging services.

Users can also change the default text size of web pages, as well as access downloads, history and advanced settings with just a couple of clicks.

Messaging
The Desire HD has one of the best touch-screen Qwerty keyboards on the market, putting it right up there with the Samsung Galaxy S and the various Windows Phone 7 devices. Letters are well sized and switch from rectangular in portrait mode to square in landscape.

One of the best features of the keyboard is that it is customised to display the most used keys, depending on the application being used.

When composing a regular text message, for example, you're presented with a standard Qwerty keyboard with a large space bar. However, when typing in an address bar, the space bar is shortened, and the resulting free space is used to accommodate a '.com' key.

Similarly, when typing an email address the spacebar key is replaced by '.com' and underscore keys. Added to this, all letters have secondary functions which are visible in small writing above the main symbol. These can be accessed with a prolonged press of the appropriate letter.

While these additions may appear small, they mean that the vast majority users will not have to spend time switching between keyboards and searching for frequently used symbols. It is this attention to detail that makes the Desire HD stand out from the competition.

Multimedia and connectivity
The HD comes with 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and is DLNA compliant, which allows the handset to share videos, photos and music with a network-capable TV or other DNLA-certified device.

Like the Motorola Milestone XT720, a number of options are presented when syncing the device to a desktop. Users can choose to charge the device, synchronise contacts and calendar, mount the device as disk drive, tether the handset and connect the phone to the internet via the PC.

An 8-megapixel camera is included with auto focus and a dual LED flash. While picture quality is good, we found that HD video recording was a little disappointing. On playback, the image was fuzzy and sound was distorted. In comparison, when recording the same footage on a Nokia C7, video was crisp and clear, as was the sound.

E-reader
The Reader app adds yet another feature to the Desire HD, allowing it to double as an e-reader. With the excellent screen, reading is comfortable, although it is susceptible to glare from overhead lighting.

HTC has also teamed up with Kobo, allowing users to purchase books and download free titles directly from the handset. The device is preloaded with eight books, including Dracula, A Tale of Two Cities and Jane Eyre.

While the Desire HD doesn't quite outdo the likes of the Sony Reader and Amazon Kindle, it works well and is sure to introduce many people to the world of digital reading.

Battery life
The Desire HD's battery life is the Achilles heel of an otherwise outstanding device. We got roughly a full day's use out of the handset, which was disappointing. We also noticed that the battery appeared to drain even when apps were not being used.

4.3in (480 x 800) touch screen, 1GHz processor, Android 2.2, HTC Sense UI overlay, HTCSense.com portal, 1.5GB internal storage, micro-SD card support, 8-megapixel camera, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, tethering, Adobe Flash support, e-reader, 123 x 68 x 11.8mm, 164g