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The mini keyboard is necessarily quite small. There is no number row, though there is an embedded number pad you use with a function key. I found the keyboard OK to use for tapping out emails but as is the case with sliding keyboards in general, it benefits from two-handed use; holding the S730 in both hands and tapping with the thumbs. One-handed use is decidedly tricky.

The front keys are no problem to use. The Windows Mobile shortcut keys are large, as is the navigation pad, and HTC has made the best use it can of the available space. There is a button on the left side that you can use to access the Comm Manager - turning the SIM, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on and off easily, for example.

The main camera is disappointing. Shooting at 2-megapixels and lacking autofocus or a macro mode its performance was patchy and generally below par.

The coloured dish shot under ordinary household lighting and, like all the photos, with the camera on its auto settings, shows quite good colour reproduction, but the real-world white background is way off the mark. Outdoors the chair is white in real life and in the photo is far too blue for its own good. Meanwhile the cat, shot with a window behind her to test the camera's ability to deal with potentially difficult lighting conditions on auto settings is badly washed out.

If you are looking for good news then battery life is not the place to search for it. I got a shade under six hours of continuous music from a full charge. Now this isn't a disaster, but I have seen considerably better. The supplied headphones use the same mini USB connector that is needed to charge the battery, so don't even think about trying to substitute your own for music listening.

Verdict

Overall, then, I expected a lot from the HTC S730, but the device didn't deliver. It is certainly an update to consider if you are a fan of its predecessor, but it doesn't draw the attention quite as much as it could do.

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