HTC Snap Reviewed: Great Keyboard But Lacks Crossover Appeal

After the "Inner Circle" screenshots from this morning, we now have the first full review of the HTC Snap.  The company's latest candybar QWERTY handset, the Snap has a compact 2.4-inch non-touchscreen display, dualband UMTS/HSPA and WiFi b/g, and is HTC's attempt to take on RIM's popular BlackBerry line.

On the positive side, the keyboard is particularly good, and Inner Circle "just works" – though that could be, they say, because it's a relatively simplistic feature, pulling out emails from preset correspondents.  The camera is functional, though nothing more, and Windows Mobile 6.1 is its usual dreary self.

In the end, though, Smartphone Daily reckon the Snap is unlikely to have the same "crossover appeal" as rival handsets like the BlackBerry Curve or Nokia E71.  That's perhaps not unusual for a Windows Mobile device, though we bet Microsoft (and HTC, for that matter) would prefer otherwise.  The HTC Snap will go on sale this summer in Europe, with its S522 counterpart reaching the US at the same time.