Toshiba TG01
The basics
The Toshiba TG01 is a Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone, sporting Qualcomm's 1GHz Snapdragon processor. It has an 800x480-pixel resolution 4.1-inch touchscreen, a 3.2-megapixel camera, HSDPA, Wi-Fi and A-GPS support. It measures 129x70x9.9mm and weighs 129g. It has a standby battery life of 276 hours and a talk time of five hours.
The good
We've seen plenty of "iPhone killers" in our time, but that damned Apple handset just won't die. The Toshiba TG01 certainly rivals Apple's Messiah Mobile in the looks department, and beats its 3.5-inch screen with a 4.1-inch offering. It's slimmer than the iPhone too by 2.4mm. The TG01 also houses the super-powerful Snapdragon processor...
The bad
...unfortunately all that Snapdragon processor's power doesn't translate into decent perfomance. The Toshiba TG01 is slower than a snail wearing a ball and chain. Opening apps should be fun, but it's so stilted you wish you hadn't bothered. And as for the accelerometer... well, it's not a patch on the iPhone's slick offering. Elsewhere, Toshiba has shackled the TG01 with Windows Mobile 6.1. It's a shame, but Toshiba has said that it'll be getting Windows Mobile 6.5. We would have rathered Android, but hey. As for that resistive touchscreen, well, it's so frustrating, with numerous prods needed before any kind of meaningful response. The onscreen QWERTY keyboard, meanwhile, certainly is no match for say the Nokia N97's slide-out offering. It's about as frustrating as being Russell Brand in a nunnery.
The bottom line
The Toshiba TG01 looks like it should take the fight to the smartphone big boys, unfortunately it's let down by some basic flaws. Shame, we were looking forward to seeing that Snapdragon at work. Not the iPhone killer we were hoping for.
User comments (5)
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sexyflameangel10 October 2009
both myself and my husband own this phone. we have had them for nearly a month, but while my husband is getting on fine with his mobile, i on the other hand am finding it a bit quite for my liking. i cant hear my phone when it is in my handbag (this is the only place i can put it when im going out). while the phone is quite the vibrate on the other hand is excellent and beats all other phone we have owned e.g nokia, LG, sony ericson, samsung, motarola. we are now just waiting for toshiba to bring out the windows mobile 6.5 download. we have seen the pictures of the new home screen it looks very impressive. By what toshiba have put on their website there is a lot of new stuff coming out in the near future for this phone. and i personly cant wait
Report as inappropriatejames11 February 2010
i have a tg01 with windows 6.5 its a great looking phone and in no way slugish . its a powerfull multimedia device with its high res regza screen thats great for movies. its wel suited to playing games on with impressive 3d graphics and being windows mobile there are a lot of console emulators available such as psx snes nes gbc gba . it also comes with a usb adapter alowing you to manage mass storage devices or plug in a pc keyboard or gamepad .with windows marketplace there are lots of apps to download making this phone more like a handheld pc than a smartphone .it is also great value . id say its definatley and iphone killer
Report as inappropriateRob09 August 2010
The TG01 is probably one of the worst phones I've ever owned. The only saving grace is that I could install a cooked ROM of the HTC touch system onto it. The only plus to this phone is the large screen. The camera is at best ok, the signal drop off is constantly happening.... Really really disappointed. Fired up my old HTC Touch Diamond and much happier now. This load of old rubbish has departed my home for the scrap heap.
Report as inappropriateJonathon12327 March 2011
This Gadget Show review is rubbish. The TG01 is the best out there. And yes I have owned Iphones and BlackBerrys and this is so much better!!!
Report as inappropriateJo23 April 2012
This is by far the worst phone I have ever had the misfortune to own. I received it as a replacement for the HTC HD2 which apparently they no longer make. The touch screen is appalling, it doesn't recognise which letters you are pressing if it acknowleges that you have pressed them at all. It took me 20 minutes to type a short text message due the the ineffectual touch screen. I have spent the last hour trying to change the settings due to the screen not recognising the 'next' button. The phone was charged for 18 hours and said it had a full battery yet one short phone call (5 minutes) and 1 text message (although admittedly that is the one that took me 20 minutes to type) and the battery was flat. The only good thing I can say about it at the moment is that the phone side of it is esy to use although trying to save a number to contacts is very infuriating, again due to the very poor touch screen. I would not touch this phone with a barge pole and will be sending it back for a smartphone that works.
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