The HTC Desire HD is one of the most anticipated superphone this year and it’s coming to town in time for Christmas (or so they say). Check out our full review of the Desire HD after the jump.
As a successor to the popular HTC Desire, the Desire HD brings with it most of the desirable features of its predecessor then wrapped it with a huge 4.3 inch screen (see our review of the HTC Desire here to get a better perspective).
With such a huge screen real estate, the handset makes for a very good first impression very few smartphones ever get. The 4.3″ LCD display is already bordering on the tablet category, just right under other 4 and 5-inchers like the Archos 43 and the Dell Streak.
The build and form factor is nothing new to us as we’ve already seen it over a year ago with the HTC HD2, although that one was running on WinMo 6.5 (there’s a hack to install Android on that one too) so it’s not a surprise that people are eager to see the marriage of the HD2’s hardware and Android OS.
What we missed with the Desire HD that we really liked with the older Desire is the inclusion of an AMOLED screen. While the LCD on the Desire HD still brings in that bright and clear display, the crispness and depth of contrast we get from AMOLED is very noticeable.
The resolution is at 480×800 pixels — it was just right on the Desire but the Desire HD’s 4.3″ display seems to big for such resolution that widgets and icons are a bit oversized. The 3.7″ Desire can accommodate 4 rows of icons and the 4.0″ Samsung Galaxy S can do 5 rows; despite the 4.3″ screen of the Desire HD, it can only do 4 rows (a limitation brought upon by the resolution). In retrospect, this might be good for those who have bigger than normal fingers.
However, if that switch was the one that made the Desire HD more affordable (with a 35k SRP compared to the Desire’s 34.9k SRP), then I think it is a reasonable trade-off since the launch price are practically the same.
That, or there’s just not enough supply of AMOLED these days.
Construction-wise, the Desire HD is tightly built. If you’re familiar with recent HTC handsets or have owned one, you’d agree how solid the units are. It’s got some heft to it, considering the size and materials used. The width is just right although people will smaller hands might have a harder time with the grip. It’s relatively thin too and somewhat tapers towards the edges with curves just at the right places; it’s actually thicker in the center where the camera is positioned.
The front panel is all covered with the glass display while the bottom end leaves enough space for the usual touch controls (similar to the Nexus One) of Android devices. I would have preferred the physical buttons like the ones on the older Desire but we’re pretty much familiar with how this works so it’s not a huge deal.
Above, from left to right: HTC Desire, iPhone 4, Desire HD, Galaxy S
The back panel has two compartments you can pry open — one for the SIM card slot on the right side and another one at the bottom part for the 1230mAh Li-Ion battery. The 8MP camera is positioned in the top middle part of the back panel with the dual-LED flash is on its right side and the microphone on the left.
The lens is protected by a metallic barrel around it. The barrel somewhat protrudes from the back so it usually ends up as the first point of contact when you put down the handset on tis back. As such, it’s also prone to bruises — I’ve already peeled off a tiny bit of dark paint off of it.
Like many top-of-the-line handsets, I guess you’ll really need to get a protective case for the device once you start using it. A thin, soft gel case would suffice.
While the camera has been cranked up to 8-megapixels, there isn’t much improvements in the photo quality. There’s no dedicated camera button too. Images are between decent to good when in the outdoors or with sufficient lighting but not much on low-light conditions. The 720p video recording looked much better though. Audio quality is good and sound volume is just enough for music or movie playback .
Here are some sample photos I took using the Desire HD:
You’ll notice that shots taken at low-light conditions tend to be bit grainy. The video quality is better though. See sample below (just set it to 720p when viewing).
The Desire HD performs very well; it’s very snappy and responsive and with the HTC Sense UI wrapped around Android Froyo, the interface is all pleasantness. You get the cool HTC widgets, themes and skins as well as the entire 7 home screens. There’s not much difference with the older Desire except for the pre-installed HTC Hub, Media Link and HTC Likes (recommended Android Apps).
The calendar widget now has a flipping animation when updating the time. Drag down the notification toolbar and you’ll see a list of recent apps. The virtual keyboard is now also expanded to include 4 arrow keys so you can navigate thru text much easier. Then there’s the Universal Search that collates all searches in one results screen.
We’ve also seen Flash 10.1 running on this device flawlessly. It’s way better than Flash Lite on the older HTC Desire. You also get the mobile hotspot (WiFi tethering) which comes with Froyo.
Performance is top notch, with the second generation 1GHz SnapDragon chip and 768MB RAM taking as much load as you can fire up apps on the device. We’ve had several apps running in the background including Angry Birds (which looked gorgeous, btw), DropBox uploading a video file, the full Harry Potter 7 website loading and a YouTube streaming all at once. Web browsing is also better with the large screen and full Flash experience.
As an added bonus, HTC has also launched HTCSense.com, a remote device management service for the Desire HD and Desire Z. It allows for data storage on the cloud (contacts, text messages, and other details) as well as security features like phone locator, remote lock and remote wipe of handset data.
Battery life is another thing altogether. With only a 1230mAh rating on the Li-Ion battery, the handset barely lasts the entire day especially when you’re connected to the net. This isn’t an isolated case though. We’ve experience the same with the Desire and the Nexus One before so if you’re coming from another Android device, this is already expected. Either you bring a charger all the time or carry a portable rechargeable pack.
