Fed up with the usual smart phone designs? Well, I guess now’s the time for a new look and that’s what HTC has in store for us! They have developed this new phone called the HTC myTouch 3G slide. As its name implies, this device is a slider phone that comes with a touch screen display. What is more is that it is a 3G compliant device, making it highly recommended for those cell phone users who want to browse the Web while they are on the go. It is well built and packs a 600MHz processor with lots of goodies & features. It runs Android 2.1 with a future Android Froyo update. Want to know more about the device? Read my full hands on review of the HTC myTouch 3G slide and learn more about its features, software, design, build, & performance.

Carriers:	Retail Price: $349.99
Manufactured by:	Contact Price: $149.99

Pros: The T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide comes with a full QWERTY keyboard and runs the latest version of Android, 2.1. It promises excellent call quality and its 3G speeds are impressive.

Cons: The T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide ‘s Faves Gallery does not always display the most up-to-date information. Its camera is just mediocre.

HTC has released quite a few intriguing smart phones this year which certainly hit the market by storm. Their latest is the slider phone called the HTC myTouch 3G slide. It looks fresh and comes with a decent processor, and runs the latest Android 2.1 O.S., latest HTC Sense, and a mediocre camera that HTC has filled with lots of software features. This device may not be as powerhouse like the other smart phones, but it is not meant to be either. It offers a midrange feature set and a custom UI from the carrier to help users with that transition. For me, it seems that the carrier's touches are successful, though some needs a bit of tuning. Its call quality is superb and has the benefits of being an Android smart phone with a physical keyboard. For me, the T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide is slightly overpriced at $179.99 with a two-year service agreement considering that the HTC Evo 4G and Droid Incredible cost just $20 more. The MyTouch 3G Slide is available in black, red, or white color schemes. Design wise it is ok. It has a smooth plastic frame with the slightly protruding chin, and has 4 physical buttons and the touch pad. It is more than just a pretty face as per se, as its internal features and hardware are awesome. It really resembles the rest of the MyTouch family with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. It is compact with dimensions of 4.6 inches tall by 2.4 inches wide by 0.6 inch thick. The device is a bit heavy weighing 5.8 ounces. Unlike other cheapo phones, this 3G slide has a solid feel and is, in fact, a sturdy device. I know since i accidentally dropped the smart phone at one point, & it came away with just a scratch. I do not mean that you can toss the MyTouch 3G Slide around like a toy or something you know; after all, you will want to protect all of its goodies like the 3.4-inch capacitive touch screen. It is an HVGA variant which is OK for me but not as vivid and as sharp as the screens of the HTC Evo 4G or the Droid Incredible. It is very responsive though and there’s pinch-to-zoom support. Moreover, it features a built-in accelerometer,a proximity sensor, and a light sensor. To reveal its QWERTY keyboard, you just need to push the screen to the right. Its sliding mechanism is not the smoothest that I've seen, but it is strong enough and its screen securely locks into place. The sliding keyboard itself is OK, it has a spacious layout making it easy to use and also helps in reducing typos or errors. It also comes with an onscreen keyboard in both portrait and landscape orientation along with a Swype keyboard, so you have plenty of typing options. Below its display, you will see the 4 shortcut keys which are the home, menu, back, and the Genius button (more on this later). There’s also this optical track pad that also functions as a select button. On the left spine you will see the volume rocker, while on the right spine you will find the camera activation/capture button. On top of the device you will see the power button and the standard 3.5mm headphone jack; the microSD port is on the bottom of the device. And as usual, the camera with flash is on the back. TheT-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide package comes with the unit, a plastic case, an AC adapter, a USB cable, a wired stereo headset, 8GB microSD card, and the reference material. The T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide runs Android 2.1, but according to HTC, it will be upgradable to the Froyo-flavored Android 2.2. Other features include full HTML Web browser, Quickoffice, Google services, Microsoft Exchange support, along with the latest capabilities like Google Maps with Navigation and speech-to-text. It is a quad-band world phone that has wireless options including 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. Other essentials include a barcode scanner app, an AppPack, MyTouch Music that streams today's top 100 popular hits, multimedia syncing software DoubleTwist which is bundled with the phone, and an 8GB microSD card. It sports a 5-megapixel camera/video recorder, but I was slightly disappointed in its picture quality, as indoor shots look dull and gray. I did test the quad-band (GSM 850/900/1,800/1,900MHz) MyTouch 3G Slide in our area using T-Mobile service, and overall the call quality was superb. Same results when I tested its speakerphone and the 3G connection is really awesome! There’s no background noise and voice distortion at all & there’s certainly plenty of volume. My friends were impressed as well with the device’s sound quality, noting that they could not tell I was on a cell phone. I had no problems pairing the 3G Slide with my Logitech Mobile Traveller Bluetooth headset or China made Headphones, but as with other Android smart phones, the T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide doesn’t support voice dialing over Bluetooth. YouTube clips loaded pretty quick via 3G and it only took a few seconds to load and did play back it without any interruption. The sound and picture were synchronized as well. The T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide is powered by a 600MHz processor and I am surprised that it is quite responsive – though I am quite disappointed since I am expecting this to be powered by a 1Ghz processor at least. The MyTouch 3G Slide ships with a 1,300mAh lithium ion battery which lasted 5.5 hours of talk time in my battery drain tests. As FCC radiation tests, the Slide has a digital SAR rating of 1.15 w/kg. Overall, the device seems OK for me. In fact, I give it a rating of 3.5/5 even if its just a mid range device. At least it performs well, and has all the features that you need in a phone. It works as advertised and would recommend it to a friend or to any new users!