In a nutshell: The HTC Desire is one of the most impressive
phones of all time. Despite being significantly cheaper than the
iPhone, it can match or beat everything that the iPhone does. An
Android smartphone with a fabulously responsive touchscreen, the
Desire packs in a huge choice of apps, brilliant web browsing, one
of the biggest and best screens ever, a good camera, a music player
and GPS too. You want more? Add in a superfast processor, monster
battery, WiFi and a 3.5mm headphone jack and you've got the perfect
phone. Available in Black, Graphite or Silver. Best buy: *Free* with free line rental from Mobiles.co.uk
(Graphite).
Review:
March 2010. Last updated August 2010.
2010 looks set to be the year of Android. And HTC
looks like the manufacturer of choice for Android phones. We've
given previous Android phones a "beta" kind of rating,
because that's what they were. But the Android Market has expanded
rapidly in the past year, and the early glitches in the Android
software have been ironed out, making it into a grown-up operating
system for real-world users. The only other issues with the early
Android phones were related to hardware, so can the HTC Desire overcome
all of these problems and become the smartphone of choice for 2010?
Well, let's quickly put you out of your misery
and say that the answer is a loud and clear YES!
The Desire is a logical upgrade of the HTC
Hero. The Hero was a brilliant phone that received rave reviews
on this site, but we felt that it just wasn't quite there. The Desire
fills in all the blanks that were missing in the Hero, making it
truly the smartphone to beat. The Desire
is a mid-range phone too, available free on reasonably-priced contracts,
and it's very user-friendly, so we expect this to be an absolute
monster phone.
Let's start, as we always do at Mobile-phones-uk.org.uk
with a look at the exterior. Pick up the Desire. It's a nicely-styled
touchscreen phone that feels solid, but is ultra thin at just 11.9mm.
It's slightly smaller than the iPhone
3GS, but has the same weighty feel. Unlike the iPhone it has
real buttons at the bottom of the screen, which is no bad thing
in our opinion. The screen itself will blow you away. It's a massive
3.7 inches across, larger than the iPhone 3GS and with an unbelievable
480 x 800 pixel resolution, which is nearly three times as much
as the iPhone! This is virtually a computer screen fitted onto a
mobile phone, and it's the best in its class. The AMOLED display
is super-sharp too.
Let's move onto the user interface, because this
is one of the most outstanding features of the phone. The screen
is capacitative, so it responds to your touch like a dream. The
Desire has pinch-to-zoom capability, so you can easily control the
onscreen view with your fingers. The combination of the latest release
of Android 2.2 (called Froyo) plus the specially-designed HTC Sense
interface make a seamless user experience, and the phone just responds
intuitively to your touch. Is it as easy to use as the iPhone? Yes
it is!
The Desire isn't just a pretty face. Far from it.
It's one of the highest-spec phones around. HTC have equipped it
with a superfast 1GHz Qualcomm SnapDragon CPU, a massive 576MB of
RAM and the external memory is expandable all the way up to 32GB.
The battery has a giant 1400 mAh capacity. It's quite amazing that
HTC have managed to provide such highly-specified components for
a phone at this price point. We wonder if they're actually making
any money on it.
All this equipment powers HTC's best camera ever.
It's a 5 megapixel camera with face detection, autofocus and a flash.
It may not match the best from Sony Ericsson or Nokia, but it's
certainly a respectable camera for a phone. The camera is capable
of geo-tagging too, as the Desire comes equipped with a GPS receiver.
The GPS receiver works with Google Maps (pre-installed) and supports
HTC Footprints (geo-tagging software) and has a digital compass.
Musically, the phone comes with a fully equipped
digital music player that can handle all popular music formats and
that syncs easily with any Windows-based PC. We're delighted to
find a 3.5mm audio jack, so you can connect a pair of high quality
stereo headphones for the best possible listening experience. And
with up to 32GB of storage, you can store all your albums with ease.
There's also an FM radio included.
The Desire is in the premier league when it comes
to the internet. The huge high-res screen is simply superb for web
browsing, and the Android software in combination with the responsive
touchscreen and pinch-to-zoom feature make navigating, zooming and
scrolling a doddle. The internet is fast and always on, with the
3G HSPA connection offering download speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps. If
you're in a WiFi zone, you can make use of the WLAN connection for
even faster data access. There are also widgets for facebook and
other online tools.
Other connectivity options include Bluetooth 2.1
with Enhanced Data Rate, with A2DP support for wireless stereo headsets
and a mini-USB connector.
We've already mentioned the large battery capacity,
and this seems to give sufficient real world performance too, despite
that massive screen. You'd do well to keep an eye on how many apps
you have running though, and to switch off GPS and WiFi when not
in use.
Is there anything that the HTC Desire is missing,
or anything that could be improved? Nope, not really. This is probably
the nearest we've ever seen to the perfect phone. No doubt there
are one or two minor improvements that could be made, but then it
would have to cost more. As mid-range smartphones go, this is as
good as it gets!
Features
of the HTC Desire include:
5 megapixel camera with face detection, autofocus
and flash
Video recording
Display: AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with
pinch-to-zoom capability, 480 X 800 pixels (3.7 inches) with auto-rotate
GPS receiver with digital compass, Google Maps,
HTC Footprints and geo-tagging
Music player (aac, .amr, .ogg, .m4a, .mid, .mp3,
.wav, .wma formats)
Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.1 with Enhanced Data
Rate, mini-USB 2.0, Wi-Fi, 3.5mm audio jack
Memory: 576 MB RAM plus microSD memory card
(up to 32GB)
Vibration alert
Quadband GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) plus HSPA/WCDMA
(900/2100 MHz)
Size: 119 x 60 x 11.9 mm
Weight: 135g
Talktime: 390 - 400 minutes
Battery standby: 340 - 360 hours
HTC Desire
Consumer Reviews
Love
your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other
people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review
this phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a
forum, so please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear
words or offensive language, and please, no advertising!
Reviewed by andy from buckley on
25th May 2010
definately THE best phone i have EVER had!!in one word "brilliant"!!! Rating:
Reviewed by Robert from London on
25th May 2010
The Desire is one heck of a phone, and I've been using them since
the early days. Batter life is similar to iPhone or similar phone.
This definitely isn't a phone for kids, and if you listen to a lot
of music maybe you should invest in a MP3 player and keep your Desire
for what it does best. I use it constantly now and can't imagine
life in a less connected world than the one that my Desire gives.
Oh, one last thing - apps. People who say that Apple have more apps
need to grow up. 99% of them are useless. Android has all the apps
any adult could want. Rating:
Reviewed by chris from britaoin on
25th May 2010
people compaining about battery life need to learn how to treat
their batteries properly. I've been u sing the fone for 6 wks allowing
it to fully discharge and then recharge fully and I get 2-3 days
out of it now, pretty gd for a smartphone methinks., Rating:
Reviewed by suzy from uk on 26th
May 2010
Excellent phone with many features,great screen, other than in bright
sunshine, still getting to grips with the touchschreen for texting
as it is my 1st touchscreen, but think I will get there, but does
anyone know why I dont have the speech to text facility, or how
I get it? Im on Orange. Rating:
Reviewed by Tracy from England on
25th May 2010
This is simply the best phone ever,ive had plenty of phones but
nothing compares to this.They have thought of everything,enough
to keep me amused for ages,i hope,lol. Rating:
Reviewed by Shaun from Uk on
25th May 2010
Great phone, but why is the audio out of sync, happens on videos
on sd card, sky news app, htc need to sort this or I'm going back
to my iPhone.... I have 3 friends and we have all noticed this issue... Rating:
Reviewed by GuapoEnt from UK Baby on
25th May 2010
I had the desire for 7 days (previously an iphone user) this phone
on one hand is amazing, no real complaints about anything apart
from the Marketplace that is really letting the Desire community
down. Despite warnings from blogs, review site etc the battery was
amazing lasts longs and give a detailed breakdown on what is consuming
power on the device. The music player is terrible and the supplied
headphones are laughable, this coinsides with the call quality that
was also terrible not being able to hear what the other person is
saying during a conversation on a brand new phone is poor! HTC have
designed an excellent phone but it seems that they placed more emphasis
on the Social networking ability of the phone rather than the basics.
