THE HTC S730 smartphone is an enhanced version of the S710 – it now comes with a faster processor plus third-generation and High Speed Downlink Packet Access capabilities.

But it does not come with a touch-screen. Rather, it offers two ways to input data and text: through a regular numerical keypad or a slide-out Qwerty keyboard.

When the keyboard is not extended, the S730 looks like a regular smartphone, with the numerical keypad below the screen, along with a five-way navigation pad and two soft keys. There are also Home and Back buttons and the regular Send and End Call buttons.

The numerical keypad is nice for composing SMS messages. If you opt for the keyboard, it may need getting used to, as the keys are small and hard to distinguish. Once the keyboard slides out, the screen automatically adjusts to landscape mode. You have to close the keyboard to revert to portrait mode.

The S730 comes with a basic camera that can take photos and videos. The model still comes with the HTC home screen and a shortcut key to Comm Manager, where you can set the mostly used commands such as ringer volume, Bluetooth and active sync without needing to go through the menu.

When it comes to day-to-day usage, I find the S730 to be just average. Applications open up quickly, taking less than a second to load. But when sliding out the keyboard, it takes about two seconds to change from portrait to landscape mode, and vice versa.

Camera applications also take a longer time to load, and there is a shutter lag when taking pictures.

Pictures and videos are of average quality. And when playing video, the audio and video are not synchronised and the frames also skipped.

Volume controls are on the side. I find the speakers to be average, but loud enough for personal space. And you can only use the headphones provided by HTC, as it does not have a regular headphone jack. The headphones plug into the mini universal serial bus port, which is also used to charge the batteries.

The smartphone also comes with Office Mobile. Although you can open documents, you cannot start new documents.

All in, the S730 is an average model; at least, it offers non-touch-screen options – a numerical keypad or Qwerty keyboard – to suit your convenience.

Product: S730
Manufacturer: HTC
Enquiries: HTC
(http://www.htc.com/sea/)
Price: RM1,999

SPECIFICATIONS
• Dimensions: 106mm by 51mm by 19mm
• Weight: 150g with battery
• Processor: Qualcomm MSM 7200, 400MHz
• Operating system: Windows Mobile 6 Standard
• Memory: 256MB ROM, 64MB SDRAM
• Display: 2.4-inch LCD, 320 by 240 pixels, 65,000 colours
• Network: HSDPA/UMTS: 2100MHz; GSM/GPRS/EDGE: Quad-band (850/900/1800/1900MHz)
• Camera: Two-megapixel CMOS main camera, VGA second camera

Our verdict: ***
Physical design: ***
User-friendliness: ***
Features: ***
Performance: ***
Value for money: ***