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The Mini 3G might be a top model for INQ, but that doesn't mean it can even begin to compete with the likes of the iPhone, Palm Pre or HTC Hero.
But that's not where it's being aimed – you could buy nearly 10 of these phones for the price of a top-end iPhone these days, so it's important to keep in mind who would actually want to buy this phone.
We liked
There's a lot to like on the INQ Mini 3G – a lot. Even at £200 we'd still be pretty complimentary about it, but for £59.99 it beats nearly every other phone close to that price point.
The Facebook and Skype integration are tip top, and the simple ability to interact with contacts and use the main social networking functions from within the phone are brilliant features.
It might not excel at anything particularly, but it certainly does manage to do a lot of things well. The list of satisfactory features is pretty long – decent music player, web browsing, calling and messaging to name but a few – and that's before we even mention how good it is as a mobile modem as well.
We disliked
There are a few negative points as well – the speed of the phone is a big one. One of our biggest gripes about the INQ1 was the fact it would slow down so much when using Facebook, and in a way the Mini 3G is even worse. Browsing contacts is ridiculously slow, and watching the phone scan through Facebook makes our heart sink.
The interface isn't as customisable as it could be either, and the loss of last.fm is a real shame, especially as we can't fill the void with anything else.
TechRadar verdict
The INQ Mini 3G is probably the best budget phone on the market at the moment, packing in more features than some phones three times its cost.
However, it's guilty of attempting too much at times – if it stripped out some of the processor-hungry features it would be even better. We'd rather have less Facebook than having to suffer the irritating slow down, but if you're willing to get used to it then you left with a pocket-friendly powerful phone that will still leave you with some great change from £100.
