HTC Desire HD in the flesh, first impressions

Along with the Desire Z, I was fortunate enough to get a glimpse of the only other engineering unit of the HTC Desire HD they had and as usual we took photos and captured some videos to share.

The Desire HD has this gloriously huge and nice touch display screen. The Super LCD did not disappoint and I wasn’t even able to spot the difference between that and the AMOLED display of the original Desire. It’s still crisp and bright — not anywhere near the low-res display of the Wildfire’s LCD panel.

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
FR Radio tuner
8MP camera with dual LED Flash
720p video recording
Li-Ion 1230mAh battery
Android 2.2. Froyo

For such a large handset, it’s also surprisingly thin (although I think it gives it a thinner impression since the body tapers towards the edges).

The large 8MP lens at the back conspicuously protrudes and could be a cause for concern (it could scratch the surface you place it on or actually scratch the lens itself). I think it’s an issue that can be easily remedied with a nice gel case or something similar. Wasn’t able to take test shots since the room was a bit dark.

The touch panel for the controls and menu are etched/printed into the glass panel at the bottom and doesn’t give some sort of feedback use pressed. I’m still biased in favor of the physical buttons on the original Desire though.

As you can see on the video below, the handset is pretty smooth, responsive and snappy. At 4.3″, it’s practically impossible to type on this unit with one hand.

A YugaTech reader living in Dubai is telling me he got one for around Php25k there. However, a cousin who just passed thru Dubai Airport yesterday tells me the price at a Duty Free store is USD$800.

My local source gives me an estimate of Php37,000USD 630INR 53,450EUR 601CNY 4,592 but don’t worry since we will find out the exact price on November 23’s launching.

Update: You can check with Top Electronics for the pricing when it becomes official.

Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

https://www.yugatech.com

27 Comments

jlapitan says:

14 years ago

aw.. 37k.. ang mahal.. huhu.. pang HTC desire lng ako
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jlapitan says:

14 years ago

25K sa dubai? dun nlng ako bibili.. haha…
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roiji says:

14 years ago

HTC phones are too expensive here T_T
I want this phone (or Motoroi X)kaso mahal masyado T_T
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mr.bogus says:

14 years ago

i like the specs, functionality and features of HTC cp but the prob is the battery life i hope maresolve nila yun.. lalo na yun htc evo4g, better that iphone4
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razorous says:

14 years ago

Why did HTC start having new models without the front facing cameras for video calls? Any ideas?
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Sexycutioner says:

14 years ago

@razorous They dont believe in video calling, according to some HTC peeps ive met.

@yuga, i think the build quality of the battery and sim/sd card cover sucks, madaling masira. but all in all maganda sya especially the HTCSENSE feature (yung sa http://www.htcsense.com)
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Rom says:

14 years ago

I think one of Gingerbread’s new features is video calling.
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Alexei Rivera says:

14 years ago

It hasn’t been clear if this actually uses SLCD. Some websites are changing the SLCD spec for this into LCD and it looks that way.

HTC hasn’t clarified this but they’ve also removed mention of any SLCD in their official specs.

I’m almost certain that they originally planned for SLCD but had to do LCD instead. The Desire Z, on the other hand, has been confirmed SLCD I believe.
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Abe Olandres says:

14 years ago

@Alexei Rivera – the reps I talked to refers to it as Super TFT.
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John Ray Cabrera says:

14 years ago

malabo ba talaga on a direct sunlight?
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graci says:

14 years ago

guys i need your opinion, which is better? htc wildfire or blackberry curve 8520? i’m more of texting and i’m afraid that touchscreen phones would be harder to use. i like blackberry bec its something new and im specifically attracted to its qwerty keyboard, but comparing these two, features are incomparable.thanks!
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Aaron Chan says:

14 years ago

Hi sir yuga, saan kayo bumili and magkano? Do you know how much it’s going in taiwan or hk?
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Kenneth says:

14 years ago

@graci

kung magbablackberry ka it is better kung postpaid coz if ur goin on prepaid you won’t use the all specs of the bb and if ur goin to htc… i can say it is a great phone but ung display ay same lang sa x1o mini which means pinilet lang kaya siya pixelated… i suggest you to get samsung galaxy five if u are a first time android user… at madami pang service center pagnagka problema….napagdaanan ko narin yan between htc and bb… nbsa ko kc kung magprepaid ka lang sa bb parang call and text lang mggamit mu better to buy pa black and white phone…lol and ung htc nman… ok nman but as i read a lots of review stock na siya sa android 2.1….

hope it helps…
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agvu says:

14 years ago

the clock now actually flips when the minutes change!!
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Aos says:

14 years ago

Hi guys, just want give info:

Been to HK for the past 4 days, and they still don’t know when it will be coming. I’ve done some research there and found some local stores posting they’re selling it, but when i got into one of the address we can’t find it (its either a hoax or di lang talaga namin nahanap). But, i’ve read a local HK forum saying it will be available by Nov 22 (SAYANG di ako umabot!) huhu. BTW, prices that was posted about 5800 – 6000 HKD, which is also close to the one expansys HK price (see expansys.com)
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Kirk says:

14 years ago

San pong store magiging available? maraming salamt po :D
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Commenter says:

14 years ago

San pong store magiging available? maraming salamt po
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pupuboy says:

14 years ago

im planning to buy this gorgeous phone as soon as it comes out in the market but my concern is the issue on its battery life, any suggested remedy?
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Aos says:

14 years ago

Guys, any news on the desire hd? went to check out the HTC store in SM north, and they said the device would probably be available by January next year?! Ang tagal pa, and at the very least the price would be around Php37,000.00
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Joseph says:

14 years ago

As stated here, Desire HD is using S-LCD. According to Taiwanese, Desire HD is usingã€€normal TFT-LCD in their country. I have checked the news release from htc website as well, it stated S-LCD once again (Philippine Launch). Taiwanese must getting mad and angry….
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JG says:

14 years ago

Mga sir patulong,im planning to buy a new phone and i just want to ask your opinion about which phone is better, the iphone4 or the desire hd? Based po kasi sa mga nabasa ko e almost the same price lang yung dalawa.. thanks in advance!
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JG says:

14 years ago

Mga sir patulong,im planning to buy a new phone and i just want to ask your opinion about which phone is better, the iphone4 or the desire hd? Based po kasi sa mga nabasa ko e almost the same price lang yung dalawa.. thanks in advance!!
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ettenoj says:

14 years ago

@pupuboy pwede ka naman bumili ng extra battery
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ettenoj says:

14 years ago

meron na nito sa sulit.com.ph gray market nga lang yata
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