HTC Wildfire S review

Posted on 07-07-2011 | By: david | 

Category : HTC

Tags:

Marketed by HTC as the smartphone for those on a tight budget, or the low cost version of the HTC Desire. The HTC Wildfire however, doesn’t skimp on specification. This budget priced touch screen handset runs the Android 2.1 operating system with the neat HTC Sense user interface and comes with the same processing power as the HTC Hero. The 3.2 inch QVGA capacitive screen works well with the optical trackpad work for easy navigation and the 5 megapixel camera with LED flash is one of the best. The social networking integration is awesome on the Wildfire, with facebook integrated into everything from calendar and home screens through to caller ID.

In appearance terms the HTC wildfire looks a lot like a compact version of the HTC Desire, but although the Wildfire is small, its not tiny like the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini for instance, but at just 118g in weight the Wildfire is usefully compact. Despite the small size, the HTC Wildfire looks grown-up (unlike the children’s toy looks of its predecessor, the HTC Tattoo) , feels solid to hold and is available in a range of classy colour schemes.

The screen on the HTC Wildfire is 3.2 inches, smaller than the largest most expensive smart phones but larger than many competitors with none of the problems associated with capacitive touch screens such as difficult icon selection – in this format 3.2 inches seems to be a good compromise between size and usability. goodness. However if you’re used to a smartphone with a larger screen you may be slightly disappointed.

The HTC Wildfire is simply a budget phone that doesn’t look cheap, featuring a slick and fast web browser (with Flash content) an excellent camera with LED flash, responsive capacitive touch screen and all the best of HTC Sense with particularly brilliant social network integration. The only real downsides for the attractive pricing are that the screen is perhaps a little small for watching videos and the media player, while good, is not brilliant. Not a lot of downside really considering the low price for a budget version of the brilliant HTC Desire which is almost as good! You can get the HTC Wildfire free on a contract for around £10 per month – try doing that with an HTC Desire or any of its main competitors! The Wildfire offers much of the top of the range smartphone performance, for a fraction of the price so is likely to be a big seller in the UK this year.

Samsung Galaxy Ace review

Posted on 07-07-2011 | By: david | 

Category : Mobile Phones, Samsung

Tags:

If you imagine a Samsung Galaxy S 2 that’s been cut in half, essentially that’s the Samsung Galaxy Ace! The Korean company Samsung has created a compact, stylish smart phone that also looks an awful lot like the iPhone 4. The Samsung Ace is already in stores and selling well. The Ace borrows from the simple but sophisticated image that defines handsets such as the iPhone, with its smooth glossy front and a grippy back cover. The 3.5 inch screen and squarish casing definitely looks similar to the iPhone 4, but only superficially as the chassis on the Samsung Galaxy Ace is mostly plastic rather than the metal of the Apple product. Despite that the Ace still feels solid and high quality but is surprisingly light at just 113g.

The 320×480 pixel screen isn’t as sharp as on more expensive smart phones, but it’s quick, responsive and very usable. Small text on web pages can be difficult to read but zooming in and out is quick and intuitive, in no small way thanks to multi touch support. The screen is a simple LCD type, not the AMOLED type Samsung is becoming more well known for. Never the less, this screen looks bright and sharp even under bright lights. One advantage of a small screen is increased battery life, the Galaxy Ace battery lasts a couple of days easily between charges even with heavy use calls, WiFi and GPS all running!

The power of the Samsung Galaxy Ace is the Google mobile software operating system, Android 2.2 Froyo. It’s not actually the latest version with phones running version 2.3.3 available in shops already. But this 2.2 version still has all the best features of the Android operating system in a well proven version, so most probably wont miss the extra features available on the newer versions.

The Android web browser featured on the Galaxy Ace is fantastic, is playing pages in the same way as they would look on a desktop PC or laptop. Unfortunately, the Ace doesn’t support Flash, but at least there’s a YouTube app to get your videos(but the BBC iPlayer is currently not supported at all). Despite the lack of Flash, there are plenty of features to enjoy. Portable hotspots for sharing your 3G data connection with your laptop and other devices over Wi-Fi. Tons of programs and games from the Android Market, 7.2Mbps HSDPA for fast downloads over 3G and Samsung Apps and a 5-mega pixel camera.

LG Optimus 7 Review

Posted on 05-07-2011 | By: david | 

Category : HTC, Mobile Phones

Tags: , ,

The LG Optimus 7,is a Windows Phone 7 phone, therefore, in many ways a review of the Optimus 7 is a review of the software itself, as the hardware on Windows 7 phones is virtually identical. However, the LG Optimus 7 is one of the smallest Windows Phone 7 handsets available in Europe, especially when you compare this compact handset to heavy duty handsets like the HTC HD7 and the Samsung Omnia 7 ( and the only Windows Phone 7 handset currently available with physical as opposed to touch sensitive buttons). Every operating system has its good and bad points, Windows is no different, but most find that in general Windows Phone 7 is a positive experience when mated with the LG Optimus 7.

The very similar Samsung Omnia 7 actually has a bigger and better screen, but the LG Optimus 7 might just trump the Samsung handset in other areas, its certainly one of the most enjoyable phones to use we have come across. While the LG Optimus 7 cant match the contrast or colour saturation of the Samsung Super AMOLED screen, the TFT of the LG Optimus 7 has an advantage in terms of its higher pixel density, which makes smaller text sizes easier to read.

