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Welcome to the 2011 Telstra QWERTY-TOUCH review otherwise known as the Telstra T60. The QWERTY-TOUCH T60 was released in late November 2011 to met the demand by people who want a mini keypad on their phone. It is the next model up from the previously review T50 which we thought was good for the price. The initial release recommended retail price for the Telstra QWERTY- TOUCH T60 is $129 from the major department stores.
In terms of construction the all plastic QWERTY-TOUCH T60 is good for a cheap mobile phone. The matt finish has a faux metallic feel and look. It's logical competitor is the Nokia E63 and in hindsight matches Nokia. The Nokia E63 is probably slightly better built and has a nicer keypad but overall the T60 keypad while a tad shallow to touch is still pretty good. However the ace up the T60 is the touch screen. We love the addition of the touch screen as it does make certain tasks easier but the implementation on the T60 needs more work. Android is not optimized for this sort of format and on a small screen. The lower resolution screen also makes the interface look crude but expected at this price.
In terms of use the T60 is quite good but despite the capacitive touch screen it's slower CPU doesn't help. The QWERTY-TOUCH is not a sluggish phone rather the interface seems to need a tad more time to scroll but it is smoother and more responsive. That said it is faster than the older Smart Touch T3020. Since its the first Android keypad phone we've tried we were satisfied with the experience. We also found that we were using the screen more than keypad to navigate - again due to Android.
Thanks to Android OS you can access all of Google's online applications including Gmail and the live backgrounds and widgets. We love widgets that work - since you don't need to waste time opening and closing apps. The best feature of the T60 is the inclusion of Wi-Fi - it makes the most of the fully functional web browser, that said we did not find out if it had FLASH installed. The Live wallpapers and other Apps we tried unfortunately do not adjust to the size of the smaller screen.
The T60 is perfect (like all qwerty equipped phones) for those into emails, texting and social network updates like Facebook. However you must remember that the quality and speed of the data transmission of your phone network is just as important as hardware specifications. Regardless of data speed this is definitely not the fastest phone and unlikely to impress.
Overall Telstra QWERTY -TOUCH is a good effort but Nokia and RIM Blackberry's still do this format better. However at this price point it is hard to complain too much. The use of Android really makes the T60 a better phone than it may have been. The T60 is better than the even cheaper T50 or the fully touch screen T3020 but there's not much other competition at the end of the market. Don't expect much from the Telstra QWERTY-TOUCH and you will be surprised at the functionality it offers but not so the overall operational speed.
(Apologies we posted the review before it was finished.)
Technical Specifications
- Telstra QWERTY-TOUCH T60
- Network
Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900
Dual-band 3G 850/2100
HSDPA 7.2 Mbits data speed (download)
Not mentioned data speed (upload)
- Design
Qwerty with Capactive Touch screen
- L114 x W65 x D10.9 mm
Weight 126 grams
- Display/s
External 2.6 Inch TFT 320 x 240 pixels
- Camera
2 MP
- Video Camera
Yes - no specs
- Connectivity
Bluetooth V2.1
- CPU
600Mhz
- Memory
Up to 100MB available to user
MicroSD up to 32Gig
(2Gig MicroSD included)
- Ring tones
MIDI, MP3, vibration and others
- Features
JAVA
FM Radio
Music and Media player
Organiser/Calender
SMS, MMS, IM, Email
Speaker Phone/Hands free
Li-Ion 1100mAh battery
Up to 200 hours Standby
Up to 180 minutes Talk Time
- Price history
Under $129 AUD 2011 (Pre-paid)