HTC Desire HD Review - Specifications, Design and User Interface
The HTC Desire HD is one of the most powerful Android phones to have roamed the Earth. It is the third monster Android phone after the HTC Evo 4G and the Motorola Droid X. It has some really good hardware specs and comes with a huge 4.3 inch touchscreen display which dwarves almost every other phone in comparison. In terms of size, it is what you would get if a Samsung Galaxy Tab mated with a standard Android phone.
It comes with Android 2.2 Froyo and a nice 8 MP camera with autofocus and dual LED flash. It also has a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor and 768 MB RAM which would make it a reasonably fast computer just about 3-4 years back. In this review, I will tell you everything you need to know about the HTC Desire HD.
HTC Desire HD Specifications
- Dimensions: 123 x 68 x 11.8 mm
- Weight: 164 gms
- Display: 4.3 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen display, 480 x 800 pixels
- OS: Android 2.2 Froyo with HTC Sense UI
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD 8255 1 GHz processor
- RAM: 768 MB RAM
- Memory: 1.5 GB internal storage, up to 32 GB microSD cards
- Camera: 8 MP camera, 3264 x 2448 pixels, autofocus, dual-LED flash
- Connectivity: GPRS, EDGE, 3G HSDPA, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with DLNA, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, microUSB 2.0
- GPS: GPS transceiver with A-GPS support
- Battery: Standard Li-ion battery, 1230 mAh
Design (4 out of 5)
The HTC Desire HD is, by any standard, huge. It has dimensions of 123 x 68 x 11.8 mm which makes it slim, but it is still in no way a compact phone. It is a bit bulky and weighs in at 164 gms. It should easily fit into your trouser pockets, you may have trouble squeezing it into your jeans. The build quality is quite impressive.
It has a mammoth 4.3 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels - the Android standard. 4.3 inches seems to be the maximum size for a phone display; bigger than that and the phone begins to feel like an undersized tablet (like the Dell Streak). The display is quite responsive and the brightness and contrast is great, but again, no match for SuperAMOLED displays.
Below the display are the standard keys - Home, Menu, Back and Search. The left side of the phone has the volume rocker while the right side is completely bare. On the top, there is the Power key while the bottom has the microUSB port and the audio jack. On the back is the 8 MP camera, the dual LED flash and the battery compartment.
User Interface (5 out of 5)
The HTC Desire HD sports the latest version of the Android OS - Android 2.2 Froyo. It comes with the HTC Sense UI which is probably the best custom UI shell for Android. The UI is very intuitive and offers a lot of eye candy. It offers everything that the older versions of the Sense UI offered - homescreens, widgets, social networking integration, notifications etc.
The HTC Desire HD comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 1 GHz processor and 768 MB of RAM. This is probably the most powerful hardware combo in any Android phone. The processor is the QSD 8255 which is a 45 nm processor which provides faster performance while improving the battery life.
The HTC Desire HD offers full support for the Android Market which puts over 100,000 apps and games at your disposal.
Multimedia (4 out of 5)
The HTC Desire HD is a complete multimedia package. It comes with a superb 8 MP camera with an image capture resolution of 3264 x 2448 pixels. The phone also packs in autofocus and a dual LED flash. The image capture quality is very good, and the Desire HD would easily beat most of the Android smartphones out there.
The Desire HD can also capture 720p HD video at 25 FPS with good results. The camera interface is quite detailed and easy to use. It also offers advanced customization settings and effects and features like touch focus and face detection.
It comes with a built in gallery which is integrated with Facebook and Flickr. You can also access content from any DLNA enabled server over Wi-Fi. The gallery app is quite good and allows you to use multi-touch gestures while browsing your images.
The music player is quite good and offers a lot of features. It comes with Dobly Mobile and SRS enhancements which improve the audio quality. It also supports custom EQs. The Desire HD also comes with a built in FM radio.
The Desire HD also has a nice video player which allows you to view videos on the superb 4.3 inch display. It can play MP4, DivX, XviD videos at high resolutions. The display is ideal for watching videos and movies.
Connectivity (5 out of 5)
The HTC Desire HD sports all the connectivity options you would need in a smartphone. It has GPRS, EDGE, 3G HSDPA, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with DLNA and also comes with Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP and microUSB 2.0 connectivity. It comes with the standard Webkit based browser which is one of the best mobile browsers. It also has Flash support. The Desire HD also comes loaded with Facebook and Twitter apps.
It also comes loaded with a GPS transceiver with A-GPS support.
The Verdict (4 out of 5)
The HTC Desire HD is easily one of the best Android smartphones currently available. It has a great camera and offers the best hardware among all Android phones. I would definitely recommend it. If you want a cheaper alternative, you could go for the <strong>Samsung Galaxy S</strong>. Also, do check out our list of the <strong>best Android smartphones</strong>.
