I’ve been using the CDMA Sprint Diamond for 5 months. With the stock Sprint ROM (referring to the software preloaded on the device) you’ll be plagued by several problems which thankfully can all be overcome with some software mods and tweaks from great resources like ppcgeeks and xda. These forums host an enthusiastic community of windows mobile developers and “power users” and participating in the community can be one of the most rewarding aspects to owning this type of device. Just by lurking around the forums and reading the stickies you will learn a lot and be well on your way to customizing the device to suit your needs. That said, this tweaking process is not for everyone; if you’re not interested in learning about technology and prefer something that just works right out of the box then get an iPhone instead. Out of the box, this phone has the following severe issues:

1. Poor battery life and significant battery drain even while the phone is not in use.

2. Slow system performance and lag while TF3D is running. TF3D (Touch Flow 3D – AKA Manila) is HTC’s very slick user interface which sits on top of windows mobile looking pretty and giving you quick access to your most essential info and programs. With usage the phone will periodically become unresponsive or freeze and need to be restarted. (Think back to Windows 98)

3. The phone will wake up from an incoming call or text message or when changing cell towers. That means the screen will turn on and become active which makes the device prone to pocket dialing while it’s in your pocket. On this diamond there is no way to disable that behavior. (There is a registry edit that works on the GSM Diamond) The work around is locking the phone before tucking it away but the default lock program is not great.

4. TF3D does not include a calender or task screen. That means you have to use pocket outlook to manage appointments and tasks. Like most native windows mobile 6.1 applications, pocket outlook is not finger friendly so you’ll either need to be very accurate with your finger nails or use the stylus.

5. Some of the phones capabilities have been hidden.

As mentioned, the good news is that all of these issues can be overcome and I’ll tell you how. First, go to the HTC Diamond forum on PPCGeeks.com and read the stickies on how to unlock your phone and flash a custom Rom. If you have a basic working knowledge of windows, zip files and things of that nature – this stuff is easy to do.

MightyRom is currently the most popular custom ROM on PPCGeeks. I’m running MightyRom version 4.7. Due to the upgrades and enhancements that mighty has “cooked” into his Rom, the phone becomes much more usable. In a nutshell, battery life is doubled, performance is faster and smoother…and stability is improved but the occasional restart is still necessary. Hidden features such as Internet connection sharing are enabled. Even the built in FM radio is working thanks to an app that was ported from the European GSM diamond. While some ROMs are packed with lots of applications, mighty keeps his light and clean which means it doesn’t come with many applications pre-installed other than the essential ones. Fortunately, installing any other applications of your choice is as easy as downloading the .CAB file to the phone (or copying it to the phone) and then running it on the phone.

Beyond the ROM, there are a few applications in particular that I recommend because they address the other issues that I mentioned above.

1. S2A2 (Free) – Slide to Unlock 2 is a replacement for the default lock screen. It’s essentially a knock off of the iPhone’s lock screen. S2U2 works well with MightyRom, is easy to use, looks good and has lots of options.

2. ThumbCal ($19.95 USD) – This sits on top of Pocket Outlook providing you with a finger friendly calendar and task manager. The week view is especially well designed and very useful. 14 days free trial. There are also other free soft keyboard alternatives you can try.

3. TouchPal ($19.99 USD) – While the included software keyboards are good, touchPal is the best in breed. The compact QWERTY layout in TouchPal gets the most functionality out the small amount of space available on the Diamond’s screen and it’s actually FUN to use once you get the hang of it. Fully Free for 30 days with a nag screen after that if you don’t buy.

4. G-Alarm (Free) – This is a free finger friendly alarm program with tons of options. I use it to set up alarms using an MP3 playlist which snooze when I turn the phone upside down.

The above makes up the core of my setup which really works nicely for me. Of course, there are many other directions you could go in.

Perhaps the most exciting news on the horizon is the new version of TF3D that HTC is putting in the new Diamond 2. It’s being ported to the Diamond (see: “XBmod Rhodium Beta Manila”). This version of TF3D includes some extra tabs such as a working Calender tab which may alleviate the need to buy a separate calendar app like ThumbCal.

One final note: Sprint finally released an official ROM update which is an improvement over the originally shipped ROM but the best custom ROMs will still offer the best performance and features for your Diamond.
Rating: 4 / 5

I’ve had my HTC Touch Diamond from Sprint for two months now and so far it’s been a bit of a mixed bag. My previous Sprint phone was a Motorola Q9c and compared to that excellent phone this one has things that make it better and, sadly, quite a few that make it less than ideal.

