UK mobile phone reviews - HTC Desire Review

Your HTC Desire Reviews

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Reviewer: Kev - Witney Oxfordshire, UK
Date: 13th Aug 2010

Cracking phone with great apps & plenty of app & games for free from android marketplace.

The battery lasts fine for me & can get about a day with a full charge. It's my first android mobile & the menus did take a short while to get accustomed to.

but with being able to play avi films with Rockplayer is great, with very good quality play back.

I would suggest buying a screen protector & some sort of case for it.

I personally think it is not quite as easy to use as a iPhone but is more usable & more powerful.

I am looking forward to using the 2.2 froyo version of firmware, which should bring better battery life & faster screen plus more.

Buy one or just go in all of the mobile shops & ask for a demo, most of the shops I went into the sales reps were using the HTC Desire themselves. Shows how good they are.

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Reviewer: SD - Luton, UK
Date: 9th Aug 2010

I HAVE TO AGREE WITH MR EXCELSIOR OF EDINBURGH, I LOVE THIS PHONE, BUT THE BATTERY LIFE IS MEANT TO LAST FOR 15 HOURS. IT DOES NOT! PROBABLY 3 IF YOU ARE REALLY LUCKY. THIS PHONE IS VERY ADDICTIVE, BUT THERE IS ONE THING WHICH THEY DON'T WARN YOU ABOUT OR HAVE NOT CONSIDERED ACCORDING TO YOUR NETWORK PROVIDER THE MEMORY CARD ON THE PHONE WILL ONLY HOLD SO MUCH & THEREFORE NOT VERY HELPFUL WHEN YOU NEED TO ADD ANOTHER PROGRAM. IT SHOULD BE SOLD WITH THE OPTION OF MEMORY SIZE OR WARNING TO CHANGE BEFORE YOU LOAD YOU STUFF ONTO IT AS IT DOES NOT HAVE ROOM ON THE PHONE ITSELF TO MOVE STUFF ROUND WHILST YOU REPLACE WITH A LARGER CARD ONCE YOU REALISE YOU NEED THIS.

THIS IS MY FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH TOUCH SCREEN & HAVE HAD NO MAJOR PROBLEMS, & THE USABILITY OF THE ANDROID IS FANTASTIC, ALTHOUGH IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO HAVE MORE OF A DESCRIPTION OF WHAT SOME OF THE APPS ARE FOR OR DO.

TRY IT BEFORE YOU BUY. I WOULD & HAVE RECOMMEND THIS PHONE TO ANYONE WHO LOVES APPS & GEEKY THINGS.

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Reviewer: Angel Delight - UK
Date: 4th Aug 2010

After spending a week with the Desire I sadly had to send it back. The HTC is a very good phone & could be the ultimate phone to have but it has its flaws. I'll start with the positives, it's a good size, fits well in the palm of your hand, making calls, the sound was very clear & the call never cut out. I liked its screen size & quality, the touch screen works well unless you are typing on the full QWERTY board holding the phone in a portrait view then it can be a little fiddly. The fact that you can customise a lot of how it looks appealed since I have mainly had Sony Ericsson's in the past & you can personalise a lot with them. Personalising all 7 home screens was addictive. The OS is very slick & quick. I never experience it running slow even with half a dozen apps running in the back ground.

& now (my opinion only) the flaws, camera photo colours come out flat & dull even after adjusting the colour settings. My Sony Ericsson C510 produces far richer & natural coloured pics. The camcorder sound quality sounded distorted when played back (not sure if that was a fault with my handset). I didn't find a way to customise the menu themes (changing the colour or look), not sure if this was possible without rooting the phone. Also the ringer volume could do with being louder. I was prepared to live with all of those minor problems had it not been for the duration in which the battery lasts. It's just plain awful. After the initial wanting to play with the hand set non-stop on my week off, when back at work, after the desire had been charged over night, I made & received about 4 calls totalling about 40min talk time, spent 10 minutes on WiFi & 10 minutes on the Internet during the day & by 5pm the battery was flat. Bearing in mind I had the task killer app doing its job, WiFi & phone Internet all switch off unless it was being used. This is such a shame. Now I appreciate Smartphone's use a lot more power & are pretty much mini laptops but it's primarily a phone, which should last over a day's use. Manufactures should be providing the sets with power that will endure instead of making them look ultra thin & sleek. I will buy another HTC but I'll wait until battery life improves. Until then I'm giving Smartphone's the wide berth.

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Reviewer: Mark Cunliffe - Wigan, UK
Date: 2nd Aug 2010

This phone especially with the 2.2 update is the best phone bar none.

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Reviewer: Barthelemy Roberts - UK
Date: 18th Jul 2010

So back again. After 2 months of usage just want to add some update. This device is FANTASTIC. Reduced my PC usage about 70%. Sorted out battery life as well by turning off background sync & wisely selected applications to install & use. Now I getting 2 days of usage & only thing I missing is keyboard, as my email communication has increased. Will get the HTC Vision (Desire with keyboard) for sure, but will keep my Desire as well as it is the best Smartphone so far in every aspects. RECOMMENDED!

