Hopefully this look at several of the best touch screen phones to become available in 2008 will help you make your choice.
Whether you are upgrading from an older model of touch screen phone or PDA like the HTC Mogul or similar or new to the touch screen arena, here are some of our favorite choices. Keep in mind, not all phones work on all networks, be sure to check with your mobile service provider before purchase.
HTC Touch Diamond
This phone is one of the more affordable models out there at under $200 USD ( in some places as low as $150 or less with service contracts). It has a glossy screen and chassis that looks great out of the box but collects the oil and dirt of fingerprints faster than you can say iPhone killer. It offers a selection of four “keyboards” on screen for texting and entering data, as well as a custom interface version of the Windows Mobile operating system. The custom operating system navigation is probably the best feature of the phone, as the WinMo experience is notoriously difficult. It also has a sensor that adjusts the screen to the direction you are holding it for viewing ease.
The camera on this phone is a decent 3.1 Megapixels; however, it has some stiff competition with a few of the other phones on the list for quality. 3.1MP is pretty good for camera phone photos, though, and those quick snaps while you are on the go should come out fairly nicely. It offers a standard WinMo experience with the addition of the Opera web browser (much better than Internet Explorer for looking at the web on a mobile phone), email, multi media options, and more. It comes with 4GB memory as standard but has no room for a memory card. This is a problem for people who may not take their pictures and videos off the phone every day after use. For some reason it has two stylus units - perhaps that space would have been better served for memory expansion. In spit of its problems, the phone is sleek and attractive and definitely worth the price as a viable option for entry into the touch screen phone experience.
Specs: Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, Qualcomm 528MHz MSM 7201A processor, 256MB ROM/192MB of RAM, 2.8″ VGA screen, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0 plus EDR, eGPS, a 3.1 Megapixel camera plus flash, and a Samsung MoviNAND for 4GB of storage - no expansion slot.
Samsung SGH-i900 Omnia
There is a full review of the Omnia over on our Tech.Blorge channel, but you can’t make a list of the hottest touch screen phones from 2008 without including it. This sleek phone has a similar look and feel to the iPhone, and that’s on purpose. It’s market targets are the disenfranchised and disgruntled who want the iPhone experience without having to buy an iPhone and use AT&T as well as the savvy business user who wants a few bells and whistles with their WinMo experience. It has a few features the iPhone does not, namely an expandable MicroSD memory slot, a 5 Megapixel camera that has auto focus, a replaceable battery and a customizable interface offering your choice of drag and drop slide menu or standard navigation.
The Omnia offers haptic response and a choice of wide or narrow keyboard, depending on the orientation of the screen. Like the HTC Touch Diamond, the screen will adjust to the direction you are holding it. The camera quality with auto focus and face and smile detection is the best thing this phone has going for it - the pictures it takes are phenomenal, every time. It also comes with plenty of space for taking pictures and using programs like the available QIK beta and others. Toss in neat things like the FM tuner and TV output, RSS feeds, MS Office mobile, email, messaging and more and this is a rich and fully featured phone.
Specs: Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional; SMS, EMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging; WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, RSS feeds; Camera 5 MP, 2592х1944 pixels, autofocus, image stabiliser, video, flash; secondary videocall camera; Built-in GPS receiver with A-GPS support; Java MIDP 2.0; FM Radio with RDS; Pocket Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, PDF viewer); MP3/AAC/AAC+/WMA/OGG/AMR player; DivX/XviD/WMV/MP4 player; TV Out; Voice memo; Built-in handsfree; Standard battery, Li-Ion 1440 mAh.
