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There has been lots of buzz about the latest brainchild from T-Mobile and Gadgetell was lucky enough to get its hands on one of these before it hits the shelves.  The T-Mobile Dash 3G, designed by HTC—does it live up to its speedy namesake, or do we find it lagging behind?

What is it:

The latest handset from T-Mobile features all the goodies you expect in this type of device:  Voice calling, email, the QWERTY keyboard (with a trackball), Stereo Bluetooth, and 2.0 megapixel camera with video.  It’s all there.  It’s nicely sized and fits easily in the palm, weighing in at 4.2 ounces and measuring a half inch wide.  Powered with Windows 6.1, the Dash 3G is geared for those on the go who want an easy way to stay in touch via texting or emailing in a convenient, stylish package.

Features:

* 2.4-inch, 320 x 240 pixels, 65k QVGA display
* Internet access/Web browsing over T-Mobile’s high-speed 3G network and Wi-Fi
* Windows Mobile 6.1
* Microsoft Voice Command
* Assisted GPS with Location Based Services by TeleNav
* 2.0 megapixel camera with digital zoom, video capture and playback
* Music and video multimedia player
* MicroSD expansion slot supporting optional removable memory
* Stereo Bluetooth capability
* Speakerphone and voice-activated dialing
* Built in support for four of the main instant messaging clients (AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger.)

Dimensions: 4.59 x 2.42 x 0.47 inches; 4.2 ounces
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE worldphone (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
Dual-band UMTS/HSDPA (AWS Band IV & Band I)

My Impressions:

Let me lead off by saying I was really looking forward to trying out the Dash 3G.  I was.  That said, I received the box containing the unit.  All excited, I opened it up, ready to play with my newest toy.  I took it out of the box, it looks cool.  I like the shiny black veneer and the shape and feel of the Dash 3G.  I like the softly rounded edges and it is light without feeling chintzy.  So far, so good.

I messed around with the options on the screen, trying to determine what is what and how to work it.  This is actually pretty simple to do and I can find what I was looking for without too much hassle.  Okay, still doing well there, Dash.

Move on to trying to use the text messaging feature.  This is where I hit the first stumbling block.  I didn’t realize by simply looking at the phone how close the keys really were to each other and how this would affect typing.  When I tried to type my first text, it came out something like “jhdhg fnfoiwp dnwio wi wpfmc vsfhuw,m”.  OK, maybe not quite that bad, but you get my point.  And if it does that to me, a girl, not to be gender-biased or anything, it just just seems to me that guys would have a much harder time with it.  I don’t exactly have fingers sized like sausages.  So, after playing with this for a while, getting rather frustrated, and finally texting on it slower than I do on my regular phone’s non-QWERTY keyboard, I decide to move on to something else.

I tried out the web browser next.  I typed in the url for gadgetell.com and waited to see how long it took me to get there.  79 seconds.  I wasn’t highly impressed.  I tried not to think negative, knowing, well, it could have been worse.  Problem is, it got worse.

When I was on the ‘Net and trying to scroll around using the trackball, it didn’t seem to like where I was telling it to go very much.  I would roll, roll, roll that baby, just to make it budge a tiny bit.  It had much more of a hard time with left/right than up and down.  I also noticed it didn’t really do this when I was on the main screen of the handset and just scrolling through menus—it was more when I was trying to do anything within a webpage.  Maybe I got a bum handset, I don’t know.

I also wasn’t totally impressed with the sound quality when I was trying to do something simple like record my greeting.  It literally took me 8 tries to not sound like I was talking from across the room with someone crumpling paper while I was doing it.  Once I got something somewhat intelligible, I just finally quit. 

I also didn’t get to use the BlueTooth headphones, as when I tried to put them in, they were really big for my ears.  I don’t know if Joe-Shmoe consumer gets to pick a different size pair to come with the phone.  Granted, this obstacle can be overcome by buying a different set.

This really bummed me out, since I thought the Dash 3G looked great; and like I said, I really wanted to like it.  It does have some positives.  For example, it is easy to use and figure out where the features are etc.  I also like the “my faves” on the display, which allows you to just go to any of your favorite contacts and then spin through choices to call, message, email, send video message, etc. to him or her.  The GPS is a nice feature as well.  Plus, the price isn’t as high as some other phones in this category.

Final Thoughts:

As much as I hoped to love it, this just isn’t a phone I would buy.  Too many quirks about it that in my opinion make it frustrating to use and just not worth it. 

Availability:

The T-mobile Dash 3G is set to be available beginning July 8, 2009 for an MSRP of $169.99 with a two-year contract and qualifying data plan.  You can buy it at select T-Mobile retail stores or online.

Check out the gallery: T-Mobile Dash 3G: Sneak peek and Review