HTC ChaCha review

Body of a Blackberry, mind of an Android. Can the new 'Facebook phone' poke above its weight?

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HTC ChaCha
TechRadar's definitive HTC ChaCha review

TechRadar Verdict

A splendid effort at taking the BlackBerry masses away from RIM and onto a deeper Facebook Android experience.

Pros

  • +

    Great Facebook integration

  • +

    Thought-out UI

  • +

    Typing is a dream

  • +

    Small battery with a long life and quick charge

  • +

    Responsive touchscreen

Cons

  • -

    Screen sometimes feels too small

  • -

    Camera could be better

  • -

    Flash on websites doesn't work properly

  • -

    Chin makes the design look odd

  • -

    Awful name

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Let's get one thing straight: the HTC ChaCha is not the Facebook phone. It's not manufactured by Facebook. But let's get another thing straight, too: the HTC ChaCha is the Facebook experience

And it's even endorsed to a certain extent by the King of the network, Mark Zuckerberg, who gave a sermon about it at the phone's launch.

You can check out TechRadar's exclusive video review of the HTC Cha Cha

HTC chacha in hand

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HTC has taken its already winning Sense interface and remoulded it with a big blue 'F' at the centre - something the notoriously quiet Facebook founder went on record as saying he's "very happy" with and, in a nod to the future, how they "look forward to a lot more to come".

HTC chacha facebook key

Rocking the latest Android iteration, Gingerbread 2.3.3 and fully capable of a dance-off with some other 3G-capable Android devices, it's due to hit stores any day now, with a sim-free price tag around £250, and a contract offering of around £20 per month.

That's probably too much for the 14-21 age bracket the ChaCha is evidently aimed at, though we'd imagine Pay As You Go offerings might make it a little cheaper too.

Phil Lavelle