The Dash’s five-way directional pad has been replaced with a trackball, like those found on some BlackBerry models. The surrounding navigation area has been simplified with large buttons for easier operation, and the QWERTY keyboard has also been given a makeover with bubbled, rubberized buttons and better backlighting. The screen is the same size and resolution (and still non-touchscreen) but is brighter and clearer.
Unfortunately, the Dash 3G doesn’t include a 3.5mm headphone jack, so you’re forced to use the included miniUSB earphones or miniUSB to 3.5mm/2.5mm adapter. I’ll never understand why HTC (the company that produces the Dash 3G) refuses to allow standard headphones and headsets to be used with their smartphones. The same miniUSB port doubles as a charging and syncing port with the included sync cable and wall charger.
CPU & Memory
The Dash 3G has received a noticeable speed boost. Its new 528MHz Qualcomm CPU makes quick work of applications and tasks and the unit’s RAM has been tripled from 64MB to 192MB. There’s also more storage memory, 256MB up from 128MB.
Additional storage memory can be added with microSD and microSDHC flash memory cards up to 16GB. The microSD card slot is located below the battery compartment cover, but you don’t have to remove the battery to insert or remove a card.
The original Dash had a paltry 200Mhz processor, and though I didn’t do side-by-side comparisons, the Dash 3G handled every software task with speed and ease. Menus open quickly, programs run with zero or one-to-two second delays.
Connectivity
802.11b/g Wi-Fi is part of the Dash 3G, which allows you to connect to home and office wireless networks as well as Wi-Fi Hotspots. Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR is also onboard, so you can use wireless headsets, connect to Bluetooth printers, etc.
3G connectivity is worth noting here, but not as much as it would be if T-Mobile offered the service in more places. T-Mobile’s 3G coverage is lousy to say the least, so the onboard HSDPA connectivity will only help if you live or work in one of the carrier’s high speed locations. Otherwise you’ll be reduced to EDGE connection speeds or limited to using Wi-Fi where available.
You can use the Dash 3G as a tethered modem, which is good news if you want to use T-Mobile’s data network as an Internet connection for your laptop. Tethering is available over USB or Bluetooth and works on PCs as well as Macs.
Messaging
Being a Messenger-class smartphone, you’d expect the Dash 3G’s messaging features to be good, and they are.
Setting up email is a snap with the device’s pre-loaded settings for Gmail, AOL, Windows Live Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail, but you can use any POP or IMAP email account with the Dash 3G. Push is also supported through Exchange and other compatible services, and you can sync your email with Outlook on a PC. |
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The Dash 3G is also pre-configured to interface with popular chat services like AIM, Google Talk, MySpace IM, MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger.
SMS and MMS text messaging are supported. You can send basic text-only messages as well as messages with included photos or videos taken with the onboard camera. You can also record audio messages to add to MMS.
Web Browsing
The included version of Internet Explorer Mobile is awful – just awful. But you can easily download a free third-party mobile web browser like Skyfire, which improves the experience of browsing the Web on the 3G by about 500%.
Still, some mobile sites work best on IE Mobile, so it will come in handy in very limited situations.
Media Playback
Windows Media Player Mobile does a good job of playing audio files – but managing audio files and playlists, not so much. MP3, WMA and AAC formats are supported. It’s also not great as a video player, and features limited codec support. Windows Mobile 6.1 does a terrible job of handling multimedia files, and I am anxious to see if WinMo 6.5 fixes this. There are several third-party media applications available for Windows Mobile which do a much better job.
The Dash 3G includes a media control widget built right into the Home Screen; you can move back and forth through tracks, view album art, see playback time and play/pause playback. I found this very useful when listening to music on the 3G.
The built-in speaker isn’t half bad for listening to music, but as always, headphones or earbuds sound much better.
Camera
The Dash 3G has a 2MP camera built in. This is on the low-end of digital camera resolutions for smartphones, but the camera shoots both photos and video, and each offer satisfactory quality.
GPS
Onboard Assisted GPS, or aGPS, allows the Dash to function as a turn-by-turn navigation system. This is offered as a monthly service add-on via TeleNav, so you’ll have to pay if you want to use it.
The Phone
I found the call quality of the Dash 3G to be fantastic, and that’s a compliment I rarely give to a smartphone. Calls were clear, my signal was almost always strong, and I never had a dropped call or a complaint that a person couldn’t hear me. I’d rate the Dash 3G’s call quality – compared with other smartphones – at a 9/10.
Being a T-Mobile phone, the 3G includes MyFaves support. There’s also voice dialing, Bluetooth headset support, call history, and dialing from contacts.
Battery Life
The battery life of the 3G is rated at 8.5 hours of talk time and 350 hours of standby. I couldn’t think of anyone I wanted to talk to for eight hours straight, so I can’t guarantee this rating, but I can tell you that the Dash 3G easily lasted for three days between charges with moderate use.
Software
In addition to the standard Windows Mobile 6 applications – email, calendar, contacts, Office Mobile (Word, Excel, PowerPoint & OneNote), calculator, voice recorder, Voice Command, etc. – the Dash 3G has several third-party software add-ons worth noting.
YouTube is a small app that allows you to watch videos directly from the popular video site. You can view PDF files with Adobe Reader LE. Bing Mobile, formerly Live Search, is a fantastic program from Microsoft that gives you easy access to an online phone book, movie showtimes, gas prices, traffic, weather and maps. Google Maps lets you use the popular mapping service right from your handset.
Conclusion
The T-Mobile Dash 3G is a sleek, attractive smartphone with a bright display, a range of useful features, an excellent QWERTY keyboard and newly added 3G mobile broadband. The Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard OS still leaves something to be desired, particularly in multimedia functionality, and is the only weak link in an otherwise solid chain. That said, if you’re a happy Dash user and have been looking to upgrade, you’ll welcome the Dash 3G with an open palm.
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