Rating:
Reviewed by sally from England on
24th May 2010
I'm really very pleased with this phone. Had it three weeks now.
Even I can work it. Can't get it to make a cup of tea though. Rating:
Reviewed by Polygon from UK on
23rd May 2010
POSITIVES: User interface is very nice looking, smooth and responsive.
The Screen has fantastic resolution, colours, contrast and image
quality. Multitasking doesn't slow the phone down, and there are
great free and pay-for apps on the Market. MP3 sound quality is
excellent and no stutters. No problems with dropping calls, and
voice quality is excellent. Internet surfing on that touchscreen
is a dream. Great to have Flash enabled, and Flash video quality
is average on the mobile network, but great on WiFi. Taking photos
by pressing on the part of the screen you want to focus on is cool.
I put widgets on my home screen to easily control wifi, mobile internet
and GPS which improved the battery life tremendously. I like how
it can group text messages into conversations, quickly import my
Google contacts and link them up with their Facebook pictures and
contact details. NEGATIVES: The following are just small niggles
really and don't warrant reducing the phone from 5 stars. The Reflective
screen makes it quite hard to see in sunshine, even at max brightness.
Bootup jingle volume is very loud - doesn't relate to current ringer
volume unless on silent / vibration only. FM Radio freezes up sometimes
(the rest of the phone is still useable) and keeps the cpu at 100%
load - I have to re-boot the phone to get rid of it. I got a replacement
phone but it still does the same thing. Hopefully it's just a software
issue that can be updated. Cannot set the volume of each alarm independently.
CONCLUSION: Fantastic phone, and I'm now a touch-screen convert. Rating:
Reviewed by danny p from England on
22nd May 2010
Had phone 6 weeks on T mobile now...I get disconnected on 99% of
my calls. It fails to send texts and the 3g is just awful, I cannot
use this phone any more..its a real shame because when the internet
works it is slick and fast and google maps is cool . But as a business
user it cannot be used as a phone without dropping calls, I am going
to try and get this sorted. [Reply by Tone on 4th July 2010: That
is a problem with T-Mobile, not the phone itself. I know this as
everyone with T-mobile complains about this regardless of phone.
So for anyone reading don't take this into too much consideration,
unless of course you are thinking of joining T-mobile!] Rating:
Reviewed by E Ferreira from UK on
21st May 2010
The phone is really good, it's a pity about the battery life. Who's
to blame, maybe android?! Froyo will sort it out hopefully... already
waiting Rating:
Reviewed by David h from England on
21st May 2010
Having previously owned a HTC hero which is a excellent phone so
when I heard about this I had to have it paid 400 quid for it on
giffgaff pay go I get unlimited data text and calls so ideal for
this phone as it likes to use a lot of data, the desire is quick
will give laptops a run for there money on net access, social network
side of the phone is brilliant, call quality is brilliant, the only
downside is battery life but what you have to remember its a 1ghz
processor and 3.7 inch display and loads of live apps, anybody who
is considering getting one I would pay get one as its going to take
some phone to top this bad boy Rating:
Reviewed by Lady Gadgets from UK on
20th May 2010
After 2 none working Nokia X6, I reviewed the HTC Desire and found
I really really desired the phone. Yes, got it on £20 contract and
pleased to say I'm in love with it. Best phones I have every had.
Only tiny cripe about battery life but otherwise can't fault it.
Using 3 network and whereas others I know with iPhone on different
network can't get signals in certain buildings, well guess what...I
can. lol. Happy Happy Joy Joy. Best choice I ever made..... :-)
For those with battery problems. I found a little gadget on Android
Market called Advanced Task Killer which can close all opened applications
you may not know are still left opened. Brilliant software and releases
memory space. Also why not use wi-fi when at home instead of your
network when browsing the net. Much cheaper option and reduces unlimited
fair data usuage policy limits also. Once again Thanks HTC.... please
more updates :-) Rating:
Reviewed by Greg Hallam from England
on 20th May 2010
Just about the best mobile I have ever had. Superb! A fantastic
fusion of HTC cutting edge technology and Google know-how. Rating:
Reviewed by Cavus from UK on
20th May 2010
Brilliant phone, this phone kills the iphone. i wasn't a fan for
touch screen phones but that has all changed now thanks to the HTC
Desire. The only small problems (and they are small) is the battery
drains quickly about 2-3 days on basic standby use and it is a geeky
phone it's a little bit different to get use to but you soon get
use to it. All in all this is a brilliant smart phone defiantly
better than the iphone. Rating:
Reviewed by Tony from UK on 20th
May 2010
What can I say, I was going to upgrade last year to the Hero, but
heard the rumours of the HTC Bravo now Desire. I read the specs
and decided to hold on. Glad I did, the battery life is bad, but
that's using it with all the bells and whistles turned on, with
some of the options turned off (wifi being the main culprit) when
not in use, its not so bad at all. The apps are great and a good
majority are free. The phone feels nice responds beautifully. I
hope they can fix the video record rate, for a 1ghz phone that's
not very good at all. Other than the the phone is superb, so glad
I waited. Rating:
Reviewed by some.... body from UK on
20th May 2010
Brilliant phone but the battery gets drained too quickly. the apps
are wonderful and increasing in number too. apple... look out!! Rating:
Reviewed by Sha from UK on 19th
May 2010
Had the HTC Desire for a week now and in most ways it is much better
than the iphone i upgraded from except battery life which has so
far been very poor, sometimes only 5-6 hours of standby time. Maybe
its faulty! Contacted O2 and they think it is possibly my old sim
card which doesnt support 3G??? Anyway i will try changing to a
new sim and see if this makes a difference. One other thing, the
apps are not as numerous or of the quality of the iphone(not even
a decent app for ski resort piste maps) but im confident this will
change as HTC/android becomes the market leader. Rating:
Reviewed by will from uk on 18th
May 2010
top phone works very well i get about 2 days from battery. nice
claer screen much better than the iphone who need to catch up now Rating:
Reviewed by emma from newport, south
wales on 18th May 2010
had desire for a week now and still love the phone exept for few
problems im having, calls keep cutting off. now don't know if this
is because im touching end call tab on the screen by accident or
if its a fault, also the battery is driving me nuts, i have everything
switched off and dont use it that much to conserve power but still
not lasting me a full day, the battery will go from amber to red
in like ten minutes without even using it, my iphone 3gs lasted
me at least a day and a half with really heavy usage, also the texting
is driving me nuts, as its american handset some of the most common
words it dont know so u have to add to dictionary then have to start
typing the word again in order for it to insert in message, then
the most annoying thing is they have put a settings key on the on
screen keyborad right next to the comma and i while typing messgae
i keep touching that key which then goes into typing text message
settings and i have to go back out and press in composer box to
start texting, now i have tiny fingers and hands but yet i keep
doing this, driving me nuts. is anyone else getting these problems,
last one is it keeps failing to send txts saying unable to send
once multiple fails, what the hell do that mean, i send the txt
again and the person i sent to says they received it twice. apart
from these problems, im loving it. Rating:
Reviewed by Poulj55 from England on
18th May 2010
What a mindblowing phone.Fantastic!Because there is so much on the
phone it does take a little bit of time to get across everthing,but
once you have done this ENJOY! However there is a major downfall.It
has the worst battery life I have ever come across.Need to charge
every day.HTC please do something about the battery life. If this
does not worry you to much enjoy this fantastic phone. Rating:
Reviewed by Scott from UK on
18th May 2010
Really love this phone although not quite as perfect as the review
says. Battery life can be bad but as others have said, using apps
such as taskiller which kills the power sapping apps on a timer
or when the screen is turned off and using the power control widget
can vastly improve power consumption. Non configurable proxy setting
can also cause some a headache. Also its odd that HTC seem to have
locked this phone down and made it hard to get root access and even
when done does not provide the same access other phones have (Although
there are some people trying to find a work round for this) People
having problems with audio volume should try looking for advance
audio manager app as this helps. Voice to text does not come as
standard but a quick look on the internet will show you how to install
(I think if you search for "voice search" it should come up but
need 2 apps for full function). With Google maps built in there
is an option for turning the phone into a cheap satnav with the,
app nav launcher available on the app market. Other than the a few
limitations the phone is a joy to use with its clear display, fast
processor and acceptable camera. Rating:
Reviewed by Louise from UK on
17th May 2010
Update on the text messages. The phone actually does tell you what
time the sender sent you the message. It just doesn't tell you the
time you received it like my old sony phone did. I discovered this
today when one of my incoming texts arrived late. Nothing to do
with the phone, just terrible signal in the part of the shop I work
in with low ceiling. I love the way the text messages are stored
in one box and in multiple threads from different senders. Makes
looking back at conversations simple and fun. I have to charge the
phone every day but what do you expect with such a huge screen and
all the tech packed beneath it -no big deal. Buy a second battery
if this is a problem. All in all, I love this phone and it's my
first ever touch screen. Very easy to use and customise to your
own tastes, the touch screen works like a dream. Definitely worth
buying the capacitive touch screen rather than the resistive kind! Rating:
Reviewed by andrew from england on
17th May 2010
I have had my t mobile desire just over a week, should be so good
I can't complain, but got loads of problems with mine, biggest one
being picture messaging and constant signal loss, messages either
fail or. Say sent but one one ever recieves them , must of sent
50 and only 2 of them got through, had settings checked, done hard
reset , had settings sent out, only person who gets a pic message
from me, is me , when I send them to my self , and what use is that
, HTC don't know what's wrong and t mobile blamed everyone else's
phone , all 15 of them lol , seems to be problem all over t mobile
forum and Google , also when play music through Bluetooth jumps
like cd, really annoying, speaker sounds like its blowing when playing
songs with base , all in all doing my head in as put together so
well but put out with these issues, just wonder if just bad batch,
or phone, t mobile settings for phone , or HTC hardware or soft
ware issues, Rating:
Reviewed by Richard from London on
17th May 2010
My first non-Symbian phone for a long time, and I can't believe
how utterly incredible Android is. But the phone itself is absolutely
stunning. It's astonishingly quick, beautiful to use, and supports
every little idiosyncracy or quirk you might like to throw at it.