The LG Optimus 7 feels reassuringly well made, with good overall build quality and it feels solid in the hand with no signs of that
“plasticky” cheapness often found in cheaper models such as creaks or squeaks from the handset while in use. When you first power up the LG Optimus 7 you are greeted with the red Vodafone brand by default but this can easily changed in the settings menu. The LG Optimus 7 is a fully loaded smartphone with that 3.8 inch TFT touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera and the acclaimed 1GHz Snapdragon processor chipset with 16Gb of RAM on board. Measuring just 125mm x 59.8mm x 11.5mm with a weight of 140g, the compact dimensions do well to hide the considerable power under the hood.

The combination of Optimus 7 hardware and Windows Phone 7 operating system work perfectly well with applications opening almost instantly and switching between apps happening in a flash. Of course the same can be said about all the other Windows Phone 7 handsets on the market like the HTC HD7, Samsung Omnia 7 and HTC 7 Mozart. Like those other phones, the LG Optimus 7 will also have access to Microsoft’s Xbox Live and Zune services for accessing your favourite music and games on your mobile device.

BlackBerry Bold 9780 Review

Posted on 05-07-2011 | By: david | 

Category : Blackberry

Tags: , , , , ,

BlackBerry is one of the leading brands in the smartphone market, this BlackBerry Bold 9780 handset is packed with exciting features, the most obvious of which are the trademark large display screen with full QWERTY keyboard and this new model has the latest the BlackBerry 6 operating system with the useful Blackberry navigation via optical track pad. In addition the Bold 9780 also has a 5 mega pixel camera with video recording capability and GPS for maps along with 512 MB of memory and a 2Gb media card is included in the retail pack.

The big news with the Bold 9780 is the amazing BlackBerry 6 operating system which integrates social feeds from all major networks, an all new WebKit based internet browser, Blackberry universal Search, an overall richer media experience in general and tons of other features. Other improvements include the camera resolution increasing up to five megapixels from the previous 9700 model’s three (also with 2X digital zoom, video recording and flash), while the appearance has been subtly improved with some changes to the chrome edging and the faux leather. From the front, its the 480×360 pixel screen that really shines out. It’s a crisp and clear display which is gloriously bright (with automatic brightness adjustment). RAM has been increased to 512MB which is great news for the latest Blackberry 6 O.S. and allows it to showcase the new multi tasking and connectivity features.

All the standard features are present and correct such as standard 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, super useful Blackberry applications like BlackBerry Messenger and BlackBerry App World, and of course that sharp 480 x 360 pixels 2.44 inch screen. Beneath the screen are four familiar buttons. On the far left is the green Call button, and to the right of that is BlackBerry Menu key. In the centre we have the optical trackpad.

Research In Motion (RIM) is the award winning company behind the innovative Blackberry brand and this latest model looks like it will continue to build on the success of the Blackberry story. There are of course many BlackBerry Bold 9780 deals being offered by the major networks like O2, Orange, Vodafone, Virgin, T-Mobile & Three Mobile. The BlackBerry Bold 9780 is available in either black or white and is free on many contract deals.

Vodafone Smart review

Posted on 01-07-2011 | By: david | 

Category : Mobile Phones, Vodafone

Tags: , , ,

The Vodafone Smart is one of the cheapest Android smart phones available today – if not the cheapest. Currently retailing for a fraction of the price of some of the better known high end Android devices, at these sort of prices, you can certainly forgive some shortcomings. But can you live with the shortcomings, lets take a look at some of the negatives first.

First of all, at the extremely low retail price on the Vodafone Smart, you have to accept you simply cannot get all the advantages of a top of the range smartphone costing 10 times as much. The first problem with the Vodafone Smart is the processor, its old school and not on par with the best in the market,but that being said, the 528MHz processor seems more than capable in normal everyday use, can you overload it trying to do too much at once, sure – but it doesn’t happen often, many would not even notice at all.

The second problem is no flash support, however this is not a problem unique to the Vodafone Smart, iPhone anyone? The final downside to this handset is the camera is not the best, a basic 2-megapixel unit which harks back to earlier times. But these problems aside, what do you get for your money with the Vodafone Smart? Lets look at some of the more positive aspects of the handset.

Firstly, the Smart does not look cheap, the construction appears solid and expensive. You get a decent capacitive touch screen (although multi touch gestures like the pinch and zoom found on high end devices is a no go), the traditional bank of Android-specific commands is present on the front screen, but in the case of the Vodafone Smart they’re touch-sensitive rather than keys you press (much like the Google Nexus S). In terms of data and connectivity you have GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 Quadband, WiFi and 3G, GPS navigation, Vodafone Mobile Internet with Email and long battery life with standby time of up to 250 hours. In other words, you get an awful lot for your money.

The Vodafone Smart runs on the Android 2.2 Froyo operating system. Although this is not the latest version of Google’s mobile operating system, it is still perfectly capable of running the vast majority of Android applications available. The Smart comes pre loaded with a variety of applications, the most useful of which (bearing in mind the price of the phone ) will be the “pay as you go manager” which allows you to easily keep track of your balance and know when you next need to buy a top-up card.

Essentially all the main smart phone features for a fraction of the price, with the only real drawback being the rather poor camera with no LED flash.

Previous
Next