AT&T Impulse 4G Review

Introduction:

Even now, buying a “4G” enabled AT&T smartphone still requires you to fork over some serious cash flow, but as we continue to become inundated by them, it’s only inevitable to find them increasingly on the affordable side. Plus, when you’re Chinese manufacturer Huawei, you know it’s going to be close to dirt-cheap. Well people, we’re finally at that level as the Huawei manufactured AT&T Impulse 4G is taking off sporting a tempting on-contract price of only $29.99. Indeed it’s lovely, we’re curious to see if it can find that perfect balance to commit itself as a decent performing smartphone.

The package contains:

• AT&T Impulse 4G
• microUSB cable
• Wall Charger
• Quick Start Guide

Design:

Essentially an exact facsimile to the Huawei IDEOS X5, the Impulse 4G is a surprisingly decent looking handset that’s far better in build and construction over other wonky Huawei devices we’ve checked out. Sporting a clean look with its soft touch exterior, its neutral design approach and balanced weight enables it to blend in with the crowd – albeit, it’s not something that stands out. Nevertheless, we’re content with its overall appearance since it doesn’t come off as a cheap feeling device, which is generally something we find a lot of in its price category.



You can compare the AT&T Impulse 4G with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

For the price, it’s definitely sweet to find it flaunting a 3.8” WVGA (480 x 800) LCD display, which is able to deliver plenty of crisp looking details. Additionally, its cooler looking color production manages to give it a good pop, but it’s still far from producing the luscious tones exhibited by AMOLED  panels. However, you’ll literally need to look at it straight on since its poor viewing angles tend to fade things on-screen. And yeah, we find ourselves constantly shielding it away from the gaze of the sun.

Even though there is a sufficient amount of space separating its capacitive Android buttons and bottom edge, we’re still constantly finding ourselves accidentally pressing them. Who knows why, but it seems more susceptible when we’re flicking our finger against the lower portion of the display.

Sadly, we’re not a fan of its flat looking power button, but luckily its volume rocker is raised a bit more to offer us a distinctive feel. Much like other handsets, it features a 3.5mm headset jack and microUSB port for charging and data connectivity.

Jutting out a tad bit from the surrounding area, we find its 5-megapixel auto-focus camera in the rear –  with its LED flash and speakerphone grill nearby. Meanwhile, sliding off its soft touch coated back cover, we’re given access to its 1,500 mAh battery, microSD card slot, and SIM card slot.