It's a product that has great potential. Unsurprisingly it's very similar in size and shape to the iPhone - it's thicker at 17mm but otherwise there's not too much in it. It looks pretty good too with its glossy, pinstriped front fascia and minimalist design.
The F700V is, as you've probably already guessed, a touch-screen device, and one that you'd probably also expect to be inferior in quality to the iPhone, but the F700V has a couple of important advantages hidden up its tightly-tailored sleeve. The first of these is vibration feedback. Whenever you hit a button on the F700V's 3.2in 240 x 440 screen it responds with a quiet beep and a light buzz.
It sounds frivolous, but this feature contributes so much to the feel and usability of the interface that I wonder why other manufacturers haven't done the same thing. It's like having the best of both worlds - the flexibility and adaptability of a touch-screen, but with the feedback of physical buttons.
There's no doubt that the F700V is a very, very good phone, and if it were available with a more generous data tariff I'd have no hesitation in recommending it as a great value for money alternative to the iPhone. But despite all of its plus points there are just too many buts and if-onlys right now to make it a truly compelling choice.
