HTC Desire HD Sim Free Mobile Phone - Mocha

As others here have said I have to say I'm very impressed with this phone, it's 110% better than the Nokia N97 it replaced. The screen is much clearer, not to mention bigger and it actually moves with one finger swipe, not the several the N97 always seemed to require. Lots of apps/widgets to customise as well. Overall an excellent experience.Is it better than the Iphone 4 I have on contract? Well the Iphones screen is certainly a tad better, sharper, but there's not much in it for everyday use. The HTC is easier to customise but again there is not much in it. Where Apple's beast does score is with Itunes and the apps side of things, Android marketplace has a long way to go to catch up there. Though I'm more than pleased to say I've seen no evidence of HTC pulling the same kind of stroke re suddenly, and without warning, stopping add-on's working as Apple did recently with my IPad when they dropped the voltage of the connector, effectively knocking out my USB card reader. Not impressed Apple at all.If there are some Cons to the Desire HD one is the rear speaker, which sounds very tinny, two is the camera and three is battery life. The camera works in a similar form to that of an Iphone, i.e. you can touch the screen to select a focus point, and then you touch the on screen button to actually take the picture. I find that nine times out of ten the camera then re-focuses and you miss the shot. Although the HTC comes with some photographic effects so you can play around a bit, the overall quality of the pictures does not seem any better than those taken with a 5 meg camera and lens flare is certainly an issue if you are not careful. The battery, ah, well, it seems to last 2 days if the phone is hardly, and I do mean hardly, used but if you do make a fair deal of use of your phone, say business wise, then a day without charging is more realistic. I carry an in-car charger for mine just in case. I find re-charge time about 2.5 to 3 hours at night, I've not had to use the in-car yet but expect too when I use the sat nav.Having said all that, as a phone it's brilliant, clear sound and very easy to use and really pleased I got it.UPDATE 19-01-2011Still a great phone (telephone wise) but having used the sat-nav 4 times now, twice car and twice foot (I know it's not exhaustive but I can't afford to keep being late) I'm sorry to say that I wouldn't get rid of your Tom Tom just yet. Even with GPS on and given plenty of time to warm up the system gets its location wrong by anything up to 50 or 60 yards. This is more than enough to miss turnings (trust me, it is), I may be missing something but at least the Nokia N97 got this right. Also the system may recognise zip codes but UK post codes it don't. Sat Nav side of things turning into a Major disappointment.UPDATE : 15-05-2011The phone now seems to recognise post codes, well done, a real improvement. However, the battery life is total crap, with any sort of usage you'll be lucky to get 7/8 hours out of it. No matter how much one likes the phone, and I do, the constant need to charge it is getting on my pip big time!

Only had this phone for 3 days so this review will get updated as i learn more about this phone. At the moment im very happy with this phone and what it can do but bear in mind i was a nokia man and my last phone was a N96. Ive never owned an Iphone and probably never will.Hope my review helps.OK first problem is the alarm (as in to wake you up)It just isnt loud enough, if your like me and sleep heavy this is such a disappointment. The ring tones arnt even that loud either. Im hoping i have a faulty handset but my freinds who own the previous desire say thats the loudest itll go. Pleeeease someone tell me im doing something wrong!- Yep, volume level is a problem, im missing loads of calls and messages. I havent managed to get it any louder. The different sounds in the phone are amazing, lovely and very soothing but they will never be loud enough. Ive even tried to record a piercing tone from a frequency generator to help alert me but the replay of this was shocking when i tried to assign it as a ringtone. To give you an idea of the level i think id like - if your phone is downstairs and your upstairs in the loo you should be able to hear it but in this case you have a missed call.UPDATE: There are 3 audio level settings on this phone (ringtone, media and alarm). If your on the phone and the person on the other end is shouting you turn the volume down on the side until this is comfortable, but now you have also turned the ringing volume down so after the conversation has ended and someone else calls you the ringing volume will be low. If your watching a video and turn the volume down you have now turned the media volume down so anything using a media file as a ringtone or notification will be low in volume. What a pain, but having discovered this the volume level is now acceptable.The audio playback through headphones is absolutely STUNNING and loud!. I do have expensive headphones (ultimate ears triple fi) but i think real credit is due to the player in the phone.BATTERY LIFE- Lots of negative feedback on this but i think the battery life is amazing! The screen on this phone is massive! What do you expect!! Ive managed to get the phone to last a day with heavy use of the screen and considering my Nokia N70 2 inch screen only ran for 2 hours when using Tom Tom this phone is very efficient. When you know how to switch WiFi, GPS and internet on and off you can get 2 days use with no charge. Yes ofcourse youll have to carry a charger around but looking at it realistically what this phone manages to do truly is amazing considering.BUILD QUALITY- Feels nice in the hand.Has a sufficient weight to it making it feel like quality. On the back there is a flap/cover which covers where the sim card goes, when this cover is in place there is a tiny gap along its length about half a millimetre wide. I thought it might be just my phone but after reading the reviews someone else mentioned it so it must be the same on all phones. For the price you pay for this phone an oversight like this is very very poor. Its a bit tricky opening the battery flap too as you feel like its going to snap when you try to open it.SCREEN- The quality and detail in small text when browsing the web is very very good. A friend of mine has the wildfire and i know its a cheaper phone but its worth the extra youd pay just for the detail, amazing.(I only mention the wildfire as i did look at it before buying this phone as a cheaper option)