INQ Chat 3G review

Can INQ take on the BlackBerry range with a budget handset?

The definitive INQ Chat 3G Review
The definitive INQ Chat 3G review

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Battery life was typically good on a phone like this - don't expect it to regularly last more than a day, but given the sheer amount of applications sucking information down from the invisible interwebs we were impressed with the INQ Chat 3G's ability to hang on.

The phone is packing a 1500mAh battery, which is pretty industry-leading and decent for a phone coming in at under £100.

INQ chat 3g

Connectivity suffered a little bit on this phone, much like we've seen on the INQ1 and the INQ Mini, as there was no Wi-Fi, no GPS and only miniUSB connectivity on board.

However, as you can imagine by the name of the device, 3G works very well and almost completely - it's among the best for devices on 3's network, as far as well can tell. It did struggle a couple of times to reconnect, and on firing up the internet it stuttered quite considerably at times, but overall it gave a very decent experience for a phone of this price.

PC connectivity is very well stocked indeed. Users don't need software in the box, instead just connecting the phone via miniUSB bringing up a plethora of options.

INQ chat 3g

Users can choose to install the phone as a mobile modem, connect using the PC Suite, install doubleTwist media centre or just transfer files via USB, or simply charge it by pressing cancel.

The PC Suite is as basic as they come, with files from the phone available on one side and the folder directory of the host PC on the other. The modem software worked well and simply - connecting was via a big green button, and that was all you needed to get going. Once connected it allows you to surf the web at a reasonable speed on a stable connection, and data use is tracked too.

INQ chat 3g

The doubleTwist software is a cool addition as well, aping the iTunes design (a little too much) and allowing users to send files directly to the phone in a compatible format. It does all the hard work for you, like downloading videos from YouTube, and displays them in an easy to see grid for simple drag and drop playback.

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.