Overview
HTC has many superstar phones in its portfolio but it upped the ante with it mega size phone HTC Desire HD. The 4.3 inch phone features WVGA resolution of 480 x 800 pixels and thus forms a niche of its own in the smartphone arena. Let's dig a little deeper and see how this phone fares:
Review
Appearance
HTC Desire HD is one jumbo size phone. The phone flaunts the vital stats of 123 x 68 x 11.8 mm, consequently at 164 g., it also weighs more than most of the smartphones. However, this exactly is not a deal breaker, since the phone is still pretty portable and it provides bigger screen which is more amenable to reading and viewing videos on it. The front of the phone features four touch buttons for maneuvering the phone and these buttons are quite responsive. The original Desire had physical buttons instead but the touch buttons work equally well.
The phone's exterior is made of machined aluminum and thus is pretty solid. We expect the phone to be fairly resistant towards routine bumps and grinds. The aluminum case wraps around the edges, providing extra security. We would give a 'Pass' rating to the phone in this category.
Display
HTC Desire HD features an LCD display instead of usual AMOLED screen. HD's display retained the original resolution of 480 x 800 pixels despite the increase in the screen size. The result is not too shabby. It may not have the punch of iPhone display, but the screen is quite sharp and not grainy. The touchscreen is fairly responsive and fast and hence easy to operate. The company has also modified its UI to bring about same changes which we would rate favorably. Providing sharp display at bigger screen size is not an easy feat, therefore we would give 'Pass' rating in this category too.
Storage & Battery
It's only natural that a phone this size would be a power hog. Thus, the battery life of HTC Desire HD is expectedly iffy. Although, with conservative use of rich multimedia on the phone, you may make it last an entire day but if you are a power user then you are advised to keep your charger handy for giving it a mid-day dose. The phone has 1230mAH battery under its hood. As for storage, the phone has on board flash memory of 1.5 GB which you increase up to 32 GB by adding a microSD card. These features meet the industry standards and thus are neither offer anything special nor under-deliver.HTC HD gets a pass grade in this category too.
Technical Nitty-Gritty
The phone was the first one to use 1 GHz Scorpion CPU, which is a second generation Snapdragon processor. This processor scores better as it consumes low power to provide better performance. HTC Desire HD runs on 768 MB RAM, which is a respectable configuration. The phone also boasts of a powerful 8 MP camera which is capable of recording videos at 720p resolution. HTC Desire HD runs on Android OS, but HTC has layered it with its proprietary HTC Sense features. This allows the phone to interact with other HTC Sense enabled devices.
We Say
Although, many users may find this phone to be a bit too chunky for their liking, but the phone is fully capable of delivering performance. The phone is also likely to be better appreciated by the users who use their smartphones for multiple purposes such e-book reading and playing games. Thus the ultimate decision to pick up this phone will depend on your personal requirements, but technologically, we would rate this product as a 'good buy'.
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