The HTC Desire Smartphone: The Ultimate Phone?

There are many smart phones on the market to choose from. This is a review of the highly capable HTC Desire phone. The HTC Desire will be compared to its closest competitor, the Nexus One.

Much More Than a Phone

The HTC Desire, code named Bravo, could more easily be called a hand held computer than a phone. It was a big hit when released earlier this year in Europe and Australia. The HTC Desire, at that time, used the AMOLED (Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting diode) display. The AMOLED display has the disadvantage of being hard to read in direct sunlight.

Display Issues Solved

The AMOLED displays, manufactured by another company, became in short supply. HTC decided to completely switch the newly manufactured HTC Desire smartphones to the more available Sony "Super LCD" panel. The switch inadvertently solved the display issue of being hard to see in direct sunlight. Thus, the only major complaint consumers had with the phone was solved.

Powerful Processing

HCT really out did themselves with the Desire phone. The Desire has few, if any, flaws to speak of. The powerful Android 2.1 operating system is standard running on the one Giga-Hertz ARMv7 "Snapdragon" processor. There is a Android 2.2 update that unlocks the capability of 720p high-definition video recording/playback.

Packed with Features

The HTC Desire has an unbelievable number of features. Talk time is close to 400 minutes between charges, a five mega-pixel camera with face detection and Geo-tagging, a micro SD slot, 3G networking and Bluetooth 2.1. It has four sensors built in: G-sensor, digital compass, proximity, and ambient light.

A huge number of widgets can be downloaded. The Desire can be used to listen to music and it has a FM radio. The phone is integrated into common social networking sites and has an application to view photos and videos.

Much Like the Nexus One

The Nexus One is the only smart phone on the market that even comes close to the HTC Desire. The Desire has more RAM memory of 576MB vs. 512 for the Nexus. Other differences are the Desire's optical trackball, micro-USB connection, FM radio (deactivated on the Nexus), and it has Adobe Flash Lite 4.

The Nexus One does have a few advantages such as tri-band capability instead of Desires dual-band. The Nexus One has two microphones for noise cancellation and speech to text. Speech to text can be downloaded to the Desire and HTC provides all of the support and updates rather than the partial support of Google.

Availablity

The HTC Desire was released in the United States using U.S. Cellular. It can be purchased unlocked for for $518.89 from Simply Electronics with the Android 2.1 operating system.

Conclusion

It would be hard to find a better smart phone than the HTC Desire. HTC makes another model called the HTC Desire HD that is a little better. It has a larger display and a better camera. The HTC Desire is a smart phone that will stay in fashion for many years and will serve well for any demand placed on it.

Sources: Personal experience and HTC Desire manual.