Recently I was in the market for a new handset. Prior to buying this new handset, I had been using a HTC Hero. The HTC Hero was a brilliant Android based handset that won handset of the year a couple of years back, and was considered better than the iPhone 3GS.
Of course, time moves on and I wanted something different. I wanted an Android based system because of their customization qualities, I wanted a touch screen because of the convenience, but most of all I wanted a physical keyboard. I missed physical keyboards, there's something about them that just can't be replicated by even the best touch screen mobile phone.
I like the look of Blackberries, but of course they are not Android based, so a phone that has been taking my fancy since it was released in the later half of 2011 was the HTC Chacha.It's stunning to look at, with arguably the best keyboard on any mobile phone available out there now. It also fulfilled all my points I was looking for, which of course makes it perfect for me.
Inside the HTC Chacha is a 800mhz processor, pushing the 2.6inch gorilla-glass screen and latest version of Android (2.3.5). The screen resolution is superb, and images and text are crisp and clear, even more so that my old phone. The 800mhz processor is just the right size for the size of the screen, and everything is silky smooth. The buttons are nice and large enough for my huge thumbs to type accurately and fast!
What this phone has that really makes it useful in this day and age is a Facebook button at the bottom of the phone. One press of this button and Facebook appears on your screen, making it ideal for people like myself who use Facebook. You won't believe how useful the button is, and it will soon become an everyday part of your life. Its the simple things that really work and make this phone stand out from the crowd.
The HTC Chacha has seven screens that you can flick through. Mine has been configured for all the things I need, including pages for the Calender, Twitter, Facebook (live feeds) and more. Although you may think a 2.6inch screen is small by todays standards, it is larger than most Blackberry screens, and because of the resolution, looks bigger than it actually is.
Of course, for me, a phone wouldn't be a phone without the Internet, and the Android Browser that comes with the phone is simply stunning. I access websites and use the internet as I would on my laptop. The keyboard frees up all the screen, so when writing blogs or responding to forums, things are clean and simple and everything just works perfectly.
Battery life on the phone seems pretty good in this day and age of short life batteries. I usually charge it overnight and it runs all through the day until the next morning when I charge it again for about 30 minutes before leaving it charge overnight once again. Of course, because of its multimedia properties, I am always playing with the phone... which is not always a good thing.
For those interested, games play well on the phone. I have installed a number of games including Angry Birds Rio, and on the high-resolution screen they look lovely. For any retro-gamers out there, its easy to install emulators too, and I have a Master System/Megadrive emulator on the phone with many games, and control them with the keyboard. They all work fantastically, and it's a god-send when you need to kill those spare minutes.
Overall then, the HTC Chacha is a brilliant phone. Far better than I ever expected, it does everything you could possibly want from a phone, plus it has a brilliant keyboard making things so much easier.
If you want
great call quality, brilliant HTC features, all the power of Android and
a good little multimedia machine, then look no further!
Mark
14 January 2012
