The best phone I’ve ever owned so far…

HTC desire

So I finally got my HTC desire from Orange.  It took a bit longer that expected due to Orange changing the upgrade process but I finally laid my hands on this sweet handset.

I was comparing it to my old HTC Touch Hd 1 which also now runs Android thanks to the amazing job the guys at Xda developers have done. Although they have sorted out the scrolling issue and started to get the bluetooth working it good to finally have a real android phone. And you can’t go wrong with the snapdragon 1ghz processor, it really makes things go along super smoothly. Some more memory would not go a miss but generally its fine.

I can honestly say this is the best phone I’ve ever had. Its so good move away from the windows mobile camp and I thought I might have to give up some of the features like the usb tethering option but its still there thankful. Theres also a ton of tethering apps which I can use if it wasn’t included. I’m so glad I switched over as this operating system is something else.  My next step is to root the phone because I want to mess with the inners of the phone a little bit. So hopefully that will be a simple task….

I know the iphone4 was out at the same time but honestly I couldn’t buy one even if it had a better resolution than any other phone on the market. I did consider other phones but to be honest there was little else on the market to consider except the sonyericsson’s and samsung’s. The iphone4 may have the better screen but to be honest its a nightmare for a user like myself. The whole iTunes integration means the phone has no chance with my current operating system (Ubuntu) and why would I lower myself to that type of integration when theres a better way? I really did put my Apple hate to the back of my mind and reviewed the iphone4 on practical grounds and it was certainly not for me.

My own grumble about the desire is the USB connection which is micro USB instead of mini USB, which means I got loads of USB mini cables which are now pretty useless. I should get a few adapter because I got so many of them and only one Micro cable. Very tiny grumble but one never a less, at least its correct with the EU regulation now.

I’m looking to hopefully sell my old Hd1 but to be honest if the price is right I’ll sell it to CEX, although the idea of selling it as a android compatible device is a little far fetched for now. Give me a shout if your interested in buying it.

The HTC Desire is coming to Orange

HTC Desire

Jas Dhaliwal left me a tweet which left a massive smile on my face. After my post moaning about Orange’s lack of decent handsets, it becomes clear that Orange are going to be first with the HTC Desire which is a Android 2.1 handset. He’re the details from the Orange Newsroom.

  • Orange to retail the HTC Desire free on selected consumer pay monthly and business price plans from April
  • The HTC Desire will feature Qualcommm’s superfast Snapdragon 1GHz processor and Google’s Android 2.1 Operating System
  • An Orange Signature device, The HTC Desire is the first of several Android handsets to be unveiled by Orange in 2010

Orange today announced it will be launching the much anticipated HTC Desire, the next Android device to be ranged by Orange in the UK. Available this spring across all Orange consumer retail and business channels, the HTC Desire will be free on selected consumer pay monthly and business price plans.

Offering a rich, intuitive browsing touch interface and premium design, the 3G+ enabled Desire is the latest device to feature Google’s 2.1 Android operating system, allowing users unrestricted access to thousands of amazing tools and applications which can be downloaded straight to the handset.

Although I love the HD2 (4.3inch screen), its unlikely to head to Orange anytime soon and waiting another 6 months for my contract to run out is pointless if Orange will be getting decent Android phones soon. I do like Windows Mobile, specially the look of version 7 but its time to move on. So for the next few months, I’ll use my HD1 as a Android phone (video) then in April be first in line for the Desire.