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T-Mobile Pulse

The Googlephone for everyone?

Review There haven’t been that many Android smartphones in the UK yet, but T-Mobile is already looking to capitalise on the burgeoning demand Google's operating system by releasing the Pulse, the first pay-as-you-go Android handset.

T-Mobile Pulse

T-Mobile's Pulse: Android goes PAYG

Running Android 1.5 - aka Cupcake - the Pulse is the lowest-priced Android smartphone we’ve seen, arriving at £180 on pay as you go, or nothing at all on some T-Mobile monthly contract deals.

Relatively cheap it may be, but it’s far from a basic technology-taster device. The Pulse is equipped with HSDPA 3G and Wi-Fi, plus Assisted GPS location-finding technology and a fine collection of standard apps and third-party software pre-loaded.

Produced by Chinese mobile maker Huawei, best known in the UK for mobile internet dongles, the Pulse is a large handset, but its 116 x 62.5 x 13.6 mm, 130g bodywork doesn’t feel particularly chunky thanks to some tidily rounded edges.

The design is classic post-iPhone minimalism, all glossy black plastic around a 3.5in, 320 x 480 display which offers the same resolution as other Android phones do but is physically larger. It's a capacitive touchscreen rather than a simple resistive one, and while it doesn’t have iPhone-style multi-touch abilities, it's more responsive than many touchphones we’ve tested.

There’s a low-res videocall camera above the display - under the screen is a control panel centred on a typical Android trackball for a belt-and-braces alternative to touch scrolling and selection. The trackball is also used to zoom in and out of the multi-page home screen so you can get an overview and navigate more easily around the many shortcuts and onscreen widgets than can be dotted around the screen.

T-Mobile Pulse

Shiny, stylish design

Tap the Menu button and up pops a panel of options for whichever function, application or settings menu you’re in. Give it a longer press and you'll get the Pulse's virtual Qwerty keyboard.

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