Camera Phone Reviews

T-Mobile Dash

Press release excerpt:

The T-Mobile Dash is a myFavesSM-enabled phone, taking advantage of the new wireless communications experience available only through T-Mobile. Customers are empowered with a fun and easy-to-use phone interface which, when coupled with a myFaves rate plan, facilitates unlimited nationwide calling to any five U.S. phone numbers (excluding toll-free and 900 numbers).

“The T-Mobile Dash empowers customers to connect easily to the people who matter most to them,�? said Mike Selman, director, Marketing, T-Mobile USA. “And it gives the freedom to choose how to communicate, whether it’s calling their loved ones, e-mailing with friends, or sharing presentations with a client from one of more than 7,200 T-Mobile HotSpot locations.�?

Todd Achilles, vice president of Sales and Marketing for HTC America, said, “Our goal at HTC has always been to create devices that let people communicate, work and entertain themselves whenever and wherever they choose. The T-Mobile Dash represents another major breakthrough in product design, and we couldn’t be more excited to bring our smallest full keyboard, Wi-Fi enabled device to market with our partner T-Mobile.�?

Super sleek at just 0.51 inches thin and weighing 4.2 ounces, the T-Mobile Dash is built upon Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 5.0 platform, including Outlook Mobile for up-to-date e-mail, calendar and contact information. The T-Mobile Dash also supports the Messaging and Security Feature Pack with Direct Push Technology out-of-the-box, providing instant e-mail and enhanced security features (that let you wipe a device if stolen or require high-security passwords to access information).

“Mobile devices today need to provide solutions for all aspects of life on-the-go, from business information to making plans with friends,�? said Doug Smith, director of marketing, Mobile and Embedded Devices, Microsoft Corp. “We’re excited to see the launch of the T-Mobile Dash; the combination of the Windows Mobile platform, cool form factor and myFaves experience is setting a new standard for devices that navigate through all aspects of managing a busy lifestyle with ease and grace.�?

T-Mobile Dash Reviews

LaptopMag reviews the T-Mobile Dash and writes, "The 1.3-MP camera takes pretty sharp pictures for a smart phone, providing plenty of details in shots, even if they were a bit washed out. What makes the Dash stand out as a camera phone is how easy it is to share your shots and low-res video footage; clicking on the envelope icon after you're done recording takes you directly to an MMS or e-mail message prepopulated with your photo or video attachment."

PDAStreet reviews the T-Mobile Dash and writes, "On the back of the Dash you'll find a 1.3 megapixel camera and a self-portrait mirror (but no flash). The camera took surprisingly decent snapshots (it can record video as well) but we found the camera interface rather perplexing and difficult to navigate because the camera functions are labeled denoted by difficult to decipher icons instead of text. To figure out how to use the various options we had to consult the electronic manual, as the printed Welcome Guide only dealt with basic picture taking. We're also not crazy about the camera's lens placement. It's located in the extreme upper left corner of the phone, precisely where most people would tend to rest a finger while on a call. Indeed, we repeatedly found our camera lens fouled by fingerprints, though so far it hasn't seemed to have an adverse effect on the quality of our photos."

MobileTechReview has a review of the T-Mobile Dash and writes about the smartphone's camera: "We generally haven't been fans of HTC's cameras which lagged behind the feature phone competition. The Cingular 8525's 2MP camera is an exception and it takes quite good photos. The Dash takes photos that are better than last year's (and the year before that) HTC camera phones such as the SDA and MDA, but the photos still aren't as good as those taken by the better 1.3MP camera phones on the market by LG and Samsung. But they're not horrid either, so don't panic. Colors are decent, with an occasional purple bias (see the black Chevy SSR which acquired Zune-like secondary color highlights with the help of the Dash). Bright sunlight leads to whiting out (see the pool photo below) but under medium indoor or outdoor light, the camera does pretty well. It handles low light better than many Nokia camera phones, even the high end ones."

PCWorld reviews the T-Mobile Dash and writes, "As an entertainment-oriented gadget, the Dash is a hit, offering a standout media player and a microSD expansion slot so you can add music to the device. But regrettably, someone at T-Mobile forgot that this device needs to work well as a phone, too. Though the Dash lasted a stellar 10 hours in our battery tests, it didn't fare well on other measures. Calls are loud and clear, but dialing them is difficult: Unlike every other smart phone, the Dash fails to supply an on-screen dialpad mode to let you dial digits by their letter alternatives."