The way every application fits together is wonderful - this is true
multitasking. As you move from one app to the next you barely realise
you're doing it, and you can have dozens open before experiencing
any drop in performance. Google integration is superb for someone
like me who uses Gmail, calendar, tasks etc, and Twitter works like
a dream right throughout the phone too. Battery life is absolutely
fine - gets me through a day with very heavy usage. You really,
honestly can't go wrong with this. Rating:
Reviewed by Rich Cornfield from UK on
16th May 2010
I've got to agree this is an amazing phone. I swapped from BB Bold
to it. The only thing I miss the keyboard. I thought I'd end up
with an iPhone but this turned my head. It is far cheaper than an
iPhone and yet it does everything that does and more. The Android
OS is excellent and easy to use. This really is a phone to consider
and I'm sure you'll be delighted with your choice if you get one.
Rating:
Reviewed by Tony The Hat from England
on 16th May 2010
This is the first review I have made, but 2 days of ownership compel
me to review. I got the Desire after 6 (and I promise you I most
certainly ain't joking) N97 handsets and an N95 prior to that. The
first think of note is that, although I have been used to Symbian
Handsets the last 2 1/2 years, the HTC interface is a joy to use
and easy to slip into the habits of long term use. The screen is
divine, and the touch screen is so responsive I forget that thumping
my finger on the screen and screaming at the phone is a Nokia habit
I got so used to. Between the 7 home screens is a joy of a gentle
caress and a smooth journey. There are also other quirks that take
some getting used to, for example, in the 2 days I have had the
handset, I have not yet had to remove the battery to reboot the
phone, or enjoyed the optical purity of the Nokia 'White screen
of death', experiences which have become a common occurrence. The
phone is large, but feels snug in my hand, and a rather tactile
feel to the rubbery-ish case makes it a joy to hold. I could go
on and on about my happy and positive thoughts about the Desire
but I am cautious that the 10 months of N97 hell are making this
phone seems like Ambrosia to me. I will just say I would rate this
as one of the best phones I have had in my varied ownership history,
and would recommend it to anyone. My wife would agree as she has
an X6 and is a sick as a parrot seeing my phone. Enjoy! Rating:
Reviewed by Steve from england on
16th May 2010
After reading some of the reviews I was humming and harring weather
to get it or not beacuse what has been written about the battery
life but its not really that big of an issue. Only had it a few
days now but the first day I hammered it, on the net all day downloading
and playing on apps and it lasted the day ok. As long as you get
the app killer, turn off wifi, bluetooth, mobile internet when not
in use and turn down the screen brightness a little (even at half
brightness I find it more than enough) the battery will be fine.
But you can a charger that you can plug into the car or socket outlet
for £12 so you'll never get caught short. As for the phone I love
it, its amazing. I know a few people with the Iphone and this beats
it hands down in my opinion and a fraction of the cost £25 a month
and free phone cant go wrong. Rating:
Reviewed by D from UK on 16th
May 2010
Had the phone for a month and still cant stop playing with it. A
true iPhone beater Rating:
Reviewed by lee from uk on 15th
May 2010
Had an iphone 3gs previous to this these are both very good phones
indeed possibly the best 2 on the market at this time. The HTC beats
iphone hands down on the display, user customisation ie setting
your music as ringtones etc, camera. Apps possibly apple shades
the number of apps but android market is growing and most of the
apps are free, everything with apple seems to cost money, battery
is similar to iphone but Desire just shades it, all in all this
is the perfect phone and would just shade the iphone for me Rating:
Reviewed by caitlyn from england on
15th May 2010
I have to say this is the best phone I have ever had. It does everything
I could ask for, internet is super fast, the screen beautiful, a
large amount of apps to choose from and the touch screen nice and
reactive. The only thing, which has been mentioned time and time
again, is the battery life, getting a full day out of it can be
a challenge! However everything it does is so stunningly beautiful
that I honestly don't mind it one bit. A simply fantastic phone!
Rating:
Reviewed by Louise from UK on
14th May 2010
Great phone, my only niggle is that received text message details
only state the time the message was delivered and not the time they
were actually sent. I wonder if there is any way to fix this?? Rating:
Reviewed by Richard from UK on
14th May 2010
a nice phone. if you are considering using with work network and
exchange be warned 1. you cannot specify proxy setting, most commercial
networks needs this for access 2. will sync with exchange for mail,
appointments and contacts but for mail the basic widget will sync
inbox. It will show all your folders but you need to access folders
one at a time and update them rather than setting which folders
to sync like WM Sync. Other mail apps/widget are available but due
to issue 1. I cannot access the market. google need to get their
finger out to sort this seriously considering returning - less than
desirable Rating:
Reviewed by Adam from UK on 14th
May 2010
Great phone, shame the battery lasts about 8 hours max, had it for
a couple days now and its never off charge Rating:
Reviewed by lee from england (nw) on
14th May 2010
Whats MID-RANGE about his phone = ITS 'THE' BEST, YET - EVER !!!!!!!!!! Rating:
Reviewed by Emmilia from UK on
13th May 2010
The Best Phone EVER! i had a Blackberry 8900 Before and Blackberrys
are NOTHING compared to this :) Rating:
Reviewed by emma from newport, south
wales on 11th May 2010
well, i have had the iphone 3gs for last 7 mnths and for me that
is very good as i used to change my phone like every month, i thought
i was in love with the iphone till i met this little gem and realised
what a pain in the u know what apple iphone is, soooo many restrictions.
so this is my review. usability very good and easy, plenty of ways
u can customise ure phone, plenty of apps on android market to download
free, u can have any mp3 as ure ringing tone no faffing about cropping
it and exporting it etc, camera pretty decent, call quality good,
screen is so clear and bigger than iphone, i havent got round to
transferring my music yet as desire only comes with 4 gig and after
having a 16 gig phone nearly full have to get a 16 gig mem card
first and then do it all, all the same i have still had a fiddle
with music player and still good anyway, battery isnt as good as
my iphone as got 1 and a half days out of it and that was with heavy
usage, i haven't even got a full day out of desire yet, thats not
enough to put me off though, also bluetooth is brilliant and never
realised how much i missed and needed it till now, overall very
very happy with htc and realised i was totally sucked into apple
world and hype and glad i got out there and tried another phone.
