Did the ChaCha!

Ta-da!

I first blogged about the HTC Status, a.k.a. ChaCha, back in early August, in my "Gadgets 'n' Things post (Day 17 of this year's 30-Day Blog Challenge). In the U.S., the marketing folks at AT&T probably thought "Status" would be more apt given that this phone is the first one with a dedicated Facebook button. But, personally, ChaCha would've been alright especially if SEO were a consideration. Anyway, two weeks after my post, I dropped my Nokia C5 in the rain and later discovered that my older, backup phone's (also a trusty Nokia) mic finally gave out after four years. Alas, it seemed like my subconscious prevailed and manifested a need for a new phone.

Hence, I now am a proud owner of an Android device...with a QWERTY keyboard. I never knew that the day would ever come—I'm old school, as you can probably tell.

I've had the phone for almost two weeks now and I'm telling you, the first five days felt like befriending a foreigner who speaks little English. That, or learning German (or even shopping for men's clothing). Both fruitful and fulfilling once you get past the learning curve. It took some time to navigate the features and settings, and if my husband hadn't lovingly Fedexed the package over and if the phone weren't so pretty, I would've probably flung it those first few days.

Most unique Fedex box from the husband :)

So, thoughts:

1) If you don't like Facebook...
...Then the HTC Status is not for you. It's not called the "Facebook Phone" for naught. You get social media integration practically every step of the way, and the phone syncs with anything and everything related to your account. You can turn certain features off, with some maneuvering.

2) If this is your first QWERTY phone...
...It's great! One of the main reasons I was drawn to the ChaCha/Status was its keyboard. From the magazine ad alone and photos, it looked tactile and clackety enough—the way I like my text-inputting gadgets to be. As I've always used a numeric keypad, it took me about five days to be completely comfortable and to type at a pretty decent speed. And, even now, I still fumble a little bit with the function and shift keys.

The only drawback to this otherwise perfect keyboard is it's now more of a challenge to text using one hand (the cute phone is wideset) and to touch-type. It's not entirely impossible, but it'll take practice.

Unboxing the ChaCha.

3) If you've never used an Android phone...
...Then prepare to study. Well, fine, you don't necessarily have to plow through the 183-page user manual (available online, no longer in the box, as I've noticed with gadgets these days). But, if, like me, you've always had a Nokia and used either Windows or a Mac; or have Apple products, Android is quite the new beast to tackle—a good thing, just like learning a new skill.

If you look closer at my desk, my phone came with dried pickled mangoes :)