Android Phones

2011 wasn’t really kind to the Taiwanese manufacturer, HTC, who have an impressive track-record of designing Smartphones that have a class of its own. They almost looked lost in the cut-throat Android competition. After having dominated the Smartphone arena for quite sometime now, things started going from bad to worse with a stiff competition from rivals and apparent suffering from brand dilution, which was a direct result of  hurried launch of handsets (the names of which one could barely remember with similar design/functionality), relying too much on Sense, compromising on carriers, and more important of all being the brand devoid of an iconic flagship model to crush down Samsung’s omnipotent Galaxy S2.  Well, consequently it only led to disastrous results with the revenue and profits going through a massive nose-dive.

Ever heard of the saying “Calm before the Strom”? Well, looks like this would best suit the Taiwanese firm for the rebound that they have managed to make after a rather dull second half of 2011. Likewise, there is supposedly a certain amount of hype created with being the first one to introduce a new technology to consumers and are the ones that would be in the Limelight and carry the credit of introducing it to the customers. Well, last year it was LG that stole the show with unveiling the Optimus 2X (that boasted of a Tegra-2 dual-core processor) and this year it is HTC who is decided to be the showstopper by introducing the Tegra-3 Quad-core processor. The Taiwanese manufacturer has opened this season by launching their One series of handsets, and have not just one, but 3 new handsets up their sleeve – HTC One X, One S and One V.

Now, if you are wondering what is this “One” all about, well it is supposedly the one resolution while on the go to all of the communication, entertainment and organization needs. Right at the top of the One hierarchy sits the HTC One X (the phone in discussion today).  Now let us take a quick peep at some of the things that HTC has managed to whisk into the resume of the One X shall we?  For starters, the 4-plus-1 Tegra-3 makes its debut, while the polycarbonate chassis adds to the solid grip and feel, the second gen 4-7-inch HD resolution S-LCD screen gives users a crystal clear view of the Android v4.0 ICS and Sense 4.0. Hold you gasp right there, since we are not finished yet, in fact we were just getting started! So will the Taiwanese manufacturer succeed in recreating the magic of their Desire all over again? Check it out after the break!

Features

• Ice Cream Sandwich Android v4.0 together with the all new HTC Sense 4.0
• 16-M Colour 4.7-inch Super LCD 2 HD capacitive touchscreen of 720 x 1280 pixels with Gorilla glass
• Quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A9 CPUs, ULP GeForce 2, low-power companion core,       GPU, Nvidia Tegra 3 chipset
• Dual-band 3G and Quad-band GSM support
• 32GB with 1GB RAM storage
• DLNA and Wi-Fi b/g/n
• GPS with A-GPS
• 8Mp snapper that is LED flash equipped with geotagging and face detection together with a 720p front-facing camera for chat purposes
• Stereo FM/RDS
• 1080p/720p video recording @ 30fps with stereo sound
• 5.76 Mbps HSUPA and 21 Mbps HSDPA
• Video support for DivX/XviD
• HTC Locations app
• HTC Portable Hotspot
• HTCSense.com integration

 

Misses

• Dedicated camera key missing
• Battery is not user accessible
• No slot for microSD card seen as well as no alternative option for storage
• 3G video calls is not possible without a third-party app
• Supports MicroSIM only
• Lacklustre video and  image quality together with fiddly video framing

UNBOXING THE ONE X

Looks like HTC has decided to move forward and replace their plain paper packing with a new foam box kind of packaging that comes with rounded edges, wrapped around in a 100% recyclable paper sleeve with biodegradable fabric. It is fairly clear from the printed environment-friendly soy ink that the company is trying its best to Go-Green. Moving on to the contents of the attractively packed box, sadly it isn’t as exciting as the packing itself when you see a pair of cheap –looking headphones staring at you together with the conventional data cable/charger. Obviously, one wouldn’t expect to find a memory card inside as there is no microSD slot in the One X, but you sure will be in for a disappointment if you are looking for a Beats headphones here, because it turns out that the Beats logo on the rear of the handset is just a software tweak that the phone managed to undergo, so you will only have to manage with a pair of ordinary-looking headphones here. Finally, there is this pin that helps with digging out the microSIM tray and that is the last of the contents in the box. The retail package sure does look to be no match for the one that packed the Sensation XE. Well that’s that!

SLEEK DESIGN

We have seen HTC move towards a sleeker chassis ever since the introduction of HTC legend, so it doesn’t surprise us to see the smooth lines and unibody design evolve on to the One X too. Now, let us be very clear about one thing here even before you decide to move on with the review, if you are anti handsets that are really huge occupying a lot of real estate, well, then the One X is not for you. Ironically, the huge positive about the One X is its huge 4.7” screen, which is absolutely stunning engulfing you at the very first sight. It packs a 720p display that is of HD resolution in its chassis which is a meager 8.9-mm thick. And let us not forget the Super IPS LCD 2 technology, which though cannot be compared to the vividness of Samsung’s SuperAMOLED range, sure does have its own way of bringing images and games to life. Guess we are better off leaving the LCD vs OLED comparison and let us just say that the One X doesn’t really disappoint users despite being an LCD.

A big kudos to HTC for crafting a handset with a relatively big screen, sleek thin chassis and maintaining the weight reasonably well, all at the same time –a hard task indeed! In terms of casing, the manufacturer has decided to ditch their all-time favourite metal – aluminium and have went ahead and housed the phone in a polycarbonate shell that is glossy at the sides and matte on the rear. This is to ensure that this giant phone doesn’t really get too heavy at 130g (4.59oz). Truth be told, the polycarbonate body doesn’t look bad at all. On the contrary, it only feels incredibly sturdy and nice to hold. Again, while the polycarbonate shell ensures that it doesn’t interfere with the signal of the handset, incidental scratches only tend to reveal more of the brilliant white. The contoured body of the handset ensures that regardless of a 4.7-inch display and 8.9-mm profile, the phone still fits snug in your palms. Talking of palms, though it is not designed for every other palm out there, we can assure you that it is nowhere near the monstrous size of the Galaxy Note.

Speaking of size, it feels absolutely compact and doesn’t fuss one bit about getting into most of the pockets. Did you think that we were gonna tell you this? No way, you must be kidding right! There is just no way on earth that a 4-7-inch screen is gonna feel compact or light and that is exactly how the One X weighs. It IS bulky on both your hands and your pockets. It sure doesn’t have any regrets about it, because it doesn’t try one bit to feel compact. If anything it flaunts royally all its 130 grams, simply because of the fact that this handset is targeted exclusively at hardcore users, who are more concerned about its functionality than its size.

Moving on to the looks of the HTC One X Android Phone, the white variant looks absolutely stunning and elegant and is one helluva handset to boast of. You will have to see it to believe it. It does seem a little bit thin and carries a sense of elegance, distinct to its other older siblings, which sure did have a premium look, but were thick looking handsets and had manliness written all over them. Getting to the front of the handset, it comes with a nice black glass that kind of frames the display, which actually contributes to the suave retro look. We found the decision of HTC to stick to the capacitive keys beneath the display rather interesting as against on-screen ones. Now, while this makes extra space for the interface to be displayed at any given time, it also carries the hassle of accidental presses, which is more likely. The 1.3Mp front-facing camera sits right above the screen here.

Continuing with our tour of the body, it is free of any complications with even the earpiece speaker being incorporated into its shell. The ambient and proximity sensors can be seen towards the left of the earpiece right above the screen with the 720p front-facing camera on the right. Underneath the earpiece grille sits a tiny status LED. Beneath the screen are the conventional Android keys, which take the capacitive flavour that screams HTC at users. As expected all of the three  haptic-enabled Home, Back and Task switcher keys are fairly responsive and spaciously laid out. With ICS dictating onscreen controls, the tweaked Sense UI requires physical Home and Back controls. Towards the right is where you can see the staple volume rocker – a white bar. The microSIM tray has been hewn into the chassis at the rear, which can be accessed with a metal pin.  There is Power button/headphone socket that sits on the top.  The power key is a solid responsive one that is responsible for waking up the screen, which has also been given a polycarbonate coating (a neat touch), ditching the easily chippable silver paint.

Towards the left is a microUSB port that comes in handy with charging/data transfers, and also doubles up as a Mobile High-Definition Link which can be used to hook your TV up with.

You should be able to output 1080p content into your HDTV direct from your handset, hence buying a MHL adaptor would be a wise thing to do.  On the right of the One X is the volume rocker that is super slim. If you are waiting for us to mention about a shutter key here (particularly with the kind of hype made for the One X camera), well don’t – because there is no such thing here.  Towards the top sits the 3.5-mm audio jack together with the Power/Lock key and a microphone pinhole that is easy enough to be accessed when required and yet pretty much secure from accidental presses.

Towards the rear where the phone slopes down is where one would find the microSIM slot that requires for you to insert a SIM eject tool that comes in the retail box (or a pin would suffice too)  in the hole right next to the slot in order for the microSIM tray to be accessed. Again, the phone’s bottom houses a conventional mouthpiece.

Getting to the rear of the HTC One X Android Phone, there is an 8Mp snapper with a LED flash sitting right next to it. Even as the lens sits atop a bulge, you might want to be cautious about the protective glass, which is prone to be scratched by surfaces that it comes in contact with.  There is a notable protrusion made by the camera from the center of the handset that is further accentuated by a metallic circle. It is worth mentioning here that HTC claims that this is the best ever camera introduced by them – more on that later. Additionally, towards the right one would find a 5-pin connector particularly for those inescapable in-car holsters and docks.

The other elements located at the rear of the handset would be a loudspeaker grille at the bottom together with a Beats audio logo sitting right on top if it. The grille has been designed from 84 individually-drilled holes, it sure does belt out a massive amount of noise. You are better off placing the device face down if you are looking at broadcasting music, as a Sense feature onboard does exactly that upon flipping the phone over during calls. Then again, this doesn’t prevent the lack of bass that we get to witness in most phones, though the One X is one such offering from HTC that has managed to introduce across all apps the Beat Audio Enhancement, thus taking care of the above complaint with this tie-up. It would be pertinent to note here that the audio enhancements are at your disposal only when connected to a pair of headphones and not while using the loudspeaker.

The HTC One X Mobile Phone packs a memory of 32GB with 26GB of access given to users. This gets better with the augmented Dropbox deal that offers an extra 25GB to users registering any of the handsets from the One series. Clocking beneath the Polycarbonate chassis is a NVIDIA +1 quad-core Tegra-3. There is an additional 1GB RAM that is teamed up with the processor  with HTC joining the NFC queue and offering an additional functionality of Android Beam and the same is allowed by the ICS apps.

Gigantic Display

We are indeed highly impressed with the monstrous 4.7-inch display of the One X. Apart from being huge, you can thoroughly enjoy your videos with the awesome 720 x 1280 pixel resolution that it packs. Meaning you get a pixel density of 312ppi making it impossible to spot an individual pixel. The screen’s Super LCD2 technology in contrary to S-LCD panels takes care of glares along with enhancing the viewing angles. Now, the viewing angles sure does look to be fairly good as promised, but the glare factor still remains as with other premium handsets. The colour saturation that the screen treats you with is pretty much similar to an AMOLED experience, which is actually neat in comparison to LCD displays. There are very instances when the colours seem over-saturated, but for the most part the produced visuals are indeed gratifying. Now for those of you, who are very particular, if it makes you feel any better, rest assured as the pixels are arranged in a conventional RGB matrix, so it is bye-bye PenTile.

Prior HTC flagships were often in for too many criticisms for their lack in identity and showing sparse improvement with both design and features. Guess, this time around critics will barely have anything to fret about, as HTC indeed has taken a relatively bold step with the One X. The chassis and screen have gone through an immense makeover (far too better than what the Sensation and XE had to offer), not to mention the processor that has gotten doubled. And how about the 8Mp snapper that is supposedly the best ever from the firm, claims HTC. Long story short – lets give the devil its due, kudos HTC for a well-thought out handset. It sure does feel big, thanks to the mammoth display, yet it manages to retain its elegance and style. Again, the polycarbonate body might not appear fancy, but still feels robust and nice to hold. Last but not least you might want to be aware of the fact that if you are planning to choose the white variant of the One X, beware that it is a real magnet for smudges and fingerprints, so you might want to fork out some extra cash for a case too while purchasing the handset.

Software/Interface

Android ICS 4.0 together with Sense 4.0 Makes good sense

Ticking beneath the HTC One X is Google’s hottest incarnation of Android OS, Ice Cream Sandwich that allows for certain ICS-specific features namely downloading Google Chrome for Android browser (something that is only available in ICS) and Face Unlock. Well, it is not purely Android, as there is a mixture of Sense software that runs on top of it. HTC has also managed to do some tweaks for the Sense 4.0 in an effort to trim down couple of graphical issues in the pervious versions hindering the handsets from performing stuff on the handset. There is an evident success seen in this effort that would be fairly obvious to users doing an upgrade from 3.0 to 3.5; the notification tray, for instance, has decided to ditch the recent app list making space for additional notifications. Yet another evident thing would be the task switcher that is now devoid of a recent app list that is icon-based.

Getting to the interface of the One X, though the overlay looks kind of new it hasn’t really ditched the Sense Android Skin, but just a stripped down variant of the same. With the very old principles, it is just the Android experience that has been tweaked pretty much similar to the other Android handsets clocking the same OS with the inclusion of a wide range of snazzy widgets together with various homescreens that houses all of the widgets. With the screen being tweaked to a HD resolution boasting a whopping 4.7 inches, go ahead and scatter your widgets left, right, centre. Then again, you have a limitation of only 7 scrollable homescreens, and we really doubt if users will have requirements above this.

It is worth mentioning here that the One X has a Tegra 3 Quad-core 1.5Ghz processor ticking inside that takes it to the next level of a power-packed Smartphone. There is also 1GB of RAM that backs it up, which is an amazing slick treat for the fingers. The rotating 3D design is still here and gets apparent when you try flicking the phone right or left in the homescreens. But then looks like the “infinite rotation” has been ditched which also gets apparent when you try getting too far towards the left, it doesn’t let you get any further beyond a point. A simple pinch on the screen gives you an exploded view of the Homescreen and thus allows you to add or delete homescreens by just long pressing the screen.

The new Roboto font together with Ice Cream Sandwich sure does perk up the interface and the appearance making it elegant and rich.  Additionally, there are also some tweaks that have been added, thanks to the new variant of Android; like the Settings for instance can now be accessed via the notification bar that can be summoned by doing a down swipe from the top of any apps screen, as against a dedicated menu key which has been incorporated into the OS.

The Homescreen dock has also undergone some major tweaking that gets rid of the inane Phone and Personalize buttons that is immovable. Obviously most users would prefer having a “Phone” shortcut someplace in the Homescreen and definitely not an enormous one that eats up majority of the real estate of the dock. The revamped dock functions looks more of stock Android v4.0 with majority of the third-party replacements in the Homescreen available in the market (excluding the centre button that pulls up the app draw) almost all icons can be replaced to user’s discretion. Better yet, the icons placed here automatically turns into the 4 app shortcuts seen on your lock screen.

CONNECTIVITY

In terms of connectivity, the One X Smartphone is absolutely worry-free is how we would like to describe it. There is Wi-Fi b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0 onboard together with DLNA support for both server and client for Videos, Music and Images. The reception for the Wi-Fi as well as cell signal looks to be strong with the death grip issue (mentioned above) being taken care of now. Check out this special options screen chalked out by HTC upon being paired with a PC. The options include Disk drive (mass storage), PC charge only, USB tethering (wherein the handset turns into a modem), HTC Sync and Internet pass-through (wherein the phone shares the PC’s internet connection). The Disk Drive and Charge Only comes in handy, chunky and easy-to-press icons as they are used way too often. Getting to the HTC portable hostspot, well this can support as much as eight devices and lets you WPA, WEP or WPA2 hotspot encryption allowing you to enable “allowed users only” to connect or you can leave it open for all, which is supposedly the quickest to setup but not the safest. There is an MHL port onboard the One X, so upon plugging in an MHL dongle it outputs HD video via a conventional HDMI connection. It sure does look to be an amazing experience to watch the handset’s UI being mirrored on the TV particularly with the display’s HD resolution.

ICS Browser looks fairly decent

The One X boasts of an Android browser, which is a latest variant. The stock browser on the One X is devoid of any hiccups when coupled with an overwhelming processing power and a HD display. The webpage enjoys the entire real estate with most of the UI being absent and even in instances when it appears it is just a single bar that consists of a read button, a back button and a conventional dropdown Menu on the right. Additionally, the read key thoughtfully shows web pages that have heavy text in an absolute distraction-free mode that helps with reading. Tabs can be gotten rid off with the X button at the right top corner, but cannot be swiped away from the screen like we do in app switcher. Again, there are incognito tabs on offer too, just in case you are looking at browsing without having a history of the same. Also the Menu options has a toggle that enables or disables Flash with another one that requests for the desktop variant of a site as against the mobile version. Yet another interesting ICS feature would be preloaded search results that the handset believes to be relevant, thus speeding up the entire process.  Last but not least with complete Flash support on the One X, playing Flash videos or playing Flash games is a literal cakewalk and works like a charm,

AUDIO QUALITY

The audio quality on the One X looks amazing. Even as the earpiece looks to be loud and clear, the loudspeaker at the rear also fares extremely well. Kudos to HTC for such appropriate placement of the loudspeaker that beats the Samsung Galaxy Nexus hands down, producing an exceptionally quite and easy-to-muffle audio. Callers tend to hear you easy and nice despite being in a noisy or windy backdrop, which actually speaks high about the handset’s well-tuned noise canceling system that boasts of a dual-mic.

Again, the 3.5-mm headphone jack manages to output crystal clear music that is noise-free that you will be able to easily pick out the low bitrate from tracks. Now, all HTC devices come with the Beats branding (which doesn’t really surprise us, especially with HTC owning 51% of Beats Stakes). What amuses us is the tagline of HTC that says “Amazing Camera, Authentic Sound” because Beats Audio is nothing near authentic. Truth be told, we only find it diverging from the artist’s intentions by giving out a bass boost, which looks to be a trick in various forms that we have witnessed in portable audio products for the last couple of years. Well, nothing against Beats here, it sure does make music more exciting, but if you wish to hear authentic music, then Beats might not be a wise choice. You are better off turning it off and now it is much more easy to do this as it can be toggled from either the notifications tray or Settings even as you are hearing a track. Also it is worth mentioning that with Sense 4.0 and 3.6 (upgraded version of the 4.0) Beats processing is now compatible with any audio app, which indeed is a nice tweak, in contrary to it previously working only with HTC’s apps.

MESSAGING

Texting and typing out lengthy mails on the One X looks to be ok, though the handset doesn’t really look to be your best bet for that purpose. Let us explain why! For starters. despite the huge display that measures 4.7”, the QWERTY keyboard in the portrait is not so big owing to the screen’s aspect ratio. Now would this mean that the keyboard is fairly sizeable at least in the landscape mode? The answer is both Yes and No. Well, it indeed is large, but not unfortunately 4.7” large as the screen is shared by a column of navigational arrows towards the right, and doesn’t let the dedicated letter keys to enjoy the entire real estate. Yet another problem would be, while in the landscape mode even as the keys are evidently big there is barely any spacing between them, making users an easy victim of wrong pressing a key. Additionally, the keyboard’s graphical appearance doesn’t help either as the keys are not of contrasting colour and tend to blend easily with the background color. Furthermore. the letters are lower cased as against the conventional upper casing and to make things worse each key has an alternative function assigned to it, all of which gives a cluttered feel to it. Getting to emails, all possible mail access is available on the One X together with custom IMAP and POP3 accounts, setting up Microsoft Hotmail, Exchange ActiveSync, Gmail and Yahoo mail is a cakewalk here.

CAMERA

Now, we have noticed Smartphone manufacturers take two stances with the camera on their handsets; one is to craft a handset that is image-centric with absolutely no compromises aimed at all the photograph buffs out there. The other would be to use a competent snapper and keep the design simple and bulletproof for just about anyone and everyone to have their share of fun. Looks like HTC has decided to please both the above groups and almost succeeded and for the most part have concentrated on the ease of use of the gadget. We have to agree that HTC has indeed succeeded in delivering an all-round image experience without compromising on the quality with the 8Mp (BSI) backside-illuminated sensor snapper on the One X that boasts of an implausible wide aperture of f/2.0 together with an image processor that they call the ImageChip and autofocus lens. Again, this is supposedly the quickest among the camera phones seen until date that boasts of a 0.7-second startup and 0.2-second delay time respectively between shots beating even the swiftest of the lot, Galaxy Nexus, hands down. Further the package is made complete by the single LED flash that offers up to 5 different intensity levels.

Now even the bestest of best have its own flaws, don’t they? Getting to the cons of this state-of-the art snapper, here are a couple of misses. The most obvious would be a dedicated 2-stage camera button that it lacks and a mechanical shutter key. Yet another concern would be the durability of the glass that covers the optics, in the long run, that is prone to scratches and fingerprints especially with it protruding from the phone’s chassis.

