Standing out in the ever growing crowd of droids is a tall task indeed. Doing so while keeping the whole thing affordable, is next to impossible. HTC – of all makers – somehow managed to achieve it, vastly improving the market prospects of their ChaCha, aka the Facebook phone.
HTC ChaCha official photos
Who would say no to a friendly smartphone with a thing for social networking? It takes a little blue button and we get the point, but the QWERTY keyboard is a statement of its own too. Facebook integration is said to be deeper than ever (and that's on Android 2.3 where it was just fine from the get-go).
Key features
Light and compact metallic body
2.6" 256K-color TFT capacitive touchscreen of HVGA (480 x 320) resolution
Full four-row QWERTY keyboard and a dedicated Facebook button
ARMv6 800MHz CPU, 512MB RAM, 512MB ROM
Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) with HTC Sense 2.1 for Messenger
Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G support, 7.2 Mbps HSDPA
Wi-Fi 802.11 b, g, n with Mobile Hotspot functionality
GPS with A-GPS connectivity; digital compass
5 MP autofocus camera, D1 (720 x 480 pixels) video recording @30fps
microUSB port (charging)
microSD slot (up to 32GB, 2GB in box)
Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
Accelerometer and proximity sensor
Stereo Bluetooth v3.0
Document editor (free download from HTC Hub)
Stereo FM radio with RDS
Smart dialing
Secondary video-call camera
Main disadvantages
Awkward landscape UI and limited compatibility with some apps
Limited Adobe Flash support in the browser
Sub-par camera image quality
D1 video recording is short of inspiring
Non-hot-swappable microSD card slot
Even if you take Facebook out of the equation, the HTC ChaCha seems fit to tackle its rivals in the mid-range. Targeting the young, where heavy-texters are in no short supply, the QWERTY keyboard will earn itself quite a few fans. The quality metal finish makes for an upmarket look and feel.
HTC ChaCha official photos
Who would say no to a friendly smartphone with a thing for social networking? It takes a little blue button and we get the point, but the QWERTY keyboard is a statement of its own too. Facebook integration is said to be deeper than ever (and that's on Android 2.3 where it was just fine from the get-go).
Key features
Light and compact metallic body
2.6" 256K-color TFT capacitive touchscreen of HVGA (480 x 320) resolution
Full four-row QWERTY keyboard and a dedicated Facebook button
ARMv6 800MHz CPU, 512MB RAM, 512MB ROM
Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) with HTC Sense 2.1 for Messenger
Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G support, 7.2 Mbps HSDPA
Wi-Fi 802.11 b, g, n with Mobile Hotspot functionality
GPS with A-GPS connectivity; digital compass
5 MP autofocus camera, D1 (720 x 480 pixels) video recording @30fps
microUSB port (charging)
microSD slot (up to 32GB, 2GB in box)
Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
Accelerometer and proximity sensor
Stereo Bluetooth v3.0
Document editor (free download from HTC Hub)
Stereo FM radio with RDS
Smart dialing
Secondary video-call camera
Main disadvantages
Awkward landscape UI and limited compatibility with some apps
Limited Adobe Flash support in the browser
Sub-par camera image quality
D1 video recording is short of inspiring
Non-hot-swappable microSD card slot
Even if you take Facebook out of the equation, the HTC ChaCha seems fit to tackle its rivals in the mid-range. Targeting the young, where heavy-texters are in no short supply, the QWERTY keyboard will earn itself quite a few fans. The quality metal finish makes for an upmarket look and feel.