UPDATE: We've now published our multi-page, definitive INQ Chat 3G review.
Not content with simply unveiling the next in line to the INQ1, the company has gone one better and launched a full QWERTY-keyboarded effort: the INQ Chat 3G.
This is the bigger brother to the INQ Mini 3G, unveiled at the same time, but boasts a wider 2.4-inch QVGA screen, upgraded camera, greater widget functionality and obviously a bigger keyboard too.
In an effort to help the 30 per cent of INQ1 users that were regularly emailing on a normal keypad, INQ decided to add more keys to the next phone, and has added in a whole host of other features to the INQ Chat 3G (which we hope will have lost the 3G part of the name by the time it launches in Q4).
Obviously, the main feature of this phone when you pick it up for the first time is the QWERTY keyboard. It's a departure from the company that has brought us the Skypephone family as well as the award-winning INQ1 handset, but one that makes sense given the Twitter and Facebook integration.
And while it may look like a BlackBerry Curve, it doesn't come with the same hefty price tag - you'll probably be able to pick this up for something in the region of £110, although that could easily change when it hits the market later this year.
The QWERTY keys themselves offer a nice feel under the fingers, with the rubberised texture dovetailing well with a slightly raised button. The handset itself was thin, but not flimsily so like the INQ Mini 3G, and had a solid feel in the hand.
We can imagine some people might miss the presence of a trackball or jog wheel should they want to make use of the push Gmail service (which we sadly didn't get a chance to play with at the demonstration) but then again, if you're looking for the full BlackBerry experience, you probably want to pay more than £120 for the phone.
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petec
January 27th
1. Please don't go near this phone!
I have had this for a month now and returned it. Very poor quality and I would worry about what it would look like in a years time - it looks worn after just four weeks light use. Unfortunately, I should have known better: my daughter had an INQ phone (not the same model, an INQ1) and it's been returned faulty four times. "The software's c*** on these", the chap at the 3Store said, worryingly, but 3 gave me a 'this or nothing' option on the upgrade. So I'm now opting for nothing and not renewing my contract with them. For a cheap, own brand the emphasis is definitely on the 'cheap' and they are clearly pushing these models because they can buy them in cheap. But it's short term gain in my case: they may have saved money providing me with their handset but with 4 three contracts in the household, all will go when they come up for renewal.
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