Let us move on to the One X’s camera software that HTC calls ImageSense that we already mentioned above. Well, this sure does play a big role with the imaging gimmicks of the handset packing considerable processing chops even as it supports an array of features like HDR, real-time filters, burst, slow motion video and panorama to name a few. Since we have covered about most of these features in almost all of our reviews, let us get straight those functionalities that the One X specializes in. Firstly, the handset makes no distinction between video and photo modes (also mentioned above) and you are most welcome to shoot a still or moving image anytime just with the tap of the on-screen shutter key. Meaning you are allowed to capture 3264 x 1840 pixels widescreen 8Mp images even as you are recording your videos. Even better you can now grab 1920 x 1088-pixeled HD frames from existing videos during playback too.

Moving on, check out the array of Instagram-like filters that includes depth of field and vignette effects that can be tweaked and applied to snaps both in real-time or after the event. Also there are a plethora of adjustments on offer for both the gallery and camera apps prior to shooting and while editing later on that includes saturation, sharpness and contrast. There are also manual settings to top these in the form of white balance, ISO, exposure level etc.

The One X highly impresses you with its low-light performance, thanks to the backside illuminated sensor together with the rapid f/2.0 lens that gathers tons of light. Equally impressive are the HDR night shots that prove to be truly magical. Then again, the software depends a little too much on noise reduction with extreme low lighting conditions leading to obvious loss of detail and owing to the absence of assist light, the autofocus often tussles in dark requiring a couple of touch-to-focus attempts prior to obtaining a lock. Images look fabulous in almost all conditions, but a closer look reveals the yearn for a sensor that boast of a high-quality lens and wider dynamic range, something similar to the Carl Zeiss optics on the N8.

1080p videos with stereo audio and continuous autofocus @30 fps are captured by the One X in a silky smooth manner. For the most part they look sharp and sound clear, but for some weak video compression artifacts noted. Also the automatic gain control is way too quick to react to wind noise, but that is not really a point of concern here. You might want to watch out the 4-second delay that happens between tapping the onscreen video capture button and the time the recording actually happens, so you might end up missing out some couple of firsts, if you don’t prepare accordingly.  One last tip before we end the video/camera session would be check out the neat slow motion trick that this shooter is capable of.

MAPS AND APPS

HTC LOCATIONS AND GOOGLE MAPS HELP YOU FIND YOUR WAY

The GPS receiver onboard the HTC One manages to get a GPS lock in less than a minute even as the A-GPS is switched off. Again if you are looking at just a rough idea about your current location, that is within 150 meters or so, then the Wi-Fi lock and Cell ID comes to your rescue which is fairly rapid too. As always Google Maps being a default package in any Android handset, there is voice-guided navigation on offer for some countries and there is a list of instructions for the others. Go ahead and plan your routes or search for POIs nearby or as always check out the cool Street View too if you wanna get explorative.

The One X also packs an app called HTC Locations that has been developed in sync with TomTom and Route 66, the former being the software provider and the latter provides maps. The app allows downloading of maps for free or you can even choose to cache maps while you browse (the cache size is adjustable). Well, Google maps are cache enabled too, but the best thing about Locations is you wouldn’t have to be online for it calculate new routes, whereas Google requires you to be online for it offer rerouting.  There is voice-guided navigation offered by Locations too, but you will have to have a license for that. There is a 30-day free trial version of worldwide navigation. You will have to shell out a hefty ?40 for a life-time license for Western Europe and 30 dollars for the US. There are monthly and annual subscriptions too. Again, there are speed camera alerts and traffic information too that comes at a price of ?10 a year for Western Europe with free extra voices. Locations is available in both 2D and 3D views, which is fairly convenient, as it gives you a better idea of what lies ahead. Working with it is pretty much easy and similar to Google Maps with POIs and 3D buildings covered too. Again, pinch zoom works with both 3D and 2D and there is also the compass mode. The camera can be rotated manually too using the fingers.

APPS

In terms of apps, well, the HTC One X Android OS Phone has far too many of them inbuilt for us to even start with, but stuff like the weather forecast beaming at you as you pick your phone in the morning with a hot cup of coffee or even the fact that you are allowed to utilize the internet radio when you are within the music player sure does place the One X in a seamless category.

Now, we can understand users gripe against bloatware (pre-installed apps that might seem annoying), but guess HTC have just about got the right mix of things. They have partnered with a good number of people and have made all earnest efforts in expanding the handset’s functionality of the phone, like the Dropbox, for instance. Yet another similar thing would be the EverNote, which simplifies life by taking care of your appointments.  Likewise, there is “Note” another nifty app, though you might not find it as cool as the iPhone’s geo-locational functionality, it sure does prove to be handy to write, record and connects with you calendar, swiftly keeping track of your agenda while on the go.

Car Mode has undergone some tweaking too by way of large icons for apps like Maps, Phone, Internet radio and Music together with a chunky icon for the clock and weather and a couple of other easy to access widgets. A left and right swipe brings up apps in a chunky font like say upcoming events, a fairly handy mode, may we add. Well, the list could go one for a whole day, but wouldn’t it be more fun if you explore some for yourself and decide on what’s fun and what’s annoying. By and large, we only think that HTC has gotten a perfect mix of stuff when it comes to apps.

STORAGE/NFC

With HTC partnering with Dropbox for the entire One series, all of the handsets pack 25GB of Dropbox storage that is free for two years. Onboard storage has been kept at 32GB, but it lacks a microSD slot. So if you are looking at expanding your memory space then might as well use your virtual Dropbox. After having connected the Dropbox account to the handset, automatic syncing can be enabled such that all of your videos and photos get auto uploaded. Well, it might not prove to be as rapid as fetching files via the USB, but it sure does seem to be a nifty idea to back up your files and gives you some peace of mind.

Again, there is support for contactless NFC too on the One X, meaning you are also allowed to swipe this beast on some contactless reader and get yourself a quick bite, but then again it sure does seem silly in using a whopping slab as this when life can be made more easy with a flimsy debit/credit card or even a handful of coins for that matter.

RECEPTION

In terms of in-call quality and reception, the One X experiences no hiccups whatsoever and is fairly loud and audible. But then, it lacks out of the box 3G video call support, but you can always have this installed via a third party app. The dialer keeps you apprised of your recent calls and your favorites in the contact list beneath. As you start to type in the keyboard, contacts get filtered either via phone number or name. Again, there are the conventional accelerometer-based tricks on the handset like turning the handset amidst a call enables the loudspeaker, picking the phone while in Quiet Ring minimizes the ringtone’s loudness, and there is a boost in ringtone volume while in the Pocket mode that helps you hear your phone if you have it in your purse or pocket.

BATTERY LIFE

When it comes to battery life, we did have strong suspicions about how well the One X would manage to hold up, particularly with the handset clocking at 1.5GHz together with a bright and snazzy 4.7-inch display definitely doesn’t give you the impression that it is going to pull through a day on just a single charge. There is a non-user-replaceable 1800 Li-Ion battery that fires up the One X and there are no official endurance ratings provided by HTC for the same. But then, it looks to be an amazing performer when it comes to some heavy usage and goes on up to a decent 4-1/2 hours before dying its death; with heavy usage we mean non-stop video streaming and the screen brightness and volume kept to a maximum, together with connecting to both Wi-Fi and 3G. Again with moderate usage, the phone supposedly yields 13 plus hours before giving in. apparently, the AT&T variant of the phone with the dual-core S4 Snapdragon processor and LTE is supposed to fare much better than this. It would also be of help to know that the One X tends to get extremely warm if you trying pushing your luck too much with the Tegra 3 silicon. Though it doesn’t get hot to the extent that it starts getting uncomfortable, but it gets pretty much significant on the rear below the 8Mp snapper and on the display. It is actually nothing new for smartphones to turn warm with gaming, but it is actually kind of weird to note the display getting noticeably warm when you try to tap or swipe.

VERDICT

Well, HTC’s latest attempt sure does look to be a big hit and is fairly impressive too. The One X doesn’t really fit the compact category particularly for a screen of its size, but it sure is a powerhorse with a quad-core chipset ticking beneath. The camera might have couple of flaws and Sense UI also needs a wee bit of fine-tuning alright, but then the word perfection doesn’t really exist in the Smartphone dictionary does it? What really matters is the One X manages to deliver in places where it really matters by way of offering solid user experience together with a screen that is picture perfect that sure is a joy to use and look at. It is really hard not to recommend the One X particularly for all the gadget geeks with fat wallets, huge hands, impossible power requirements and a voracious lust for flaunting their cutting-edge gadgets.

Then again, it is not all that a rosy picture too right? The battery life is a frustrating issue that forces you to be frugal with your usage, if you want to get through the day. And let us not forget the lack of a microSD slot as well. Well 32Gb sure does look to be ample, but Android users would love to be able to hot-swap given a chance. So ultimately it boils down to this right? Are you looking at a phone that rewards you for exploring its features? Are you okay with being a bit forgiving when it comes to battery life? Well, if the answer is yes, then you have found the perfect match for your requirement, search no more! All of this aside, it would prudent for competitors to step up a little on their gears, if they are looking at keeping pace with HTC’s revival spree for 2012.

HTC One X Android Phone – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	HTC
Model Name	One X
Dimensions (H x W x D)	134.36 x 69.9 x 8.9 mm
Weight	130 g (4.59oz)
Form Factor	Candy Bar
Available Colours	Black, White
Network	2G: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 3G: HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
Released	February 2012
Hardware	OS: Android v4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Sense 4 UI System Chip: Tegra 3 Processor: Quad-core. 1500MHz Graphic Processor System Memory: 1024MB RAM Built-in Storage:32GB
Display Size	4.7 inches
Display Features	Resolution: 720 x 1280 pixels Technology: S-LCD-2 Pixel density: 312 ppi Touchscreen: Capacitive, Multitouch Features: Light sensor, Proximity Sensor, Scratch-resistant glass Protection: Corning Gorilla glass
Sound	Alert Types: Vibration, MP3, WAV ringtones
Memory	Card Slot: No Internal: 32GB (26GB user available) storage, 1GB RAM
Connectivity	WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/a Bluetooth: 4.0 USB: v2.0 Connector: microUSB Features: Mass Storage Device, USB charging Headphones Connector: 3.5-mm jack HDMI: via microUSB DLNA, NFC, Tethering, MHL, Computer sync and OTA sync
Camera	8Mp 3264 x 2448p Flash: LED Aperture size: f/2.0 Features: BSI, auto focus, smile detection, video stabilizer, high dynamic range mode, geo-tagging, face detection, Exposure/ISO control, digital zoom, multi-shot, panorama, scenes, macro mode, self-timer Camcorder: 1920 x 1080 (HD 1080) (23fps) Features: Video calling Front-facing camera: 1.3 Mp
Messaging	SMS (threaded view), MMS, email, Push email
JAVA	Via JAVA MIDP emulator Beats Audio microSIM card support only Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic SNS integration TV-out via AV/MHL link MP4/H.263/H.264/WMV player MP3/eAAC+/WMA/WAV player YouTube, Calendar, Gtalk, Google search, Maps, Gtalk Document viewer/editor Predictive text input Voice memo/dial/commands
Phonebook	Unlimited entries, Caller Groups, Multiple numbers per contact,Search by first and last name, Picture and Ring ID
Multimedia	Music Player Filter By: Playlists, Albums, Artists Features: Album Art Cover, Background Playback, Beats Audio Radio: Fm Speakers: Earpiece And Loudspeaker YouTube Player
Organiser	Calendar, Alarms, Document Viewer, (office 2007, 2003, PDF), Calculator, Flashlight (camera flash)
Internet Browsing	Yes, HTML, Adobe Flash
Built-in Online Service	Picasa, YouTube (upload)
Location Based Services	Type: A-GPS support
Other Features	Sensors: Accelerometer, Compass, Gyroscope Voice dialing, voice commands, voice recording Notifications: Haptic Feedback, Music Ringtones (MP3), Polyphonic ringtones, Silent Mode, Flight Mode, Speakerphone, Vibration Additional microphone for noise cancellation
Battery	Standard battery Li-Po, 1800mAh
Warranty	1 year

Motorola, the American Telecom giant is back with a big bang this time around with yet another Android handset adding another phone to the existing DROID line-up. Looks like they have unveiled too many phones too very fast and the next one to join that list would be the Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX. Well, this one looks to be more special as there is a 3,300 mAh battery ticking inside the Smartphone, branding it the UNTOUCHABLE among the existing LTE handsets. The Maxx is actually something what the RAZR should’ve been, but unfortunately wasn’t. We have a good reason to think so, because off late it looks like Smartphone manufacturers are in a big hurry to release a string of phones and the DROID lineup of phones Droid looks to be no exception here. The lengthy string of DROIDS released with, if anything, trivial upgrades is a good enough proof of this ongoing trend. That said, the Maxx looks to be an exception to this, as it carries the potential to not just boast of an upgrade, but looks to be a true game-changing handset. It has on offer what is generally expected by default of any Smartphone today, if it wants to brand itself high-end – not just features, but the power to back it up. Boasting of a faster processor or bigger screens doesn’t matter one bit anymore if it lacks the battery power to back it up.

On the flip side, what do you get out a 3,300 mAh battery, which is roughly about double the size as the original version and an extra 2-mm fat included? Grudge of the existing users! Don’t get us wrong here, as we find this move absolutely ridiculous – to follow suit one of their biggest hit model with a near identical and equally impressive handset, but with twice the battery life – all for a couple of hundreds more? If this doesn’t sound ridiculous what does? While we appreciate the intention of providing Android fans with an amazing LTE experience, how does it justify the disappointment of hundreds of existing users who have invested on the original barely 2 months ago?
Well, aside from all the above ranting, we do appreciate Motorola for having pushed boundaries to the extent possible in achieving something that other manufacturers have only dreamt about until date. Looks like they have made the competition even tougher (not that the Android arena was any easy) proving to both consumers and manufacturers that Yes! They have managed to fit such mammoth batteries in our phones making them last for a day or if anything more! So, having had enough of hype (or ranting should we say), let us dive straight into our review, Shall we?

Build/Design & Feel

Measuring 130.7 x 68.9 x 9 mm with a weight of 145g, the Droid Razr Maxx is nothing short of being an identical twin of its predecessor RARZ with the same layout and semi-angular shape and even the same top mounted ports for a micro-HDMI and micro-USB. Only when you flip it over will you notice that evident physical change – the hump. While the RAZR came with a hump at the top where the 8Mp camera nestled, the Maxx is plain and smooth from top to bottom. This helps with accommodating the larger battery, which cashes in some extra brownie points for the Maxx. Yeah! This does mean it makes it a little bit thicker than the RAZR at 0.35,” but this can barely be called thick, as it is still sleeker than the iPhone 4S and pretty much the same dimensions as the Infuse 4G of Samsung’s. Looks like Motorola did manage to squeeze in a monster battery by filling in that hump. A clever design call, as it gives the Maxx a more balanced feel with that hump gone and despite it sporting a thicker profile. Again, the bigger battery also makes it a bit heavy at 5.1oz in comparison to the original RAZR which weighed a 4.4oz, but guess that really isn’t much significant for a battery that is twice the size of the predecessor and almost 1400mAh extra than any LTE handset for that matter. It features a shiny dark gray frame together with the huge Gorilla Glass screen. This time around the woven Kevlar-checkered rear panel curves minimally slanting more naturally towards the bottom of the phone as against that big fat chin that we saw in its predecessor, which was nearly double the width of the otherwise thin handset. It sure is a treat for the eyes, the Kevlar design, we mean, same that is used in making football helmets. Well, it definitely wouldn’t take a bullet for you, but it does manage to keep scuffs and scratches at bay. Motorola claims that the inner frame is made of stainless giving it more sturdy feel. Check out this yet another durability feature – nanotechnology coating that was also featured in the Droid RAZR. It safeguards the phone’s innards from clumsy spills and moisture. Then again, it is not water resistant, so forget it if you are planning to take it to the pool with you! Again, the Maxx gets even tougher with the Corning Gorilla Glass display that has a scratch-resistant surface which is chemically treated.

The Motorola Droid Razr Maxx phone sports a weird angular design with the components like the Power and Lock key taking their cues from the “Milestone” range with gold-coated ridges making it simpler to find. Similar to other gadgets, the phone’s front has been kept sparsely populated with just the 1.3Mp front-facing camera and the conventional Android keys. As always we are happy to see the Search key that makes like easier in searching anything and everything from Music to e-mails.

Moving on to the top of the gadget, it sports 3 ports one would be the 3.5-mm headphone jack, another one for the microUSB port and the last one is the mini HDMI lead. Then again, we are not a great fan of the plastic-y sides that sort of look cheap. On closer examination, the Kevlar rear might seem like expensive carbon fiber to an amateur’s eye. We actually liked the idea of having used such a material on a phone’s rear. It might not be grippy or pleasant to hold, but it is sturdy and looks neat.

Getting to the rear, while many may crib about the non-removable battery, it actually is a plus by way of giving the rear a much cleaner look with no doors or latches to interrupt the back. The unibody design of the phone evidently is to protect the super slim fort-factor, which also means you have no access to the battery or no trying to take the rear off.  Both the microSD and LTE SIM that are normally tucked away underneath the battery are located beneath a door on the side while the battery itself is sealed away safe from users. You will need to pull down a small flap on the sides in order to pop in the SIM or the microSD, which is absolutely a cakewalk.

Battery swapping is a big no-no here and in case of battery issues you might have to return the phone or if it totally wears out, the phone is no less than a paperweight. Then again, by the time such a thing happens, the RAZR will be a thing of the past. Thanks to the march of “technology.” The plastic door covering the microSD and SIM looks kind of flimsy and we wouldn’t be too surprised if it broke off post couple of months of rough use. The same goes true for the plastic-y volume controls located on the other side, it sadly gives a cheap lightweight feeling to this otherwise incredibly crated handset. Also the Motorola logo on the top could have been of a better quality as it looks like it is just matter of time before you can scratch it away totally. Getting to the camera button of the Maxx, well there is no button to speak of, but the 8Mp snapper is joined by a bright single LED flash on the rear together with a speaker grille, which is capable of making hell of a noise for an opening as small as this.

The design overall is a neat one with a robust built and fairly comfy to use. Yes, it is hefty, but thin, with a heck of power packed and is comfortable to be worked with.

Screen

The Maxx packs a huge 4.3” qHD screen, which looks kind of oddly designed to our eyes with the display being surrounded by a huge amount of chassis. Meaning even at 4.3” it seems a bit smaller when compared to similar sized screens. Well, this doesn’t interfere in any with the SuperAMOLED technology used and it proves to be top-notch as we are talking 960 x 540 pixel qHD resolution here with crisp and clean colours. It has great outdoor visibility and like any other Super AMOLEDs boasts of a great contrast too. Then again, the only gripe here would be the PenTile matrix of the unit because the Galaxy S2’s display still manages to look sharp, despite its low resolution.

Operating System

While the TI OMAP 4430 ticking inside the Maxx wouldn’t really be the cutting-edge processor in the Smartphone arena, its dual-core 1.2GHz looks to be more than what you could ask for even for the most demanding gadget fanatic. Retaining the same 1GB RAM and 1.2 GHz dual-core from its predecessor, the Maxx manages to score a 2700 average on the Quadrant benchmark test outshining majority of the phones in the Smartphone arena.  It sure does prove to be fast enough by not just running the games and apps, but making sure that you even get to play HD video content via the HDMI without any bog down. Now Android users might still be able to find better screens to view their much adored OS, but wouldn’t possibly succeed in finding a super thin 4G LTE Smartphone like the Maxx. If it makes users feel any better, there is improvement peeping out the horizon as Motorola promises an Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) update that is due by mid 2012. Until then folks, there is still a lot you get to gain on the current Android platform. There is also the MOTOBLUR customization on board, which though is not really our favorite Android ingredient, isn’t really that annoying too.  Well, long story short as much as Motorola has learned to update their screen technology, they are yet to design a UI that can take advantage of it.

User Interface

There are the conventional customizable 5 Home screens that you get to choose from with couple of shortcuts for Messaging, Phone Dialer, Camera and the Main Menu that runs along the bottom. Punching the Home button while in stand-by pops out a view of all of the Home screens all at once, akin to the Sense UI in HTC.  Then there is the Lock Screen that displays conventional info like Date, Clock and Battery Status. Swiping the lock from left to right unlocks the phone and the Ringer/Vibrate function can be toggled from here that takes you straight to the Camera app. Again, we are a big fan of the virtual keyboard on the RAZR and we are glad to see that in this handset too, with a spacious keyboard and greatly responsive light haptic feedback. You also get to choose between the default keyboard or Swype, if you happen to be one of those one-handed typing Pros.

Camera and Video

The 8Mp snapper of the Droid Razr Maxx is pretty much similar to the one that we saw on the Bionic, capable of shooting 1080p video that has a single LED flash producing similar results.  Photos shot in broad daylight outdoors look to be decent, although colors look a wee bit mute. Indoor shots under artificial lighting seem acceptable while you can evidently detect some noise in pictures without the flash. Surprisingly, the snapper is capable of taking some very good macro shots. While it gets easier to fire off couple of shots in quick succession – thanks to short shutter lag, the auto focus doesn’t really keep pace with taps and has trouble zeroing in on targets.
In terms of video performance, the Maxx does an above average job. Despite a 1080p 30-second clip being compressed to an amazing 59.3MB, the video still manages to look reasonably crisp. Captures happen with a decent amount of detail in shadows with color reproduction also looking good. The image stabilization feature of the camera, although far from perfect, certainly helps in making videos look tolerable, particularly those shot by people prone to shaky hands. You are also allowed to tweak the pair of mic on-board the Maxx between various configurations, the most handy being Wind Reduction that cancels out inappropriate noise especially when you are trying to narrate from behind the lens.