buy it its a brill phone. Rating:
Reviewed by Steve Tonge from UK on
11th May 2010
Had my Desire now for about 6 week, and I have to say It's truly
is the best phone on the market today. Lets get the cons out the
way first. Battery: Last a day if you surf the the net and play...
couple of solutions to fix this.. Go into wigets (+ button) and
put the setting widget on the front. You can now turn on & off when
you want. Go back in to widgets> settings>mobile network. This icon
turns on & off 3G. You don't need 3G on all the time, only for roaming
and surfing. For the first couple of times drain the battery right
down, then recharge. The battery does get a lot better. My battery
now last at least 2 days. The speaker: Now where near as good as
my old Nokia 6230!! But at the end of the day its a phone, It' loud
enough, just tinny + The headphones are brilliant. The internal
phone storage: PANTS!! They do say its 512mb and they would be right,
but after Android goes on and HTC throw on their brilliant sense
UI, It leaves you with about 140mb. But please dont let that put
you off. Google has now enabled Navigation in there already installed
google maps, so no need for a sat nav. Google earth is not really
need. I put it on then took it off (unnecessary storage hogger)Maps
do it all. I have downloaded nearly 30 apps so far and got loads
free. I had an email from HTC, they are looking into a way of putting
apps on the SD card, so watch this space!!. Those are the cons and
very easily fixed. The phone is faster then a cheater on speed!!
no lag at all. It fits perfectly in your hand, the screen is gorgeous,
visually stunning. There is not one thing you can get on the iPhone,
that you can't get on the Desire. Love the latitde in the maps that
tracks your phone. and the speech to text, that I eventually found,
works a treat. The camera is sublime, every picture is a keeper.
The clarity is stunning and wipes the floor with the Iphone camera.
Oh! and there is a flash, OH and It plays flash :) It does take
a while to get used to but when you do!!!! My mate with his Iphone
3gs keeps pestering me for mine. Just read on the news Android has
sold more phones then Iphone in the first quarter of 2010 in the
USA and Android Market put over 4000 apps up last month! To the
Ed- MID RANGE PHONE!! Can I have what your on :) Just because it's
cheaper then the Iphone. There's no mid about this phone. Rating:
Reviewed by Dave from UK on 10th
May 2010
- Battery life poor. Have to recharge everyday; - Good build quality;
- Ringer volume too easy to turn down. I have missed 80% of incoming
calls to date; - Alarm useless, as phone runs the battery down overnight,
and alarm doesn't work when phone switched off; - Needs constant
attention and maintenance to keep apps & services in check. More
work than a productivity tool should be; - Poor sunlight ledgability.
Near impossible to find the menu to turn brightness up. Poor auto
brightness funtionality; - No front video camera; - Difficult to
hold without touching the screen and setting off functions inadvertently;
- The "On" button sits proud of the phone body, making it too easy
to switch the phone on in your pocket; - Google Maps useless when
travelling abroad unless you are happy to spend 200 quid on roaming
charges. - As soon as you activate mobile data, all the hungry apps
try to grab bandwidth. Again, making it very expensive when abroad.
- The footprints app allows you to take pics, but you cannot view
them any larger than 1x1 inch afterwards. - Poor video quality.
- Other than that......a great phone! Rating:
Reviewed by Mark from UK on 9th
May 2010
I normally purchase my phones purely based upon information on this
website and the reviews. So I thought it was time I also added a
review. This phone is brilliant the best phone I have ever had.
Every phone I have got in the past I have always been slightly disappointed
because I normally have to make a compromise yet this is the first
phone that does everything I need and more. There are far too many
positives to mention and most of these are summed up below. I only
have 2 negatives which are the battery life and certain apps crash
the phone (all though this is not the phones fault). The positives
far outweigh the benefits and since batteries are only around £14
and very small a spare one in the wallet will do. When I got this
phone I compared it to the iphone in the shop and had a play with
both, this phone beat it hands down. Rating:
Reviewed by Prash from UK on
8th May 2010
This is the first mobile phone review I have ever written and will
probably be the last. However, I am always reliant upon both expert
and customer reviews before I purchase any electrical goods(especially
mobile phones). I felt the need to add my review of the HTC Desire
because I have been completely blown away by this gadget! This phone
has too many plus points and 'maybe' one negative point. This negative
point is that it might have benefitted from a better battery. I
say maybe because it is understandable that a phone with such a
huge screen running with fantastic clarity and a huge collection
of colours will consume more power than most phones which are capable
of much much less than this machine! I am sure the battery from
the Desire could power most handsets for days with no problems whatsoever.
So, for me, the battery is no major issue as it handles most tasks
for a day without the need for a recharge. As for the phone, go
out and get yourself one because I never imagined phones would get
to this!! Its abilities far outweigh the abilities of the iPhone
3GS. The best phone I have ever seen to date! Rating:
Reviewed by Paul from Scotland on
8th May 2010
Yip Sam, as Andy mentioned get Advanced Task Killer from the Android
market for free! Also if you havn't already tried this, reduce the
syncing frequency of some of your apps! Im currently squeezing out
a day of pretty heavy usage (online poker, games, youtube vids etc).
I hear there's the possibility of a 3rd party extended life battery
coming soon but no idea how reliable and it comes with an new rear
cover cause it makes the phone chunkier! :S Also thought I'd mention
I got the 16gb sandisk micro sd card which works with the phone
no problems too! Rating:
Reviewed by Sai from Uk on 7th
May 2010
Its an excellect phone. I'd rate it far better than the Iphone.
I've used the Iphone for a long time and waited for a phone that
could match it or better it and with the Desire I was awed almost
instantly after using it for a couple of minutes. I used to feel
that nothing could beat the Iphone interface but now the Desire
beats it by miles in many aspects. Its got the best of all worlds
in the smartphone market. Android apps grow by the day and I feel
all the major apps of Apple are already there on Android or they'd
be there soon! The only minor downside I've felt so far in these
3 days of usage is that the phone could warm up a little bit while
charging but not an issue for concern.. Rating:
Reviewed by Andy from England on
7th May 2010
Sam, I think its called App killer and is available from the Android
market place. Rating:
Reviewed by Sam from England on
6th May 2010
I've had my desire HTC phone for 2 days now and I think it is fantastic.
The only problem being is that the battery life is pants. Although
I got told in the Vodafone shop today that it's the apps that drain
your battery so much as they are constantly live. Apparently there
is some software on the internet that you can download onto your
phone which lets you put your apps on standby as that they don't
drain your battery as much. They only knew this because a customer
of theirs researched this phone before getting it but didn't tell
then where you can find it nor what it is called so it is just a
matter of hunting for it on google. If anyone finds it please can
you let me know. Thanks Rating:
Reviewed by michael from UK on
6th May 2010
Has anyone else experienced problems using Bluetooth on HTC phones?
It seems that its impossible to transfer contacts, tunes, pix or
vids from an older phone which is v.annoying not only for transferring
stuff from my old phone but also for sharing stuff with people who
haven't got a Smartphone. I can understand Apple doing this as they
want to keep it all separate but not anyone else... Rating:
Reviewed by isaac from UK on
6th May 2010
The best smartphone i have had to date. like all phones you need
to be patient. Battery life is always going to be an issue with
these new high tech phones, other than that no regrets! Rating:
Reviewed by thomas from UK on
6th May 2010
really good phone. the screen is to die for really clear and great
for browsing the net. takes a while to get used to typing text messages
but you get good at it over time. more internal memory would be
nice as you can install apps to sd card. other than that am over
the moon with the phone. Rating:
Reviewed by Ginge from England on
5th May 2010
I didn't really mean to buy a new phone, I popped into the 3 store
in sunderland just to kill time while the wife was clothes shopping
and came out with this little beauty for 25 quid a month with 500
mins, unlimited WiFi, 3 to 3 calls and texts , I'm not into gadgets
and technology but this has blown me away, the internet's faster
than my pc and some of the free apps are class like the barcode
reader, witchcraft I tells thee......get one you won't regret it. Rating:
Reviewed by michael sellors from england
on 5th May 2010
Went from a iphone 3gs to this. This phone has got a lot going for
it but has two major drawbacks compared to the iphone. Firstly the
battery life is terrible and the only way you can get through a
day on one charge is to turn everything off- but what's the point
of that. Secondly the android market isnt half as good as the app
store. So, HTC, good try but Apple is still the best. Rating:
Reviewed by George Maller from England
on 4th May 2010
IPHONE??? Whats that?? Rating:
Reviewed by Mohsen from Iran on
4th May 2010
Absolutely fantastic, I love HTC DESIRE because it's got a very
high quality screen which is not only big enough to watch film on
it, but it also is an AMOLED screen and is very bright. I recommend
this phone to everyone, I got it almost 20 days ago and before it
I had an HD2. One thing that I did not like about it was that it
can not play Divx movies, However HTC have promised to make an upgrade
for it.Its battery is also better than iphone and Google Nexus One.
