Power hungry

Signal reception - both cellular and 802.11 - and call quality were both good, though the HD lacks the noise-cancelling twin microphones that Motorola is now fitting to even its cheaper Android handsets like the Defy, to the noticeable benefit of call quality.

Getting it from dawn to dusk on a single charge of the battery can be a trial

Of course, the HD comes with a host of other refinements too long to list, including the latest version of HTC's Sense UI, which is still by far the best Android overlay, and dozens of handy widgets: Dolby Mobile and SRS sound modification for your music and videos, and a DLNA media streamer.

You can also register your HD at HTCSense.com to access a range of web-based features including a handset location service, remote data wiping and locking should your HD get half-inched, and sending text messages from your PC.

Verdict

As you might expect, all this large-screen loveliness comes at a price. Unlocked, the HD will set you back between £450 and £500. If you want the handset 'free', you're looking at committing to a talk plan costing £40 a month over two years.

Still, the Desire HD is a gorgeous bit of kit that does all the things you could possibly ask of a smartphone and, photography aside, does them very well. With one of these in your pocket you won't ever need a tablet, a media player or an e-book reader, but you will need a spare battery. ®

Thanks to 3 for the supply of our review handset.

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