Telstra T3 EasyTouch Discovery 3 Review

Welcome to the Telstra EasyTouch Discovery 3 mobile phone review, the first for 2012. The Easy Touch Discovery 3 is also known as simply the Telstra T3 and was released in late 2011 and is a replacement for the T2. The market positioning for the T3 (at the time of release) is strangely not pre-paid which is a surprise given the feature set. One more thing, despite the name the screen is not a touch screen. The introductory recommended retail price for the T3 is not given as you can only purchase it on a range of selected plans for the time being. The T3 is not a desirable phone and anyway so it is a surprise as to why it is even being offered on a plan basis.

The construction quality of the Easy Touch Discovery 3 is old school very 90’s being quite large or chunky in the hand. The plastics feel durable, without creaking and reasonably scratch resistant however the T3 does not feel as good as the older T2 version at least on the outside.  Once you flip open the T3 though things do improve.  The keypad is nice and large and the navigation keys actually feel like its made of real metal, although the others are still plastic… The T3’s screen size is 2.4 inch but the screen quality is also very good certainly as good as any number of Nokia’s currently on the market.  Admittedly the screen is not as good as the older Motorola V3X’s screen which is a benchmark in terms of image quality. One last thing – there is a mono-LCD screen on the front which is crammed with status information and the quality is pretty good too, for a mono,

As with all the Telstra phones in this class the Easy Touch Discovery 3 uses the same OS but in a different form factor. There is nothing wrong with the way it works and this version is more responsive (faster) than its predecessors. All the menu options and settings can be found logically and precisely activated. It is as good as the leading Nokia’s. If only Telstra asked for a more modern case with some design flair it would probably sell better. Judging by the Christmas shopping crowd a lot of older customers would appreciate a nicer looking phone.

We did not spend much time with the T3 because there was really no point. There are no exceptional features worth reporting.

To conclude the review of the Telstra Easy Touch Discovery 3 we can say that it is a good phone but for basic use. It is in essence a free phone on a plan – but unless your needs are basic you will be wishing for something more useful.

Specifications

• Telstra T3 Easytouch Discovery 3
• Network
  Tri-band UMTS 850/1900/2100
  Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800 /1900 MHz
• Design
  Flip
  L99.5 x W51.4 x D16.2 mm
  Weight 105 grams
• Display/s
  Intenal TFT 176 x 220
• Camera
  Dual cameras
  3MP main camera
• Connectivity
  USB
  Bluetooth V2
• Memory
  120MB internal memory
  32GB microSD
• Ring tones
  MP3, MMF, MIDI, Vibration
• Features
  FM Radio
  SMS, MMS, WAP, EMAIL
  MyWords predictive text
  JAVA MIDP 2.0
  Speaker Phone/Hands free
  Customizable backgrounds
  Picture Viewer
  Video calling
  Voice memos
  Calender and organizer
  200 Hrs Standby,
  120 Minutes Talk Time
  900mAh Li-Po
• Package contents
  XP/Vista Compatible PC suite
  Mac OSX Compatible software
  Personal hands free kit
  Travel charger
  USB cable
  User manual
• Price history
  2012 Approx $xxx (Plan only)