Features

There is a whole host of Android offerings on the Maxx with all staples that includes a couple of surprises too like the Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth v4.0 (supporting new generation low-power accessories) together with a mobile hot-spot connectivity that turns the Maxx into a modem for as many as 8 Wi-Fi-enabled gadgets. Then again, the mobile hot-spot feature comes at an extra monthly cost over and above your data and voice plans. Also on-board are the standard selection of Google services and apps and most of them come loaded namely Gtalk, Google Search with voice, YouTube, Google Books, Google Maps with Navigation, Places and Latitudes and Gmail. By way of Phone and Organizer it includes an Alarm Clock, Calendar, File Manager, Calculator, Voice Command Support, Speakerphone and Task List. When it comes to Pre-installed Apps, options galore with both paid and free software and services, to name a few – Amazon’s Kindle, Let’s Golf 2, Blockbuster, Netflix, Madden NFL 12, Slacker Radio VideoSurf and MotoPrint. There are also couple of Verizon’s added bloatware (for US consumers) like Verizon IM, Device Setup, NLF Mobile, My Verizon Mobile, VZ Navigator, VCast Tones, Visual Mobile and Verizon Video to name a few. Frankly THE most handy widget in our opinion would be the “My Verizon Data” that sits by default right on the Homescreen warning you every now and then of your data usage and thus saving you from being throttled with extra charges.

Did You Know The Maxx is Also Government and Corporate Friendly?

Aren’t most of us of the opinion that you might need a BlackBerry to come to your rescue for both Public/Private sector mobile security? Well, Motorola begs to differ here! The Maxx also boasts of Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync support, Contacts, Calendar and not to mention the 140-2 encryption for government-grade FIPS e-mail. Now if you think that a little more of security wouldn’t hurt, then check out these more rigorous features like the PIN Lock, Device and SD Card Encryption, Remote Wipe together with Wi-Fi and Remote Disable and Enable of camera option too. Again, if you are looking at tweaking that doc on the go, then the Maxx offers you the QuickOffice app that proves to be of great help in editing or creating docs. Also on-board are the portable PC experience provided by Webtop (we’ll get to that shortly) and the Citrix’s GoTo Meeting Video Conference App

Premium connectivity

Akin to its predecessor, the RAZR Maxx also has whole host of connectivity options than you can possibly imagine and offers quad-band HSDPA and GSM/GPRS/EDGE reaching potential speed limits of up to 5.76 Mbps HSUPA and 14.4 Mbps HSDPA. By way of wireless local connectivity, there is dual band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n together with support for DLNA and Bluetooth v4.0 with LE. In terms of wired connectivity, there are the microHDMI and microUSB ports. Unfortunately there is no HDMI cable included in the retail box and with an appropriate cable you get to hook your Maxx with an HDTV. Again, the microHDMI also proves to be handy with the docks too, but we’ll get to that shortly. There is a MOTOPRINT app onboard the Maxx that helps in getting it connected to a printer via the Wi-Fi network and you can just print away all those office docs, emails, contact info, PDFs, calendar entries etc. You will just have to find the printer using the manual search, automatic search, homegroup search or use the other options.

The phone acts as an Wi-Fi hotspot too, all you need to do is choose your network or have the SSID broadcast disabled, choose the type of security and password together with the  advanced settings like the DHCP settings and network channel. Also do not forget to choose the option that turns off the hotspot feature automatically, if it finds it inactive for a period of time thus preventing a battery drain.

MotoCast is an extra app that allows you to access stored files in the PC (lets you choose the folders) via the internet. So now all that you need would be a data connection and you can easily grab files from your PC anywhere anytime. Again, the same (files) can be accessed via any browser by directing it to the MyMotoCast.com – a very useful app for the absent-minded huh?

Docking options

Remember the kind of excitement that the Laptop Dock caused with the Motorola Atrix, well it is back again, only that there is a lot more on offer with the Maxx. Your phone takes the shape of a 14-inch Android running netbook with the Lapdock 500 Pro together with a full length QWERTY keyboard and a huge touch pad. It also features an Ethernet port and a video camera on the screen’s top, 2 USB ports, VGA port connecting projectors, and a slot for SD card. It doesn’t stop here though – The interface provided by the Webtop app is way better and suits a laptop form-factor as against the conventional Android UI. It makes things easy for you by way of windows, an app shortcut dock towards the screen’s base (pretty much similar to Mac) together with a Firefox browser that is desktop-grade (not a mobile variant).

Also on offer are two more docks – the HD and HD station dock both of which along with acting as a charger for your  handset, conveniently hook up to external speakers, connects your PC or a HDTV via the HDMI port together with using the Firefox desktop app. The only difference here would be that there are 3 USB ports on the HD station too, that can be used to hook up a mouse, keyboard or be used as an external storage also, as you may please.

Nice Web Browser that has Flash Onboard

It would be fair to categorise the Maxx’s browser interface as fairly modest because all you get on the screen aside from the webpage would be the bookmark, address bar and share icons. Upon scrolling even those vanish leaving the whole 4.3-inch screen to the web page, but for the notification area that is pretty much visible. Upon hitting the Menu Key, out pops 6 virtual buttons. You are allowed to open fresh tabs, switch tabs, view bookmarks, refresh page and move forward with the last button revealing additional options like copy, text, find etc. There are two kinds of Zoom supported by the browser – Multi-touch pinch zoom and double tap zoom, both of which look swift and fluid. Text reflow is also here ensuring that the text always fits the screen. Again, the browser supports Flash too and with all that computing power inside of it, you get to watch a 720p embedded video right from within the browser. On the flip side, 1080p Flash videos would be asking for more, but the same is compensated by playing Flash games which it is very good at.

Multimedia

Now getting to the strong point of the Maxx – Media, be it high-quality video playback or an innovative music player, you will love using the Maxx as your everyday portable media player. For starters, the music player though might not seem to be out of the world sonically, it certainly is innovative with the kind of features it packs making it stand out from similar Android media players. To start with, it takes the form of a portal as against a plain list of music. Right from streaming over DLNA or browsing the internet radio or diving right into your collection of music, the task is kept as simple as possible. Again, nothing extraordinaire in terms of layout, as you might find the album covers littered everywhere on screen with most of them being blank, as not everyone would be a music buff and update their collections. Again, the option to tap is nothing short of being 1977-styled. But once you have found your way into the player, you are not just allowed to listen to a track, but will also be displayed the lyrics as well. It is stunningly infallible in picking out the right song, is a real fun thing to have, although it is just matter of time before you turn it off, we suspect, as you might be more interested in enjoying the song. It makes maximum use of the Android music player and though it doesn’t really care about being fancy, it does exactly what it is build for – shuffle songs, set up playlists, skip tracks – it is all a literal cakewalk. And what’s more is this neat widget sitting on the lock screen that displays album art and allows for skipping through songs without the need to head to the phone.

When it comes to Audio quality is kind of dicey to give a ruling here, as it looks fairly good on the whole, but changes drastically based on the buds attached. Don’t be surprised if it sounds awfully dreadful because that is what you get with cheaper headphones, but things start turning rosy with decent options – so there isn’t much option but to invest; Sorry guys!

As expected the video performance on the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx Android Phone lives up to our expectations, thanks to the Super AMOLED screen. There is fabulous colour rendering together with deep contrast ratio that is in par with the Samsung Galaxy S2. There is one gripe though, it is devoid of a dedicated video portal. Meaning you will have to hop onto the Gallery to take a glimpse of your videos in the thumbnail format. Not an ideal choice when you are not really sure what your movie looks like in comparison to another. Also the player is kind of basic with a timeline that scrubs Rewind and Forward together with the Play/Pause options. Well, not really an awful thing, as this is exactly what you might want to do while watching a movie or you could opt for a couple of third party options available in the Android Market, namely the MVideoPlayer, if you really want to see the difference.

On the flip side, the camera roll on the Maxx is kind of enhanced as against the boring grid layout of pictures and pulling of snaps from social networks also adds flavor to it. The Cover Flow format would be a nice style to flaunt your photos to friends from Facebook, though there really might not be so many snaps to choose from, but is a nice idea though.

Maps – Guiding you the Google Way

The RAZR Max packs the A-GPS technology together with a GPS receiver. It takes less than a minute for it to get a satellite lock (without the A-GPS we mean, else the lock happens much faster) and doesn’t really face any problems from then on. It packs a version 5.8 Google Maps out of the box, which is the app of choice offering the most recent touch optimizations like 2 finger tilt and rotation, also featuring POI search, navigation and much more. There is support offered for 3D buildings too (for locations with such eye-candy availability). The coolest part of the maps looks to be the Street View mode. With Street View being available in the area of your choice, you get to enjoy a 360-degree view of the backdrop. With the digital compass turned on, it almost gives you a virtual tour of a location. Google maps gets complete with Navigation, which is onboard too, wherein voice-guidance is free. But then, availability is limited with not all countries having that option and also depends a lot on your internet connection or the annoying caching of maps (you might have to load the entire root onto your phone). Regardless, there is a good amount of guidance with your current location appearing on screen helping you reach your destination eventually, provided you have a co-pilot to read out the instructions for you.

Battery Life

We have all had just one complaint when it comes to almost any Smartphone in this planet, something that each from Sony to Apple Mobile or the other companies in between have struggled with – battery life. Those of you hooked to your phones with frequent texting will probably be able to relate better and know exactly where we are getting at. Majority of the phones don’t really last a day of average use, let alone intense usage in terms of occasional gaming and incessant phone calls. Well, that wouldn’t be the case anymore with the RAZR Maxx that has the best ever solution for battery life. Because Motorola has simply picked up the RAZR Maxx still the fastest and sleekest phone till date and filled in the void with a super preposterous-sized battery, 3300mAh. It is double the size of the iPhone 4S’ that has a 1432mAh battery ticking inside or the Galaxy Note (that is upcoming) from Samsung that boasts of a 5.4-inch screen. It is a MONSTER of a battery, we tell you.

Let us give you a better sense of the same and clarify how massive it is. With the android 2.3.6 clocking inside the Maxx, the software is not really optimized for a battery of this size, hence it provides users with a warning as it reaches 20% of battery life, 20% would be 660mAh left over ain’t it? So, now that much of charge left out in an iPhone 4S would be mean it is almost half charged at 46%, or say 40% of juice still left on the Samsung Galaxy S II and again 37% in its elder brother Droid RAZR. Cool huh? Almost any other hi-end Android handset scores barely half a runtime in comparison to the Maxx, if anything worse.

Getting to the real world, you will find the difference evidently remarkable. Traveling through the day toggling between Wi-Fi and 4G LTE networks, intermittently making and receiving calls, texting, constant music streaming or using the GPS, the MAXX doesn’t even wink an eye. Motorola claims that this super powered monster can take as much as 22 hours of talktime, which is kind of true to a decent extent as you might not to go anywhere near charging the phone for a solid 2 days despite all notifications being active and solely relying on the phone for that duration. Well, the only possible issue that we foresee with such kind of monster batteries is the kind of time it takes to recharge. It might take anywhere between 3 or 4 hours to get the Maxx fully charged which really shouldn’t pose a problem, assuming that generally majority of users do a nightly charge of their handsets. The battery does come in fairly handy with you forgetting to charge it one night, it still would faithfully serve you the next day despite being thrashed with heavy usage. But in case you still don’t charge it after 2 days, expecting the Maxx to recuperate would be asking for more!

Pros

• Still feels sleek and attractive despite the beefed-up battery
• Gorgeous display
• Dual-core 1.2GHz processors.
• Tight security features together with powerful multimedia
• Feels robust with better grip on the palm.
• Customizable Moto UI that is clean and easy
• Beyond doubts other phones may be faster, but this phone is FAST

Cons

• Disappointing vague promise of an Ice Cream Sandwich update for an advanced phone as this
• Non-removable battery
• Not appropriate for small-handed users
• Unnecessary pre-installed bloatware apps

Wrap-Up

The Motorola Droid RAZR Maxx is a living proof that powerful Androids can still maintain that hour-glass figure and yet promise an outrageous battery life. If you are someone with big hands and can to do without Ice Cream Sandwich, then the Maxx is your Man. Its compelling looks and ultimate pocketability sure does make it a beefy challenger for your Android pound.

Motorola Droid Razr Maxx Android OS Phone – Complete Specification Details

Manufacturer	Motorola
Model Name	Droid RAZR Maxx
Dimensions (H x W x D)	130.7 x 68.9 x 8.99 mm
Weight	145 g (5.11oz)
Form Factor	Candy Bar
Available Colours	Black
Network	2G: CDMA 800 / 1900 3G: CDMA 2000 1xEV-DO 4G: LTE 700MHz Class 13
Released	January 2012
Hardware	OS: Android v2.3.6 Gingerbread Processor: Dual-core. 1200MHz, TI OMAP4430 Graphic Processor System Memory: 1024MB RAM
Display Size	4.30 inches
Display Features	Resolution: 540 x 960 pixels Technology: SuperAMOLED Pixel density: 256 ppi Touchscreen: Capacitive, Multitouch Features: Light sensor, Proximity Sensor, Scratch-resistant glass
Sound	Alert Types: Vibration, MP3 ringtones
Memory	Built-in storage: 16000 MB Storage Expansion Slot type: microSD, microSDHC Max card size: 32GB
Connectivity	WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth: 4.0 EDR USB: v2.0 Connector: microUSB Features: Mass Storage Device, USB charging Headphones Connector: 3.5-mm jack HDMI: MicroHDMI (Type D) 1.4, DLNA, OTA sync, computer sync
Camera	8Mp 3264 x 2448p Flash: LED Features: Autofocus, Image stabilization, touch focus, geo-tagging, face detection Camcorder: 1920 x 1080 @30fps (1080 HD) Features: Video calling Front-facing camera: 1.3 Mp @ 720p
Messaging	SMS (threaded view), MMS, email, Push email, IM
JAVA	Via JAVA MIDP emulator Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic HDMI Port Splash resistant SNS integration Google search, maps, Gmail YouTube, Picasa, Gtalk MP3/AAC+/WAV/WMA player MP4/H.263/H.264/WMV player Organizer Document viewer/editor Voice memo/dial/commands Predictive text input (Swype)
Phonebook	Unlimited entries, Caller Groups, Multiple numbers per contact, Search by first and last name, Picture and Ring ID
Multimedia	Music Player Filter By: Playlists, Albums, Artists Features: Album Art Cover, Background Playback YouTube Player
Organiser	Calendar, Alarms, Document Viewer, To-Do, Calculator, World Clock
Internet Browsing	Yes, HTML, Flash
Built-in Online Service	Picasa, YouTube (upload)
Location Based Services	Type: A-GPS support and GLONASS
Other Features	Sensors: Accelerometer, Compass, Gyroscope, Barometer Voice dialing, voice commands, voice recording Notifications: Haptic Feedback, Music Ringtones (MP3), Polyphonic ringtones, Silent Mode, Flight Mode, Speakerphone, Vibration
Battery	Standard Li-Ion 3300 mAh Battery Stand-by: Up to 380 h Talktime: Up to 21 h 30
Warranty	1 year

There is an emerging pattern seen with leading phone manufacturers – add a couple of welcome tweaks to their latest Flagship model, whack an additional alphabet to it and release the same to the expectant public, a couple of months post the original release. The latest to join this trend would be the Swedish-Japanese duo, Sony Ericsson (but they wouldn’t be the last though), to give a makeover to their original Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc with an added S to it. With the original Arc being a classy and daring display of style and skill, it doesn’t come as a surprise to watch the Ericsson family wanting to maintain their droid in that top position. Seven months later the original release, they present to the Android fans the all new refurbished Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S with an updated OS and an overclocked processor with some fresh paint jobs. The Xperia Arc seemed to have no trouble in making heads turn with its razor sharp and chic design. Looks like its younger sibling would also have no issues in making history repeat itself with its sleek design, powerful camera, HD video recordings at 720p and its four enchanting colours – Pure White, Gloss Black, Misty Silver and Sakura Pink. That said, the updated OS is supposedly scheduled to arrive as an update in the original Arc any time sooner which means the only remaining update would the faster processor. Again, the Arc S would be the first Xperia phone to boast of a 3D Sweep Panorama Feature that is supposedly compatible with your TVs. All of the above doesn’t really make the original outdated, but what interests us is would an extra 400MHz processor and sweeping panoramas justify the kind of the price tagged to the Arc S in this day and age where the Android arena is dominated by dual-core processor and big-screened phones. Read on to get some answers!

In the Box

• Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S
• microUSB-to-USB cable
• USB Charger
• In-ear headset
• Charger head
• 8GB microSD card
• Leather carry case

Hardware/Design & Feel

Sticking to the convex profile, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S is a splitting image of its big brother. It actually feels good to see a stylish phone as against the boring oblongs that stare at you whole day long. At 125 x 63 x 8.7 mm despite the new paintjob it is still fashioned in plastic and weighs a 117g. For starters, the Xperia Arc S is one hell of a phone with an ultra thin design, seductive curves and an extra large screen. The 4.2-inch 16M-colour, Bravia Mobile Engine Reality enabled LCD touchscreen packs a FWVGA  resolution (854 x 480 pixels) boasting of a most receptive capacitive touchscreen that is only too eager to oblige to your taps. It is also one of the brightest, finest and sharpest screens in the market (but not anywhere near Nokia’s ClearBlack that still top the list when it comes to colour rendering) with vibrant greens and reds that beats the Retina display of an iPhone hands down. One of the main highlights would be the incredibly slim and flared frame with a thin waistline that gets slightly thicker as it tapers down. It feels impossibly thin against the hands and looks to be an amazing design. A silver plastic band that runs along the bezel of the handset that is crafted in Pure White lends it some additional sophistication. While there is a handset in Gloss Black too, we have to admit that it gets nowhere near the compelling presence and exquisite feel of the Arc S clad in dazzling white. Unfortunately, the glossy black handset is a magnet for smudges and grease and it is matter of time before your phone loses its appeal, making you go way out in maintaining the looks with obvious extra care. Well, with the White you wouldn’t have to worry about the smudges as you can barely notice it despite it attracting the same amount of smudge and grease. Bottomline, you get to play with the 4-inch real estate to play games, browse the web or text away on the stock keyboard. Unfortunately, the limitations start surfacing when you try tilting the screen making it glaringly evident that it is not an IPS panel and doesn’t really stand up to the valor of the Super AMOLED’s despite doing the best it can.

It is nice to see Sony has paid attention to couple of minor gripes that users had on the original Arc like the teeny-weeny power button on the top corner of the handset that looked kind of hidden and so deeply seated that it was literally hard to locate. Well, the Power button on the Arc, though tiny, sticks out and is much easier to locate. The rest of the parameters look to be pretty much similar to the original Arc with the rear housing a LED flash, HD camera sensor and a secondary microphone for noise cancellation. While there is a 3.5-mm audio jack housed towards the left, there is a USB connector at the top right along with the Volume Rocker Up/Down key, which we would appreciate if it were a bit bigger and little more prominent, while the Camera Shutter Button sits at the bottom.

There is a nice two-stage button that requires a double level pressing – one would be to focus and the other to shoot. Again, this is also a little too small, thanks to the sleekness again, nevertheless it is very sensitive and does its job perfectly well – click photos; holding this down while you are in the Menu boots the 8Mp snapper. Yet another thing to note on the rear would be a loudspeaker grill that is placed on the other end and owing to the handset’s curved design, the chances of it getting muffed isn’t too great.

Getting to the top edge, one gets to see the Power Button together with the HDMI connector (but the box is devoid of a HDMI cable). Above the display sits the Ambient Light and Proximity Sensors along with the earpiece and status LED. The Proximity Sensor takes care of deactivating your screen while you make a call. Akin to its predecessor, there is a front-facing camera missing in the Arc S too, which is kind of weird. When it comes to the Navigation Keys, it is pretty much physical and Sony still doesn’t seem to miss the Search button and offers users only the Home, Menu and Back keys that still lack backlighting. We love the way these keys beautifully curve matching the phone’s contour as it tapers down. All of the three are well-defined, but only that they look to be placed way down on the phone, but then that is the price you pay (which is worth it) for getting a slim case and a whopping screen.  Finally, yank the battery cover and you are greeted by a microSD slot that is non hot-swappable, a pinhole for the second microphone (that is fairly handy in active noise cancellation during your calls) and the SIM card slot. Well, to sum up, the Arc S follows the footsteps of its big brother diligently with a couple of usability compromises here and there. The location of the camera lens and the tiny shutter key doesn’t really make sense in this otherwise brilliant handset. Similarly, the mircoSD card that is not allowed to be hot-swapped and the location of the connectivity ports look to be a bit too high towards the sides, needs some consideration too. On the flip side, it is a daring decision to craft the handset with an inward curve as against the conventional outward curve (human curvature design) that majority of the Sony handsets have in common. Subtle yet fascinating, this is exactly what adds to the sophistication and classiness of the Arc S. Despite the above, it is still one of the sleekest and sexiest handset that you can find!

