Vodafone 360 H1 review: first look

At launch, you can sync contacts from your phone, Facebook, Windows Messenger and GoogleTalk. While Twitter isn’t supported at launch, it’s coming soon and Vodafone said that it can see businesses creating their own chat apps for the platform too.

Video and audio quality on the H1 is above average and will certainly help business users wile away the hours spent commuting or waiting around in between meetings, provided they haven’t got any work to do, obviously.

The bundled Opera 9.1 browser works speedily (HSDPA, HSUPA and Wi-Fi connectivity options are all supported as is Bluetooth and EDGE), rendering IT PRO perfectly on the ample-sized screen. And it supports Flash too, which is a bonus.

You simply hold down to zoom and a bar appears, with an indication of how much you’ve zoomed in or out showing to the right. Tapping to zoom works too.

A nice touch we liked when it comes to web browsing is the fact if you press on two links at the same time, the text of those links will appear as standout boxes above where you’ve pressed so you can see which one you actually want to click on. So often it’s easy to click on something and then realise you actually opened the link above or below instead, so having this double check option is really handy.

The H1 boasts a five megapixel camera with digital zoom. Our quick test snap served up a nice, crisp image so we’re looking forward to testing the camera out properly soon. Once you’ve taken an image you can share it using the pin icon on the screen, save it to a file or back it up manually.

Talking of backing up, the Vodafone 360 service automatically backs up content from the phone to the web-based services every 15 seconds or so. And it’s open to anyone using an S60-based handset, not just the H1, although on other devices the look and feel will be slightly different. The best bit is it’s free.