Usually, keyboards this small are awful, but Toshiba has managed to build one that can actually be used quickly, after some practice. Though it seems quite cramped, the rounded profile of each key, and good positive feedback, meant that I rarely found myself committing horrendous typos. The compact dimensions of the keyboard also meant I never found myself stretching to reach the keys in the centre of the keyboard

The G900's fingerprint reader isn't just a security feature, though. Toshiba also includes a 'fingerprint launcher', which allows you to assign applications to different fingers. Bizarrely, you can also use it as a kind of alternative mouse pad. Move your finger over it in a vertical direction and you can swiftly scroll up and down web pages and lists of items. It works laterally too, and you can even tap it to select items. Ingenious, but a bit on the gimmicky side and fiddly to use compared to the d-pad next to the screen.

Continuing with its hardware features, the G900 also packs an HDSPA adaptor for Internet connection speeds of up to 3.6mbps; it's Tri-band with support for GPRS and EDGE; it has an 802.11 Wi-Fi adaptor so you have the option of using hot spots instead of the more expensive 3G connection; and finally there's Bluetooth. There are also two cameras - one on the front for video calls and one on the rear for taking shots up to 1,600 x 1,200 in resolution. There's a light to assist you in taking pictures in dim conditions but no flash. Internal memory is limited at just 40MB but can be supplemented using the miniSD slot on the left side of the device.

Taking advantage of the Wi-Fi connection is a bundled VOIP application (Tiptalk) and there's also a feature that will lock and unlock your phone over Bluetooth depending on its proximity to your laptop or PC. And of course, as it's equipped with Windows Mobile 6, you also get Office Mobile thrown in, which allows you to view and edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents.

As a phone it all knits together reasonably well too. Voice call quality is good. The controls all work intuitively in both phone and typing mode. The volume adjustment buttons are in a sensible place, making it easy to adjust as you talk. And the handy OK button also doubles as a key for shutting down application windows, which is very useful. You can charge the phone over its USB connection, making it pretty straightforward to top-up the battery. All you need is a standard cable and any handy laptop or desktop PC.