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Slab smartphone with QWERTY keyboard
- Inexpensive (with contract)
- Full QWERTY keyboard
- Quad-band compatibility a plus for world travelers
- Excellent battery life
- No document-editing ability
- Annoyingly sensitive volume control
- Cramped keyboard
- Can't access high-speed 3G network
- Sluggish performance
The T-Mobile Dash, a version of the HTC Excalibur, was released in October 2006 and updated in 2008. It lacks speedy 3G network capability but is quad-band, meaning it will work with international SIM cards, which reviews say makes it a good choice for world travelers. The T-Mobile Dash had high ratings in 2006-2007 and respectable rankings in later reviews. Professional and owner reviews, while generally positive, usually concur on a few drawbacks -- sluggishness, lack of document-editing capability, cramped QWERTY keyboard and a very sensitive touch-strip volume control that will react if your face grazes it while you're on a call. One reviewer says you can fix that with a third-party download, but he doesn't specify what application he's referring to. If the lack of document-editing tools is a deal-breaker for you, many professional reviews suggest the now-discontinued AT&T Tilt, BlackBerry Curve or BlackBerry Bold as top smartphones for business use.
Most reviews say call quality is good, although there's some dissent about that. A 2009 PCMag.com review of the T-Mobile Shadow notes that the Dash lacks access to T-Mobile's unlimited HotSpot calling feature that allows callers to save minutes by making calls over Wi-Fi. Owner reviews are mostly positive, but some cite connection problems while making calls. Multiple professional reviewers test battery life, with all getting more than the promised five hours of talk time and some getting more than double that. Among the T-Mobile Dash's features are stereo Bluetooth, a web browser, music player and a 1.3-megapixel camera/camcorder (which gets mixed reviews). The Dash has a 2.5-inch landscape-format color screen with good resolution (320 pixels by 240 pixels), and a microSD slot (up to 2 GB) on the side.
We found a wealth of excellent professional reviews for the T-Mobile Dash, although many of the comparisons with the rest of the market are a bit dated by now. However, you can navigate away from the specific reviews to see overall rankings at CNET, PCMag.com and PC World. If you have a subscription, ConsumerReports.org offers a handy rankings chart. InfoSync also provides a list of top business smartphones at the bottom of the review. We also found about 300 owner reviews at CNET and about 70 at Amazon.com.
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Our Sources
1. CNET
CNET's Bonnie Cha rates the T-Mobile Dash as "very good," with about 300 owner reviews combining for a slightly lower rating. Cha likes the call quality, battery life and assorted features, although she criticizes touch-strip responsiveness, the "confusing" interface and photo quality.
Review: T-Mobile Dash (a.k.a. HTC Excalibur), Bonnie Cha, Oct. 11, 2006
2. PCMag.com
This seven-phone roundup isn't in alphabetical order, but it's unclear whether they're in best-to-worst order. There's a link to Sascha Segan's 2006 full review, in which the T-Mobile Dash is rated "very good" and the major drawback is "no Microsoft Office document editors for Windows Mobile Smartphone."
Review: The Best Smartphones for Global Travel, Jamie Lendino, July 6, 2007
This extremely thorough review may be more information than most people will want. There are some quibbles with the software and Internet speed (which has a maximum speed of 230 kbps), and the bottom line is a six out of 10 for "value." There are direct comparisons with three other products but no clear winner.
Review: T-Mobile Dash Cell Phone, Alfredo Padilla, Mar. 22, 2007
4. ConsumerReports.org
The T-Mobile Dash is one of about two dozen smartphones ranked in a chart, and there are links to brief reviews of each. Among factors considered are ease of use, talk time and voice quality.
Review: Smart Phone Ratings, Editors of ConsumerReports.org
Reviewer Philip Berne gives the T-Mobile Dash a "good" rating but says the call quality is mediocre, and he's disappointed about the lack of document-editing functions. The T-Mobile Dash doesn't make the top business smartphones chart at the bottom of the review.
Review: Review: T-Mobile Dash business phone, Philip Berne, Oct. 11, 2006
Reviewer Michael Oryl says he likes the T-Mobile Dash better than the Sidekick 3, Nokia E61/E62, Motorola Q and RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8100. He says the "horrendous" touch volume control can be fixed with a third-party application that can be found in an Internet search.
Review: Review: T-Mobile Dash / HTC S620, Michael Oryl, Nov. 22, 2006
7. PC World
This review includes a full lab report and an overall rating of "very good." On the downside are "little in the way of office applications," a "cramped" keyboard and difficulty getting the Wi-Fi connection to work.
Review: T-Mobile Dash, Christopher Null, Jan. 2, 2007
8. Amazon.com
About 70 owner reviews are posted, and about 30 rate the T-Mobile Dash fewer than three stars out of five. Some of the negative reviews contradict one another, but common complaints are connectivity problems (including dropped calls), freeze-ups and fragile build quality.
Review: T-Mobile Dash Phone (T-Mobile), Contributors to Amazon.com