User Interface

Sony has managed to give a nice and colourful makeover to the Ginger 2.3.4 with attractive transitional animations that seem to be everywhere right from unlocking your screen to the faint white shimmer as you reach the end of lists with scrolling. Then again, deep down it is pretty much the same old Timescape-skinned ticking beneath all of the Xperia lineup. Gingerbread is quite zippy with the Snapdragon S2 chip with a RAM of 512MB together with an overclocked CPU of 1.4GHz, which sure does look attractive on the spec sheet only until you realise it isn’t dual-core. That said, there are quite a bit of new features that you can play around with. Like any other Android phone, you are allowed to have scrolling Homescreens, here it has been limited to 5 by Sony, wherein you are allowed to install shortcuts to Folders, Apps and Live Widgets. You can also add any stuff of your choice by long-pressing an empty portion from any of the 5 Homescreens, although Sony would like users to reserve a chunky portion of the main Homescreen to its very own Timescape Social Networking Aggregator – a cute little thing to play with and watch it pull various updates from different SN sites along with displaying the calls and messages that you missed.

Another neat widget from Sony would be the Call Log and Favourites tool. This displays your favourite phone contacts in a grid format with a second tab displaying recent and missed calls. Tapping on a contact’s face directs you to their contact page, and allows you to text them from there in a way that they prefer. Folder support has been improved too wherein it is made more obvious with any folders containing stuff in them. For instance, every folder is displayed in a 4×4 grid displaying the first 4 App placed in them via mini icons. Again, folders can also be positioned on the floating docks found towards the screen’s bottom, so you can go ahead and ram the Arc with links for games, apps etc. Additionally, Sony has managed to publish couple of plug-ins in the Android Market to enhance their functionality like additional support for Gmail messages and many more. The central button on the dock gives you the access for the app drawer by popping by your list of apps. This can be sorted automatically or there is a neat interface addition by way of a button on the screen’s bottom right that pops out an editing mode for the same. This helps to rearrange apps with a drag and drop to its position or to instantly delete removable non critical apps that come with a little cross on them. A much simpler way to get rid of apps as against the conventional Android way of delving about the Applications Menu ain’t it?

Then there is this Overview Mode – call it a cool feature or a useless feature, we leave that your discretion – zoom in by pinching the screen and lo behold all your current widgets start floating on the Homescreen giving you a peer review. A fun touch huh, evokes the HTC Sense’s helicopter view, but then this is to only visualize a current widget in one place. Swype comes preinstalled in the Arc S with the artsy little blue light trailing as you swipe a letter, but then guess even without it typing on the Arc’s screen using the Timescape Virtual Keyboard is a sheer delight.

Phonebook/Telephony/Messaging

Extensive info can be stored on the customized phonebook of the Xperia arc S Android Phone with info about each contact being presented with an interface that is side-swipeable holding the contacts info, dialed calls, and a whole lot of info from the social networking sites too. As always, sorting contacts can happen with either their first or last names with two search options for contacts provided, either via a dedicated search field or a direct jump to a specific letter via alphabetical scrolling. You are also allowed to sync multiple accounts of Facebook/Exchange with the option to selectively show/hide contacts from these accounts or even go on to set the phonebook in such a way to display just the contacts with phone numbers. With a contact having multiple accounts, their contact info can be joined such that you maintain everything in one place. Their Facebook pic and interests are shown as extra tabs. Again the Quick Contact option is here too, just tap on the contact’s image and up pops the shortcut to either call, text or email that particular contact. A contact is allowed to have any number of fields with the + and X buttons letting you Add/Remove fields, as required. Anything and everything can be jotted down in the field, right from writing down a name phonetically to nicknames to notes to address. Personalized Ringtons along with the option to direct calls to voicemail is there too. Star-ring a contact places them in the Favorites tab and gets placed by default in a special group in the Gmail Account known as the ‘Starred in Android.’

In terms of call quality, the Xperia arc S doesn’t have any problem with clinging on to signals and there is hardly any instance of any dropped calls. Again, there seem to be no issues with reception levels on either end with the earpiece being loud enough and no interruptions whatsoever. The in-built secondary microphone comes in handy with active noise-cancellation, particularly with noisy surroundings making the calls loud and clear even in such environments. It is very unfortunate that the Arc S does not support Smart Dialing like its other kith and kin in the Xperia line. Well, Voice Dialing is supported though, if it makes you feel any better, and you activate the same in the fastest possible way by a dedicated widget in the Homescreen.

Again, the Proximity Sensor disables the touchscreen by default as you hold it close to your ear during calls and as always the Dialer, Phonebooks and Call Log, all of which form a part of the same application. The Dialed, received, and Missed calls get listed out in a single list by the Call Log. Buried in the Sound settings is a feature called xLOUD that supposedly is said to improve the speaker loudness.

Swype Enhanced Messaging

All of the MMS/SMS takes a thread format and each thread is laid out in the form of an IM chat session with the most recent placed at the bottom. Individual messages can be Copied, Deleted or Forwarded and even Locked. There is also the Search option that helps with locating a particular message amongst all conversations together with the possibility of activating delivery reports. Adding multimedia content (Videos, Sounds, Photos) converts a message into a MMS.

Moving further to email, batch operations are supported by the Gmail app that allows for archiving, deleting or labeling various mails. This app also provides support for multiple Gmail accounts, but you do not get an integrated inbox for other mail services; no worries here as the generic email app takes care of this and is equipped to handle multiple IMPAP/POP inboxes allowing you to access messages from the original folders, created online.

There is this Preview Pane splitting the screen in half with one side listing the emails while the other displays a chosen mail. This works on both Landscape and the Portrait Mode and even allows you to adjust the separator in between in case you wish to have one side bigger than the other. The IM department is taken care of Gtalk for the obvious reason that their network is compatible with a whole range of clients like Ovi, Kopete, Pidgin, iChat etc. In terms of text input on the Xperia Arc S it is just the default Gingerbread full QWERTY on-screen keyboard. Typing is fairly comfy even on the portrait keyboard thanks to the chunky keys and well spaced out keyboard.
Flip the phone to the landscape mode and watch the Arc S take a whole new avatar. The huge onscreen keyboard occupies a huge portion of the real estate offering you chunky and easy to press keys. You might want to try a QWERTY messenger, for proper typing. Tapping the text area pops out a handle that is attached to the text cursor, this makes rectification of errors fairly easy and accurate. Again, a tap and hold brings about the select options – Select Word/Select All – that come with two handles to adjust your selected phrase’s start and end. Yet another tap-and-hold brings about the Cut/Copy options. Getting to the swipe input (T9 Trace), this works pretty much similar to the Swype that we witnessed in most off the Galaxy handsets wherein you sweep your fingers across the keyboard as against tapping on them; a fairly simpler option even for newcomers. Again there is an additional setting that places a space in between words by default saving you the time and effort to tap on the Spacebar every now and then.

Internet/Connectivity

With the original Arc boasting of an amazing web browser by way of its splendid screen together with Flash support, it made browsing absolutely enjoyable and worked as a charm, looks like the Arc S decides to follow suit with its older sibling. Frankly speaking the upgrade in processor doesn’t really show much of an obvious difference in terms of performance here. The text still looks exceptionally sharp and legible with the screen still retaining its amazing looks while the handset loads pages and sites seamlessly. While it cannot really be compared to the Galaxy S2, it definitely isn’t frustratingly slow or lag behind. It sure does look to be a virgin version of the conventional Android with Bookmarks being accessed via a bar on the right of the URL and the rest of the functions like the number of windows being opened, sharing functions, settings etc being camouflaged behind the Menu. Handling RSS feeds though is a bit disappointing in the Arc S as there is no support for the same and it doesn’t even bother linking to the Reader site on Google. Upon hitting the RSS link it plainly pops up a raw XML file leaving you staring blank at the screen as to what just transpired. On the flip side there is full support for Flash Player and works pretty good. It works amazingly with the BBC mobile iPlayer website that requires Flash support and if you are a person who is a TV streaming buff, then rest assured as the Arc S got you covered. Yet another disappointing thing with the Arc S would be, not only does it follow suit with its big brother in its positives, the same looks to be the case with the negatives too – yeah you guessed it right! – we are talking about the Arc S’s trouble in loading pages filled with Flash content, that is despite the processor update, may we add. That said, it is still a fairly handy phone for all your online businesses.

In terms of connectivity, the Arc S has it all with the exception of 4G – Bluetooth, 14.4Mbps HSDPA, Wi-Fi, FM radio with RDS, DLNA for your streaming and A-GPS. Check out the DLNA function’s very own app named Media Server that comes in handy with movie streaming or there is also the option to utilize the microHDMI port to stream movies from your phone to the big screen via a cable. Again, besides Google Maps there is yet another GPS software called Wisepilot, but is only a trial version though. It takes roughly about 4 to 5 mins for the GPS to get a lock, which is kind of average, and in case you have your data connection then the lock happens in seconds, which is fairly normal. There is this LiveWare app, which proves to be handy when it comes to kicking off an application of your choice with the phone being connected to the same like say, your handset or charger or headphones etc. This mean you can instruct it to start the video or music player every time you connect your headphones or switch to the Android desktop clock mode by default when put to charge. With a reliable Wi-Fi/mobile network connection, you can rest assured that there would never be instances where the Arc S drops a Wi-Fi signal. Again as is expected from all Androids of this day and age, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S also toggles to be a wireless hotspot/USB modem for you laptops or other browsing gadgets. As far as memory goes, no worries here either, there is a decent memory onboard for app storage despite all the preloaded apps of the Arc S, it manages to shell out roughly a decent 237MB of free space for future app usage. Last but not least when it comes to tech toys, well the Arc S supports Bluetooth as well as an HDMI output too.

Camera/Video Quality

8Mp snapper with Sweep Panorama
The Xperia Arc S packs an 8Mp snapper together with a single LED light and akin to its predecessors Xperia Ray and Arc it uses an Exmor R sensor that is backlit, which greatly enhances the camera’s low-lighting performance. You will find the camera controls taking the form of two taskbars on either side of the viewfinder. While the left offers 5 shortcuts to different settings, the right displays thumbnails of the most recent 5 snapshots that you clicked. This settings taskbar can be pulled or pushed if you wish to expand them or get them out of sight as per your discretion. A fairly smart idea that allows you to pick the number of camera controls to be displayed in the viewfinder. The shortcuts towards the left column can also be reshuffled and be replaced with couple of others from the Extended Menu. Again, when it comes to capture modes there are 5 modes on offer namely Normal, Smile detection, Scene recognition, Sweep Panorama/3D Sweep Panorama. In the Normal Mode you can do a manual pick of the Scene settings or just have the Scene recognition enabled and let the Arc S decide for you (which it does pretty good). The additional Panorama modes are offerings from Android 2.3.4. Guess most of you must be familiar with Sony’s Sweep Panorama option that is on offer in most of their portable cameras. And for those of you who are new to this, well, it works like this – it is actually fairly easy to click a shot in the Panaroma mode. Just tag along the on-screen slider till you happen to reach the end and there is your panorama shot, successfully clicked. Sadly you are not allowed to choose the time span and will have to continue shooting until the slider runs and in case you don’t keep pace and act too fast or slow, then you might have to start all over again. Once you are done with the same based on the kind of panorama mode you opted for you can either view the same in your Arc S in a 2D resolution (4912×1080 pixels) or watch on the big screen in 3D.

The unobtrusive interface of the 8Mp snapper is absolutely touch-friendly with big chunky buttons to help with operation. There are 6 focus modes on offer namely single/multi autofocus, face detection, macro, touch and infinity focus together with Spot, Center and average metering modes. In terms of manual white balance there is fluorescent, incandescent, cloudy and daylight options available. Additionally, there is an image stabilizer along with 4 flash modes – Auto/Fill flash/No flash and red eye reduction. The snapper’s extensive capabilities are enhanced further with a bunch of scene modes namely the Portrait, Landscape, Night Portrait, Night Scene, Beach and Snow, Sports, Party and Document. There is a smart smile detection algorithm onboard that can be set to track any kind of smiles – be it faint or big smile.

In terms of image quality it is definitely good in comparison to the Neo and Ray with a slight difference in tuning from the original Arc by way of offering better accuracy in color rendering. The Noise levels have been nicely toned down but with exception of colour noise. Pictures boast of good colours and contrast, though they look over saturated at times. Then again, the extent of details captured doesn’t really look to be the best among the 8Mp league, however. There is evidence of over sharpness and purple fringing with high-contrast areas, nothing drastic though. Yet another shortcoming would be shots getting overexposed, particularly in scenes with excessive shadowing. But looking at the bright side, the Arc S retains a fair amount of detail in such shadows. The shots captured in the panorama mode boast of a resolution of 4912×1080 and this is further enhanced if you shoot them with a tripod. That said, it is very unfortunate to note that the panorama shots also are suffer like the standard shots from stuff like over sharpness, lack of detail and over exposure.

In terms of Video Quality, 720p videos are captured at 30fps and the Arc S manages to do a pretty decent job. The settings of the camcorder are relatively similar to the still camera with, focus mode, image stabilization, metering and exposure value all being user-configurable. The Arc S joins the league of continuous autofocus and takes a couple of seconds post re-frame to re-focus, which is way better than repeated attempts to lock the focus and eventually wreck videos. The videos get stored in the MP4 format at 6Mbps bitrate with the frame rate nailing the 30fps mark. Again, the extent of details captured and the colours looks good, but then a little bit oversaturated. While contrast is neat the amount of detail reduces a bit with dark lighting because of the fact that noise reduction battles to maintain videos noise-free mostly, thankfully you don’t get to the see the defects faced by the still camera here (the oversharpening and purple fringing, we mean). The videos of the Arc S come with a stereo sound recording bitrate of 128Kbps.

Media
The Arc S’s gallery is a traditional droid one that doesn’t see much of a change with Gingerbread. But the functionality is good though with cool 3D effects and neat transitions, but sadly displays a downsized version of the pictures. Folders and Albums pile up as photos which take a grid format once selected. Online albums like Picasa are displayed as separate stacks too. The 3D switch on the top pops up a different gallery storing just your 3D panorama shots while the standard pictures get stored in the familiar folder for camera in the gallery. If you are looking at viewing your 3D panoramas, then you obviously need to have it connected to a compatible 3D TV. There has been added support for Facebook albums too by way of petit Facebook logo on the images that can be “like-d” when an individual photo is viewed from that album. If you are looking at sorting your photos by date it can be done via a button on the top right corner that swaps between grid and timeline viewing. The images take a downsized format in the Android gallery too, but upon sending from one end to another it takes the form of a Full-Res shot. The contrast and colours of the images get enhanced by the BRAVIA engine along with sharpening images and reducing noise to a great extent. Generally such measures are prone to artifacts, but this gets invisible thanks to the Xperia Arc S’s high-density screen. Again, there is always the option to turn off BRAVIA, but it is generally recommend to be kept on as it greatly enhances your image quality.

In terms of HD video playback, well it is disappointing that there is no dedicated app for the same like the other droids boast of. Well probably Sony wasn’t really keen on a fancy UI for picking videos, as playing them is what really matters. Again, only MP4 and 3GP videos are supported by the player. On the flip side, images look a real fab on the the 4.3-inch FWVGA Reality screen (again thanks to the BRAVIA engine here too) with flawless aspect ratio.

Getting to the Music Player on the Arc S, it is pretty much the same app that we saw on the Neo and ray with the interface being categorized into 4 tabs to help with sorting – Sort by Playlist, Tracks, Artist or Album. Upon hitting the menu key out pops a shortcut for Search together with the Send/Delete option. The Now Playing screen displays the conventional library shortcuts and music controls. There is also an Infinite Key that helps with hunting a track on YouTube or browsing lyrics. The rich assortment of equalizer presets is sure to attract music buffs. Also check out the Silent Mode that mutes all sound but for alarms. When it comes to visualization, it is just the album art that is on offer.

Akin to the Gallery, the Music player also allows for “like” of tracks that you listen to and can be posted on your wall, which at a later point in time can be discussed with your buddies via the “Friends’ music/videos app” aka Media Discovery. Also onboard is a widget that keeps you up-to-date on what your buddies are currently listening to?

The FM radio on the Arc S comes with a neat and simple UI, which is smart enough to scan the area by default for any available stations/places, notching on the frequent dial upon finding one, thus making scroll to the subsequent station easy. Better yet would be to mark a couple of them as favourites. There is also the TrackID on offer within the radio app.

Maps & Apps

As always the biggest selling points to any Smartphone would be the wide range of access to the android apps that includes the famous and powerful Google Maps and the Sony Xperia Arc S doesn’t disappoint users in this regard. With its seamless support to the Maps app zooming, scrolling, tilting and managing 3D enabled street level displays looks to be a cakewalk in the Arc S. It is fairly rapid in obtaining a GPS lock and positioning itself in barely seconds with the Navigate SatNav option being the highlight. It computes routes, offers complete and free turn-by-turn navigation. Additionally, there is voice directions too, i.e., if you manage to download a free pack of the same from the Android Market prior to commencing your trip. Also onboard is the boring yet handy Gmail app from Google, the simple Weather & News widget, Google Calendar with the synced Homescreen widget, Latitudes and Places for the adventurous users and a Homescreen widget.

By way of apps, there is a weird collection from Sony of random games and apps namely the Gameloft’s Let’s Golf in HD together with some promotional drivel for the company’s football/tennis sponsorship stuff. There is also a free version of the security app from McAfee. For the movie buffs, there is this unlimited Video app from Sony that allows renting of SD versions of movies for £3.59 or if you wish to own them they are available for £11.59. Then comes the video editing app, nothing great about it, just a standard app found in any Android handsets that basically allows to trim the beginning and end of a movie. Additionally, there is also an Office Suite that comes in handy with reading Office documents from MS. Sony have their TrackID installed on the Arc S that allows recording of sample music for identification purposes and probably buy such identified track via either of the integrated shopping system – SE’s PlayNow shop or 7Digital. Last but not least would be a handy app for people stuck with the task of reviewing anything, which requires taking tons of screenshots wherein the power button menu allows capturing screenshots or the last shown image on the screen prior to hitting power. This is then nicely saved as Hi-Res PNG files in the handset’s gallery and thus be shared as a pictures from a standard camera.

Performance/Battery Life

Coming with an upgrade, we expected the Arc S to feature a dual-core processor that would obviously enhance the performance, but guess SE was looking at just a fashion upgrade more then making the gadget a geeky one. Well, nothing to complain here though, it still works like a charm akin to its predecessor especially if you are prone to visiting sites that are graphically intense or with an itch for scrolling finger, then you might enjoy the way the Arc S keeps pace with you. The phone is fairly snappy thanks to the Mobile BRAVIA Engine ticking underneath. Details on images, webpages or for that matter even menus look to be shard and colour rich. Well, despite lacking a Super AMOLED Plus, it gets the job done. With the cool and neat animations added by Sony to keep things interesting, navigating the phone proves to be a pleasing experience. The fluid movement of the icons that bounces a bit with changing Homescreens is a treat to the eyes. Occasionally, there seems to be a slight lag in registering touches, though it is no big deal. Yet another fun tweak would be while on the Homescreen when you try to pinch and zoom to get an overview of your walls or Homescreens, the icons, apps and widgets all get jumbled and once you decide on the app/widget, it then shoves you straight on to that Homescreen. Again, it is good fun to note icons bounce around like some dice being rolled when you shake the handset. Panning and Scrolling webpages works seamlessly with multi-touch being rendered neatly that is devoid of any hiccups. As far as media-streaming apps go, the Arc S beats its big brother and is seconds ahead in the race of start-up time from off. Also streaming videos proves to be a delight on the Arc S thanks to the liberal screen size/CPU.

Speaking of Call quality, it amazing thanks to the secondary mic that takes care of canceling a good amount of ambient noise during calls with high volume and voice sounding natural and audible. Then again, the earpiece doesn’t really get very loud. Callers on the other end supposedly hear you nice and clean, devoid of any clipping and can barely tell if you are on a mobile phone. When it comes to the underpowered speakerphone, it is an entirely different story, we guess – not really satisfactory. People on the other end will really have no problem understanding you and might sound free of any distortions, but then things get worse if you try and move a couple of feet away from the handset with the volume being kind of low even with  enclosed spaces thus bringing about little bit of a background hum. Then again, launching of apps in the Arc S looks to be fairly zippy with menu navigation being nimble and free of any noticeable lags.

Battery life on the Arc S is amazing and Sony has crammed in the same 1500 mAh Li-Po battery beneath this curved silhouette, which touts a talktime of 7 h 35 mins on a 3G network with the battery being equipped to handle 460 h of standby. The handset’s built-in battery monitor makes it evident that it is the rich Reality Display that is the culprit in draining the battery and toning down the brightness helps squeeze out a little more from your dying cell. Guess you can easily squeeze in a day out of the Xperia Arc S by toying with the screen’s brightness and automatic syncing, as mentioned above, thus helping the handset serve you diligently until your commute home despite a busy day of tweeting and endlessly loading and checking web pages etc. You still can get away with 6 hours of non-stop video playback, connect several times to the Wi-Fi network, 2 hours of music playback together with push email.

