In a nutshell: The HTC Salsa is a phone designed for facebook. It's a nicely-made, solidly built phone running Android 2.3 and HTC Sense. Battery life is very impressive, and there's a front-mounted VGA camera for video chat. On the other hand, the screen isn't the best by a long way, and the processor and memory are decidedly mid-range. We feel it's a nice phone that's been overpriced for what it does.

Best buy: *Free* from BuyMobilePhones.

At first glance, it looks like a HTC Wildfire S with a facebook button. But it's more than that. Check out the build quality. The body is metallic and solid, and the colour is a kind of metallic-looking grey/blue/lilac. It's an Android phone that looks distinctive, and that's surely a good thing.

What about the facebook button? The blue button tends to draw the eye. It whispers seductively, "press me". So you push the button and suddenly you're sharing everything with your friends. A single press and you're sharing photos, videos and status updates. You're checking in with Places. You're telling everyone what music you're listening to. You're watching your friends' status updates, your chatting continuously, your data usage is going through the roof, but you just can't stop. Because that's the appeal of the Salsa - total facebook immersion. Thanks to the little blue button.

But then again, the Salsa isn't a cheap phone. It's more expensive than mid-range, but does a nice metallic case and a big blue button justify the dosh? We don't think so. The Salsa does have plenty of good features - in addition to the build quality, there's a moderately fast 800MHz processor humming away inside and a massive 1520mAh battery that will power your social networking until the sun goes down, and then a bit longer. There's a VGA front camera for video chatting, and the delicious HTC Sense user interface with Android 2.3 Gingerbread. But there are plenty of decidedly mid-range features here too. We can't ignore the relatively small 3.4 inch screen. And it's only a TFT screen, which doesn't cut it amongst the big boys of the Android world, and the resolution is a lowly 320 x 480 pixels. There's only 512MB of onboard memory, which is going to prove restrictive even if you buy a microSD memory card.

So, if facebook is the feature that you use most on your mobile, you may find the HTC Salsa to be your perfect phone, although you should also check out the HTC ChaCha. But if the blue button is something you'd use only occasionally, or hardly at all, you'd be better off choosing one of the other Android phones in this price bracket, such as the HTC Desire S, Samsung Galaxy S or Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo. Or you could save some pennies and downgrade to the HTC Wildfire S.

Features of the HTC Salsa include:

5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash
Video recording, VGA front camera
Display: Capacitive touchscreen with pinch-to-zoom capability, 320 x 480 pixels (3.4 inches) with auto-rotate
GPS receiver with digital compass, Google Maps, HTC Footprints and geo-tagging
Music player (aac, .amr, .ogg, .m4a, .mid, .mp3, .wav, .wma formats)
FM radio
Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email
Ringtones: MP3 ringtones
Internet: GPRS, EDGE, HSPA (7.2 Mbps download, 384 kbps upload)
Connectivity: Bluetooth 3.0, micro-USB 2.0, Wi-Fi, 3.5mm audio jack
Memory: 512MB internal storage, 512 MB RAM, microSD memory card slot (up to 32GB)
Vibration alert
Quadband GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) plus HSPA/WCDMA (900/2100 MHz)
Size: 109 x 59 x 12.3 mm
Weight: 120g
Battery: 1520mAh
Talktime: 485 - 585 minutes
Battery standby: 465 - 715 hours

Compare HTC Salsa deals at MobilePhoneChecker.co.uk.

HTC Salsa Consumer Reviews

Love your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review this phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a forum, so please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear words or offensive language, and please, no advertising!

Average rating from 2 reviews:

Reviewed by freddie rushton from lincolnshire on 2nd Nov 2011
it is a really handy phone and last a long time
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by becca from uk, yorkshire on 18th Oct 2011
got this phone off my mate as he trials all prototypes for htc, it is the best phone known to man. i have been on an iphone and could go as far as to say it is better! this is the only phone i have ever had 100% faith with. it is pure perfection, FACT! if you haven't got one when they come out. your missing out...big time! :)
Rating: Reply

HTC Salsa links

HTC Salsa deals
HTC Salsa unlock codes: unlock HTC Salsa

Best Deals

	£0.00	HTC Salsa

	£0.00	HTC Salsa

	£0.00	Free HTC Salsa