Pros:

Beautiful looking device that is both sleek and modern

TouchFlo 3D is an excellent interface overlay for Windows Mobile 6.1

Snappy, 524Mhz CPU comes in handy when launching and switching between applications

Stunning, VGA screen

Excellent 3.2MP camera

Customized Opera Mobile 9.5 web browser

Nice selection of bundled apps

Doubles as a hand warmer after data use or voice calls lasting more than two minutes

Cons:

This phone locks up at least once or twice a day

Phone gets VERY warm after more than a few minutes of data or voice use

Battery life could be a lot better

Bluetooth connectivity is hit or miss

There are other things that I do not consider to be either pros or cons such as the onscreen keyboards which can depend on the end user or the inclusion of WiFi. As for the keyboards I feel there are enough options to appeal to most users however, having come from a full QWERTY keyboard it may be an issue for heavy texters or emailers. I have large fingers and thumbs and I can use the full onscreen keyboard with few issues after a few days of use. The WiFi inclusion is really moot for me as I live in an area with excellent EVDO Rev. A coverage and don’t spend a lot of time around hotspots.

The main issues I have with the phone which are all too frequent lock ups and poor battery life I feel can be addressed by an eventual firmware update from HTC. This has been the typical history from this manufacturer, get a new device out the door and let all the customers be their beta testers. To me this is just poor customer service and if an update is not out within a few more months I can see me replacing this with something new such as the forthcoming Palm Pre.

As for features this phone is a device that just wants to be loved. Sprint TV looks acceptable on the VGA screen and the music interface of TochFlo 3D is heads and shoulders above that offered by Windows Media Player Mobile. The included Opera Mobil web browser is light years ahead of PIE (pocket Internet Explorer) but still leaves something to be desired. It’s capable of displaying “full” web sites but all too frequently defaults to the mobile version of sites.

Overall, this phone is a mixed bag and if I had it over I would have probably opted for the Blackberry Curve 8330 instead of this phone. I want to love this phone but it’s faults are deal breakers for me.

Rating: 3 / 5

If I had given this review just a week ago, it would have gotten a .5 star. It has been plagued with issues, locks up constantly, etc… I came so close to throwing it out of my car window. Only thing that kept me from do it was it’s a company phone.

Then the heavens were opened and I discovered the 2.0 ROM upgraded on the HTC website. Very disappointed Sprint does not have this posted on there download website. It is a night and day improvement. A blog of disgruntle users lead me to it.

Please for the love of Pete, save your sanity and upgrade to the 2.0 software mins after you receive it. You can only find it on the HTC website.
Rating: 5 / 5

I Purcharsed this phone a year ago from sprint because my two year agreement with my palm centro was up, and I decided to upgrade to the touch diamond. Initially I was happy at first with the phone, it was nice sleek and sexy. While using this phone people use to look at my phone and were wowed by its design and sharpness of the screen. What I really liked about this phone is some of the windows features such as live search which really worked well. All i had to do was speak into the phone and say things like Pizza, or night clubs or even escorts and numbers and locations will just show up in the vincinty of your location. Camera was another nice feature,but there was no flash but with just the right amount of light the photos were clear and crisp in 3.2 megapixles. Another cool app was the youtube app. I always used the Youtube app for whenever I wanted to watch some videos. The broadcast over the 3g/4g data brought crisp and clear youtube videos to my phone with almost no lag in my area of nyc. The Only downside of the phone was that it was very buggy and used to constantly freeze and lockup. The phone also got hot very fast while using any high data services. Another problem with the phone was using windows mobile which caused to phone to lockup most of the times. A goodthing touchflo 3d helped highed windows mobile in the background. Overall not a bad phone and not the best phone but this phone just a mixed bag of both!
Rating: 3 / 5

I’m reviewing this after using the phone for approximately 2 months. My friend has the same phone, and here are the goods and the bads of HTC Touch Diamond that we both agreed on. This is the first HTC phone I’ve used, and I’m not impressed and probably not going to get an HTC ever again.

Pros:

- 3MP camera is awesome. It’s a bit slow to take pictures, but picture quality is great.

- Phone looks very nice and thin. The screen is bright and attractive.

- Virtual keyboard is usable. It’s not as good as a real keyboard, but it’s good enough. I textmessage a lot and it’s been working for me. I’m getting used to it.

- Email application is good. I added Gmail and Y!Mail with ease.

Here are some of the major flaws:

- The phone freezes very frequently. The phone cannot handle some of the applications, even the ones that came with the phone like textmessaging.

- I need to restart the phone every day because applications stop loading.

- The phone screen turns on and off on its own. So if you don’t install a third party lock application, it will probably turn on and call people by accident when it’s inside your bag or pocket.

- Voice quality is poor. The voices blur and buzz if you put it on the highest volume.

- POOR battery life. Sometimes, the phone drains the battery at night when not in used. Really strange and disappointing.

- It has 5 buttons but they’re not useful. Some buttons are quite useless.

Rating: 1 / 5