My HTC Desire Review

My time as an official Telstra social reviewer for the HTC Desire has come to an end. Over the last two weeks I’ve been able to test the HTC Desire thoroughly and acquaint myself with the Android OS again. The last Android device I played with was the LG Eve.

Thank You Telstra Social Media Team

Before I go any further I’d like to thank Telstra, in particular, Kristen Boschma, Mike Hickinbotham and Ben Bevins for allowing me to be part of Telstra’s first online social review of a mobile device.

#TelstraDesire 25, You Guys Rawk

I’d also like to say it was a pleasure meeting the other reviewers and hearing what they thought of the HTC Desire. I learned a tip or two from most of the crew and I’ll be keeping an ear out for anything else that happens on the #TelstraDesire tag.

Telstra Smart Selection of The HTC Desire

Now back the the HTC Desire. Let me just also state that Telstra made a wise choice in choosing the HTC Desire to be their flagship mobile in 2010. To be honest I was somewhat surprised that the Palm Pre was not selected given all the awards it received at CES 2009 but if you look where both Palm and the Pre are now, you’ll see Telstra made the best selection.

HTC Desire Is 2010′s Best Phone (Australia)

The HTC Desire was always a winner and is the closest thing I’ve seen to an iPhone competitor to date. Its impressive hardware, e.g. 1GHz Snapdragon, sleek design, 3.7 inch AMOLED screen and 5 Megapixel camera make for a winning gadget. Having the refined / matured Android 2.1 running on it makes the HTC Desire even more of a real threat in the realm of high-end smartphones.

The timing of the HTC Desire in the Australian market is also impeccable – it comes at a time when many people were looking for their next upgrade before the Australian End Of Financial Year and with the iPhone 4G date still up in the air, many of the impatient were willing to give HTC, Android and Telstra a try.

If you’ve been following the #TelstraDesire hashtag you would have witnessed many of the 25′s surprise and delight as a result of using the HTC Desire on Australia’s premium network – Telstra NextG. Some even said they’d continue as paying customers. For myself, it wasn’t anything new. I’ve been with Telstra ever since my first mobile phone (NEC Sportz) in 1994 and have always been happy to pay for the fastest and most reliable network in Australia. (No I don’t work for Telstra, just appreciate reliable technology)

My HTC Desire Review

I could do a very lengthy review on the HTC Desire but I won’t as many others have already covered this extensively on the web. Instead, below are two lists that outline what I LIKED and DIDN’T LIKE about the HTC Desire.

What I liked about the HTC Desire:
- sleek solid design
- Android 2.1
- Fast perfomance
- 1GHz Snapdragon
- Large 3.7 AMOLED Screen
- removable battery
- Decent sound from speakers
- 5 Megapixel camera
- Wide range of audio file format
- availability in Australia
- Telstra NextG network

What I don’t like about the HTC Desire:
- thinness of cursor for optical Dpad
- keyboard interface is error prone and clunky
- access to the microSD card can be frustrating
- tinny bass
- why not make it totally touchscreen instead of having the user guess where to access menus?

Recommendations and Tips:

1. HTC Desire is perfect if your a Google person. By this I mean if you have Gmail, use Google Calendar and contacts. It just syncs everything together seamlessly.
2. Battery life can be terrible. Here’s a post I wrote on “10 ways to increase battery time on your HTC Desire“
3. Get a HTC Desire screen protector as the screen can be prone to scratching
4. If you want to get into the innards even more, visit places like XDA Developers for the latest news on ROMS, Updates, etc.
5. Contribute to the #TelstraDesire hashtag if you find out any nifty tricks or tips
6. Try out Telstra NextG if you get a chance especially if you’re looking for a fast and reliable network

Now that I’ve finished playing with the HTC Desire, time to turn my attention to another fun gadget that’s just hit Australian shores…

HTC Desire Accessories Link