T-Mobile Pulse review

Huawei is best known for producing mobile broadband dongles for UK mobile phone networks, but it also makes mobile phones – and the T-Mobile Pulse is its flagship model.

It's available exclusively in the UK on T-Mobile, but surprisingly that doesn't mean high prices as it can do with exclusive handsets. On the contrary, the Pulse is a great value phone, costing a mere £405 over 18 months on the best deal we could find, which is reasonable when compared to the iPhone 3GS.

And it's not far behind the iPhone in terms of all-round performance either. It's an Android phone, which means general operation - specifically web browsing - is extremely straightforward. Apps are supplied via the rapidly-improving Android Market. And text entry is good too, aided by the addition of a custom keyboard. Cootek's Touchpal is one of the best we've used on any touchscreen phone.

T-Mobile has gone to the trouble of customising the front end too, adding a handy quick contacts screen, and doubling the standard three-screen Android desktop to a vast six, arranged in two vertically-stacked rows of three.

Possibly this phone's greatest asset, however, is its speed. Loading the BBC homepage over Wi-Fi took an average of 11 seconds – among phones we've tested before only the Palm Pre and iPhone 3GS are quicker – and general responsiveness was superb across the board. Even battery life impressed with 70% capacity (rounded to the nearest 10%) remaining after 24 hours of testing, outstripping the iPhone 3GS by quite some distance.

And when it comes to features, there's not much missing. The screen is the same size and resolution as the iPhone's – 3.5in and 320 x 480 – plus you get HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, an electronic compass and an accelerometer.

If there is a weakness, it's that the chassis feels plasticky when compared with some of the more luxurious handsets here. We didn't much like the 3.2-megapixel camera, which produced muddy, lo-fi results and has no flash. There's also no multitouch, and the presence of a 2.5mm headphone socket instead of a more standard 3.5mm one is plain baffling in a consumer phone such as this.

But, all told, there are more positives here than there are negatives. The Pulse is blessed with impressive battery life, great performance and ease of use, plus good value tariffs. If you don't like the idea of spending a fortune on an iPhone, it's a very good alternative.

Author: Jonathan Bray