HTC ChaCha Review

Interface and Functionality:

With HTC Sense 2.1 re-oriented for the landscape screen, the HTC ChaCha contains a host of device specific peculiarities. Starting with the positive, the lock screen borrows from HTC Sense 3.0, as you can set four shortcuts to access directly from it, though no live updates run in the background. Now onto the not so good: for starters, there's no pull down quick settings functionality in the notifications tab, just the standard Android notifications. On top of that, you can only access your apps drawer from one out of the possible 7 homescreens. So if you are on screen five for example, you would need to return to screen one to do so. Alternatively, you can access it through the menu button, but this is still a two click process which we feel should have just been one. Otherwise, the landscape oriented Sense UI operates predictably, with the standard HTC Sense widgets on board which add considerable functionality to the Android experience.


The HTC ChaCha's Facebook integration transpires in the form of the Facebook button and the chat app. When the button is pressed, it interacts with whatever's going on in the background, and pushes it to Facebook. From the homescreen, short press it to update your wall, long press to update your location using Facebook places. In the music app, you can share the track you're listening to straight to your profile with a single click, while in the gallery app, you can send images straight to your wall. The button also acts as a 'Facebook shutter release' for the on-board camera, focusing, shooting and uploading in a single step. One element that stands out about the Facebook integration is the ease with which contacts can be tagged in images, though most other aspects do manage to feel gimmicky.

The chat implementation therefore ends up being the high-point of the HTC ChaCha's Facebook arsenal as coupling the app with the QWERTY keyboard makes it incredibly easy to start gossiping away with friends. Facebook Chat comes in the form of a widget that sits on your homescreen listing all your available contacts. Open the application to manage conversations as well.


Additional software that comes loaded on the HTC ChaCha includes all your usual organizer tools as well as Books oddly enough. We say oddly enough as it performs exceptionally badly on the 2.6 inch screen.


Camera and Multimedia:

The 5MP camera on board appears to be the same as that found on the HTC Salsa, and likewise is a highpoint of the handset. Images deliver good levels of detail, with colour and contrast levels being solid overall. It falls down in high contrast scenarios unfortunately, but at the price-point, is one of the best performers we've come across with a nice sharp macro shots and an LED flash to help with darker situations.


Video capture isn’t as strong, with resolution topping out at 780 x 480 and patchy frame-rates. Video looks passable on the phone's small display but curb expectations if looking to play back captured content on larger displays.

HTC ChaCha Sample Video:




You won't find any additional codec support on the HTC ChaCha, so if you want to play any formats other than MP4s, you'll need to get a codec rich media player from the market. MP4s do nevertheless play back well up to a resolution of 800x480 and if you can handle the screen-size, looks good.

With HTC's music app on board, music playback is very predictable with no perks like DLNA in sight. Audio quality is also pretty good overall though through the headphone jack.


Internet and Connectivity:

Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G coupled with Wi-Fi will help you keep your HTC ChaCha a click away from Facebook at any given time. On top of internet connectivity, the handset also packs a GPS to help you check-in to your Facebook places, as well as Bluetooth 3.0.

Fingering your way around websites is a little cramped thanks to the small display, but fortunately the HVGA resolution means content looks good and doesn't need to be excessively zoomed in on to make it readable. There are also arrow keys on the QWERTY if you want to bypass using the screen, making our overall impression better than a lot of the QWERTY competition out there. Multi-touch works well and pages load up quickly, with text reflowing to fit the page nicely.

The GPS locked on to our position nice and quickly and worked well, though naturally the small screen doesn't lend itself to ideal GPS use.