A new breed in small phones

Rating:
The INQ Mini 3g is a socially active little phone. And the social networking integration runs deep.
Your instant messaging inbox, Facebook Inbox and Skype Chats are all easy to access alongside your SMS in-tray.

 

Come to think of it “accessible” is the word that first comes to mind when you pick up this compactly proportioned (103 x 45.8 x 12.8mm) social powerhouse! Your home screen already gives direct access to pretty immediate status updates and as soon as you take a photo the phone asks you if you want “upload to Facebook”.

Added to the social capabilities of its predecessor, the INQ¹, you will find the 140 character limited world of Twitter right in the palm of your hand.

Fortunately for those of us with a tweet addiction the keyboard is a pleasure to work with, the circular navigation pad is intuitive and the ’switcher’ button on the right hand side of the phone makes it easy to quickly flick through your homepage quicklinks.

One thing to be frank about, is that this is not a phone for those with a quick temper. Being such a small and lightweight phone it is happy with day to day wear and tear, but not to be used to dissipate anger should your team not be performing well.

The single USB cable cleverly doubles up as a connection to both your computer and the mains, with the power plug having a small USB input. The phone does not have a 3.5mm headphone jack, but the bundled headphones, which double as a handsfree kit, are above par for a phone of this value. When connected the media app places a control widget on the home screen.

In spite of a few minor flaws the Mini 3g is a cheerful, colourful and compact phone that will do well within its intended market – the younger ninja skilled T9?er who will undoubtedly see this phone with slightly wider eyes, maybe as the prefect phone.

Add to the above the the fact the phone will be free on 3’s £15 a month tariff, when it arrives in October, this will be a perfect present for those eighteen to twenty something’s wanting to extended the lines of social connection.