INQ Cloud Touch review

Verdict:

A fun, refreshing take on Android, the Cloud Touch will appeal to Facebook addicts and smartphone novices, and includes some novel ideas that we hope to see more widely adopted

We haven't seen a handset from INQ since the colourful INQ1 launched in March 2009, which is a shame as the company's user-friendly approach to smartphones is a refreshing change. The Cloud Touch takes a similar tack; INQ has taken Android 2.2, added some funky designs and made Facebook the phone's primary focus. The result is a phone aimed squarely at those who don't see their smartphone as a computing device, but as a glorified address book.

INQ Cloud Touch

Starting up the phone for the first time, we were taken through a slightly longer setup procedure than is normal with Android phones - mainly due to the addition of deep Facebook integration. The main home page is filled with Facebook widgets, including individual icons for each of Facebook's main functions, such as People, Events, Notifications and Places. These functions are also available as apps in the main application tray, so you can jump straight to your Facebook profile, your newsfeed or your messages.

There's also a small application tray that sits at the bottom of the screen and holds six icons; it's independent of the home screens, but you can scroll it sideways to access more icons. It contains a shortcut to the main app tray and icons for Contacts, Messaging, Camera, Browser and yet more Facebook shortcuts. Long-pressing these icons lets you move or delete them, and you can drag new icons from a home screen onto this tray. INQ has customised the icons for the standard Android apps, which we'd normally complain about, but in this case the designs are so fun and colourful that they fit in with the rest of the phone's design.

The phone's lock screen is innovative, and reminded us of the lock screen on HTC's Sense 3.0 UI. There's a large lock icon, which you can drag out of its dock to unlock it as if you were pulling it from a pool of tar - and a haptic response provides suitable feedback for this metaphor. Two more apps can be launched in the same way - the camera and INQ Type.

INQ Type is a clever built-in application that, according to the quick start guide, lets you "search, share or save". It might not seem obvious at first, but in practice it saves a lot of time. It opens into a simple search box, with three tabs underneath. If you tap on the Search tab, a drop-down lets you choose where to search - All, Web, Apps or Contacts.

Tap on the Share tab and you can choose how to share the text you've entered - this is limited to SMS, but it's a quick way to send a text. Finally, the Save tab lets you save the text you've entered, either to the phone's clipboard, or to your Contacts. We wish we could save it to more places and that INQ would add more functions to both the Share and Save tabs, but it's a clever idea and one we could easily get used to.

As well as more Facebook apps than you can shake a stick at, INQ has loaded a selection of 3rd-party apps that are hit-and-miss. There's an unofficial Windows Live Messenger app, which works fine. Carphone Warehouse's own MyHub backup app lets you back up your phone's contents, but the signup process doesn't accept surnames that include spaces, and Android already has a backup function (under Privacy in the Options menu) that will save your data, while your contacts are saved in Gmail's contacts.

There's a copy of Opera Mini, an alternative web browser that compresses pages before they're sent to your phone, saving on data costs. The Shazam app is a music recognition service, while the bundled Spotify app is only useful if you already have a Premium subscription, as free users can't stream music. Finally, there's the Vringo app, a kind of social network for ringtones. Sadly, none of these pre-installed apps can be uninstalled, which is a problem as app storage is very limited - with only a couple of apps installed, we had only 108MB of storage space left.

One major omission is the lack of social aggregation - the ability to merge or link your contacts from different services such as Facebook and Twitter. The original INQ1 introduced this feature to us, so it's a shame the feature hasn't been extended to the Cloud Touch.

INQ Cloud Touch Back

The Cloud Touch's hardware feels tough but looks fairly toy-like, with its shiny button bar and chunky plastic case. The camera lacks a flash and takes jerky videos and fairly dull, noisy photos which are fine for Facebook but won't impress your Flickr friends. The screen is smooth and responsive for touch control, and image quality is fairly good, with strong colours and good contrast, although it's not as bright as the S-LCD and AMOLED screens on premium smartphones.

A nice touch is the info button on the left-hand side of the phone. Pressing this brings up a colourful panel that lists time and date, alarms, Wi-Fi, battery and memory status, and provides small icons to toggle various phone states such as vibrate and airplane mode. Another button on the right-hand side acts as a music play/pause button, and there's a volume rocker above it.

The Cloud Touch is available exclusively from Carphone Warehouse on both SIM-free and contract deals, and it's far more attractive SIM-free at just £210. It's the ideal phone for someone new to smartphones, or for young Facebook addicts, as long as you don't intend to download too many apps.

The limited app space is our only major gripe, and though the phone as a whole can't match our current Budget Buy phone, the Motorola DEFY, it's a refreshing change from the larger manufacturers and includes some novel ideas.

Hardware
Main display size	3.5in
Native resolution	320x480
Second Display
CCD effective megapixels	5-megapixel
Video recording format	3GP
Connectivity	Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB
GPS
Internal memory	512MB
Memory card support	microSDHC
Memory card included	4096MB
Operating frequencies	GSM 850/900/1800/1900, 3G 900/1900/2100
Wireless data	EDGE, UMTS
Size	114x62x13mm
Weight	122g

Features
Operating system	Android 2.2
Microsoft Office compatibility	none
Email client	POP3/IMAP/Exchange
Audio format support	AMR, AAC, AAC+, E-AAC+, MIDI, MP3, WAV, OGG
Video playback formats	MPEG4, H.263, H.264
FM Radio
Web Browser	Webkit, Opera
Accessories	headset, data cable, charger
Talk time	6.5 hours
Standby time	10.2 days

Buying Information
SIM-free price	£210
Price on contract	£30-per-month, 18-month contract
SIM-free supplier	www.carphonewarehouse.co.uk
Contract/prepay supplier	www.carphonewarehouse.co.uk
Details	http://new.inqmobile.com/

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