The INQ Chat 3G is one delicious feature phone - beautiful interface, a full QWERTY keyboard and a slew of integrated social networking goodness.  With all of that wrapped inside an affordable price tag, this is an exciting handset to drop your next mobile budget on.

Physically, the QWERTY candybar can be easily confused with a Blackberry.  Construction is heavily plastic, but it looks gorgeous for a budget device  (especially with swappable cases).  Build doesn't feel as sturdy as we'd like, but it didn't exactly crumble to the touch.   The 2.4-inch QVGA display is spacious and bright, while the keyboard is comfortable and plush.  There's no angled texture to the individual keys, although it makes for fast typing all the same.

As a phone, the INQ Chat 3G makes for average-sounding calls.  Conversations go through clearly, with some occasional glitches.  Speakerphone feature is about the same.  The 1150 mAh battery isn't rated, but it should be good for a day or two of regular use.

It uses a simple and playful interface that looks tailor-made to the target Facebook and Twitter crowd, with colorful images highlighting each of the menu options.  Navigation is easy to figure out and it's a rather intuitive design.

On the features end, you get the usual basics - a 1,000 entry phonebook, a complete messaging suite (SMS, MMS, email, IM and push GMail) and a few PIM tools.    The highlight, of course, lies in the phone's tight integration with various online services, namely Facebook, Windows Live, Skype and Twitter, where you can get updates pushed to the phone's homescreen, apart from easy access to the built-in apps.  It also comes with Brew 4.0 and Java MIDP 2.0 support, which should help you extend your phone's functionality a bit.

As you can tell from the name, this phone supports 3G (no Wi-Fi, though).  HSDPA speeds are decent, but the phone can be sluggish at times.  Other features include a 3.2 megapixel camera module (average shot quality, few editing options), a basic media player, GPS and 120MB of storage (expandable via microSD up to 8GB).

Overall, the INQ Chat 3G is an excellent feature phone for heavy messaging and social networking users, especially at the affordable price.  It's particularly stylish to boot.  If there's any downside to the handset, it's the growing proliferation of budget-friendly, entry-level smartphones, any of which could give the Chat 3G a run for its money.

INQ just announced two new phones that further their original direction of integrating social media into the handset experience. Called the INQ Chat 3G and the INQ Mini 3G, the duo of "3G Social Mobiles" promise a full range of social media features, without the hefty price tag that's usually attached to well-connected phones.

You might remember INQ with last year's highly-acclaimed INQ1, which impressed consumers with its clever integration of Facebook, Skype, Live Messenger and Last.FM into the overall phone experience. The two new phones build on these specialized talents, adding new native capabilities (yes, they're built in to the system, instead of being add-on software) such as push Gmail and Twitter.

Obviously having learned their lesson from the bland physical specimen that was the INQ1, the new pair of devices both sport a more mature design aesthetic. The INQ Chat 3G takes on a Blackberry-style form factor, complete with a front-mounted set of QWERTY keys and sleek-looking lines. The more conservative INQ Mini 3G, on the other hand, comes with a candybar form factor and touts a similar black and red motif as its larger counterpart.

Other features of the handsets include microSD card expansion (up to 4GB), USB tethering, an integrated camera module, downloadable apps and media-syncing with iTunes on both PCs and Macs (via DoubleTwist). The Chat 3G also comes with a GPS tuner.

Both phones will debut in European markets beginning in the fourth quarter. Price is not yet disclosed, but INQ is claiming that the units will retail very aggressively (hint: relatively cheap).

INQ