But the best thing about it is the Google Maps and also the phone's
speed which is amazing... Rating:
Reviewed by Martyn Hickford from England
on 4th May 2010
What an outstanding phone.I have just got rid of my Iphone 3gs Oh
why oh why did I get sucked in to Apples hype and waste my money
on a phone that is tied in to Itunes and tries to squeeze every
penny out of you.Thank heavens for HTC Desire. Please if you get
this phone spend quite a lot of time getting to know it,you will
not be disappointed.One other thing if you transfer your music follow
HTC's instructions then transfer from your music files not windows
media player,once done give the phone time to arrange the sd card
to sort itself out if necessary turn of then on same goes for pics
etc. Rating:
Reviewed by Kawai from Uk on
4th May 2010
What did the reviewer mean by, "As mid-range smartphones go, this
is as good as it gets!" If this is a mid-range smartphone, what
is a top range smartphone? [Editor's reply: That would be an iPhone,
Nokia N900 or similar costing phone.]
Oh my review of the phone, 1 month in and I still think its amazing Rating:
Reviewed by chalky from uk on
3rd May 2010
I had the iphone 3 weeks ago, I sent it back because theres lots
of customisations I wanted to do that I was not able to do without
the aid of jailbreak first. JB was not availabale at the time for
the iphone with OS 3 or above so I just send the phone back. I got
the Desire last week, boy how happy I am that I sent the iphone
back now!.. it does everything the iPhone did and more. I see people
moaning about the battery life, I have used mine a lot and it still
lasts me about 1 1/2 days. Not bad considering I play with it a
fair bit as its a new phone. Im guessing the people noticing poor
batt life have some apps running constantly!! Rating:
Reviewed by Steve from england on
3rd May 2010
Brilliant phone. The Iphone disciples must be kicking themselves!!
Better camera, much faster processor, can multi task and better
screen. Only drawback is battery life but suppose such a powerful
phone is going to use a lot of power. Only wish HTC had not given
sole rights for the Legend to Vodafone. Would have preferred that
as it is smaller but not willing to go with Vodafone Rating:
Reviewed by Mark from UK on 2nd
May 2010
Had Desire for 2 weeks now, was going to upgrade and get new 32gb
iphone, but after reading reviews for Desire thought id risk it,
and what a good selection it was I'm well impressed. The mobile
feels solid and looks the business, only thing I'm missing is when
the mobile is turned off the alarm clock doesn't start the phone
up automatic, so you either have to leave in sleep mode or use other
method, no drama though just expected it to have funtion like your
£10 nokia does, but can't have everything ha. Battery lasts me 1
& half days approx but I'm hammering it with being new toy at minute,
you can charge via USB port which is very handy while at work or
home etc. Got a very nice case "Sena Elega" which put's cheery on
the cake, ordered 3 of ebay which was all rubbish this cost £25
but well worth money. Best phone I've had and believe me I've had
them all..... move over iphone theres a new boy in town!!!!!!! Rating:
Reviewed by mike from ireland on
2nd May 2010
simply by far the best phone you can buy has the lot been useing
it for 3 weeks now and all about it is good go get one Rating:
Reviewed by will from uk on 1st
May 2010
if people think the battery life is poor then buy a 14.99 phone
from argos. you cant have it every way folks. if you think the battery
life is poor try the iphone and see it last about 1 day i can get
3 days from my desire the phone is one of the best around at the
minute mine works without fault nice clear screen has all the bits
you need. Rating:
Reviewed by liam from bristol uk on
29th Apr 2010
i had this phone for aroun 2 weekssent it back as the music player
and battery has much to improve on as the iphone had it all right
and no mistakes as his is a good preditor for the iphone but for
me and i spect a lot o you would say iphone all the way Rating:
Reviewed by john from uk on 29th
Apr 2010
have to say this phone is supurb. got mine about 4 weeks ago and
its a joy to use with no problems. for the people who moan about
the battey well turn of apps, wifi and things like that i can get
over 3 days from mine plus a few flat charges makes for better battey
life. all smart phones eat the battey up. touch screen is fantastic
and the screen is by far the best ive ever seen nice and clear.
well done htc. now all the iphone snobs can see that the iphone
isnt the best anymnore. Rating:
Reviewed by Nikki.f from uk on
29th Apr 2010
I love this phone. The colours and functions are great. BUT, and
its the single most annoying thing about it is the APPALLING battery
life. I have fully discharged and fully filled the battery twice
and today it has used over half the battery already. It is on charge
again for this evening as there is no way the battery would last
that long. I have limited the number of apps I have, downloaded
an apps killer, and am running off 2G. Now it is about trying a
new battery just in case this one is faulty. Unless you really need
a smart phone I would recommend you stick to something simple!!!
It would have gotten 5* but the battery life is a killer. Rating:
Reviewed by Ann C from UK on
28th Apr 2010
I received this phone yesterday on contract from Orange who gave
me a brilliant deal. Wasn't sure if I was going to like it or not
and when first switched on it asks you to set up various accounts
before you can even make a phone call, which I found extremely frustrating
not least because initially I found typing on the screen very difficult
- never used this touch screen input before. Having played with
the Desire for a bit I am really quite amazed at some of the things
it can do. I am especially impressed by the ability to search google
through voice recognition (certainly saves typing errors). The battery
does run down quickly, but I think that using a static wallpaper
and turing the mobile internet and wi-fi off when not needed will
save power. Why not 5 stars. Well my biggest bug bear is that the
screen is very sensitive to type on. I have small fingers and yet
still find I am hitting the key either to the side or above the
one I want. Very tricky but I am sure I will get used to it over
time. I also cannot get a uk BBC news feed for some reason or other.
I have still to set up e-mail so that will be an interesting experience
:( Web browsing however is amazing and very impressive. All in all
I am glad I subdued my phobias and got the Desire instead of a Blackberry. Rating:
Reviewed by Lee Bekier from Scotland
on 27th Apr 2010
Hate to break the news folks but doesn't the HTC Desire only have
100mb left for apps, browser cache, emails, messages etc? My Co
Pilot on the iPhone 3gs is 150mb which means that certainly is a
big flaw for HTC, why have they not given end users more space?
