T-Mobile MyTouch 3G

T-Mobile has released its second smartphone that runs Google’s Android mobile OS, presenting a great screen and a nice design, but the on-screen keyboard doesn’t seem to be that perfect. T-Movile My Touch 3G resembles to HTC Magic with its elegant curves and holding it in your hand it feels lighter than the G1, measuring 4.5 x 2.2 x 0.5 inches and weighing 4.1 ounces compared to G1’s 5.6 ounces. The shiny maroon finish of MyTouch is more likely to show the fingerprints, while the matte strips disposed around the edge of the phone conceals them. Other appealing features of the design are the navigation buttons and the volume rocker which is better conceived than the one presented on G1. Not to mention that one can access the microSD Card slot without being forced to remove the battery.

The Talk and send/power buttons are too small and this makes one to access one button when one plans to hit the other one; this happens because of their size and proximity as well. The headphones included in the package are more stylish and the input unit USB to headphone looks thinner leaving the sensation that it is actually an extension of the headphone’s connector. The touchscreen keyboard enables you to do limited typing with one hand utilizing the new-to-Android 1.5 native on-screen keyboard while a feedback vibration is felt as you press a key. The appearance time of the letter on the screen is too short, thus you can’t tell whether you hit the right key or not.

/>The touch of the display (having a 320 x 480 HVGA resolution) is more capable, brighter, and sharper. Due to the presence of 1.5 Android update, the built-in-3-megapixel camera is provided with camcorder functions, but it lacks the shutter button that is present in G1; however this function you may enable using a trackball which acts like a physical shutter button. Generally the functions belonging to MyTouch 3G are similar to those pertaining to G1 phone with the exception that 1.5 Android OS comes with some critical improvements of which one is the on-screen keyboard.

The device presents a new feature, the search button that allows you to search for things on Webb or among individual applications. The 1.5 Android OS enables you to record and upload video and pictures to YouTube and Picasa, as well as play video in 3GP and MPEG-4 formats. You are enabled to add gadgets to the home screen, such as analog clock, calendar, a media player with shortcuts for playback, picture frame. The OS contains also stereo Bluetooth support, allowing you to copy and paste from the limits of your browser, at the same time allowing you to search among the limits of a page. The Google Voice Search displayed some flaws in that it doesn’t recognize the words correctly, similar to the issue found in iPhone 3GS’s Voice Control.

All in one, T-Mobile MyTouch 3G presents a nice design, having easy-to-use trackball, though the lack of physical keyboard is an issue that has to be considered while handling the touch features of MyTouch 3G.