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Reviewer: Mark - Cannock, UK
Date: 6th Jul 2010

Of course it's a great phone.

But:

- The speaker is absolute rubbish & virtually useless for the sort of music playing that we expect phones to be able to do nowadays.
- Android is great, but not yet easily usable. Far too many things are complicated to use. The device as a whole needs a tremendous amount of simplification.

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Reviewer: Rod - Selby, UK
Date: 25th Jun 2010

Notice to all reading about poor battery life. These that moan should respect that they've basically got a laptop in their hand & when purchasing Smartphone's they should expect massive drains on the phones resources because of its capabilities. If they want batteries to last for days & days then go for an 'old school' call & text phone with no fancy gadgets. You can't have everything! Other than that this HTC Desire blows the iPhone away without being tied to the nasty Apple contracts & is better built. iPhone4 is going to have its work cut out!

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Reviewer: Harish - Preston, UK
Date: 22nd Jun 2010

I am new to touch screen phones & so I wasn't too sure what t expect. However I have been pleasantly surprised. The features are superb & the screen clarity is excellent. Some reviews have commented on the battery life, which I must say is not fantastic, but what do you expect for a large screen phone. I have bought an in car charger as a back up as it does eat batteries. The browsing capability is superfast especially when linked to my home WiFi. Overall I am very pleased & I can't seem to put it down! Oh, it's also good for making phone calls.

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Reviewer: Cleave - UK
Date: 13th Jun 2010

This is the second touch screen phone I have had, I made my choice of this phone after looking at all the latest phones around. I am very satisfied of the performance & all the features of this phone, it does everything it was designed to faultlessly. Battery life is better than I was expecting after all compare it to any laptop on the market & this phone will outlast them, it's just like having a portable computer in your pocket. The camera is quite good for the amount of megapixels & photo quality is better than you would think. The screen is one of the best I have seen & uses less power than a TFT screen.

Overall I would say this is the best phone on the market at present & therefore the one for others to beat. Highly recommended.

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Reviewer: Excelsior - Edinburgh, UK
Date: 11th Jun 2010

Alright so I got this phone a month ago. I paid 410 pounds for it & this piece of rubbish doesn't even last me a whole day.

I read a lot of reviews before I got this phone & a lot of people seemed to be complaining about the battery life, & all I said was AHH STOP MOANING, IT can't BE THAT BAD! Well trust me, it is worse than people described it.

I actually charge it from 10pm till 11am & by 1 o clock in the afternoon it's got 95% charge remaining & that's without me even doing anything. It loses 5% just on standby in 2 hours, & goodness forbid if you try to use the sat nav in this phone without a car charger, your journey better be only 30 minutes long or its going to die on you in the middle of nowhere. Trust me, because it's happened to me while travelling to Glasgow city centre for the first time, & I had to pay a cabbie to escort me to my destination for £25.

Anyways, on to some software issues, I have had a couple of applications which stop responding from time to time & the only option I am given is to 'force close' them. Another problem for me is getting used to the touch screen, this is a first for me so I look like a silly person trying to paint something, every time I use it & it really tests my patience at times. Nonetheless that's a personal issue & I am working on it.

Finally, this phone cost me £410, I bought a flexi skin from mobilefun for £12 so I don't scratch my new bundle of joy, £27 for a car charger kit since the battery is never going to last more than 4 hours. However the car holder doesn't fit with the protective skin on, & without the skin, the holder scratches the back as you have to slide the phone into it. It's going back. Then I have had to pay 5 pounds for a protective shield for the screen & now I am considering buying an 'extended battery' as according to the store, the original Desire battery is 1400mAh, the Seidio battery gives an extra 200mAh, a total of 1600mAh! (OH MY! Its going to last another half hour. Big deal! ). I have also been strongly recommended getting Carphone Warehouse insurance which is about 6 pounds a month. Add it all together & the that's a huge amount of money you're having to pay on TOP of what you have already paid for the phone, whether on pay as you go or pay monthly.

As for the phone itself, I have seen nothing better than this. In my opinion the only other phone that could beat this is the HTC Evo which is going to be another few years before it gets to UK.

anyone considering buying this phone, do NOT overestimate the battery life, & don't underestimate how much you're going to be using it because this phone is addictive & you can't put it down once you have picked it up. With built in sat nav & thousands of applications like police camera alert, bar code scanners, TrackID, music downloader, this phone has become a necessity for me & certainly would for others as well.

If anyone has any problems like dodgy sounds, calls getting disconnected, buttons not working, too many shut downs & phone freezes, low speaker volumes then your phone is faulty, don't put up with it, send it back (unless you bought it from eBay off a dodgy seller who has since deactivated his account & gone awol).

My verdict, only buy it if you,
- Are willing to splash out another £50 on Desire Accessories, plus £6 a month insurance.
- Can carry your charger around with you.
- Can charge your phone at least 3 times a day.

Good luck with your desire!

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Reviewer: Anita - Kent, UK
Date: 21st May 2010

I love love love this phone! By far the best phone I have owned. It's my 5th attempt at touch screen & it's the only one I've not wanted to jump on. It's responsive, the buttons are easily spaced out, it has great screen quality, great sound quality (though if I am going to be fussy the hands free speaker could be better) loads & loads of features & for the first week I couldn't put it down!

