Introduction
It takes two to tango, HTC seem to think. The HTC Salsa joins the ChaCha in a bid to treat young Android users to as much Facebook as they can handle. The little blue button makes an appearance again, this time in a more familiar context. While the ChaCha takes its QWERTY keyboard off the beaten path, the Salsa is a typical Android package. It’s got a solid build and seems like a well spec'd midrange smartphone - an HTC Wildfire S for Facebookers.
The HTC Salsa official photos
The Salsa has something the ChaCha doesn't: a family tree. The Salsa is part of the new generation of midrange phones by HTC, along with the likes of the Wildfire S. But calling it a Facebook-centric Wildfire S would be oversimplifying or just plain wrong. As a matter of fact, HTC went on to give the Salsa more than just that tiny Facebook button. It tops the Wildfire S in terms of screen size and processor clock speed, and throws in a few features that the Wildfire S didn't bother with - like video calls, HD video and web Flash support.
Let's take a look at the complete feature list and the possible deal breakers.
Key features
Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G support
7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 384 Kbps HSUPA
3.4" 16M-color capacitive TFT touchscreen of HVGA (320 x 480) resolution, Gorilla glass
Android OS v2.3 Gingerbread with HTC Sense
800 MHz CPU, Adreno 205 GPU, Qualcomm MSM7227 chipset
512 MB RAM and 512 MB ROM
5 MP autofocus camera with LED flash and geotagging
D1 video recording @ 30fps
Wi-Fi b/g/n and DLNA
GPS with A-GPS
microSD slot up to 32GB (2GB card included)
Accelerometer and proximity sensor
Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
Stereo FM radio with RDS
microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1
Smart dialing, voice dialing
Front facing camera, video calls
DivX/XviD video support
Compact aluminum unibody
HTC Locations app
HTCSense.com integration
HTC Portable Wi-Fi Hotspot
Ultra-fast boot times (if you don’t remove battery)
Main disadvantages
Below-par screen sunlight legibility
Camera not the best we’ve seen
microSD slot under the battery cover, not (quite) hot-swappable
No HD video recording
There seems to be so little to worry about but we're yet to get into the details. As a mid-range smartphone, the Salsa will not set your expectations too high. But users who know what to expect will not be disappointed. The unibody design, the hallmark build quality and the latest Android are all in the deal.
It takes two to tango, HTC seem to think. The HTC Salsa joins the ChaCha in a bid to treat young Android users to as much Facebook as they can handle. The little blue button makes an appearance again, this time in a more familiar context. While the ChaCha takes its QWERTY keyboard off the beaten path, the Salsa is a typical Android package. It’s got a solid build and seems like a well spec'd midrange smartphone - an HTC Wildfire S for Facebookers.
The HTC Salsa official photos
The Salsa has something the ChaCha doesn't: a family tree. The Salsa is part of the new generation of midrange phones by HTC, along with the likes of the Wildfire S. But calling it a Facebook-centric Wildfire S would be oversimplifying or just plain wrong. As a matter of fact, HTC went on to give the Salsa more than just that tiny Facebook button. It tops the Wildfire S in terms of screen size and processor clock speed, and throws in a few features that the Wildfire S didn't bother with - like video calls, HD video and web Flash support.
Let's take a look at the complete feature list and the possible deal breakers.
Key features
Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G support
7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 384 Kbps HSUPA
3.4" 16M-color capacitive TFT touchscreen of HVGA (320 x 480) resolution, Gorilla glass
Android OS v2.3 Gingerbread with HTC Sense
800 MHz CPU, Adreno 205 GPU, Qualcomm MSM7227 chipset
512 MB RAM and 512 MB ROM
5 MP autofocus camera with LED flash and geotagging
D1 video recording @ 30fps
Wi-Fi b/g/n and DLNA
GPS with A-GPS
microSD slot up to 32GB (2GB card included)
Accelerometer and proximity sensor
Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
Stereo FM radio with RDS
microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1
Smart dialing, voice dialing
Front facing camera, video calls
DivX/XviD video support
Compact aluminum unibody
HTC Locations app
HTCSense.com integration
HTC Portable Wi-Fi Hotspot
Ultra-fast boot times (if you don’t remove battery)
Main disadvantages
Below-par screen sunlight legibility
Camera not the best we’ve seen
microSD slot under the battery cover, not (quite) hot-swappable
No HD video recording
There seems to be so little to worry about but we're yet to get into the details. As a mid-range smartphone, the Salsa will not set your expectations too high. But users who know what to expect will not be disappointed. The unibody design, the hallmark build quality and the latest Android are all in the deal.