Wrap-up

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S really makes one wonder if it is just an upgrade or a wholly new phone. Well, if you are planning to look at it as a new phone, then you might want to remember that it is a single-core phone, and you can easily grab a Galaxy S2 for just a couple of bucks more. Now that said, we cannot deny the fact that despite clocking a single-core 1.4GHz processor, the Arc S manages to perform fabulously refusing a slowdown even with the app load. On the other hand, if you wish to see this as an upgrade, it is obvious that, but for an overclocked processor and a couple of Android tweaks, it is nothing but a mirror image of the Arc. Now, if you already own the original Arc, it wouldn’t really make much of sense in upgrading. Effectively, this is one Smartphone that punches in a class that is a little above its weight, that is in terms of the processor cores only. That aside, it is all here in the Arc S – fabulous performance, awesome display, good battery life, sleek chassis, not to mention the Android tweaks. This might be your best bet if you want to possess a latest handset, else save those extra pennies and go in for the Xperia Arc, which is nothing but a twin brother of the Arc S. For all you know you might be lucky enough to get the Arc at a slashed price after the launch of the upgraded Arc S.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S Phone – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Sony Ericsson
Phone Name	Xperia Arc S
Dimensions (H x W x D)	128.0 x 64 x 10.6 mm (5.0 x 2.5 x 0.4 in)
Weight	5.1 oz (144 g)
Form Factor	Candy Bar
Available Colours	Black, White
Network	2G: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 3G: HSDPA 900 / 2100 – LT18i HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100 / 800 – LT18a
Released	August 2011
Software	OS: Android v2.3.4 Gingerbread Processor: Qualcomm MSM8255T Snapdragon cihpset CPU Speed: 1GHz Scorpion GPU: Adreno 205
Display Size	4.20 inches
Display Features	Resolution: 480 x 854 pixels LED-backlit LCD Technology: TFT Colours: 16 777 216 Touchscreen: Capacitive, Multitouch Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine Proximity Sensor for Auto turn-off Light Sensor Scratch-resistant glass Timsecape UI
Sound	Alert Types: Vibration, MP3 ringtones
Memory	Slot Type: microSD, microSDHC Maximum Card Size: 32GB Memory:512MB RAM Built-in Storage: 1000MB
Connectivity	WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth: v2.1 with A2DP, EDR USB: microUSB v2.0, USB on-the-go support Headphones Connector: 3.5-mm jack HDMI Port DLNA, Tethering, OTA sync, Wi-Fi Hotspot
Camera	8.1 Mp Flash: LED Pixels: 3264 x 2448 Features: Autofocus, Image/Video stabilizer, Touch to Focus, Digital Zoom, Face/Smile detection, CMOS image sensor, Geotagging, Self-timer, Panorama, Scenes Camcorder: 1280 x 720 @30fps Features: Video Light/Continuous autofocus, vide stabilizer
Messaging	SMS, MMS, threaded view, Predictive Text Input (T9) Email: IMAP, POP3, SMTP, IM, Push Email
JAVA	Via JAVA MIDP emulator Google Search, Calendar, Maps, Gmail YouTube, Gtalk SNS Integration HDMI Port NeoReader barcode scanner Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic TrackID music recognition MP4/H.263/H.264/WMV player MP3/WAV/WMA/eAAC+ player Document viewer Facebook/Twitter Integration Voice memo/dial/commands
Phonebook	Unlimited entries, Caller Groups, Multiple numbers per contact, Search by first and last name, Picture and Ring ID
Multimedia	Music Player Filter By: Genre, Album, Artist Features: Preset Equalizer, Music recognition, Album Art Cover, Background Playback Radio: FM, RDS Speakers: Ear piece, Loudspeaker YouTube Player
Organiser	Calendar, Alarms, Document Viewer, Calculator, World Clock
Internet Browsing	Yes, HTML, Flash
Built-in Online Service	Facebook/Twitter/Picasa/MySpace
Location Based Services	Type: A-GPS support
Other Features	Sensors: Accelerometer, Compass, Promixity Notifications: Haptic Feedback, Music Ringtones (MP3), Polyphonic ringtones, Silent Mode, Flight Mode, Speakerphone, Vibration
Battery	Standard Li-Po 1500mAh Battery Stand-by: Up to 460 h 2G/3G Talktime: Up to 7 h 25 mins (2G) Up to 7 h 35 mins (3G) Music Play: Up to 37 h
Warranty	1 year

With the magical allure of 3D gets stronger by the day and manufacturers tussling to measure up to consumers expectations, users are all set and ready for a revolution in the 3D arena by wishing to have a piece of that magic right into their pockets. Looks like LG is all set to grant this wish by unveiling the first ever 3D phone – LG Optimus 3D P920 while its competitors are still mulling over it. The Optimus lineup from LG has seen its share of success and fiasco for sometime now in the Smartphones arena. Starting with the Optimus One a solid phone with a good price tag, it branched into the fancy terrain with the Optimus 2X’s dual-core quirky charms before it decided to venture into the high styling territory with the LG Optimus Black. 3D technology sure does look to have made a quantum leap from the big screens to the small Smartphone screen. LG claims that the glasses-free display of the Optimus 3D is capable of recording pictures and videos in full 3D while you can enjoy the same by playing it back in 3D on the phone’s avant-grade 4.3″ display. This “tri-dual” gadget from LG (that is how they wish to call this super phone) boasts of dual-channel memory, dual-core processor and dual cameras and has a massive price tag tagged to it. While the cheapest monthly tariff that you might be lucky enough to find on this monster phone is £35, the SIM-free tariff presently lurks somewhere around £500. So having had a fairly good introduction to the phone, let us move on to find if this tiny gadget in your pockets is all set to go 3D or would it be better off to take the three-dimension off the equation. The Optimus 3D also called the Thrill 4G (in the US) aims at answering all of these and much more!

So for starters, the phone is far from perfect, but hey is there any device at all out there anyways? What really catches your attention, besides the Optimus 3D P920 being first of its kind, is that it gets to work without any further ado. It proves to be no tech demo like majority of the tech pioneering gadgets tend to be and works perfectly the way it was crafted to with its 3D menus, 3D videos/picture gallery and 3D games. And beyond doubts it looks awesome. Well, there might be few stuff that proves to be deal breakers for a few, but it could be a real treat if you are willing to wait for the Gingerbread transition to happen that could fix couple of performance glitches, then it is worth every penny. So let us cut the chase and take that hardware tour right away.

Box Contents

• LG Optimus 3D
• A wall charger
• Back Cover
• Li-Ion Battery
• Noise-cancelling ear buds
• Hands-free Kit
• Mains socket adaptor
• USB to Micro-USB Sync/charger cable
• UK 3-pin USB charger
• Warranty Info
• Documentation like User Guide/Troubleshooting Guide and Getting Started Guide

Hardware

The Optimus 3D P920 Smartphone comes packed in a red jazzy rectangular box containing the unusually large sized phone, which looks similar to a TV remote at a first glance. Measuring about 5 inch long (128mm) and 2.67” wide (68mm), it cannot really be categorised as a pocket-friendly device toted until now and with its almost half an inch thickness it is definitely porky than the Optimus Black. In fact this 6oz of bulk could actually benefit from a couple of extra time on a treadmill. For those of you who don’t really mind the size it doesn’t pose to be a problem, but it can be disappointing if you expect it to fit into your pocket. In terms of design, the handset sports a streamlined look or ample should we say with the 4.3” LCD display taking full advantage of the Optimus 3D’s girth. A little above the screen is where you get to see the LG logo centered right next to the front-facing 1.3Mp camera. There is a trapezoidal earpiece looming large over both of these peeking out from the bottom of the upper bezel. Spanning the bezel region are the four conventional Android buttons, which are backlit and wait for your command to illuminate. Getting to the rear of the handset you will be greeted by a pair of stereoscopic 5Mp 3D cameras that comes equipped with an LED flash in between. Both the cameras are perched on a stainless steel strip towards the left center down the handset on the rear. As these are slightly submerged, the extra protection that comes along is appreciated. On the front LG has tried and kept their branding to the minimum possible with just a gray logo together with a 3D craving. This is seen surrounding the loudspeaker that can be found on the southwest quadrant of the phone. The sound from the speakers seems fairly clear and crisp, but doesn’t really seem to be a main attraction.

The Optimus 3D P920 Mobile Phone is all rounded corners and curved edges with a weird rear that is split into two levels and the camera sits on the top end of the ridge. While this kind of architectural rarity doesn’t real pose any remarkable ergonomic challenge, it cannot be treated as THE cutest design either. Of note, the entire back shell can be hauled off with utmost ease with just a bare fingernail. On the insides is where you get to see a slot for the microSD slot along with SIM storage. Fortunately, the microSD card is hot-swappable and is equipped to handle all kinds of memory cards available thus expanding the Optimus 3D’s storage limit up to 32GB. Towards the left sits the microUSB port on top of the HDMI socket. Both of these are easily accessible by popping open their respective hinges, but since the flaps are closely located and are designed to unfold in opposite directions, it might be a bit dicey to attempt opening both simultaneously. Both of these are located beneath a thin silver layer lazing along the handset’s perimeter, which also acts like a sleek border between the capacitive touchscreen on the front and matte rubbery plastic on the rear. Towards the opposite side is the volume toggle together with an exclusive key that directs you to LG’s 3D Zone. On the top is the 3.5-mm headphone jack along with the power button.

Right at the center of all this is the happening capacitive touchscreen, which is large and all set to steal the show, but with a run-of-the-mill 480 x 800 resolution. With all due respect, the display is fairly prompt and sufficiently responsive handling direct sunlight with elegance, mustering sufficient brightness on its own. While we appreciate all of this, for a handset boasting this kind of dazzling visual treat, we would have preferred a more high-tech panel.

To sum up the design and construction, the Optimus 3D P920 seems decent and sturdy with a durable exterior that looks to stand the test of time without losing its appeal. If you don’t really care about its significant heft and the obese waistline, you would be much pleased with a phone that packs plenty of functionality and surprises.

Software/User Interface/Functionality

The LG Optimus 3D P920 Android Phone enters the software arena with an unfortunate disadvantage – it is shipped with Froyo as against Gingerbread that has already hit the market for more than a year now. Again, since Gingerbread is not really a dramatic improvement that we are missing, it really isn’t something significant here, as long LG promises to come up with an update sooner or later; significant or insignificant isn’t it always important to be up-to-date? That said, the OS is pretty much functional and does everything that you want it to, minus the bells and whistles like the following: an upward slide unlocks the phone. Now there is an annoyance tagged to it – there is a small pause between pressing the power button and before it illuminates itself, (a little often actually) making you wonder if your press is registered and attempting again, only to relock it again just when it is waking up. Trust us, you’ll hate yourself for it!

Upon arriving in the Homescreen you get greeted by a 480 x 800 Hi-Res display with the clock and weather widgets bannered that occupies the top half of the screen with the conventional apps towards the screen’s bottom. Well, it is all 2D to begin with. While long pressing a widget gives you the option to remove it, there is also a resizing option added by LG to most of the widgets. Again, you are allowed to customize the four icons in the floating dock, so you may set up your screen exactly the way you prefer it to be. Scrolling right, you come in contact with the music app, browser, dedicated 3D games, gallery with the easternmost part housing a calendar that can be used to sync with our Gmail. Towards the left you get to see a great widget Social+aggregator. The social media widget is impressive in terms of both functionality and proves to be a visual treat. It gathers feeds from all of your accounts from a panel of your favourite contacts sitting right next to it; a illumination of your phone book if you wish to connect instantly with any of your buddies in the contact list.

3D

Coming to the undeniably best selling point of this phone – nah not the software, not the dual-core processor too, or the dual cameras, but its ability to produce 3D images, devoid of the need for glasses. It supposedly uses an autostereoscopic display engineered by none other than LG themselves together with an IPS panel ticking beneath and a parallax barrier on top resulting in this amazing glass-free 3D experience that it is able to produce. A few of you might think that why did it not strike LG to have everything in 3D. Come on guys, let us get practical and face reality – first of all the battery drain would have been colossal if every icon, menu or app was to be conceived in 3D. Second of all, it is not really everyone’s cup of tea to see stuff in 3D ending up with extremely painful eyes. Finally, for a seamless and clean experience, every app installed out there would require coding for it to work in 3D. Again, the 3D effect can only be viewed in the landscape orientation, which inevitably would cause inconvenience when it comes to using the gadget normally.

The Apps draw by default is sorted by category on the Optimus 3D with the 3D section right on the top of the list reminding you why paid a hefty amount for this handset. There is also the option to have a conventional horizontal scrolling layout or have it one big text list. Now getting to the alleged crown jewel of this headset – the 3D key; as mentioned above there is a key dedicated to whisking you straight to the “3D Space” of LG’s – an amusing petite carousel of 6 chunky icons swirling around with each icon unfolding itself giving you a clear idea of the 3D effects.

You might want to first tap into the 3D Spaceview which is the 3D guide that takes you through ropes of 3D recording and viewing. Then there is this YouTube icon that whisks you directly to all of 3D content in YouTube. Also check out this 3D gallery app that gets you introduced to the world of 3D content that is self-made. Everything seems smooth and easy offering impressive visuals – one with horizontal tiles and another diagonally arranged. Again, you are not allowed to sort the content as it gets displayed as a continuous row that is sorted by date. Well, it might not be extremely functional, but it sure does deliver a great visual.

So, if you are wondering what is 3D without the 3D Apps or Games, we are just getting there! Rightly so, there are just four 3D titles adorning the phone. The 3 games fitting the 3D category with a wee bit of modifications are NOVA, Asphalt 6 and Let’s Golf 2. Lastly, there is also this uncanny 3D story book version of Gulliver’s Travels that allows you to scroll through a pretty short animated that is devoid of any text of the real story. Meanwhile, the 3D Store gets you connected to LG’s marketplace that is browser-based if you are interested in purchasing additional multimedia or games.

It is kind of evident that Software isn’t really Optimus 3D’s strong point, though we can only wait and watch if the Gingerbread update would do it any good. It is also evident that LG has no left no stone unturned in putting all of the Froyo muscle to back up the 3D features, which talks a lot about the handset.

Long story short – the 3D images in the Optimus 3D sure does look great, but then akin to most 3D content, you only end up wiggling the handset around, squinting and moving your head looking for the best viewing angle. Also there is evident lack of 3D content and you’d rather get innovative if you are looking at having some best content on the phone rather than relying on the pre-loaded stuff.

Contacts/Calling

In terms of Contacts, the Optimus 3D has a slightly tidy version of the conventional Android options. In that it has 4 tabs – call log, dialer, a sizeable list of everyone and a compilation of groups that can be edited that helps with managing stuff much effectively. By default, the Contact fragment can be accessed through one of the floating dock keys that is housed beneath every Home screen. Punch in that key and you get whisked to that big list with a search bar appearing on the top together with a shortcut for the alphabetical list towards the right that comes in handy with scrolling right down to your buddy Zahyr. You will be prompted at importing all of your contacts from your Google and Facebook accounts and additionally each contact gets a custom page that is filled with stuff like your calendar and calling entries. Also you are allowed to add in website address, IM details, notes and much more. Yet another neat widget from LG would be the provision of displaying icons of people from your Favourite group right in the Home screen, which comes with a pop-up bar that aides in selecting the relevant action upon tapping a contact’s image – a cute little widget worth retaining on the Homepage.

The quality of calls looks to be great with no glitches with signal and volume being loud and clear. In fact it is noisy enough to tune up volume of the earpiece to minimal, such that there is enough room to spare to increase the volume just in case you are someplace noisy. Again, the contacts section also has the option to start a video call with any of your contacts, thanks to the front-facing camera. Again, if your contact list has been populated by default with details of members from Twitter or Facebook, then it would be possible to display details of those with their numbers listed. You are also provided the option to choose particular accounts that need to be ignored and totally be avoided from being shown, in case there are multiple internet personalities that you want hidden.

The dialer is kept fairly simple in the Optimus 3D with a whopping touchpad which even boast of shortcut to the Messaging app just in case you decide on texting someone as against calling them. Also there is a video call button, if the person you are trying to reach owns a phone with just the right number of cameras. While in the contacts, you have the option of adding a member to the Speed Dial Option assigning a shortcut for 1-digit dialing. Despite the handset lacking the noise cancellation feature, the speaker compensates the same by being loud enough.

Messaging

In terms of messaging, LG has decided to put their very own keyboard on the Optimus 3D – The LG keyboard. A touchscreen QWERTY that has been kept fairly simple and is devoid of the alternate characters that requires a long-press majorly found on most of the Android handsets with special characters and numbers flowing out to a second screen. This might be kind of tricky for some, but then with a 4.3” screen and loads and loads of space for every key typing cannot get anymore easier, particularly on a touchscreen phone. By default, word predication is turned off, switching it on pops up the conventional floating bar that makes a quick guess of the gist as you type. Now for some good news, you get to see the punctuations in the prediction bar upon entering a word, making it easier to access exclamations and commas without having to make a trip to the second screen. Text messaging has received a makeover too by way of a vivid threaded view. There is an attachment button provided that gives you the option to share videos, photos, calendar entries and contacts that you managed to save in the conventional VCS format, or better still you are allowed to record an audio or can shoot a photo and attach the same to an SMS.

There is yet another custom interface of LG handling emails simplifying the same and making way for a neat, text-based IMAP/POP3 email reader. Froyo supports MS Exchange along with Push notifications, together with a “Select Text” option in the menu in case you are looking at copy/pasting a sizeable text from an email. Also check out a little tabbed cursor that crops up while you type in a text box, which comes in fairly handy with selecting words and editing typos. This is a neat text and email entry system that has received a nice makeover from LG for the Optimus 3D. There is support provided by the email app for as many active accounts that you might possess with the inclusion of a combined inbox to just lazily browse everything, along with the choice of stopping it from checking messages while you are on roaming to avoid burning a hole in your pocket the following month.

Connectivity

The connectivity options on offer in the LG Optimus P920 3D Phone includes the quad-band GPRS/GSM/EDGE offering global connectivity along with a tri-band 3G that has a speed of 14.4Mbps/5.76Mbps enabling rapid mobile Internet in areas that has 3G band support. It is also equipped with Bluetooth 3.0 (devoid of the HS profile), Wi-Fi b/g/n with A2DP and a microUSB port that aides in transfer of local data. Wi-Fi hotspot together with USB tethering is also an option that is on offer if you are looking at sharing the data connection. The Wi-Fi hotspot can be secured using WPA2 or be left open.

There are two choices on offer for multimedia connectivity – HDMI(wired) and DLNA (wireless). With the help of the SmartShare app, you get to control a DLNA network – by playing media from other devices on the phone or play stuff from the phone on another device, for instance a DLNA-enabled TV.

With the Android browser being the best that you can have on a mobile phone, LG has been smart in using it on a sturdy hardware like Optimus 3D and the result is obviously a flawless experience. Also LG has gone a step forward in tweaking the UI a little, but with the same old fundamental rendering engine.

Again, the browser has been tweaked with a permanent row of shortcuts with 5 buttons at the bottom – tabs, forward and back, settings and new tab. It does eat some real estate of the screen, but then keep in mind the fact that the Optimus 3D comes with a 4.3-inch screen unlike a 4-inch screen seen on the Optimus 2X.

There are few other options brought about by the menu key like the Find On page and Text Selection along with the Read It Later integration. Pinch zooming and double tapping is also supported by the Optimus 3D. Well, there is text reflow too. If you have used pinch zoom to zoom in text, you will have to double tap the screen in order to get the browser reflow the text. A fascinating card interface manages Tabs. The pages that are bookmarked come with a thumbnail on the bookmark list with the addition of a “most visited” list besides the history. There is also a tab for Read it later here.

On the whole, the browsing experience looks to be a fab with no complaints of lags with the 4.3-inch WVGA offering abundant room for even the complex of web pages. The quality of text is absolutely crisp despite the zoom level.

Again the browser is Flash-enabled, which would mean you can utilize the desktop YouTube or any video-sharing sites and play Flash games too. Talking of YouTube, you are allowed to use the 3D YouTube app, which is exactly similar to a regular YouTube Android app, but for the fact that it hooks you directly to the 3D channel of YouTube, which has both good and average 3D content.

Camera/Multimedia

Even though the Optimus 3D has 3 cameras, it still leaves you with a mixed feeling. It is pretty interesting to experiment with a phone like the Optmus 3D that is a front-runner of 3D video recording and image capture, which is impressive alright. But then, the 5Mp autofocus camera in the rear looks to fall short of any stellar high expectations. Images get captured by default by the one on the left, but the picture quality looks to be way below average. Details look to be a fairly low level with the edges getting swallowed by the background. Contrast looks to be average too with a poor dynamic range. But for the above hiccups, the camera is rapid when it comes to capturing images. There is digital zoom and different focus modes that include scene and macro settings are also on offer. Unfortunately, there is an annoying power limitation implemented by LG, which that forbids users from using the camera app with the battery dropping down to less than 10%. Well, this might make some sense to users saving the last ounce of the battery for a call, but it would rather be better if the user was left to decide on how they would like to dissipate the last few dregs of battery life before it dies out on them.

