HTC ChaCha Pro Reviews

The HTC ChaCha is a sturdy little smartphone with a fine Qwerty keyboard and a good-looking, if rather squished screen. The Facebook facility is well integrated and though it doesn’t offer anything really different, it does make posting simpler and quicker. The small display means it’s a bit of a jump from a standard smartphone, but BlackBerry users will certainly want to take a look.

The HTC ChaCha is a likable little fella - with a good screen, a comfortable keyboard and a compact and slim metal body, its charm is hard to resist. Now add the deep Facebook integration, where you can share everything with the click of that magic blue button and you know SNS fans will be getting good value for their money. However the ChaCha is certainly not perfect - those into gaming might appreciate the arrow keys, but the low processing power is bound to steer them away from the ChaCha, while those that like to web browse on the go might be turned down by the lack of proper Flash support. Yet, not being the ultimate device in this or that category is not a huge problem for the HTC ChaCha. You see, no one expects a mid-range device to top the charts, so the fact that the ChaCha is one of the best SNS devices makes it more of an over-, than an underachiever. What might come to hamper the ChaCha market prospects thought is the more powerful hardware available for a similar price. At about 270 euro we wouldn’t call the HTC smartphone overpriced, but the thing is Android smartphones have been pushing the market pricing down for quite some time. That’s why you are now able to purchase a Super AMOLED-packing Samsung I9000 Galaxy S for about the same asking price. And it not only does Flash, but it even plays 720p Flash video in the browser after its Gingerbread update.

When we first heard of HTC's Facebook phones, we had our doubts on how a mobile device will integrate with Facebook. To be frank, we are quite impressed with the innovative idea of a dedicated Facebook button. It is definitely more than just a marketing gimmick, it is practical. We believe the HTC ChaCha will be warmly embraced by Facebook addicts who spend more time on the social networking site than anything else.

There’s no doubt about the target audience for the HTC ChaCha. People who are also living their lives on Facebook will love this phone and so will those who send lots of text messages and e-mails. The QWERTY keyboard on the ChaCha is great and typing can be a real pleasure. If you’re into Facebook, Twitter and all of the above, the ChaCha, or the Status on AT&T, is for you! You shouldn’t expect super-performance from the phone; it won’t deliver gaming or HD video playback. It wasn’t built for that but it will definitely deliver solid performance for what it was indeed built, and that’s keeping you connected with your friends, family, coworkers, browsing the internet, taking pictures, sharing content and taking it anywhere with you. Android 2.3 is fast, HTC Sense is looking great and we can’t help but recommend it if you’re the social, always connected type.

The HTC ChaCha offers smart integration with Facebook and also possesses an excellent physical keyboard. Its small screen will frustrate users keen on mobile web browsing, but if you can live with these drawbacks, the ChaCha is very good value for money.

The good screen and keyboard make the HTC ChaCha the best attempt we've seen to bring this design of smartphone to Android. The Facebook button will really appeal to some people, but even without that this is a well thought out smartphone.

While good in some departments, the ChaCha disappoints in as many others. But all these positives and negatives are are nothing next to the small screen and awkward UI customisations. The ChaCha could be the fastest phone on the planet with the best camera and week-long battery life, and we still wouldn’t recommend it: it simply isn’t pleasant enough to use.

The ChaCha is perfect for heavy Facebook users, but the small screen makes it trickier to surf the rest of the web.

As a Facebook phone it has no choice but to succeed, since there’s nothing quite like it out there in terms of convenience. This phone won’t even need to be sold to people for whom mobiles are synonymous with Facebook, they’ll probably just buy it on principle. But there are a few more segments this phone will serve, that aren’t immediately apparent. But by far one of the most interesting niches the ChaCha could slot in, and we’ve already seen this happening via bundle deals, is the Android tablet owner who is looking for a smartphone companion on the cheap. As the reasoning goes, why spend money on both a powerhouse mobile and a great tablet if you’re going to be doing most of your media consumption just one of them? Which is why more people simply buy a solid tablet for media and a “just a good enough” Android phone for day-to-day, a role which the ChaCha seems to relish perhaps even more.

If you find it hard to take the HTC ChaCha seriously with its funny name and interesting take on social networking, we'd like to take the opportunity to assure you that without the blue button, the ChaCha is still a solid performer. While it can be a little buggy, with better hardware across the board than its main competitors and Sense UI adding a decent amount of functionality, the HTC ChaCha delivers a good amount of fun, functionality and affordability. If you want a cheaper offering, consider the more straight-laced and moderately specced Samsung Galaxy Pro.

The HTC ChaCha has many likeable features. Its keyboard is first class, the Facebook integration is good and the camera is better than you might have expected. However, we’re still not convinced that the messaging form factor works all that well with the Android OS. That said, if we were to pick an Android messaging phone from those currently available, the ChaCha would definitely be the one we’d go for.

When thinking of the HTC ChaCha, it’s worth setting the “Facebook phone” elements to one side. The ChaCha is a more important device than just Facebook and if the button was removed, you’d still have all those features anyway. You get all the benefits of that connected Android experience, tying into your Google accounts and filling your phone with your contacts, email and calendars. HTC Sense has been sensibly scaled to fit onto this phone and that all works well, but we can’t help feeling that something is lost in the experience. If you have seen Android on larger devices then visually you miss-out with the ChaCha. Android might look cute, but you'll find yourself struggling for space at times.

HTC may have given the ChaCha an odd name, but get past that and this QWERTY handset is one of the more usable – and certainly one of the most memorable – Android phones around today. There’s a compromise to be made on screen size, but in return you get a frankly brilliant QWERTY keyboard with little in the way of a learning curve. If your smartphone is also your multimedia powerhouse then the ChaCha is unlikely to appeal, but if you spend more time messaging then the thumb ‘board pays dividends. HTC may have given the ChaCha an odd name, but get past that and this QWERTY handset is one of the more usable – and certainly one of the most memorable – Android phones around today. There’s a compromise to be made on screen size, but in return you get a frankly brilliant QWERTY keyboard with little in the way of a learning curve. If your smartphone is also your multimedia powerhouse then the ChaCha is unlikely to appeal, but if you spend more time messaging then the thumb ‘board pays dividends.

The ChaCha is not a revolutionary device. Yes, the Facebook button is new and a few of the elements in there are premiered here but ultimately, it's an evolution, not a revolution.When you turn the ChaCha on, you're greeted with HTC's logo and slogan: "Quietly Brilliant". There's certainly nothing quiet about the ChaCha - and while 'brilliant' may be pushing just a little, it's certainly not far off for the Facebook generation.