Hands-on with the T-Mobile myTouch 4G Slide

T-Mobile started the myTouch line as a mid to high level Android line that has since grown to be composed of some higher end devices with the myTouch 4G and this new myTouch 4G Slide is similar to that device with a physical QWERTY keyboard and bumped up internal specs. The myTouch 4G Slide launches on 27 July at T-Mobile store, but can be pre-ordered online starting on 19 July for $199.99 after $50 mail-in rebate and contract. You can check out a few photos of the myTouch 4G Slide in my image gallery along with a video walk through and more initial thoughts on the device below.

	Image Gallery: Check out a few photos of the myTouch 4G Slide on T-Mobile.

In the box and first impressions

The T-Mobile myTouch 4G Slide comes in one of those excellent durable and compact T-Mobile packages that includes the device, SIM card, battery, A/C adapter, USB cable, and some pamphlets. The box contains a glossy image of the device and information on the device and services.

Similar to the rock solid feel of the myTouch 4G, this Slide model is a dense device with a full soft touch back and physical buttons below the display so it really feels like a high quality device that I think will appeal to QWERTY keyboard Android fans.

Specifications

Specifications for the T-Mobile myTouch 4G Slide include the following:

• Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread
• HTC Sense 3.0
• 14.4 Mbps HSPA+ support on T-Mobile's AWS network
• 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-core processor
• 3.7 inch WVGA 480x800 pixels super LCD display
• Preinstalled 8GB microSD card and 1GB RAM available for storage
• 8 megapixel camera with dual-LED flash and 1080p video recording capability
• VGA front facing camera
• Proximity sensor, light sensor and digital compass
• Integrated A-GPS
• Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n)
• Bluetooth 3.0
• DLNA support
• 3.5 mm headset jack
• 1520 mAh lithium-ion battery
• Dimensions: 4.8 x 2.4 x 0.52 inches and 6.5 ounces

The myTouch 4G Slide has all of the latest and greatest features found on Android smartphones and feels great in your hand. The camera is promoted as a focus of the device with several software enhancements and a wide aperture lens (f/2.2). I need to spend more time with the SweepShot, ClearShot HDR, and BurstShot modes and did see that it responds very quickly.

Walk around the hardware

The front of the myTouch 4G Slide has a 3.7 inch super LCD display. There are four physical buttons (actually three with the middle one having functions for each end that is pressed), indicator light hidden in the handset speaker grill, front facing VGA camera, and proximity sensor. The physical buttons are for Home, Menu, Back, and Genius Button. There is an optical trackpad below these buttons to help you navigate around the display.

If you slide the display from left to right you will find the physical QWERTY keyboard that has four rows of buttons. The keys are well spaced (almost a bit too wide actually) and there is decent tactile feedback when you press on them. They have a non-glossy black finish with silver background with green and white on the keys. There is a Genius Button on the keyboard too, along with two shift and two Alt keys. I already miss not having directional arrows though and found I had to jump between tapping the display and pressing keys to navigate the device.

A lanyard opening and microphone are found on the bottom. A nice silver physical camera shutter button is found on the right side and similar to how Windows Phone 7 lets you launch the camera when the device is locked you can press and hold the button to launch the camera at any time. You will find the volume button and microUSB port on the left side. The 3.5mm headset jack and power button are located on the top.

The two LED flash lights, mono speaker, and 8 megapixel camera are found on the back of the myTouch 4G Slide. There is a large silver piece around the camera and the lens sticks out quite a ways since it is a wide aperture lens and should result in some great photos. The lens cover piece is indented a bit from the edge so hopefully will not get scratched easily.

Quick thoughts on the software and performance

I have only been able to play with the myTouch 4G Slide for a couple of hours so need to spend a lot more time with it before deciding if it is one I would buy for myself or not. So far I have found it to be very snappy and responsive. There does not appear to be a way to customize or add lock screen shortcuts like I have seen on other HTC Sense 3.0 devices, but it is common to have the myTouch line have slightly different versions of Sense.

There is very little bloatware loaded on the device and all I could find was T-Mobile TV, DoubleTwist Sync, Bejeweled 2 demo, and TeleNav GPS. Netflix is installed by default and the myTouch 4G Slide is one of the few Android devices that have it now.

The myTouch 4G Slide supports WiFi calling, but make sure you understand it will still consume plan minutes even though you are making calls over WiFi.

Pricing and availability

The myTouch 4G Slide will be available for pre-order on 19 July and available in stores on 27 July for $199.99 with a minimum voice and data plan with 2-year contract after a $50 mail-in rebate.

T-Mobile customers can select from the four options for data plans:

• T-Mobile’s Unlimited data plan with up to 200MB of full-speed data per month available for $10/month
• T-Mobile’s Unlimited data plan with up to 2GB of full-speed data per month available for $20/month
• T-Mobile’s Unlimited data plan with up to 5GB of full-speed data per month available for $30/month
• T-Mobile’s Unlimited data plan with up to 10GB of full-speed data per month available for $60/month