Review: HTC Touch 3G (T3232)

Available Date: Early November 2008

Launch Price: RM1,999

Fresh Gear rating: 8/10

Specification:

• Qualcomm® MSM7225™, 528 MHz
• ROM: 256MB   RAM: 192MB (MicroSD Slot)
• Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 
• 102 mm X 53.6 mm X 14.5 mm (96g with battery)
• 2.8-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen with QVGA resolution
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE with HSDPA
• GPS and A-GPS ready
• Bluetooth® 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate and A2DP
• WiFi
• 3.2 megapixel color camera with fixed focus
• Battery Capacity: 1100 mAh
• Talk Time: 400mins
• Standby Time: 365hours

Year end is always a busy month for most electronic manufacturing companies. HTC is currently launching one model after another. Last month saw the launching of HTC S740 and barely few weeks after that the HTC Viva. Now, we have the HTC Touch 3G and soon we will be having HTC Touch HD!

Un-boxing the HTC Touch 3G

All HTC products now comes with slightly smaller packaging. Good move to save space, cost, money and environment!

HTC Touch 3G Box

HTC Touch 3G Contents

The content is pretty standard with a earpiece, screen protector, AC Adapter, USB cable, CDs and some manuals. You will have to fork out extra for a GPS car holder to make use of the built-in GPS functions.

Handsfree Headset

The bundled 2 piece headset with volume control provides decent sound quality. 

First Impression

HTC Touch 3G Front

The HTC Touch 3G comes with matte (rubber) surface. This is good as it does not requires constant wiping after use and also provides good grip.

HTC Touch 3G button

Much like the HTC Viva, there are only a “Hang Up”, “Call” and a “D” pad controller button. Clean lines, simple button and curves at the correct corners makes this PDA looking very elegant.

HTC Touch 3G Back

The speaker is located at the back of the phone. This might be a problem for most PDA as music/ringtone might get muffled when using a casing. 

HTC Touch 3G Back

With the back cover off, you get access to the SIM card slot, battery slot, memory card slot, reset button and a lanyard knot area.

HTC Touch 3G Camera

The simcard slot requires a stylus to push the simcard out from the top.

HTC Touch 3G Top

The ON/OFF button is located on the top, the left side is UP/DOWN toggle and bottom is the USB connector. 

Using the HTC Touch 3G

The most common question asked is; What is the major difference between HTC Touch and HTC Touch 3G besides the 3G?

1. Windows Mobile 6.1

Windows Mobile 6.1

HTC Touch 3G is pre-loaded with the latest Windows Mobile 6.1. The difference between version 6.0 and 6.1 can be found here.

2. GPS (Global Positioning System)

You can install mapping softwares like Garmin or MapKing to have turn by turn navigation on HTC Touch 3G. 

3. Processor and Memory

HTC Touch 3G is twice faster and with slightly larger RAM size too. 

HTC Touch 3G Specification

4. Slightly thinner, lighter but longer and thicker

HTC Touch P3452 is 99.9mm (L) X 58mm X 13.9mm (T) (112g with battery)

HTC Touch 3G is 102mm (L) X 53.6mm X 14.5mm (T) (96g with battery)

5. 3.2MP versus 2.0MP 

HTC Touch 3G got an upgrade in the camera department to 3.2MP camera. See below for sample of pictures taken using HTC Touch 3G.

6. Quad-band versus Tri-band

HTC Touch 3G is HSDPA (3.5G) with quad-band capabilities. 

7. Longer talk time and standby time

Although both spots the same battery capacity, HTC Touch 3G has a 100 minutes longer talk time and 165 hours more of standby time. How HTC achieves this baffles me as HTC Touch 3G is twice faster and both runs on same capacity battery. Maybe this is because Qualcomm produces more energy efficient processor that Texas Instrument. 

Size Comparison

To give you an idea the size of the HTC Touch 3G, here are some pictures taken with HTC Touch Pro.

HTC Touch 3G with HTC Touch Pro

HTC Touch 3G with HTC Touch Pro

HTC Touch 3G with HTC Touch Pro

HTC Touch 3G with HTC Touch Pro

Sample Camera Shots

Shots from the 3.2MP camera is considered normal without auto-focus. Works well under sunlight but suffers under low light condition.

Sample Picture taking using HTC Touch 3G

Sample Picture taking using HTC Touch 3G

Sample Picture taking using HTC Touch 3G

Conclusion

Pros:

• Quick and responsive
• Light weight
• Long talk time and standby time

Cons:

• Lack of 3G Video Camera
• Lack of Auto-focus function

 

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