The INQ Mini 3G may not have all the bells and whistles, but it certainly has a lot of social networking programs that users will love.
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This candy bar phone is made out of plastic and sports a black fascia and red back cover. The unit is small, fits in your pocket, and feels very solid. Users can find the switcher and camera buttons on the right side of the unit, while the volume rocker is found on the left. The mini-USB port used for connecting the unit to a computer, charger, or headphones is located on top.
Using the phone is straightforward: put a SIM card in, turn the unit on, set the date and time, and start socialising. Users can add three different widgets on the home screen (we added the weather, world clock, and Google search bar), and can run various applications such as Skype, Twitter, Facebook, Windows Live Messenger, Email on 3, as well as YouTube.
The 320 x 240 pixel screen was bright and the interface was very straightforward. It is possible to switch between applications by pressing the switcher button, allowing users to read Tweets while posting a Facebook message. The only problem we encountered during our test was that the INQ Mini struggled as we switched from one application to another. The phone lagged even when we were just changing the settings. The experience could have been better if the company placed a faster processor on the handset.
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The INQ Mini 3G is HSDPA-enabled, allowing us to stream YouTube videos with minimal buffering time. Streamed videos were small even when the orientation was switched to landscape, but was still good for watching while on the go.
In addition to social networking applications, the unit can also play music stored on the microSD card slot. As there is no 3.5mm jack available on the Mini, users would have to plug the proprietary headphones. A 2-megapixel camera is also onboard, but produced mediocre and grainy shots.
Overall, the INQ Mini 3G is a simple phone that can provide instant access to social networking sites. It is available for $129 for users who want to purchase it outright, with Three offering 150MB of data and $150 worth of calls for a $29 recharge. It is also free for its $19 post-paid plan, but an X-Series data plan should be added to use the features.
