With the recent release of HTC’s Freestyle, phonedog was kind enough to give us a preview of what comes in the box with the phone, how the phone works, etc. For those of you who just don’t have the time to go through the entire 10-minute preview video, here’s a quick summary:

The beginning of the video starts with a quick introduction from Sydney, the reviewer, and she explains that although the phone may look like a smartphone, it is in fact, just a feature phone. After opening up the box and going over the paperwork and user CD, and of course, taking out the charger, USB cord, and battery, we actually get to see the phone and how it works.

She takes the phone out of the box and we find out that the phone is made out of plastic, not aluminum like other HTC phones, but it still looks really nice. After a quick overview of the outside of the phone, Sydney pops the SIM card and battery in and powers up the phone. While waiting for the phone to go to the main menu, she talks briefly about how the Freestyle looks like a smartphone, but is a feature phone. She brings up the fact that the Freestyle runs off of HTC’s UI(user interface) and that it uses the Brew Mobile Platform, which is something not seen very often.

When the phone finally powers up, it brings us to a menu that ‘personalizes’ the phone, such as syncing social networks like Facebook and Twitter. We are then brought to the main menu which includes five or six different ’slide menus’. You can slide between the menu choices of shortcuts, contacts, the weather, etc.

The 3.2″ display of the phone is very bright and clear, and it’s also a touchscreen. The display is very good compared to other feature phones, and it slides very smoothly. And although the touchscreen is very nice and smooth, it is the only keyboard. So for those of you who like the actual keyboard, this phone probably isn’t for you. The keyboard is kind of small, since it’s a 3.2″ screen, but there is a button on the keyboard that you can press to put it into landscape mode.

Overall, the Freestyle is a great feature phone, and although it is made of plastic, it is quite sturdy, and the processor and display are top-notch. The phone is available from AT&T for $100 with a 2-year agreement plan. And some of you may be thinking, “Why get this phone for $100, when I can get a smartphone for free?” Well, chances are, that smartphone probably sucks, as Sydney puts it.