Product Reviews

HTC's Touch was one of last year's most interesting Windows Mobile smartphones. Its TouchFLO interface made it far easier to navigate Windows Mobile with your finger, instead of having to reach for the stylus all the time. There were a few criticisms, most of which were aimed at the phone's sluggish interface and lack of a finger-friendly keyboard, so you still had to use the stylus to enter text. The Touch Dual attempts to address these faults. It has a 400MHz, rather than 200MHz, processor and a slide-out numeric keypad, as well as an improved onscreen keyboard.

The slide-out keypad makes it slightly thicker than the Touch, but it's still a compact phone. It feels well made, although the slide action has a slightly gritty quality. There are two versions of the Touch Dual. One comes with a full QWERTY keypad, while the other has a normal numeric keypad. The numeric keypad version is the only one available on contract in the UK, so that's the version we tested. The keypad's keys are large enough to make typing comfortable, and the phone's predictive text system is easy to use. However, for longer messages and emails you're better off

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using the onscreen keyboard.

As well as the usual handwriting recognition options, you have a choice of three onscreen keyboards. There's the standard tiny Windows Mobile keyboard, a new Touch keypad with two letters per key (and predictive text) and a replacement QWERTY keyboard with larger keys. It's just about possible to use the QWERTY keyboard with your finger, but far easier with the stylus. Our favourite input method was the keypad with a couple of letters for each key, which made for fast and accurate predictive text typing.

The Touch Dual's TouchFLO interface works just like the original Touch's. You drag your finger up from the bottom of the phone's screen to open TouchFLO, and then from left to right to scroll through its various sub-menus. The menus have large icons and provide easy access to the phone's main functions, such as your contacts, calendar, messaging, web browser and music and video. The phone's faster processor makes a big difference, and the previously jerky interface now runs beautifully.

It's simple to get online, as the Dual automatically picks up your data connection settings from the SIM card. HTC has also added HSDPA support, so you can download at up to 3.6Mbit/s, depending on network coverage. However, the Touch Dual doesn't have integrated wireless networking like the Touch, so you're dependent on the mobile phone network for data.

HTC's Touch Dual is a mixed bag. The new keypad and improved virtual keyboard are welcome; the removal of wireless networking less so. It's a compact and good-looking smartphone that's easier to use than most Windows Mobile phones. If you have an unlimited data contract and can live without wireless networking, it's a good buy.