Fr this info I only award HTC with 4 stars, everything else is really
good. I have an iPhone and would certainly consider moving to HTC
if the memory had been improved! Rating:
Reviewed by Andrew from Uk on
27th Apr 2010
The HTC is my first smart phone . I am not qualified to give a review
on the pros and cons of this phone versus the i phone etc . BUT
- I would warn anyone considering a phone like this to think about
it carefully - For one it isnt a great business phone and two the
battery life - is dreadful . (but I accept most smart phones are
the same)The screen is fantastic for watching you tube etc but if
you are outside on a sunny day it is virtually impossible to make
or receive a call as you can not see the screen. Also the screen
is a constant smear as although you clean and polish it every time
you pick it up - as soon as you put it to your face to make a call
you are back to square one again . Its a cool phone and is great
for impressing your friends with high quality images , google maps
, footprints , and zillions of apps (the vast majority of which
are no good to man nor beast ) but as for basic phone functions
i find it a nightmare and wonder how will I cope with a two year
contract.Also the way text messages are stored in one file mixing
in and outbox together is very confusing and anoying ,]. Sad to
say but i miss my old phone which had no touch screen and was a
faithful freind which had a three day battery life . Sorry I am
clearly not a phone geek and the HTC is a wonderful piece of technology
but i question is it for me ? - maybe it will grow on me ? Rating:
Reviewed by Heidi from UK on
27th Apr 2010
B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L I had my heart set on the HTC HD mini to start
with after I decided that the HD2 was just a tad too big but then
the Desire came out and it is superb. Comparing it to my partners
Iphone this is what I deiscoverd, Battery Life Desire 1 - 0 Iphone
Screen Desire 1 - 0 Iphone Internet Desire 1 - 0 Iphone Camera Desire
1 - 0 Iphone Memory Desire 1 - 0 Iphone Ease of Use Desire 1 - 0
Iphone Look Desire 1 - 0 Iphone Speed Sesire 1 - 0 Iphone Total
Desire 8 Iphone 0 All in all Desire wipes the iphone with the floor
my partner is getting getting rid of the iphone now and getting
the desire without a doubt :) Rating:
Reviewed by Andy S from United Kingdon
on 27th Apr 2010
I was all set on getting the HD2 i even made comments on here after
playing with it for a little while, but then this came out and i
thought i'd take a look. Very glad i did, so much so i've upgraded
to it (Orange contract) and 2 weeks in i'm still loving it. Okay
so the screen isn't as big as the HD2 but not found that to be a
problem, if anything its easier to use because it fits nicer in
the hand, its also slightly more responsive than the HD2's. I've
not experienced any lag with the phone even with lots of apps running
at the same time. Lots of apps constantly running does have an impact
on battery life so i've downloaded Advanced Task Killer to do the
back end work of closing them down for me. Downsides for me have
to be Battery life and the music player. Battery life - HAS improved
since i played with the settings a bit and since i put it down now.
Generally I get a day between charges with moderate use. Heavy wi-fi,
net, texting and emailing has seen it being topped up by the evening
for the run though the night. Music Player - although the stanadard
one is decent and slick i would've liked an equalizer to fine tune
the sound and the ability to play drm tracks (i've got a Napster
to go subscription) like the HD2 does thanks to windows media player.
A better player i've found is 3 (cubed)- it was free and has better
functionality. Overall ABSOLUTELY LOVE this phone and have recommended
it anyone that wants to listen. Now if only it could play drm tracks.......:-)
Rating:
Reviewed by ann from uk on 25th
Apr 2010
got this phone 2 weeks ago and its perfect really nice phone ive
had no problems what so ever. its defo the iphone killer my partner
has the iphone and he now wants the htc desire. battery is ok if
you turn of apps etc and wifi i can get 3 days from mine. also gets
better with a few flat charges. love the touch screen it works just
as good as the iphone and the camera and flash make the iphone look
like a toy. people who complain about the battery must understand
that all smart phone are power hungry. remember the iphone just
lasts about 1 day and its battery is sealed in the case and has
to be replaced in shop. Rating:
Reviewed by David from UK on
24th Apr 2010
An amazing phone, experience and a delight to use. I love the HTC
Sense interface, its so intuitive, and makes "sense" to use. You
add numerous widgets of differing sizes, you can add short-cuts
to app's too. The web browsing is unparalleled. The pixel ratio
is massive, more than the iPhone. Websites load how that "should
be" - you see the entire page, due to the high pixels, text can
be read even when zoomed relatively far out. Call quality is much
better than my old Nokia N82. One bad note is the battery life,
its rubbish (I've never owned a touch screen phone, however apparently
the HTC Desire's battery life is comparable with other touch-screen
devices) compared to my Nokia N82. But the beauty of this device
is that its chargeable via mini-USB cable. I'm always near a PC,
so charging/battery life is not a problem for me to be honest. Rating:
Reviewed by ken stennet from london
on 23rd Apr 2010
I love the HTC Desire it more than just a phone its a Map,Phonebook
a most of all a PC on the go... Rating:
Reviewed by Jake from UK on 23rd
Apr 2010
Thought I'd wait a week or so to get used to the Desire before posting
a review. If I'd done it the first couple of days it would've been
a "OMG, OMG, OMG this phone is amazing" kinda review. To be fair
after a week it's still pretty much along those lines. This phone
is A1, top of the line and will make all those Iphonies sick to
their stomach that they no longer have the smartest smart-phone
in the world. Like Rob R said the battery will improve the more
times it's ran low then fully charged so don't worry about it too
much. If I had any gripes it would be with the default Music player
which is a little temperamental when using the shuffle option and
the camera's shutter speed is a little slow but that might be down
to the fact i'm always snapping my 10 month old son who never stops
still. Taking pics of fully grown humans and other more stationary
objects look great. Everything else, the superbly responsive touchscreen,
the soft keys/optical trackball & the easyily navigatable screens
are a joy to use. And to top it all off the call quality - you know
for actually making calls - is good as well :-) Rating:
Reviewed by HARJ BADWAL from england
on 22nd Apr 2010
Had my Desire 5 days - sent it back today- although this is an excellent
phone, fast and easy to use, its Volume levels/ Music player has
much to improve on to compete with I phone 3gs. I was starting to
get bored after 4 days, and battery isnt as good as its made out
in review, its good but not great, Iphone is still better. Its a
shame as HTC got many things right- such as - build quality, size
and processor as well as using Android- which will be the next big
thing, but not quite the fisished article yet. Rating:
Reviewed by zaff from uk on 21st
Apr 2010
had this phone for few days best ever phone as every body noticed
about battery but still iphone killer . Rating:
Reviewed by Mark from England on
20th Apr 2010
I've had Sony phones for the last few years and have taken the plunge
and gone for this after using my brothers htc Hero. The Sony seems
like the stone age compaired to this. This is by far the best phone
I've ever owned!! Don't follow the crowd and get an iphone, get
this its a million times better!! Rating:
Reviewed by Darren from UK on
19th Apr 2010
I have had this phone a few days now on Orange with an unlocked
generic one from carphone warehouse, I did have the blackberry Bold
and loved it, I was considering the Iphone, new Bold or this and
I am soooo glad I went for this it brings everything I use together
nicely, and it makes all my colleague iphone users jealous with
their drab screens full of endless apps, show them your widgets
and the camera and they will be sure envy you. everything works
smoothly and effortlessly. This is the iphone killer for sure!!!!
my only slight issue is the battery but then I cant put it down
and it does improve with time, and also the Data usage wow had to
change my tariff from the 500 mb to unlimited, i recomend you download
3g watchdog free off app store to keep tabs on what you use. if
i could give this phone 10 stars i'd give it 11!!! Rating:
Reviewed by Toby from Birmingham on
18th Apr 2010
Best phone I have ever used really slick and response. amazing buy!
battery life is its only downside but i can live with it Rating:
Reviewed by Richard from UK on
18th Apr 2010
Had mine about a week, replaced my Samsung Omnia and this is everything
and more I had hoped the omnia would be. Exchange Active Sync is
great, shame about the screen locking when required by your server
but use LockPicker to get around this. I am not surprised that Apple
is sueing HTC this is an iPhone killer in my opinion. Rating:
Reviewed by Taran from UK on
17th Apr 2010
I've had this phone on Vodafone for the past 2 weeks or so now.
It is by far the best phone I've ever owned and does so many things
so much better than any other. In particular for me, the Exchange
Active Sync integration (email, calendar, contacts) is outstanding.
Pro's: speed, browser, email, messaging, flexbility. Con's: battery
needs recharging each day for power users. Rating:
Reviewed by Rach from south wales on
17th Apr 2010
After plenty of research i went for the long awaited Desire and
couldn't wait to unbox. I was unsure to change to a touch screen
because i've always used keypad phones. I absolutely love this phone
and i want to learn more and more what this phone can do. I wanted
to be different from having the iphone and so happy with the desire.
The screen is fantastic the sound is quality etc etc. The only downfall
is the battery but that is to be expected with this type of phone.
