Summary of Comparisons of Touch Cruise to Touch Diamond

For the most part, the Cruise was able to match the Diamond from a functional level. The Cruise had most of the same software as the Diamond, and had a major advantage due to the bundled CoPilot navigation package. I did find some cases where screen refreshes and redisplays seemed slower on the Cruise. And the Diamond's VGA screen is an undeniable advantage. But an additional advantage of the Cruise is its responsiveness to touch. It was very nearly as sensitive to touch as iPhones that I tried. Even at its best, the Diamond was noticeably less responsive. The useful battery life seemed to be a bit of a wash, though the Cruise may have an advantage here, with its less power hungry QVGA screen.

Of course, the current Diamond is on its way out, and the new Diamond 2 is coming. It's already available in Europe and a US version is expected by the end of August with AT&T as the carrier. It has an even higher resolution screen (WVGA or 800 X 600) and is rumored to be much more responsive to touch. So that will be another test altogether… maybe if I get a Diamond 2 to review?

Conclusion

If its role is to provide most of the Touch Diamond experience on a budget, the Touch Cruise has hit that mark. It's responsive and it's one of the most extensively touch enabled WM phones available. It's loaded with software, including the bundled nav program and a bunch of fun and/or useful utilities. The Touch Cruise (an unlocked version for just about all markets) is currently listed on Expansys USA for $469 (and is offered for $173.99 with a new or renewed contract from AT&T). The full price is $130 less than an unlocked Touch Diamond 2 (which can be used as a phone in the US, but doesn't support HSPDA), and the Diamond 2 doesn't come with a full fledged nav program. AT&T will certainly sell the Diamond 2 for a discount with a contract, but the price is unknown at this time. So if you're eyeing a Touch Diamond 2, but find it a bit pricey, and if you can live without a WVGA screen, the Cruise makes a mighty tempting alternative.