HTC Desire HD specs:
4.3″ Super TFT display @ 480 x 800 pixels
1GHz Qualcomm 8255 Snapdragon CPU
1.5 GB internal
768MB RAM
up to 32GB via microSD
HSDPA 7.2 Mbps, HSUPA 2 Mbps
WiFi 802.11n
Bluetooth
GPS w/ aGPS support
FM Radio tuner
8MP camera with dual LED Flash
720p video recording
Li-Ion 1230mAh battery
Android 2.2. Froyo
Price: Php35,000
Release Date: December 2010
The HTC Desire HD is definitely a great phone. It’s one of the best Android phone we’ve tested this year; actually, among the best smartphones we’ve used ever. It’s not a perfect phone; it’s got a few shortcomings too (yeah, that resolution was a bummer) but over-all, I’m pretty impressed with the handset. With a suggested retail price of Php35,000 it’s actually right within the range of all other flagship smartphones out there.
Thanks mat! yes, me too im not considering those dual core. siguro konting baba lang sa price and ill grab it asap! ngyong lumabas parang nagsisisi tuloy ako, dapat talaga tiniis ko na lang na mag antay. may choice ka na ba sa DHD kung sa pwede mag install ng apps, etc?
last question: may nagro-root ba sa greenhills? :)
@Jay I would say its worth it. The most that will come out next year are Dual Core processors and I dont think phones will really need them anyways. In terms of software, Android is updatable and HTC is a company that regularly updates its software.
I got my DHD 4 days ago and I can tell you that it makes my wife’s HTC Desire look like a toy.
If you wait till next year you can expect the price to drop, but I already got mine below SRP and I’m very happy with it.
pero is it worth it pag binili DHD? kakabili ko lang kasi ng Desire. ang takot ko kasi eh baka may lumabas na mas powerful sa DHD by 2011 since ilang araw na lang ay 2011 na.
Meron na sa Powerplant Mall, Mobile 1! 40k
@ Robin – Any word as to how much? I’m inquiring but the store hasn’t gotten back to me yet..
@Abe
It’s here!
eto nanaman, ang ganda talaga mg design mga HTC oh, android panaman to super ganda talaga ng design ang laki pa ng screen HD nga talaga. .grabe.
just got my desire hd in Singapore (as low as $735+ sgd nalang in Funan, around P24.7k). I’m new to Android, I don’t have a data plan (yet), do I have to turn off “Mobile Network” in the Settings so I won’t be charged? Or do I just have to un-check the “Enable always-on mobile data”?
yes its out there lost haha baka feb pa dumating sa official stores d/t supply shortage and dun pa bababa yung price
is this phone out yet?
I don’t think the resolution is the reason why it can’t display more than 4 rows of icons. I think sense UI is just made that way. My 240×320 screen can even display upto 6 rows of icons, just smaller because it’s mere two inches diagonal wise.
To someone asking whether it’s good for ebook or not, well i guess it is! Higher resolutions than 480×800 can only promise you smoother font edges but the amount of text it can display, that is by utilizing every pixel, depends on the app you are using, or the OS limitation/feature if you look at it in a broader way. But if you have this amazing ability of reading text with mere half millimeter in height(like me ;) without straining your eyes, then i suggest ip4’s retina. And don’t zoom in! You’ll be spending so many pixel just to display a single letter, that’s a waste! Lol.
Bottom line is, higher resolutions(and dpi if you include the screen size into perspective) only mean sharper texts and images/icons, but it doesn’t necessarily dictates how many objects the screen can display. Legend? Iphone 3Gs? They have lower resolutions than their successors but they have the same rows of icons that sense and ios inherently has. You see, pairing high res. with small screen size is not such a brilliant idea. It doesn’t bring much benefit to the end user, other than… ‘art?’ and perhaps, ‘specsheet decoration!’ care to aggree? Nonetheless, it’s an advancement in technology that geeks like us can’t resist. Btw, i’m buying ipod touch 4g because i want print-like display, i’m an artlover, you know? Hehe.. And i’m nearsighted so i might appreciate it when reading texts that’s still sharp and legible though too small cause i can.
But sir abe’s theory can be true too if only the difference is too huge. Say nokia 3210 and iphone 4, now that’s so much, former is not even colored. Displaying all iphone 4’s objects in 3210 would equate to 1object per pixel, and it will not even suffice. XD …Or so i think, anyone’s free to correct me if i’m wrong.
Got to say sorry to samsung, HTc sense is bringing up greater performance. Is samsung only have the touchwiz?
@junulrik
Pinabili ko lang sa sister ko yung phone. So hindi sya makahanap ng case for this. Thanks for the tip though! Sayang!!!
@shellcourt
kung nasa singapore ka pa sa ngayon, sa lucky plaza may nagbebenta ng silicon case for htc desire hd sa may lowest level.. dun din ako nakabili before.
If this phone is priced at greater than 30k, i would rather get a Galaxy S. When the price drops below 30k, then we have a deal
I got mine from Singapore last friday. Price is already SGD 830 (roughly Php 28k), but still way cheaper than local prices. Check out this site http://www.mobilesquare.com.sg/ or you may call them +65 67333747
Sobrang sulit!!! Go get one now. My problem now is, I could not yet find a jelly case for my HD.
For the ones who bought their Desire HD in Singapore, would they be exactly the same model/version that will be released here? I’ve heard that for some gadgets differ in versions depending on the region? Thanks in advance!
@totong: where exactly in mega did u see this? im waiting for this fone for like, forever. :) balak ko nga sana blackberry torch na pula ung bbilhin ko e. kaso i saw ur comment and u said sa mega nga. :)
i got my htd desire hd at mobilesquare in far east mall.. local warranty only in singapore..
I wish it had a front facing camera for video calls..