HTC's Audio Manager music player displays cover art where available and includes a ten-band graphic equaliser, which you can adjust manually or via the 21 presets. There's also an FM radio on board with nine channel presets for which you'll need to add the supplied headphones, though you can also listen via the built-in loudspeaker.

The headphone sound isn't great, sounding 'shut-in' and without much bass – unfortunately you'll need a USB adaptor to be able to add a better pair of 'phones.

Fully-featured smartphone

A-GPS is on board supported by Google Maps, and didn't have any trouble finding our north London bolthole. This being a Windows Mobile handset there are lots of other map and sat-nav options you can add (for a price) though a screen with these modest dimensions wouldn't be ideal for an in-car sat-nav.

Windows Office is on board too, though unlike other recent HTC models it's the basic version which allows you to view or edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents but not create them.

Battery life was very good for a smart phone, giving us a good two and a half days of moderate use.

It's not the best looking handset in HTC's range, but it has one of the best slide-out QWERTY keyboards we've used, a good browser, fine music player, half-decent 3.2 megapixel camera, A-GPS and the versatility of Windows Mobile, all in a slim, pocket-friendly package.

Network availability: TBC

Looks: 3.5/5
Ease of use: 4/5
Features: 4/5
Call quality: 4/5
Value: 4.5/5