Toshiba TG02 Initial Review
In brief
The Toshiba TG02 offers you a fast and fun way to enjoy mobile communication.
Look and Feel
As slim and a little shorter and narrower than the
TG01, the Toshiba TG02 sports a capacitive touchscreen and a 3D UI. The finish feels good on the phone and its shape makes it comfortable to hold as you press and swipe your way through the many features.
The new interface literally adds an interesting dimension to the phone, displaying the menu in a 3D format. You can swipe between the different menu options by bringing one into focus as you spin the different screens to find the one you want.
The screen on the Toshiba TG02 has an inbuilt accelerometer so it automatically switches between portrait and landscape according to how you are holding the phone. In landscape view, the keyboard is large with plenty of space to see the message you are typing.
Special features
The 4.1 inch screen on the TG02 makes it an ideal phone for watching videos or playing games on the move. The phone comes with apps pre-installed for YouTube so you can enjoy your favourite music and entertainment clips, and the video option on the 3.15-megapixel camera lets you shoot your own footage. Sharing is effortless too thanks to the support for both 3G and Wi-Fi, and the inbuilt Facebook app – so you can upload photos and videos online or send to friends using MMS, email and Bluetooth.
Navigating and running the various apps is swift thanks to the 1GHz Snapdragon processor – which is particularly good if you like streaming media onto your handset. You can listen to your own music too on the MP3 player, transferring your collection using the microUSB connection although unfortunately there is no FM radio or 3.5mm audio jack for plugging in your own earphones.
The TG02 runs on the 6.5 version of the Windows Mobile OS so you can access the Windows Marketplace app store for adding extra games, apps and software upgrades to your phone. The Pocket Office function is useful as it lets you open, edit and send Word, Excel, PDF and PowerPoint documents from your phone. Other communication options include threaded SMS – which displays your text messages like a conversation, storing messages under each friend rather than in date order, like on the
iPhone – and video calling.
The Toshiba TG02 has the same platform and processor as the
HTC HD2 although its screen is 0.1 inches smaller and the camera is not as good. Nevertheless, the TG02 has a 3D interface which maximises your enjoyment of the phone and adds a sense of energy to the handset.
For a large, responsive and clear touchscreen and a number of inbuilt functions combined with the ability to download more apps, the Toshiba TG02 seems like a decent smartphone – time will tell, as will we. More details coming soon.