If you are looking to get a phone with a difference this is the
phone for you...simply the BEST phone EVER! Rating:
Reviewed by Syed from UK on 17th
Apr 2010
Awesome phone. Imran I also agree with what you say! I also face
the same problems, so I doubt its just a faulty phone. The sound
I get from the phone with headphones is so so low its like how the
**** am I suppose to hear it over background noise Rating:
Reviewed by Alex from UK on 15th
Apr 2010
Got mine a couple of days ago from CPW. Their SIM free price is
#450 but the guy on the phone kindly pointed out that I could get
it on Orange PAYG for #400 plus a #10 top up. Apparently they sell
only network unlocked versions and chuck a carrier SIM into the
bag when shipping. The phone is sensational. I've moved from a Blackberry
Storm 2, with all that that entails, and this is a revelation. the
screen needs to be seen to be believed and the interface is so slick
it's oily. It's very easy to set up wifi, and both work and personal
emails, and there's enough "new" stuff for and Android virgin to
keep me occupied for weeks. The battery is probably its weakest
point, but it's no worse than an iPhone or a Storm 2 so no cause
for concern. You need to remember what you're holding in your hand
when you think about battery life. They landed on the moon with
less computing power than a Desire. It's the best smartphone you
can buy. At least until the next best one comes along! Rating:
Reviewed by danie niemand from UK on
15th Apr 2010
Wow, this is a lekker phone. I was torn between the iphone and this,
but it made logical sense to get this one as the rates are cheaper.
I'm a web developer and front end graphic designer, and this phone
brings me into the 21st century. I'm able for the first time to
get email, download apps, gps and get rugby scores in the super
14! I've always used sony ericsson, but this phone just blows it
away. Battery life a bit kak, but same as previous phone. Considering
its got so much, I'm not so disappointed with battery life, and
you can take and charge at work. All depends on how you want to
use your phone. I do not regret avoiding the iphone (which all my
friends have), coz this can do everything the iphone can, albeit
with less apps. Developers like myself will start blasting & sorting
this out soon. Rating:
Reviewed by Rob R from England on
15th Apr 2010
I have recently changed from BB Storm to this phone. Simply fantastic.
I considered getting an iphone, but as I already have a Ipod Touch
I wanted something different. I waited until this phone was out
along with the Sony X10 but this phone blows everything out of the
water as far as I am concerned. Web browsing, messaging, email,
camera (5MP and better than expected) and ability to customise is
superb. I must disagree with DEEP comment re the battery. I have
had mine for 2 weeks now and I am getting circa 3 days use out of
it before it needs a recharge. Batteries need to be used and drained
and charged overnight for a dozen times until they reach their full
potential. 3 days is not sufficient to judge, but that's just my
opinion. All in all I cannot fault this phone, the quality of the
screen compared to the iphone is like comparing Premiership to Div
2... At last a phone that doesn't just match up to iphone but is
far superior... Rating:
Reviewed by gigijoey from uk on
15th Apr 2010
A great phone but beware - Android has not proxy settings for wifi
which means you cannot use android phones in a work environment!
A major fault in Android. If you ever want to use your phone at
work and they have proxy to access internet, then get an iphone.
Such a shame as I love my HTC Desire. The phone is great. Android
is still young and a bit like a ford focus compared to iphone BMW.
Rating:
Reviewed by Imran Ahmed from UK on
14th Apr 2010
Having waited 3 weeks to get mine I was disasspointed with the quality
on the earpiece, even at very low volumes the callers voice sounds
tinny and crackles. Like when you have a damaged coil on a speaker.
The phone itself seems very quick and the software stable. I think
HTC have cut corners on the speakers on this device, even the built
in speaker for audio playback is a cheap component. I am a technilogy
expert with several years of experience and also a hardware engineer
so this is a honest opinion. I still love the phone to bits and
hopefully have my replacement soon. I might have been unlucky and
got a dodgy unit from the production line, components to go bad.
I also notice it did slow down on web browsing after a few mins
but this could have been my wireless and I cannot give a fair opinion
on this yet. I would love to hear how other people feel about the
speaker and earpiece on the phone. Rating:
Reviewed by Mike Al from England on
14th Apr 2010
Having had the G1 since day 1 and working through every new rendition
of it's Android OS i can say that the latest 2.1 release with the
sense UI makes it look absolutely stunning. The touch screen has
been vastly improved upon. No more jerky "is it going to slide or
not" moments. Not the best camera, but who, other than a pro is
going to need an 8 megapixel camera anyway. The form factor is solid
and weighty, I have tried many phones that just feel... fake! The
Android Market is still lacking in quality 3D games, but as the
product gains in popularity and Apple shoot themselves in teh foot
with their closed system policies more developers will be seen heading
Androids way. 2010 is definitely the year of the Android. And Kris
you can download the Google Earth APK from here: mediafire.com/?gmgymigkmzm
and here's how to install should you have any problems: brighthub.com/mobile/google-android/articles/37151.aspx
Enjoy. Rating:
Reviewed by supermoto from uk on
12th Apr 2010
i got the htc desire 7 days ago i really do love the phone but it
has one big problem and that is the music player volume it is set
just to low come on htc please release a rom to fix this if you
want to compete with apple the music player has to be a lot better
for people who use there phone,s as a main music player Rating:
Reviewed by mark from uk on 11th
Apr 2010
The best mobile phone ever built, by a long way. The power of an
open source operating system, with the simplicity of a Windows GUI.
It has true multitasking and is totally customizable. The screen
is just amazing with instant response and clarity that we have all
been dreaming about. To summarize this mobile gives you true freedom
from your desktop or laptop, it is not restrictive like the iPhone
as the developers are free to create any app for any task. This
is not the case with Apple. This means that the apps on the HTC
desire will address all areas of the mobile phone. This is liberty
in it's greatest form and that form is the HTC desire. Go and get
one and start enjoying your freedom today. Rating:
Reviewed by Squibble from England on
9th Apr 2010
To date, I have owned Blackberry Storm, iPhone 3gs and the HTC Desire.
I can safely say that the desire blows every phone I have ever used
away. It is absolutely stunning. Slick, fast and responsive beautiful
screen. Does everything you could ever need it to do! Rating:
Reviewed by Ahmadreza from UK on
8th Apr 2010
This is a "nearly" perfect phone. I have had N95-8gb for 2 years,
and this is now really a break through. The sense experience and
dozens of Google/nonGoogle applications are really wonderful. Web
surfing is just brilliant and camera is more than expected. However,
I wish it had installed Farsi/Arabic fonts and was more open to
manipulatin/ installation (like N95). For such a big and HR screen
24 hr battery life is acceptable, and good if you can charge it
through your laptop USB. I hope the Farsi update would arrive soon,
but now I have to replace it because of a mic problem in my first
call! Rating:
Reviewed by Scott D from Wales on
7th Apr 2010
I often browse this website and others to do my research on what
phone I should get next, and it was unanimous that this is a fantastic
phone. And it is! The phone is easy to use and has some great features.
It can certainly rival the Iphone, I hope to see more apps made
for the androad market though. If this is your first touch phone
it can take a bit of getting used to but once you've had it a few
days you will have mastered it. Having been waiting for this phone
for a while and watching various video clips I thought it would
be quite big but to my surprise it is smaller and lighter than I
actually expected (but maybe thats just my expectations). My only
minor issue is not being able to lock my messages so only I can
get into them and also the speaker when at full volume isn't the
best quality but the other features more than compensate for that! Rating:
Reviewed by Deep from UK on 6th
Apr 2010
Excellent phone and software, absolutely rubbish battery life. Sent
mine back to T-Mobile after 3 days. Rating:
Reviewed by kris from england on
4th Apr 2010
Just got my desire on Vodafone and think its brilliant. The only
thing that is driving me mad is that I can't seem to find the Google
earth app for it! Can anyone help? Rating:
Reviewed by C.Joseph from UK on
4th Apr 2010
Got this yesterday... 2 words Bloody Brilliant!!! My 1st smartphone/andriod..
