Toshiba TG02 deals & review

In a word or two

A big touchscreen smartphone with a focus on 3D viewing, the Toshiba TG02 is surprisingly slim.

The Design

With a 4.1 inch touch-sensitive screen onboard, the first thing you notice about the Toshiba TG02 is how slim it is. Measuring less than 10mm in thickness – thinner than the iPhone and HTC HD2 – the TG02 is similar in size to the TG01 although marginally shorter and narrower. Considering the enjoyment gained from having a large screen on your phone, the TG02 manages to be portable too and sufficiently small for holding and using on the move.

The technology used for the TG02’s screen is capacitive so you no longer need a stylus, like you sometimes did to use the resistive screen on the TG01. The resolution is high and the 3D interface makes interaction a pleasure – the menu screen can be rotated and gives you an overview of what’s on each screen on the phone. The three buttons beneath the screen provide quick access to calls, menu and home, and you can create extra shortcuts to add to the home screen too.

Available in either black or white, the Toshiba TG02 looks smart. When you are writing messages, chatting online or editing a document using the Pocket Office function, you can rotate the phone to landscape view and use the on-screen QWERTY keyboard. The keyboard has a simple layout with three rows of keys and some shortcuts along the bottom.

Specifications

The phone runs on the Windows Mobile 6.5 platform with the 3D UI on top to enhance the user experience. This OS means you get a number of work features on the Toshiba TG02 including Pocket Office for editing Word, Excel, PowerPoint or PDF documents on the move. There is support for Microsoft Exchange email so you can stay in touch with your business emails as well as your personal emails. And the Windows Marketplace lets you download further widgets that your want, with the option to increase the memory via a microSD card up to 16GB.

As you would expect on a smartphone with a screen that measures 4.1 inches, the TG02 has some decent media ability. You have direct access to Facebook and YouTube so you can share and stream videos and music on your handset. The internal processor (1GHz Snapdragon) means the phone runs quickly and can keep up with your games, internet browsing and social networking with support from 3G and Wi-Fi connections.

Considerations

There is no 3.5mm audio connector or radio on the TG02.

Verdict

The Toshiba TG02 has some enhancements on the TG01 although the camera has the same 3.15-megapixels. If visual communication, a large touchscreen and a slim design are important to you, the TG02 promises to live up to expectations – full review coming soon.