With recording video, it is nice to see support for full HD 1080p at 30 frames per second with uninterrupted autofocus. Things start getting better here with additional details and the exposure compensation algorithms doing a better job by adjusting the video that is recorded in the MP4 format, while the issues with dynamic range and contrast still prevail. Akin to most of the camera phones that is HD-enabled, support is provided for zooming only in the 720p and not 1080p.
Coming to the 3D camera that serves 3mP image stills and 720p HD videos, obviously there is a compromise in the picture quality when compared to the conventional 2D recording at full HD 1080p and 5Mp stills. With the viewfinder showing a 3D picture, there isn’t really a problem choosing the apt moment to snap.

Conventional settings like white balance control and scenes are all here along with you having a chance to control the 3D effect’s depth. Again, check out the image editor on board, an appreciable addition. You get to rotate and crop images along with adding filters frames or even combine the images. By and large, the camera interface looks pretty intuitive, particularly when you wish to swap  between 3D and 2D shots and recording, which takes place with just a tap or two.

The roomy 4.3″ screen proves to be a seamless tool when it comes to watching videos on the go and it is nice of LG to have roped in support for DivX/XviD codecs. But then hi-def MKVs looks to be a formidable task for the Optimus 3D. Audio was crystal clear at its loudest too with the conventional Android player. You are allowed to add as much as 32GB of memory to the 8GB onboard via microSD cards. Lastly, the phone is a litera; multimedia powerhouse as the microHDMI-out port allows for wiring of the handset to a big screen TV.

Battery Life of LG Optimus 3D P920

In terms of battery life, the Optimus 3D P920 proves to be a great disappointment. Looks like this dual-core beast can do with dual-batteries as well, as you barely get to the end of the day with some serious use of this handset. The huge 4.3” screen looks to be culprit that squeezes the 1500mAh of all its juice even before the end of day despite using it sparingly. While the drain is not that significant while in stand-by mode, the same cannot be told of with the screen lighting up when it actually starts to greedily devour power. This power-hungry handset is capable of chomping up to 25% of the battery life in 20 minutes flat with intense use and gaming with the preloaded 3D games only makes things worse by nuking the battery more rapidly. So the battery issue being the biggest downside of the Optimus 3D you might either want to keep an extra battery of carry your charger along for the handset to breathe through a day.

Maps and Apps

Being on Google’s Android OS would mean that you get to have a full suite of brilliant Google apps in the Optimus 3D with YouTube and Gmail together with Google Maps, that is broken down into individual Places, Maps, Latitude and Navigation tools. With maps being a prominent feature in Android phone, the Optimus 3D is no exception to the same offering a fabulous and absolutely free SatNav service. Right after downloading the voice pack from the Android Market, you are offered spoken directions too, making it an excellent replacement GPS, provided you have your car charger, as the battery of Optimus 3D wouldn’t really last long to see you through anything other than a trip to the shops. The handset provides support for the most up-to-date feature from Google and is equipped with multi-touch for zooming, zooming through 3D images of streets and panning of view angle. The Optimus 3D is fairly rapid in obtaining a satellite lock, and takes just a few seconds before it gets you hooked to the GPS network. Google’s software takes over from there, calculating your route and you are all set to go; Quite an amazing app and obviously the strongest point of Android.

Apps

LG has its own app draw called the LG World, an unpredictable and weird assortment of apps coupled with a few selective LG options that jazzes up your handset. It is actually kind of weird that the apps downloaded via the LG World are not listed in the app list of the official Android Market, forcing you to end up managing them separately and updating systems in the Optimus 3D soon after you download something from the LG World. There is also this LG App Advisor tool, an awkward duplication of content from both the Android Market and the LG World. It is kind of a curated assortment of apps, inclusive of links to the Android market for it to be downloaded. A literal waste of time, should we say!

We Liked

• Glasses-free 3D screen
• Brilliant 3D Performance
• Robust Build
• Massive Screen
• 8GB internal storage space
• 30fps video recording
• 1080p 2D video recording

We Disliked

• Ships with Froyo
• Lacks 3D content
• Not so impressive looks
• Disappointing battery life
• Box content lacks microSD

Wrap-up

Well, here comes the most difficult part of the review, verdict. All said and done, this is a review that we really enjoyed working on for the simple fact that we were in love with the handset and overall it is a good Android phone, despite most of its average aspects with the exclusion of 3D. This phone sure does have pushed boundaries and defeats its rival weaklings hands down. So would we strongly recommend this phone? Honestly, we cannot. It sure does have its own quirks and strong points, but there is one question that you need to ask yourself, are you really keen on delving in to the world of 3D or would you prefer hanging on to the secure territory of 2D? The LG Optimus 3D sure does stand tall as Britain’s first ever glasses-free 3D handset. Beyond doubts, it is a perfect replacement for a 3D camcorder or a 3D telly, but then if you are not a great fan of 3D then, the Optimus 3D wouldn’t really excite you that much. It sure seems to be a powerhouse and a zippy Smartphone, but the obese waistline and lack of style that screams at your face is hard to ignore. The Optimus 3D is a largely inoffensive and perfectly serviceable latest creation of LG, which  occasionally flashes brilliance even as it lacks few fundamentals – a gritty battery and trendy software, to name a few. Finally, the Optimus 3D doesn’t pose to be something that it isn’t, it just tries to get some attention with its 3D trait. Unfortunately, for some this single trait of the handset doesn’t really suffice in justifying the purchase of this otherwise vanilla (and lets not forget chunky) phone. 3D fans, alternatively, would only be more than eager to spend £500 on the handset, if it is just eye-candy that they are looking to have. Finally, it is kind of hard for us to not treat this 3D technology from LG to be just another gimmick, yet a fun gimmick, may we add – even as it leaves behind a sour taste.

LG Optimus 3D P920 Android Phone – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	LG
Model Name	Optimus 3D
Dimensions (H x W x D)	128.8 x 68 x 11.9 mm
Weight	5.93 oz (168 g)
Form Factor	Candy Bar
Network	2G: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 3G: HSDPA 900 / 1900 / 2100 HSDPA 850 / 1700 / 2100
Released	July 2011
Software	OS: Android v2.2 Froyo Processor: Dual Core ARM Cortex-A9, PowerVR SGX540 GPU, TI OMAP 4430 cihpset Processor Speed: 1000 MHz CPU Speed: 1GHz Memory: 512MB RAM
Colours available	Black, White
Display Size	4.3 inches
Display Features	Resolution: 480 x 800 pixels Technology: TFT Colours: 16 777 216 3D: Glasses-free (Parallax barrier) Touchscreen: Capacitive, Multitouch Proximity Sensor for Auto turn-off Gyro Sensor Touch-sensitive controls Gorilla Glass Multi-touch Light Sensor
Sound	Alert Types: Vibration, MP3 ringtones
Memory	Slot Type: microSD Maximum Card Size: 32GB Built-in: 8192MB
Connectivity	WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth: 3.0, EDR USB: microUSB v2.0 Headphones Connector: 3.5-mm jack HDMI: MicroHDMI (Type D) 1.4 DLNA computer sync, OTA sync
Camera	Primary: 5Mp Secondary: VGA Flash: LED Pixels: 2592 x 1944 Features: Autofocus, Video stabilizer, Digital Zoom, Stereoscopic photos & videos, Geotagging Front-facing Camera: Yes, 1.3Mp Camcorder: 1920 x 1080 (1080p HD) 24fps 1280 x 720 (720p HD) 30fps Video Calling: Yes 3D Capture: Photos: 3Mp Videos: 1280 x 720 (720p @30fps)
Messaging	SMS, MMS, threaded view, Predictive Text Input (T9) Email: IMAP, POP3, SMTP, Microsoft Exchange
JAVA	Via JAVA MIDP emulator Google Search, Maps, Gmail YouTube, Gtalk SNS Integration HDMI Port Digital Compass MP4/DivX/XviD/H.264/H.263/WMV player 1080p@30fps (2D), 720@30fps (3D) playback 3D/2D video editor MP3/WAV/WMA/eAAC+ player Document viewer/editor Organizer Full Flash 10.1 support Voice memo/dial/commands
Phonebook	Unlimited entries, Caller Groups, Multiple numbers per contact, Search by first and last name, Picture and Ring ID
Multimedia	Music Player Filter By: Genre, Album, Artist Features: Preset Equalizer, Album Art Cover, Background Playback Speakers: Stereo speakers, Ear piece YouTube Player
Organiser	Calendar, Alarms, Document Viewer, Calculator, World Clock
Internet Browsing	Yes, HTML, Flash
Built-in Online Service	Facebook/Twitter/Picasa/MySpace
Games	Yes, Downloadable
Location Based Services	Type: A-GPS Navigation: Yes
Other Features	Sensors: Gyroscope, Accelerometer, Compass, TTY/TDD, Video recording Notifications: Haptic Feedback, Music Ringtones (MP3), Polyphonic ringtones, Silent Mode, Flight Mode, Speakerphone, Vibration
Battery	Standard Battery Li-Ion 1500mAh Stand-by: Up to 450 h Talktime: Up to 13 h (2G) Up to 9 h (3G)
Warranty	1 year

HTC sure does know how to manufacturer phones or at least stand distinctly out from the DROID crowd, even while they keep a tab on the affordability factor. Looks like HTC has taken their inspiration from the Latin dances for both their social phones HTC Salsa and HTC ChaCha making users dance to the beat of Facebook’s cha cha cha. Well, who wouldn’t have a thing for a friendly Smartphone particularly with that little blue “f” button glaring at you screaming social networking? Again, there is that chin at the bottom that is a trademark for HTC phones with a slight crease at the middle. This classy handset boasts a brushed metal stripe that runs across the rear, behind the keyboard as well as around the screen sticking closely to HTC’s trademark design. With a touchscreen, the screen is kind of small for an Android handset giving a kind of cramped look to it. Guess that is the cost that HTC will have to pay for having a QWERTY keypad. On the contrary the keys are comfortably well spaced out making messaging relatively quick and easy. Again, the HTC Sense manages to convert this scrappy and chaotic Android into an amazing, chic beast, turning its shortcomings into positives.

So before we get into specs and details of the ChaCha let us get one thing straight that this is not a phone manufactured by Facebook, but is a phone that delivers Facebook experience. So are we all set to take a thorough look at this white fury aka the Facebook phone?

Pack Contains

• HTC ChaCha
• Pre-installed 2GB microSD
• Wall Charger
• microUSB Cable for charging and syncing
• Headphones
• User Guide

Hardware/Software

For starters, the HTC ChaCha Phone is a tastefully crafted handset with a distinct element in terms of design – yeah! We are talking about that nod to that chin, and an angle to that body that can be found in majority of the HTC handsets. This would also mean that you can punch away to your heart’s content on the keyboard even as you enjoy viewing the screen in all comfort. The handset is a nice blend of plastic and metal, the outcome of which is a striking design. In terms of size, the ChaCha beats the Blackberry Bold (measuring a meagre 10.7mm) marginally large than the Bold with individual keys and a well spaced out keyboard. At the foot of the display, one gets to see the conventional touch control keys namely, Home, Menu, Search and Back together with the volume rocker and Standby/Lock buttons. Well, there is no dedicated camera button here unlike the Salsa instead there are two hard calling buttons below the display, which means now you can both answer and hang up calls without even touching the screen. Then there is the prominent little blue Facebook button that sits beneath the keyboard, making the device stand out from the rest. Again, the HTC ChaCha is the first candybar Android handset unveiled by HTC with a full QWERTY keyboard that runs on HTC Sense.

Moving on to the keyboard, it is an absolute nice feeling in terms of ease of use providing users with a good positive action and every key is nicely clean with a slight tactile tinge and good finish. It is kind of hard not to be impressed with the ChaCha’s Tic-Tac sized keys, D-pad cluster and double-width space bar that are nicely spread across four rows. The keys are pleasingly click-y with just about the right amount of travel. Again, the metal fascia would mean it would be devoid of flex while typing. The four row of keys gives you that full QWERTY run down with the main character keys getting an alternate symbol or number assigned to them with a couple of punctuations like full stop, comma and question mark enjoying individual keys and are just one button press away making daily use real handy for SMS fanatics.

Then there are the cursor keys on offer, which though small in size provide you a decent amount of control that would otherwise be missing. This comes in handy with leafing through homepages or run back and forth the widgets to be updated about the same. It also comes in handy with scrolling up and down lists with the return key doubling up as “okay”, then again this is where things start falling apart. Most of the cursor control varies based on the app in context. For eg., the control could vary between dealing with text messages vis-à-vis dealing with graphical images in a map application. But what really stumps you is the allocation of functions to the main keys. While a single press gives you the primary character, a long press gives out repeated characters. Again a press and hold activates the Caps/an alternate character. Meaning a great deal of time would be spent diving between Fn and Shift buttons wile typing. Well, if you are a chronic messaging fanatic (we mean handling day to day mails and literally living out of your phone as against casual Facebook messaging) then you might want to think twice before settling for this handset as you cannot expect a great deal out of the ChaCha like a BlackBerry does in pampering users.  That said, overall the keyboard can be described as flex and creak-free, aptly weighted with a nice blend of whitish-sliver scheme, which perhaps might not attract everyone, but sure does give a solid brushed metal and plastic-y feel.

On the flip side, the buttons come with some inherent benefits too. Start keying in stuff from the home screen and your phone is already searching for People with corresponding name/number. Well, no great shakes about it, but then isn’t it less painstaking than opening the dialer to fish out the contact that you are looking for? As mentioned above, the TicTac size of the keys along with the Up, Down, Right, Left buttons in the 2x size keyboard are complimented by the Fn, tab, SYM and a set of secondary keys that gets activated by the shift key. There are also shortcuts assigned to the keyboard, to name a few – Fn plus spacebar takes you to settings and Fn plus period is the shortcut to access your camera. Again, the W key shares with the number 1 and is shortcut to launch a voicemail. With missing a letter as you type, you either have to go back to insert it or there is always the predictive text at your disposal, but then you might have to compromise on some real estate here. But if you are someone with butter fingers prone to making mistakes, then it could be highly useful. Then again, there is the Facebook button.

Moving on with the screen size of the ChaCha – does a small screen make Sense? Fair question! Measuring 4.5 x 2.54 x 0.42″, even as the HTC ChaCha Android Phone appears to be the thickest at its chin, it is relatively thinner than it seems. It is worth reiterating that despite having a display of 2.5”, which might seem small, it still shares the same resolution as the Salsa (that is comparatively bigger with a 3.4” display), neat huh? A word of caution here – as much as the screen proves to be fine for viewing, if you are someone who has been pampered with a BlackBerry or similar QWERTY Candybar designs, you might be terribly missing an optical joystick/trackball. So getting back, the screen has a resolution of 480 x 320 pixels, giving you a pixel density of 221pp that is fairly high and practically crams ample pixels in a nice and tight way into the display. Thus it renders sharp, fine details and it doesn’t really come as a big surprise to see HTC Sense look crisp and clean throughout.

Well, the tour of the front panel ends at the top with the video-call camera, earpiece and the proximity sensor. The not so comfortable volume rocker sits on the left below which is the microUSB port that also toggles as a charging slot. The bottom is kept bare with just the microphone pinhole on the left. On the top of the ChaCha sits the 3.5-mm audio jack along with the power/lock key. While the former has no protective cap or whatsoever, the latter is also located on a flat and thin surface making it a not to so easy thing to access. Coming to the rear of the ChaCha, you get to see the 5Mp camera (that boasts of Autofocus) along with a loudspeaker grill and LED flash on either side. Sliding the second half of the rear panel gives to access to the battery, which might prove to be a challenge for the feeble handed, yeah it requires some amount of force. Also worth mentioning would be that the microSD card is located beneath the battery and you might have to flip the battery out every time you wish to access the card. So that ends the tour of the controls and buttons in the ChaCha.

Interface and Functionality

It is the same Qualcomm MSM7227 processor at 800MHz ticking inside the ChaCha that is very similar to the Salsa. Likewise the 512MB RAM and ROM inside of this device places the phone in a mid range category. Needless to say, the microSD card slot comes to your rescue if you are looking at memory expansion. Given the limited real estate of the screen, the lack of Flash support or inability to take in HD video content shouldn’t really come as a big surprise. With a 2.1 re-orientation particularly for Sense, the ChaCha is filled with a whole range of device-specific peculiarities. Let us see some good news first – the lock screen borrows from the Sense 3.0 helping to set 4 shortcuts that can be directly accessed, but without live updates in the background. Now for some not so good stuff – the notifications bar lacks a pull down quick setting functionality with just the conventional Android notifications. To make things worse, the apps drawer can only be accessed from one of the 7 available homescreens. Meaning if you are in screen 4, you might have to get back to screen 1 in order to do so. Well, if it makes you feel any good, you can still access it via the menu button, but then it still involves two clicks in the place of 1. Aside from these, there is nothing much to whine about the landscape-oriented Sense UI that is still loaded with the conventional HTC Sense widgets that doesn’t fail you in giving ample functionality to your Android experience.

The Facebook Experience

The Facebook integration in the HTC ChaCha happens via the little blue “f” button along with the chat app. With the button being pressed, regardless of the happenings in the background you reach the Facebook homepage. Short pressing it from the homescreen, gets your wall updated and long pressing helps updating your location with the help of Facebook places. Being in the music app, it is easy to share the current track that you are listening to, directly to your profile with just a single click. Again if you are in the gallery app, images can be sent directly to your wall. The little blue button also toggles as Facebook shutter release for the 5 Mp camera on-board and focuses, shoots and uploads images, all in a single step. Yet another impressive element in Facebook integration is the absolute ease with which you can tag your contacts in images.

The chat implementation in the ChaCha is a major Facebook arsenal particularly when the app is coupled up with the QWERTY keyboard that makes it a literal breeze to chat to your heart’s content with your FB buddies. Again, the Facebook Chat takes the form of a widget in the homescreen displaying the available contacts. Opening the app manages conversations too.

Additional software pre-installed in the HTC ChaCha would be the conventional organizer tools along with Books, but we must admit that the performance of books particularly in a 2.6” screen is nothing short of being terrible.

Camera/Multimedia

The HTC  ChaCha’s 5MP camera is something very similar to the one in its predecessor the HTC Salsa, and is again the highlight of the device. It is devoid of the HD tag, but atleast it is widescreen. The camera interface has gone through the conventional HTC treatment, so you get to try your hands on touch focus along with smattering affects that is on offer. Moving the captured images to your PC or sharing them online will give you a better feeling of what has been captured. There is a good amount of detail to the images with solid colour and contrast levels. On the flip side, it falls short with high contrast scenarios, but seriously you cannot ask for more out a phone that is priced at this level. It also boasts of sharp macro shots along with an LED that comes in handy with low lightning conditions. Last but not least there is also a front-facing VGA camera for whatever it is worth.

In terms of Video capture, it is just ordinary with a 780 x 480 resolution together with patchy frame-rates. Touch focusing is an option with video capture too and allows for the camera to be shifted around letting your refocus and re-meter to your heart’s content. Videos can be categorized as average on this small screen display, but don’t be surprised if you are in for some disappointment when it comes to playback of captured content. HD is again a miss here, but with ample detail and fairly well distributed colours. Again, in terms of added codec support, the ChaCha doesn’t support any and if you are looking at playing formats aside from MP4s, you are better off getting a separate codec-rich player from the Android market. Otherwise, there is nothing much to complain about MP4 playback that tops up to a resolution of 800×480 and it is a matter of time before you get used to the screen size. The music app on board handles predictable music playback fairly well and is devoid of perks lik DLNA. The audio quality also seems to be pretty good even via the headphone jack.

Internet and Connectivity

With the dual-band 3G and Quad-band GSM together with Wi-Fi, you are just a click away from Facebook at any given time. Coupled with the internet connectivity, the phone also packs a GPS that aid with checking out places in Facebook, along with a Bluetooth v3.0. Playing around with websites could be kind of cramped, thanks to the display size, but luckily the HVGA resolution comes to your rescue in giving content a reasonable size and making it readable thus saving you the hassle of zooming in every now and then. Well if you are not a great fan of the screen, then there are always the arrow keys that you could turn to and sure is far better than the rest of the QWERTY competition in the market. Finally, there is nothing much to whine about neither multi-touch nor loading of pages which works perfectly fine along with text reflow that proves to be a perfect fit on the pages.

Performance

Thanks to the Android 2.3 Gingerbread, 800MHz processor the HTC ChaCha cannot be categorized as a slouch. For the most part, the re-oriented Sense UI runs pretty much smooth. Likewise, it handles multitasking like a pro, so it would only be a rare instance where this white beauty tends to slow down attempting to accomplish the tasks that you throw at it. Probably there could be some hiccups when it comes to online tasks or even Facebook timing out at times, but that could be owing to connection error and otherwise all the routine tasks are handled in a much professional manner. That said, try firing up the Skype and all hell breaks loose. If you are looking at having a voice call even over Wi-Fi, it is kind of hard to even have a decent conversation. That is because, it is kind of asking too much from the ChaCha to handle high quality audio where it lags behind. Aside from the above-mentioned hiccups, the ChaCha leaves no stone unturned to satisfy its owners in terms of performance, thanks to the 512MB RAM that comes in handy for the processor to do its thing.

Call Quality

In terms of call quality, well the phone manages to deliver a solid performance with absolutely no trace of dropped calls or whatsoever. There is a natural sound reproduced by the handset both ways with the speakerphone tending to be a little too silent, but you end up with some distortion with trying to crank up the volume a bit. Again when it comes to reception, it is the conventional performance that is expected out of any Smartphone and effectively ends up picking up expected amount of bars as any other phone would. Again, having established a network lock, you may rest assured that the HTC ChaCha Smartphone clings on to the signal and there will never be instances where you end up with dropped calls  or lose a Data Connection, provided you don’t go hiding under basements or bunkers.