Took about 4 hours messing around to get used to!! Still, its BRILLIANTTTTTTTTT Rating:
Reviewed by Nichola from UK on
4th Apr 2010
I got this phone yesterday from carphone warehouse on an orange
upgrade, and wow! I've had to patiently wait for my sim to be activated,
but been playing with it for the past few hours and i'm very pleased
i chose this phone. I've been trying to decide what to get for nearly
2 months and almost went for an iphone, but didn't want to be a
sheep, so went for this. Better line rental deal too. £30, unlim
texts, 500mins and unlim data. Taking a bit of getting use to, i
can normally pick up any phone and use it, but the touchscreen makes
it quite different. Camera is better than i was expecting too. Battery...hmmm,
well not great, but i've been fiddling. Overall i'm very pleased Rating:
Reviewed by Polly from Uk on
3rd Apr 2010
This phone is simply amazing. It is so stunning to use, incredibly
fast and everything you could ask for from a phone. This is a real
Iphone contender... and I would suggest that it is in many ways
better than the Iphone... and also way more affordable. Rating:
Reviewed by Paul-S- from Scotland on
2nd Apr 2010
Thanks Martin! Checked the HTC website and the desire supports mp4,
wmv and 3gp. The first mp4 file i was trying to transfer however
was a blu ray burn which is why I didnt think it liked it. I downloaded
the Meridian Media Player app for my phone and the any video converter
program for my laptop though and having converted a couple of files
to mp4 with the right settings now, they work no problems on both
the meridian media player and phones standard player! Happy days!!
I knew it had to be something I was doing wrong, not the phone,
its too good! lol! And while we're talking bout apps here's my top
10 freebies for the phone so far to give folk an idea what's out
there on Android: 1. Abduction (doodle jump with cows) 2. Beebplayer
(bbc iplayer) 3. Spotify (music streaming) 4. Advanced Task Killer
(closes apps completely) 5. Soccer Livescores (daily scores for
just about any match in the world) 6. Google Earth/Maps/Sky 7. Red
Poker Club (online poker) 8. Replica Island (platformer with an
android) 9. Flixster Movies (movie info/reviews/trailers) 10. Snesoid
(Snes emulator) - ok this ones like £2 Rating:
Reviewed by Jabber from England on
1st Apr 2010
Fantastic...part of my job is supporting iphones and this phone
is in my opinion is definitley an "iphone killer". Very responsive.
Been playing with the phone all day (since lunch time) and the phone
now understandably needs charging.Browsing is very quick and you
tube works a treat. Exchange sync works perfectly. Rating:
Reviewed by Paul-S- from Scotland on
1st Apr 2010
This phone is fantastic! I have been watching this phone since it
was first announced and been tracking the nexus one since before
then! My first experience of a touchscreen phone was a Samsung Omnia
I900 and it wasn't great! Playing with other people's touchscreens
(does that sound dirty? lol) also left me dissapointed, granted
I hadn't tried the iphone! This put me off touchscreens and I went
back to a Nokia N86. When I received an Ipod Touch for xmas though,
I suddenly saw just how good touchscreens could be and quickly got
the bug back! Originally not an Apple fanboy, the Ipod was a really
slick piece of kit and the app store was amazing! I didnt want to
get an Iphone though as it would make my Ipod redundant and I would
have 2 practically similar devices! Outside Apple territory, Android,
the up and coming OS, seemed to be the way to go. Then on the horizon
appeared the Nexus One, the google superphone! But as is the case
still, its not available in Europe yet but HTC came to the rescue
with the Desire! Anyone who's interested in the Desire will know,
we're basically talking about a Nexus One for Europe here. Missing
only a couple of the nice but novelty features of it's google counterpart
(noise cancellation/talk-to-text) its more or less the same but
with the benefit of HTC Sense and a cheaper price tag! You can see
the spec for yourself above, its truly amazing! The only addition
I would like to have seen would have been HD video recording like
on the Vivaz. Oh and it comes with a 4GB memory card in the box,
surely we could have expected at least 8GB? (lol how fussy am I?)
Down to the user experience, firstly the touchscreen im happpy to
report is excellent, capacitive and as responsive as anything apple
has to offer, multitouch is supported and really couldn't ask for
anything else. The screen itslef is a 3.7inch AMOLED with an excellent
resolution making it bright, vibrant and slightly larger than the
Iphone's. A quick note, the screen locks itself after whatever time
you set it to, the only way to unlock it is to tap the power key
at the top of the phone. This initially is a bit frustrating, its
quite small and sits almost flush, but you soon realise anything
other than this and you risk unlocking the phone when its in your
bag/pocket. The inital set-up gives you 7 homescreens to customise
with widgets and apps as you see fit. This sounds and was for me
initially quite daunting, do I really need 7 but I soon had a set
up which worked nicely for me and it gives you access to all your
most commonly used features. Setting up the phone to sync with Facebook
works great too, it can link all your contact info to facebook profiles,
gathering more info about you contacts and getting display pics
for each one! The camera (another reason I didnt want an Iphone)
is a good quality 5mp effort with a decent led flash and is certainly
one of the better efforts on smartphones. As I mentioned HD video
recording would have been great but the WVGA 800x480 is still good!
Web browsing is brill, pages render very quickly, selecting, scrolling
and zooming is smooth and lag free. It seemed to have a couple of
teething problems streaming some videos but generally this works
fine. Moving on to the Android Market, this obviously isnt as polished
as the Apple App Store but it is probably the best alternative.
There are plenty of apps and it is ever increasing just don't expect
"there's an app for that" functionality yet! And, unlike the App
Store, don't expect to find many big name 3D games here either which
is a bit of a shame because the Desire certainly has the hardware
to run them. Media playback on the Desire again is relatively straight
forward and the included player is simple and user friendly. My
only gripe here would be photos and videos use the same interface.
I quite like having a separate video player to give more preferences
when watching films etc. and whether this attributes to it or not,
I've had a trouble trying to play my mp4 and avi files so im not
sure what the compatability with file formats is like. In saying
that, video players are available to download from the market! The
external speaker on the phone is nice and clear if a little tinny
for music at max volume but there is a 3.5mm headpone jack. The
only real downside I can see people having with this phone is probably
the battery life. It isn't actually as bad as people will make out
as long as you set it up properly. Firstly this is a smartphone
and always connected to the internet, the battery is on a par to
others out there, they just don't last as long as regular phones
because of the amount of processing and additional activities smartphones
do. When you first get your phone its set up to sync just about
everything it can as often as it can. While this does give a nice
complete and the most up-to-the-min user experience, it really isnt
necessary. Change your sync settings, download a good app-killer
from the market to close unused apps and you should get a full days
use out of your phone! I think thats it then, I am over the moon
with my Desire, and see a happy 18months ahead of me! Of course
I've mentioned some niggles, as with any phone and I was wondering
whether that should make it 4 stars but these things are so minor
and some down to user preference, that its probably as damn near
close to perfect as you'll get for a good while! If I had to compare
it to the Iphone it really comes down to hardware vs software. The
software available to the Iphone through the app store is unmatched
and gives it the edge in functionality. Android is still in second
place for sure but the market is increasing all the time. The hardware
on the Desire however is just so much better than the Iphone. For
me the software is only going to be updated and improved upon all
the time so I'd rather have the right hardware from the outset!
Desire all the way - 5 STARS!! Rating:
Reviewed by Daniel from Uk on
27th Mar 2010
Hi there, this is following on from my previous post. I have now
received my HTC Desire via a T Mobile upgrade and its good. I like
sense and the fact they have increased home screens to 7 rather
than 5. Some of the HTC widgets do look better than stock android
which are all still included. my only negative is that I have a
Nexus One which is identical so some of the wow factor has been
lost on me. if your upgrading from any other phone then this will
make you say wow. Flash is excellent on teh desire and have already
started streaming bbciplayer with no problems...excellent phone.
To sum up...touchscreen is brilliant..nice and reponsive, the UI
is excellent and the fact its got 1ghz under the hood means everything,
and i mean, everything seems to work really fast. the browser and
pinch to zoom are more refined than on Nexus one or any other HTC
or touchscreen device for that matter which makes browsing a piece
of cake...get this phone if you can. Rating:
Reviewed by Daniel from London, Uk on
23rd Mar 2010
I have the Google Nexus one which is the same phone as this and
without doubt the best phone I have used in a long long time. I
was sceptical about moving to Android but now don't think i could
go back to any other operatring system. The only difference between
the Nexus One and the HTC Desire is that the Desire has Flash 10.1
where as the Nexus one will need an update for that. I have also
ordered my HTC Desire for delivery on fridat 26th March and cannot
wait for it.,...come on T Mobile....get it shipped. Rating:
