A luxury touchscreen phone with a better Web browsing experience than the Samsung Instinct, Sprint’s Touch Diamond takes the original unlocked GSM version that we reviewed June 2008 and adds support for services like the Sprint Music Store and Sprint TV. The fun and intuitive TouchFLO 3D interface remains intact, and Sprint even kept the robust Opera browser, too. For $249, this is a sharp but slightly sluggish handset many will envy, even if it is pricey.

Design

The largest difference between Sprint’s Touch Diamond and the unlocked version is the lack of the original’s faceted design. Sprint’s version has a matte red color and is very attractive, but we miss the diamond-reminiscent facets that gave the phone its name. Likely due to the CDMA antenna inside, this version is 0.2 inches fatter than the original. Sprint’s version also comes with a charger, a USB cable, an extra red stylus, mini-USB earbuds, a 4-in-1 adapter, and a carrying case.

We remain fans of the Touch Diamond’s 2.8-inch, 640 x 480-pixel resolution display, and we appreciated accuracy of stylus taps during our testing. The included stylus slides into the device from the lower left-hand corner and is secured with a magnet.

The Touch Diamond has a 3.2-megapixel camera on the back, four buttons below the display for placing and ending calls, navigating backwards through menus, and returning to the home screen. A circular button serves as the menu selection button, and the four click-buttons around it are for navigating in four directions in menus; you can also roll your finger around the edge of the center button in a clockwise motion to zoom in on images or Web pages. The only remaining buttons are two volume controls along the left side of the unit and a power button; we would have liked a camera quick-launch button.

A built-in accelerometer senses when the phone is turned on its side and automatically reorients the screen to landscape mode; this was especially useful while we were browsing the Web.

User Interface

HTC’s TouchFLO 3D interface loads on top of Windows Mobile. This slick UI lets you quickly navigate through each main menu choice with the swipe of your finger across the Touch Diamond’s display. We prefer TouchFLO 3D over Windows Mobile’s stock Today screen because it brings contacts, messages, music, photos, and more right to the home screen—all in a ribbon menu along the bottom of the display. We liked being able to play music and browse photos without having to leave the home screen, and we appreciated the animated weather application, which let us view the conditions in multiple cities. However, even with a 528-MHz processor, the Touch Diamond was frustratingly slow flipping through menu options with multiple tasks open. Also, accessing any standard application like your e-mail inbox brings you right back into the dreary landscape that is Windows Mobile.