Battery life

The ChaCha really shines when it comes to battery life. It is pegged at a standby of 18 days with 7 hours of talk time. The secret of how HTC managed to bump the processor speed as well as keep a fairly slim profile of this chinless device becomes apparent with examining its battery life. Regardless of its diminutive dimensions, the HTC ChaCha manages seamlessly two days of moderate-to-heavy usage and definitely falls in the upper limits of normal in terms of battery life when compared to the other DROIDs. Featuring a 1250mAh battery, you could casually do way with 2 days of normal day usage (by which we mean browsing, media, social networking chatting, messaging, phone calls, e-mails, Phew! have we missed out anything?) Thanks to the low ticking processor and the smaller screen that consumes less power. Talking about the screen display, with the display being fairly bright you will rarely come across situations where you will need more than 50% of brightness.

Navigating the Google Way

Well as any Android phone the incredible Google Maps is here too and works skilfully. Also on board is Google’s sat-nav system, Navigation, (which is free) calling itself a beta, though it has been around for ages now. Again, the GPS receiver on board manages to get a lock in less than a minute (when the A-GPS is switched off). Also if you wish to have a rough idea of your location within 150 meters, there is the Wi-Fi network and Cell-ID lock, which comes to your rescue in lightning speed. Then there is always the Google Maps as mentioned above, which is a part of any Android package. There is also the famous voice-guided navigation, list of instructions, route planning, search for POIs in the vicinity, and last but not least the cool Street View. While the voice guidance navigation is available for free, its availability is limited and largely relies on the net connection. Regardless of navigation, you still get to have some guidance: with your present location and route appearing on the screen, you might eventually manage to find your destination eventually, but that would require a co-pilot to read out the instructions to you.

Hits

• Receptive touchscreen
• Undoubtedly awesome Facebook Integration
• Typing cannot be anymore seamless
• Impressive re-orientation of Sense UI
• Impressive battery life despite being small charges rapidly

Misses

• Could have been named better to avoid funny controversies
• The screen at times seems kind of small
• Camera could use some improvement
• The Chin is both a positive and negative to the design
• Lack of Flash support is disappointing

Verdict

Well, if you are one of the following types of users you would love the ChaCha phone –

a.    You possibly have a Blackberry and wish to move to a better QWERTY experience
b.    You don’t mind the name being ChaCha? but love the android and well connected experience in this ‘ChitChat’ (oops ChaCha) phone
c.    You need the keypad more than a touchscreen

On the other hand, if you’re not one of the above and if touch pads and multimedia bring your phone to life better, you might want to keep looking. HTC has come up with a good functional unit with significant positives here but keeping all things constant (such as internet experience, UI, android feel etc.) cell phone users are almost dividing themselves between the ones that love the keyboard and ones that don’t. If you love the key pad you might want to take a look at this one.

HTC ChaCha Android OS Phone – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	HTC
Model Name	HTC ChaCha
Dimensions (H x W x D)	114.4 x 64.6 x 10.7 mm
Weight	4.2 oz (120 g)
Form Factor	Candy Bar
Keyboard	Full Keyboard (QWERTY)
Network	2G: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 3G: HSDPA 900 / 2100
Released	June 2011
Software	OS: Android v2.3 Gingerbread with HTC Sense Processor: Single-Core Qualcomm MSM7227 Processor Speed: 800 MHz Memory: 512 MB RAM/ROM
Colours available	Whitish Silver
Display type	Gorilla Glass
Display size	2.6- inch Touchscreen
Display Features	Resolution: 480 x 320 pixels Touchscreen: Capacitive Proximity Sensor Ambient Light Sensor Multi-touch Light Sensor Scratch-resistant Glass
Sound	Alert Types: Vibration, MP3, WAV ringtones  Loudspeaker
Memory	Slot Type: microSD, microSDHC Maximum Card Size: 32GB
Connectivity	Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth: v3.0 USB: microUSB v2.0 (Mass storage device, USB Charging) Headphones Connector: 3.5-mm jack
Camera	Resolution: 5Mp 2592 x 1944 pixels with LED Flash and Autofocus Features: Geotagging, Face detection Additional Camera: Yes, 0.3Mp VGA Video Capture Resolution: 720 x 480 pixels p @ 30fps Video Calling: Yes
Messaging	SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM
Phonebook	Capacity depending on system memory Features: Caller Groups, Multiple number per contact, Search by first and last name, Picture and Ring ID
Multimedia	Audio Supported Formats: .aac, .amr, .ogg, .mid, .mp3, .wav, .wma (windows media audio 9) Recording: .amr Video Supported Formats: .3gp, .3g2, .mp4, .wmv Recording: .3gp YouTube Player
Organiser	Calendar, Alarms, Document Viewer, Calculator, World Clock
Internet Browsing	Supports HTML, HTML5, XHTML
Built-in Online Service	Facebook/Twitter
Games	Yes
Location Based Services	GPS with A-GPS support along with Google Navigation and internal GPS antenna
Battery	Rechargeable Lithium-ion 1250mAh Battery Standby: WCDMA Up To 660 hours/GSM Up To 430 hours Talk time: WCDMA Up to 420 mins/GSM Up to 450 mins
Warranty	1 year

One can only wonder where the future is heading to with Hi-Def Cameras, gigantic dual-core processors, High data speeds, HD displays, mobile computing etc. Well, if you have already made a quick guess at where we are coming to – yes, we mean the Smartphone/Android Arena where innovations happen by the day, not just weeks or months. With every manufacturer out there striving to be at the forefront of technology revolution, only a few manage to come under the limelight. Well, the manufacturer in limelight today would be Motorola with their first of its kind Smartphone that eventually turns into a desktop, laptop, tablet and a phone, all of which shares the same storage and CPU and they prefer calling it the Motorola Atrix 4G. After a couple of not-very-acceptable handsets like the Flipout, Bravo and Flipside, looks like it is “The Rise of The Fallen” for the Motorola Atrix.

This supposedly first dual-core Smartphone in Motorola’s line-up flaunts a qHD touchscreen along with a rapid HSDPA network. With dual-core being the most happening thing in today’s mobile world, this DROID would be the first among its rivals to pack the same. We are not done yet! Few other bold decisions made by Motorola would include the laptop dock and the good old fingerprint scanner, for the privacy conscious users along with few other juicy specs packed by this DROID that is an absolute first of its kind. Having a couple of “Bests” to its credit namely – Best Android Phone, Best Battery Life, and one of the 10 Best Touchscreen Phone, let us see of it does justice to the above “Bests”

Pack Contains

• Motorola Atrix 4G
• Wall Charger
• microUSB Cable
• microHDMI Cable
• Quick Start Guide

Design and Construction

Taking a sneak peek at the retail package, you get to find the handset along with the charger-data cable. Saving users some extra cash is the HDMI cable that comes with other accessories. Unfortunately, there is neither a microSD card nor the stereo headphones included in box. Of course, the other additional accessories like the laptop dock, HD multimedia dock and standard dock all have to be purchased separately.

Now coming to the design and feel of the handset, the Motorola Atrix 4G Android Phone is fairly a compact phone for the 4″qHD Capacitive screen that it boasts of. Measuring 117.8 x 63.5 x 11 mm, the 135g doesn’t really feel awkwardly heavy, but is just hefty enough to feel its presence in the palm. The handset is mainly dominated by the 4-inch massive qHD display boasting of a pixel resolution of 560 x 940. The capacitive touchscreen jumps to life with its crisp and vibrant colours, while the Gorilla Glass maintains the flawlessness of the screen. While there is nothing else fancy about the front of the Atrix aside from the above-mentioned, the rear literally springs to life.

The Power/Lock button is housed at the top of the device, which also toggles as the fingerprint scanner, a very comfy position for the thumb finger, we should say. There is an optional feature offered by the Atrix in which it is capable of taking several fingerprint scans in an effort to augment the screen lock security. If you are looking at overriding the fingerprint lock, checkout the recovery pin that you are prompted to set. Nothing exceptional about it though, cool enough to satisfy the initial fancy with the phone or to show off.  A status LED sits above the display that hints you of charge getting completed. Alongside the LED are the proximity and ambient light sensors, with the former taking care of locking the screen during calls and the latter aiding with adjusting display brightness. Right next to these you get to see the earpiece, Moto’s logo as well as VGA camera that is front-facing and comes in handy with video calling.

Beneath the display are the conventional Android navigation keys – Contextual Menu, Home, Back and Search. While the left side is kept neat and simple with just two connectivity ports – microHDMI and microUSB (useful both for data connection and charging), the right side houses the loner volume rocker key, fairly solid and easy to reach. The bottom is absolutely bare with the mouthpiece located front facing right below the capacitive buttons.

The rear is looks more like a carbon fibre finish with the MOTOblur logo at the bottom. You might want to watch out as the phone might tend to slip because of this smooth finish and given the weight of the handset. The 5Mp camera sits on the left top corner that is equipped with dual LED flash. The speaker grill that is housed at the rear bottom is slightly indented in an effort to prevent muffling. Yanking the top or bottom edge removes the back cover giving you access to the massive 1930 mAh battery along with the SIM card and microSD slots.

So, to conclude, the Atrix is put together with high quality materials, is fairly robust with subtle styling, and is also future-proof. It looks to be a perfect match for anyone right from a teenager to a serious corporate.

User Interface/Functionality

Having been titled the “the best ever smartphone,” the Motorola ATRIX 4G lives up to it, thanks to the dual-core 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor together with 1GB RAM. So, if you are a speed fanatic, then that is exactly what you get out this wonder handset as it whizzes through even the simplest of tasks without much fuss.

The Motorola Atrix 4G comes loaded with pre-installed Froyo that has gone through some makeover with the MotoBLUR UI. It helps you stay connected via the social networks, send messages and updates you on the read status and call your peers directly from the Home screen. The phone sure does seem to be one hell of a beast, be it toggling between Home screens with live 3D wallpapers or playing intensive 3D games, it is highly impressive to note the way it handles even the most demanding process. So, talking about any Motorola device that runs on Android, the first thing coming to mind would be the MotoBLUR. Though there might be some mixed feelings about it from users who find it either simply fantastic or outrightly horrible, it would be fair to say that it gets the job done fairly well offering almost everything that is expected of an Android-powered device. Aside from its funny appearance, it sure does have some nice customizable widgets that adjust well with resizing. Moreover with the kind of standard personalization allowed by Android, it is never really hard to throw in a bunch of handy widgets, initiate live wallpapers or just bring about a shortcut for ease of use.

Akin to the HTC Helicopter view, there are 7 home screens on offer and customising them enables viewing all of them at the same time while on the Home screen with simply punching the Home Key. Again, there are also a handful of Motorola-specific widgets on offer with additional functionality that does not need running dedicated apps; nevertheless, there is always the option of falling back on the conventional Android options.

As always, the notification panel swipes down from the top, but unfortunately there are no quick shortcuts on offer, unlike its competitors, which is a pity. While getting a quick view of all 7 Home screens and toggling between them is possible, pinching doesn’t really work here and you might have to open the Home screen Context Menu in order to do so. The custom widgets on the Atrix G are programmed to be versatile and fits just about anywhere on the screen with some standard widgets in addition to social networking ones. Resizing widgets is again a cakewalk, and can also be rearranged and moved around freely. Then again, resizing might change the appearance and the info contained (additional or less info) depending on the widget. Looks like other competitors like Samsung is taking this cue with MotoBLUR pioneering this solution. Again, there is a whole load of stock Android widgets also on offer; however, resizing them is not an option.

Phone book

Sky is the limit when it comes to storing numbers in the phone book of the Atrix 4G in addition to storing various individual contact details. Again, integrating contacts with Facebook and checking their status updates via the phone book is also possible. Nothing great about it as the other leading phones also has this feature on offer, except that it is nice to have one. Again, adding any number of phone book fields to a contact aside from the preset ones is also possible. MotoBLUR is literally at its best when it comes to phone book in terms of gathering info from all available sources and, making them available to you right at your fingertips with wonderfully drawing the line between local and online contacts.

Telephony gets smart with Smart Dialing

The Atrix 4G neither has a problem with holding on to a signal nor seems to face any reception issues during calls. Featuring the Crystal Talk Technology, it uses a secondary microphone (on the rear of the handset) to clear background noises while a primary one focuses on your voice. You have the option to set noise suppression levels to High, Low and Normal; looks to work great! That said, there seems to be some issues with the earpiece volume when set to maximum, emitting some kind of crackling noise. Akin to the sturdy DEFY, Voice commands are on offer too that comes in handy with sending messages or dialing numbers, but not that impressive. While the Atrix G lacks the turn-to-mute call function that we saw on the DEFY, there is a tap-to-snooze alarm function on offer. The Smart dialing feature is also here which saves your time and energy with getting into your phone book or an individual contact widget.

Swype your Messages away

The Messaging App takes care of communications in the Atrix G bringing together the standard text messaging, an unified inbox, Twitter, Facebook and Gmail – courtesy MotoBLUR UI. The SMS/MMS are pretty much stock Android versions and nothing more to it. With viewing a thread, the latest message gets placed at the bottom and messages take the form of speech bubbles akin to the iPhone. There is a Smart Search on offer in the recipient field of compose message instantly popping suggestions when you start typing a contact name. while the tap-to-compose box sets off with a single line it can be expanded to three lines, but that is all you can stretch it to. If you are looking at Cut, Copy, Pasting stuff, then all it requires is a press-and-hold from the tap-to-compose area and you can copy or paste away across applications like chat, email or notes. Email forms a part of the messaging app too and the Atrix doesn’t disappoint you here either by offering the standard Gmail app together with the stock Android email. Gmail supports batch operations and allows labelling, archiving or deleting emails. You can also schedule automatic updates along with enabling push email. With the option being available to sync over Wi-Fi, you are sure to save on your data charges.

Coming to text inputs, well you get to have two options – one would the conventional QWERTY keyboard option (the most preferred and handy one), the second would be a Swype Keyboard that uses swiping technology in an effort to enhance speed. It works like this – try swiping through the keys that you intend typing and Swype comes up with word/words giving you the choice of picking one. Not everyone’s cup of tea though, still you can give it a shot!

Internet and Connectivity

The browser is the conventional Webkit seen with Androids, which is above average with most of the websites chewing up JAVA script like a champ. Equipped with Wi-Fi 802.11/a/b/gn pages get loaded in a jiffy with the processor whirring in the background processing pages at a lightning speed. The stock Android browser is here too and akin to most modern browsers, it is WebKit based and does a wonderful job. Thanks to the Flash support on Froyo, pages load fairly rapid and indeed look beautiful. Additionally, there is also the option to tap-to-zoom if you are looking at anything particular to concentrate on. The Motorola Atrix 4G is only too happy to play video embedded sites and has the option to zoom out. Even if there seems to be irregularities with the text size owing to zooming, it would only be too happy to reformat the same with double tapping and zooming in. Text reflow is here too, but it fails to re-size when the screen size changes using pinch and zoom, instead requires a slow double tap. If you are used to a general lag with scrolling down pages, time to wake up guys, that doesn’t happen with the Atrix G. Even before you could reach the scroll bar, the page would have loaded already. It is THAT prompt!

The browser cannot be customized and is just stock Android. But since it is the best part of the OS, Motorola is absolutely confident that nothing needs to be changed about it. Certainly there are other browsers available in the Android Market namely, the Firefox, Dolphin, Opera Mini. But chances are very remote for you to be unhappy with the default offering on the Atrix to be on the look out for options.

In terms of connectivity, there is a full suite on offer – quad-band GPRS/GSM/EDGE and quad-band HSDPA, both with a speed of 14.4 Mbps HSDPA/5.76 HSUPA. In terms of local connectivity, the options again galore – Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n with DLNA support, microUSB port along with the mobile hotspot functionality. The microSD card should come in handy with bulk data transfers. What really is impressive is the phone’s portal app, which literally lets you take a peek of the phone’s content from your desktop browser. Once you get connected with an USB or over Wi-Fi, the Atrix provides an IP address to be fed in your PC and you are good to go from there; Impressive huh? Better yet, the connection can be password protected and you can browse your files and photos to your heart’s content, manage contacts, adjust settings or even compose and send messages. It works real fab and is pretty much similar to Samsung’s solution to its Galaxy S II, the Kies Air.

Camera/Image Quality/Video Recording

Nothing seems to be poky about the Motorola Atrix 4G Smartphone, which goes true with its 5Mp snapper that is equipped with dual-LED flash. In fact, it seems to be the real highlight of the device, which shoots some impressive images with both high and low lightning conditions and can also be customised to match various settings. The camera also toggles into a 720p video camera that captures some great HD content with sharp results. The macro capabilities of the camera look fairly impressive with the only hitch being a purplish hue that few images end up with. That said, the zooming functionality works relatively well, regardless of the graininess. The video quality is also fairly remarkable with no judder or shakes even with fast moving objects. The only disappointment is that the device gets into a fixed focus mode while capturing stuff, making it challenging to shoot a variety of stuff in one shot. Nothing much to comment on the front-facing VGA camera and comes in handy with video calls or some cranky hair styling. But for some minor hitches, the 5Mp snapper proves to be above average and we wouldn’t hesitate to set out on a vacation with just the Atrix G to capture some cherished moments.

Multimedia

With an internal storage of 16GB together with an additional memory of 32GB, media looks to be the heart of the Atrix 4G, which allows you to pack it with 48GB of content. Though it takes the shape of stock Android, there are some minor tweaks to it, namely the Music Videos section that does an online search for music videos. TuneWiki is also supported along with a free offering namely, the Song Identification section, a Shazam equivalent, the only difference being this is fully integrated as opposed to being just a third party add-on. This can be accessed through both the app drawer and Motorola’s standard widgets.

Sound quality seems extraordinary with using the supplied headphones with loud volume that is backed by ample bass. Then again, playing tracks via the loudspeaker sounds quite clanging, which you could probably try to annoy your unfriendly neighbor. The formats supported as mentioned below are AAC, H.264, MP3, WMA9, eAAC+ and AAC+, MPEG-4 and AMNR NB. Again, we are still left wondering why Motorola decided to skip the FM radio, which is more of a default option with other competitors. This shouldn’t be much of a problem really especially with options like streaming radio via third party apps, but it is still kind of weird for a super duper phone like this to lack a default feature that is still advocated by users.

Again, the Atrix 4G lacks a dedicated app for viewing videos, but the handset is only too happy to play videos via the file manager, gallery or the videos that come attached in mails. Akin to the LG family Optimus 2X and Optimus 7, the Atrix 4G also packs a DLNA client that allows playing of content from a PC or a DLNA server on the phone, works like a literal charm on photos, movies and music.

The stock Android gallery has been given some makeover by Moto’s UI. Upon opening the gallery you get greeted by endless categories of browsing, which when opened takes the form of a thumbnail grid. Try side flipping the phone, and watch it seamlessly switch to an “Apple-esque” cover flow mode, sorting your photos/videos date-wise. The Moto Atrix works faithfully organizing your stuff while you happily laze around and it is all set to either edit photos, tag them or upload the same on Facebook.
Accessories/ Webtop

So now coming to the most awaited part of the review, the much hyped about accessories that accompany the Motorola Atrix 4G. To begin with the handset is equipped to turn itself into a full-fledged PC with the help of a dock that is on offer by Motorola. The manufacturer uses a piece of software called Webtop with which the Atrix can be magically transformed into a desktop/laptop and whizzes up a wacky environment where you get to see a window representation of your handset, (in fact, looks like your phone has gotten behind a window) combined with the Webtop software. This is mostly nothing but an instance of Firefox coupled with some settings integrating the phone’s functionality.

In any event, you are allowed to make and receive calls while still in the environment along with using all the other software even as you run the browser or web apps in separate windows. There are Growl-like notifications in the Webtop environment with incoming mails together with offering a representation of the handset’s notifications in the status bar that quickly jumps to your notification panel on the phone. The Firefox browser is kind of sluggish for most pat, which is kind of disappointing and the performance is nothing close to cheaper laptop’s, let alone high-end laptops. Creating web app shortcuts in place of actual apps is a possibility, but it bogs down the system badly that the whole experience gets pretty much annoying. Running Flash content via the browser is yet another possibility, but again nothing great about the performance, in fact it is barely worth watching even for a lowest bit rate setting. Do not surprised or disappointed if the audio or video streaming even via Wi-fi looks to be average.

To wrap-up, the Webtop story is not such an inviting experience and is kind of sloppy despite the fundamental device driving such technology is absolutely stirring. Though the idea looks great, looks like a little more homework wouldn’t really hurt.

Laptop Dock

A quick glance at the laptop dock looks more to be a gadget-freak’s dream come true with its super thin styling and robust build quality that sure does match the industry standards. The black glossy dock is a blend of soft-touch plastic and brushed metal and is thinner and smaller in comparison to any netbook in the market weighing a meager 2.4 oz. Does brushed metal ring any bells, yeah!!!! It indeed is a magnet for fingerprints. Towards the rear is a robust flip-out dock into which the phone settles snugly.