I highly recommend this phone. It's not froze, it's not broke, the battery life actually is OK considering what it does, with moderate use it still lasts all day. Me, personally am a very happy bunny!

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Reviewer: Mark H - Southport, UK
Date: 10th May 2010

Had this phone for 3 weeks now & I have to say it is by far & away the best phone I have ever owned.

Very fast, easy to set up (I have my own business & have emails coming in from numerous accounts) & has a wealth of features & applications. Even the camera is pretty good & a big improvement on HTC's from the past (this is my 3rd HTC).

The battery lasts a full day with fairly heavy use, need to tweak it a bit to improve this.

Highly recommended handset.

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Reviewer: Dazz - UK
Date: 8th May 2010

Got to say this phone is great the 1GB processor & the 2.1 Android work well no lag no memory issues & the addition of flash will appeal to many. I was a bit worried about the omled screen in the day light hours but have to say I am really impressed.

I highly recommend this phone over the X10 on the screen & too the X10 is still running Android 1.6.

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Reviewer: Barthelemy Roberts - UK
Date: 8th May 2010

Having HTC products for years, must say I have some experiences :). Torn between HTC HD2 & Desire was a hard choice, but at the end Desire win. Couldn't choose better. The screen is above average (not a monster like HD2). Good point is the replacement of trackball as it fell out on my Hero after 3 months. Surprisingly, the battery is better when on 3G.Missing few apps previously used on Hero & Legend. Find out also, that using any task manager causing issues. Android is designed with self-care so if you want smoothly running device don't use any app killer or task manager apps. Never used camera (for that I have C905) on HTC, but I welcome the AF & face recognition. So far best Smartphone nowadays.

My rating (95%) is based on fact, that comparing with Legend only 3 things differ, CPU & RAM along with screen size.

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Reviewer: David - Leeds, UK
Date: 6th May 2010

A reply to John below, I am sorry you were not happy with your purchase of the Desire & went for the Xperia X10 instead.

I have owned the Desire a few weeks now, so I am no expert just enjoy its many capabilities at the moment. I am very pleased with its performance & there may be a software update in the future to rectify the slowness you are experiencing. I am getting great network coverage & all the features have impressed me.

John please do a review on the Xperia X10 as my wife is considering get it in the next few weeks, also any info on the Vivaz would be appreciated as this is also on her short list.

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Reviewer: Les - UK
Date: 5th May 2010

Coming from BlackBerry, a close (techie) friend recommended HTC to me, I am pleased to say my close friend is now my best friend. Totally impressed with this as a Smartphone, great design & after the initial two days learning, I am away with my new Desire.

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Reviewer: Lucinda - Farnborough, UK
Date: 30th Apr 2010

Hey, This phone is amazing. The apps, & usability are brilliant. Battery life is pretty good aswell. The 1ghz snagdragon processor is wonderful & keeps everything going at a good pace. No lag. Features are lovely with live wallpapers. Screen is amazing to use, really good touch ability. The design is really good, but the brown colour looks a bit cheap, & you could've done with a proper camera button & the micro sd card not underneath the battery.

But overall, the best android phone out there at the moment. Definate iPhone killer.

Get it if you're looking for a overall wonderful Internet phone, to keep you always in the loop.

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Reviewer: Rob - Belfast, UK
Date: 27th Apr 2010

This phone is awesome much better than the iPhone, had it 2 weeks with no problems. Turn apps & Wi-Fi off & battery is OK.

All Smartphone's eat battery's.

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Reviewer: John - Manchester, UK
Date: 23rd Apr 2010

Had this phone for 3 days, battery life is appalling. So, I returned it & got the Sony Ericsson X10 instead. The build quality of this phone is pretty good but the sense UI was somewhat laggy & not half as good as the Time scape & Media scape of Sony Ericsson X10. Hence I am bitterly disappointed by HTC this year. Anybody else is having similar problems that I've had with this device?

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Reviewer: Doo - Blackpool, UK
Date: 19th Apr 2010

I have had this phone for a couple of weeks after upgrading from the Hero & apart from the improved camera there is hardly any difference apart from friend stream, which seems a bit slow to update, the phone is quite noticeably bigger (prefer the size of the Hero), the Desire is a bit of a fingerprint magnet. If you have a Hero & don't mind the poor camera wait for the software upgrade (eclair), the Hero is just as good.

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Reviewer: Robert - West Mids, UK
Date: 30th Mar 2010

Gigantic 3.7 inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen & WiFi 802.11 b/g & built in WAP 2.0 xHTML & HTML web browser & Android OS v2.1 (Eclair) & Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8250 processor, my best Smartphone ever, this will not disappoint, it's a super duper Smartphone. Btw I never give any products 100% hence the 95% ratings. I must say only a couple of days old and no problems to mention.

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Reviewer: Barthelemy Roberts - UK
Date: 29th Mar 2010

Well, fresh owner of this top range device. Can't say nothing wrong, perfect build quality, good signal reception, feel good in hand. RECOMMENDED! AAA+ device!



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