Seven Days in 100 Words: The Facebook Phone

The typical gadget review these days can run thousands of words and cover hundreds of features before telling you what you really want to know: is this thing any good? The Atlantic Wire will cut to the chase after spending a week with a device and give you just the bottom line.

The typical gadget review these days can run thousands of words and cover hundreds of features before telling you what you really want to know: is this thing any good? The Atlantic Wire will cut to the chase after spending a week with a device and give you just the bottom line. 

THE HTC FIRST A.K.A THE FACEBOOK PHONE

Price: At $99, worth it, especially for people who tend to lose and ruin things.

Hardware: The type of phone you can throw around, but doesn't feel too chintzy because of a thick rubber back.

Battery Life: Pretty incredible; can last more than two days with minimal use.

Best Feature: Chat Heads. You can text inside any app—not just the messaging one. It makes the whole process—reading, responding, getting back to what you’re doing—much faster.

Deal Breaker: A home screen full of Facebook status updates and crappy photos scrolling endlessly.