Photos: HTC Touch 3G

HTC's original Touch introduced TouchFLO, which was one of the first finger-friendly smartphone interfaces — albeit one bolted rather awkwardly on top of Windows Mobile (6.0).

Since TouchFLO's first appearance in June 2007, we've seen many more Touch devices from HTC with the TouchFLO UI. Unlike some of these smartphones, the Touch 3G retains the smooth lines of the original Touch but updates the core specifications.

We found the HTC Touch 3G available online at around £340 (inc. VAT) SIM-free.

Compact and lightweight, the Touch 3G measures 53.6mm wide by 102mm tall by 14.5mm thick and weighs 96g, making it one of the most pocket-friendly Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional devices available.

The design is minimalist with just two buttons on the fascia for Call and End functions and, sitting between them, a large D-pad. Buttons are limited elsewhere, too: on the top is the main power switch; on the left edge is a long volume rocker; and the bottom edge carries a mini-USB connector for power, PC connection and the stereo headset.

Of course, a small device limits the size of the screen that can be accommodated. At 2.8in. (across the diagonal) the Touch 3G's display is not exactly tiny, but it feels cramped compared to the screens on devices like the HTC Touch HD (3.8in.), iPhone 3G (3.5in.) and BlackBerry Storm (3.5in.).

This is a very well connected device, the headline feature being its support for HSDPA at 7.2Mbps (the upload speed is 384Kbps). What you'll get in the real world will depend, of course, on your operator's coverage in your area. Whatever speed you connect at, the preinstalled Opera browser makes web browsing a slightly more pleasant experience than it is with Internet Explorer.

There is a GPS receiver, Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) and Bluetooth (2.0+EDR). The 3.2-megapixel camera on the back of the device lacks flash and is fixed focus. Sadly for fans of two-way video calls, there's no front-facing camera.