Upon opening the laptop, you will be greeted by an 11.5-inch display that boasts of a 1366 x 768 resolution along with a full-width chiclet keyboard, and a generous trackpad with 2 buttons. While the rear houses two ports for the USB and power jack respectively, the front hosts a battery display readout that gets activated with a small button, something akin to the MacBook Pro.

For starters, the laptop is absolutely nothing without the phone plugged in and once the Atrix 4G settles itself in the dock, the Webtop OS gets fired in less than a minute. As the dock is a plain battery, it toggles as a charger as well. Despite not being plugged, it charges the handset’s battery while in use. Motorola promises a solid 8 to 10 hours of battery life from the dock and looks like the dock does live up to it and looks stunning. The elegant mouse and Bluetooth keyboard both run on normal AA batteries. Both the keyboard and mouse is wireless, works via Bluetooth and doesn’t really pose much of problem in being paired up to an existing setup. The keyboard is a nice and robust chiclet-style keyboard that barely occupies desk space along with providing a nice set of custom Android keys that makes hopping into apps like Gmail or the browser fairly quick. The duo seem to make a stylish presence to the rest of the offerings by Moto.

As the saying goes “looks can be deceiving” it seems to be a perfect match for the dock, as using the same doesn’t prove to be a pleasant experience. For starters, the spacious trackpad is single touch only with a no-no to two finger scrolling that makes navigating webpages a huge hassle and making it mandatory to grab the scroll bar manually to traverse pages. Furthermore, with the trackpad buttons being largely stiff you tend to frequently miss presses. Though we love the dock, you are better off spending on a decent notebook or tablet for the kind of pricing it comes with.

HD/Desktop Dock

The Atrix offers two versions of the HD/desktop dock. The supposedly cheaper one which is around  £30 acts a mere charging device where you just slip your phone into.

The second would be the HD Multimedia Dock, which is priced at an expensive £75 that is plugged through an HDMI lead into the TV to enjoy a full HD experience.

Docking the phone instantly fires up the HD mode that in turn fires up the Entertainment Centre through which your Photos, Music and videos can be accessed or played as a slideshow based on your discretion.

Towards the rear you get to find three USB port connections.

There is a remote control that accompanies the HD Dock for you to enjoy your stuff right from the comfort of your recliner.

Navigating the Google Way

The satellite lock takes less than a minute and from then on it is hassle-free. With Google Maps being the obvious choice, the Street View Mode would be your best bet, particularly for regions devoid of turn-by-turn navigation. Then again, with the Street View Mode being available in the area of your interest and the digital compass turned on, you get to enjoy a virtual tour of that area with a 360-dgree view of the surroundings. The Google Map interface is a literal cakewalk and choosing directions is fairly easy as it navigates you turn-by-turn together with voice commands. So, all you need to do is pack your bags and plan your journey in advance, keeping a constant tab on your current location. Again, the Android Market is wide open for those you who wish to get explorative with more options as you might find both paid and free alternatives which offers more than just voice-guided navigation like recoding GPS data or keeping track of your lap times, so and so forth.

Battery life

The Motorola Atrix 4G has a massive 1930 mAh battery ticking inside the handset complementing the outrageously rapid dual-core processor. It is by far the best in the industry and beats its rivals hands down, to name a few,  The Samsung Galaxy S2 that is loaded with a 1650 mAh battery and the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc and the LG Optimus 2X both of which come with a 1500 mAh battery. Well, it sure does seem pretty impressive and seems to handle the power-hungry Android phone’s demands seamlessly. Motorola promises 400h of standby in 2G and 350h with 3G. When it boils down to actual phone calls, the Atrix faithfully comes up to a decent 9 hour span. But then, you might want to be aware of the fact that the performance does get affected if you intend spending prolonged hours on the HD dock/lapdock. All said and done, it all boils down to signal strength and real life usage. But then if you are moderate user, then you can rest assured that the Atrix goes that extra mile of giving you two or maybe even three days of charge, prior to dying out on you (do remember the term “light usage”).

Hits

• Robust build with great feel.
• Amazing qHD dispaly
• Innovative functionality via the additional docks provided
• Solid battery life
• Power-horse dual-core NVIDIA Tegra2 Processor
• Moto
• Phone portal software proves to be a real delight

Misses

• MotoBlur is more of a disappointment without Gingerbread
• Average speed with HSPA+ uploads
• Disappointing video quality
• Gesture UI is fun, but for the most part useless.
• Pricey accessories
• Byzantine overlay

Verdict

Kudos to Motorola for their meticulous planning and attention to detail on every single facet of the ATRIX 4G! Though we cannot call it groundbreaking, it is impressive! The Atrix is definitely not yet another Smartphone in the market and the daring attempts by way of the fancy docks proves the same. Well, we can pick flaws with the laptop dock or the bugs here, but otherwise the phone stands out as one of the best and fastest android out there with small form factor, high-res display and a fab for battery life. As a sleek powerhouse that is highly customizable, it lies with you – the user to turn the device to your advantage. The phone may not be the best choice for a beginner, but the extensibility and specifications can make this a powerhouse in the hands of an avid and adventurous user. Watch out, competition!!

Check out our in-depth Samsung Galaxy S2 Review.

Motorola Atrix 4G Phone – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Motorola
Model Name	Atrix 4G
Dimensions (H x W x D)	63.5 x 117.7 x 10.9 mm
Weight	4.76 oz (135 g)
Form Factor	Candy Bar
Network	2G: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 3G: HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100
Released	February 2011
Software	OS: Android v2.2 Froyo Processor: Dual-Core, Tegra 2 Processor Speed: 1000 MHz Memory: 1024 MB RAM
Colours available	Black
Display Type	Corning Gorilla Glass
Display size	4 inches
Display Features	Resolution: 540 x 960 pixels Touchscreen: Capacitive Proximity Sensor Multi-touch Light Sensor Scratch-resistant Glass
Sound	Alert Types: Vibration, MP3, WAV ringtones Loudspeaker
Memory	Slot Type: microSD, microSDHC Maximum Card Size: 32GB Built-in: 16384MB
Connectivity	WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth: v2.1 EDR USB: microUSB v2.0 (Mass storage device, USB Charging) Headphones Connector: 3.5-mm jack HDMI, DLNA
Camera	Resolution: 5Mp with Dual LED Flash 2592 x 1944 pixels Features: Geotagging, Image stabilization, Auto focus, Effects, White balance, Scenes Additional Camera: Yes, 2Mp VGA Video Capture Resolution: 720p @ 30fps (1280 x 720p) Recording Format: MPEG4, H.264 Video Calling: Yes
Messaging	SMS (threaded view) Predictive Text: Android and Swype Email: IMAP, POP3, SMTP, Microsoft Exchange
Phonebook	Capacity depending on system memory Features: Caller Groups, Multiple number per contact, Search by first and last name, Picture and Ring ID
Multimedia	Music Player Supports MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WAV, MIDI Video Playback Supports: MPEG4, H.263, H.264, DivX, XviD, WMV YouTube Player
Organiser	Calendar, Alarms, Document Viewer, Calculator, World Clock
Internet Browsing	Android HTML Webkit, Flash Player 10.1
Built-in Online Service	Facebook/Twitter/Picasa/MySpace
Games	Yes, +Downloadable
Location Based Services	A-GPS with Google Navigation, Google Latitude, eCompass, Google Street View
Battery	Standard Battery Li-Ion Polymer 1930 Mah Battery Standby: Up To 400 H (2G)/ Up To 350 H (3G) Talk time: Up to 8 h 50 min (2G) / Up to 3 h (3G)
Warranty	1 year

With technology advancing in leaps and bounds, the Android Battle keeps getting more and more interesting and this time around it is the Korean manufacturer who seem to have stolen the limelight by unveiling the Samsung Galaxy S II (aka Galaxy S2) line of devices. They conquered the market with a real big bang in 2010 with their Galaxy S line-up of devices and now in 2011, they have decided to continue the hype with unleashing their next-generation Galaxy phones known as the Galaxy S2. Looks like this “Galaxy” is all set to beat its own records with exploding speed and energy and overeat of Android power! This beast of a droid boasts of an impressive spec sheet proving to be a tough competitor in today’s vicious market with too many First’s to boast of – a flawless 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus screen, Samsung’s very own impressive Exynos dual-core chipset and an impossibly thin chassis making it the thinnest Smartphone to hit the planet – are just a few of them to begin with! It is allegedly said to have set a new benchmark for Smartphones in 2011, exceeded the same by recreating its own aura and is way ahead of the competition. So, breeze through the review and check out if this Galaxy is worth all this hype?

In the Box

• Charging cable
• High-quality earbud headphones
• Wall Plug
• microUSB Cable
• One-piece handset
• Quick Start Guide
• As there is an incorporated 16GB microSD on-board, there is no microSD card included.

Design/ Display / Construction / Feel

This all-black impossibly slim, rectangular and flat droid is tastefully sculpted with smooth seductive curves. The first thing that you may realize after picking up the Galaxy S2 is how thin it feels in your hands. At a mere 116g, it is 3 grams lighter than its big brother, the Galaxy S. The phone’s rear has gone through some makeover too with a glassy blue-dotted plastic taking the place of the conventional fine texture surface. Well, this gives the device some immunity against fingerprints and feels fairly pleasant and secure to hold. Sure does seem to be a disappointment for all the metal fans, who would have appreciated some metal on the body, but then again it isn’t too hard to understand that it would have eventually upped the weight. After all it is the 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus screen that steals the show and the finish really doesn’t matter. Retaining the conventional WVGA resolution like its big brother, Samsung has decided to use a 3 subpixel per pixel matrix as against the PenTile matrix that we saw in the AMOLED displays of the first-generation phones. The reason for this change being – PenTile screens lack the required sharpness owing to the low number of total subpixels. So with an existing impressive display, the added real estate only seems to accentuate the display quality making it look awesome. The deepest blacks can now be enjoyed on 15% additional surface with the screen being perfectly compatible to almost any lighting conditions. So, the sunlight legibility is taken care of with the display being easy to read (bright sun or not) without compromising on the colour. Particularly with AMOLED screens famous for their wide viewing angles, there is nothing much to whine about colour distortion or lack of contrast.

Also the green tint, a complaint in the first-gen Galaxy phones have also been taken care of, making colours literally jump at you. Yet another critique with regards to the colour saturation with Super AMOLED screens has also been fixed. While some had absolutely no issues with it, others found it to be an overdose. Looks like Samsung has REALLY listened to its customer’s gripe!

Also users are given a choice in the screen setting called “Background Effect” that has three saturation modes on offer: Standard Dynamic and Movie – that has colour intensity in the descending order. Last but not least is the power efficiency that tags along the Super AMOLED Plus displays. These screens don’t really require the backlighting at all times and there is the option to switch off the individual pixels that helps with lesser energy consumption, particularly with darker themes. All said and done, Super AMOLED Plus and Smartphones go hand in hand when it comes to flawless viewing angles, supreme image quality, impressive sunlight legibility along with energy efficiency and are any day better than the conventional OLED’s. So, to summarize, there seems to be no other screen in the present day market to compete with the Galaxy S2 aside from their very own Samsung Infuse 4G that packs a gigantic 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus screen.

Construction

So after having seen enough of the display, let us move on the controls and ease of handling the Galaxy S II. To begin with, the 3 conventional Android Keys sit beneath the display namely the Capacitive Menu, Back button and the frequently used Home Key. All of these have their usual extra functionality with long pressing – while pressing the Home key pops up the Task Switcher, the Menu Key is used for a Google Search. Again, clicking the Home Key twice activates Voice Control. Right on top of the display sits the earpiece along with the sensors – proximity and ambient light. There is a 2Mp front-facing camera that comes in handy with video calls/chat. The left side features the lanyard eyelet and the volume rocker with the latter toggling as a zoom key for the camera. The Power key along with the shutter key sits on the right side. The Power/Lock button is no longer located on a sloped edge like its predecessor making it a lot easier to be pressed avoiding frequent slipping of the device. While the unprotected 3.5-mm audio jack is perched on the top, the microUSB port sits at the bottom that comes in handy with both charging and data transfer. Along with playing host to supporting USB, it is MHL-enabled giving access to HD TV-out connectivity. Mobile Hi-Def Link (MHL) is something that accesses both the HDMI and microUSB via the same port. Well that is thoroughly understandable as yet another port in a phone as slim as this would have been near impossible. On the flipside, you might need an adapter if you are looking at using a regular HDMI cable. So getting back, the only other thing at the bottom would be the mouthpiece.

Now coming to the rear, the only thing that protrudes out of an otherwise plain plastic-y black chassis would be the etched edges of the 8Mp camera that is equipped with an LED flash. Again, the handset is capable of capturing any sound in stereo that accompanies the Full HD videos, thanks to the microphone duo that also toggles up to perform the noise-cancellation feat. The loudspeaker grill is also housed at the rear, bang on the elevated mount at the base.

It is thoroughly understandable why Samsung decided to trade the premium feel of a metal chassis (to chop some grams off the Galaxy) with a plastic rear, the flimsy feel of the plastic comes a real surprise with popping the battery cover for the kind of tech that is rammed under the hood; amazing that all of those are packed in a handset as light as 116 grams, to be exact. That said, it is not that you are going to be removing the cover every now and then and moreover it is a perfect fit on the contoured frame. Also the rear mesh takes care to not warm your hands with prolonged usage.

You will be greeted by the SIM compartment upon popping the thin battery hood, which houses a 1650 mAh battery along with the microSD card slot, which can take cards to a capacity of 32GB with a max storage of 64GB (provided you opt for the 32GB version). Then again, unfortunately, the memory card is not hot-swappable, whereas the SIM is.

So, long story short, the general handling of the Samsung Galaxy S2 Phone is pretty cool with a grippy rear and lean frame that sure does help with single hand usage. It is just matter of time before you get convenient with the plastic-y feel, especially if you are a Samsung patron, then it should be a real breeze! There is nothing much that we can think of to whine about the ergonomics of a phone this big and this slim.

User Interface: TouchWiz Gets a Makeover

Making the impossible possible is how Samsung decides to call the dual-core 1.2GHz Orion CPU that is ticking under the hood and this literally means the Galaxy S2 is all equipped to keep pace with whatever you decide to throw at it without any hint of deceleration.

A great amount of effort has gone into tweaking the TouchWiz launcher too and it all begins right from the lock screen, which can now be removed by swiping in any direction, not just sideways. Remember the cool feature, where missed events like calls or messages have their unlock patterns, that is still there. There are seven panels on offer for the Home screen or you can just have one if you choose to. Home screens can be added or removed using the Zoom view that can be accessed with a pinch gesture while in the Home screen. There is also quite a variety of premium widgets on offer that Samsung has decided to add, many of which can be resized. Widgets go on to include Calendar, Weather, Task Manager, Digital and Analog clocks, Note pad, Task Manager and many more. The UI has also been spruced up to include more widgets with them being arranged under a vertical scroll instead of the horizontal scroll list at the foot of the screen. A nice tweak though, but again this slows down the widget search as you get to see only four widgets at a time. Yet another handy gesture would be using the gyroscope that aides with precise positioning of widgets.

Coming to the App Tray which is also a part of the TouchWiz 4.0 interface, pages can be added or removed that can be scrolled horizontally. Moving icons from a page to another makes setting up a page easy, like one page for the multimedia, another page for games, so on and so forth. Again, folders can also be added to pages, yet another nice tweak, and a nice attempt to keep the App Tray to the minimum possible.

Aside from the App Tray and Homescreen, the notification shade (in the Settings Menu) too looks to have benefited out of the TouchWiz 4.0 along with all other stock applications. In terms of notification shade, quick access has been added to GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, sound/screen rotation controls. In terms of Settings, the entries are coloured along with adding bonus options to control some of the motion gestures. Well, in terms of stock applications, one gets to see ToouchWiz tweaks done to the email (that unfortunately lacks the multi-select option) dialer (that comes with a smart-dial), Browser, FM radio, Contacts and Calendar.

Galaxy S2 Phone book

There is nothing much happening with the phone book in the Galaxy S II Android Phone and looks to be pretty much the same as its predecessor. Anyways that doesn’t prevent the features to galore along with the storage capacity being unlimited. The only hitch looks to be the Samsung Galaxy S2’s inability to display SIM contacts. There is simply no setting at all to help with this. Though it does allow for import of contacts to and from the SIM card, it just refuses to display them alongside the phone memory entries. You are allowed to filter contacts with phone numbers, hide or show groups created by you, which includes social network groups too, and sort by first or last name. There is the Quick Contacts feature too, which requires you to tap on the contact’s photo and up springs a popup with a shortcut to text, e-mail or call the contact. Then there is the Samsung’s trademark swipe feature that requires you to swipe left to compose messages and right to make calls. All info fields assigned to contacts are neatly organised with category listings of address, emails, numbers etc., with a plus sign on the right that adds another category of the same kind and the minus sign deleting unnecessary fields. The agility of the phonebook gets all the more apparent with signing into social networking. Once synced, the phonebook merges contacts by default, pulling contact details from the SN, (this can be done manually too).

Great Call Quality

The call quality of the Galaxy S2 Smartphone is absolutely impressive with crisp and loud sound. There seems to be no issues with the reception either nor with dropped calls, but if you are in a poor network area, then it is a different story. The Call log and Dialer come integrated in the phonebook and are assigned separate tabs. Smart Dial is here too and works like a literal charm searching simultaneously for numbers and names. Then there is the fancy Voice Dialing too, which gets activated with a double tap of the Home key. Off note, this is a third-party app and not one of Google’s service and is far better than stock Android. The Dialer has quick shortcuts on offer for video calls and messaging. The Proximity Sensor takes care to turn off your screen during calls with a whole host of options on offer amidst a call, namely – muting, taking notes, usage of keypad, placing the call on hold or adding another call to the current conversation. Finally, the tab next to the Dial Pad would be the Call Log that displays your Received/Missed/Dialled calls all in a single list along with sorting the call history by contacts. Well, the only thing weird here is that you can only hot-swap the SIM, not the microSD!

Swype your Messages away

 

Punch your messages away in the Galaxy S II on the virtual keyboard designed by Samsung. With well spaced out keys, predictive text input, and an ample space bar in the landscape mode, it is more than enough to get your job done. The one thing that is really annoying is if you want to include punctuations aside from a period, you need to switch to a separate keyboard for symbols. Also the S2 doesn’t really enter periods by default when the space bar is pressed twice post a sentence, a stock Android feature that majority of the Smartphones enjoy. Well, if it makes you feel any better, the top letter row keys when long pressed yield numbers. Again, there is a dedicated keyboard setting that can be toggled for a variety of functions and for activating Swype, a feature that strings words together by way of drawing lines through words.

Internet and Connectivity

Browsing experience in the Galaxy S2 Android Phone is tremendous propelling user experience to great heights. While the interface of the web browser is still stock Android, it really blazes through handling download speeds of around 21Mbps on HSDPA leaving users awestruck. With being amply future-proof, Wi-Fi over 802.11n indicates speeds hitting the roof. The WVGA screen is amazingly crisp upon zooming out to a whole web page, and double tapping rapidly gives out a legible text level, irrespective of your location in the page. But alas! Text reflow doesn’t happen by default here and needs slow double tapping of the screen to activate it and a pinch to zoom in. Well, the good news is you get a Flash-supported browser (a word of caution though – ensure turning On the plug-in, in the settings for it to work) and it beats it rivals hands down providing a Flash experience that is free of lag, judder or average performance. This goes true even for the BBC webpage – a site pretty notorious for slowing down devices with Flash. Bookmarks come neatly thumbnailed, yet another cool tweak, with both Frequently Visited and History on offer too, which makes it fairly easy to decide the bookmarks that you need to place in the main section. If you are looking at sharing something with the world, well then Android browser is the way to go – with a single click on the settings menu it gets directly pumped to sites like Facebook, Twitter, Email, Messaging or even via Wi-Fi. If you are looking at something fancy about the browser then check out its ability to print a page or text, but sadly it works only on a wireless Samsung printer.

Connectivity

In terms of connectivity, with quite a lot of techy stuff being packed under the hood by Samsung it takes quite some time exploring it. For starters, there are the two main connections Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to b/g/n standard, though it is not the strongest as it manages to have only two signal bars despite being close to a router. At least, there is nothing to complain about the connectivity as the connection is held fine enough.

Wi-Fi Direct: This is very much similar to accessing the Bluetooth, only that the Wi-Fi runs a little faster. Setting it up is similar to Bluetooth – look out for transmitting devices, connect with a confirmation box, and lo behold, it is up and running. The setup is just a click away and exchange of huge data happens pretty much faster than a Bluetooth. The same can also be done with printers, but for the moment only with Samsung Printers; let us keep our fingers crossed for a future update!

Kies: This is Samsung’s very own software, and a fairly comprehensive one too – right from managing media to adding Apps, probably the best you can ask for to interact with your device. It probably might be time consuming to load or act a little unstable on the initial start-up; nevertheless it is a smart platform for booting media on the phone and all it requires is a simple drag and drop particularly with search making your job all the more easier. The Kies software will only be too happy to re-encode media playback if you find the existing options doesn’t really come up to your expectations for your video collection. Again you are also given the option to backup the phone and it requires a mere plug in and saving your files every now and then, so no more losing data.

Kies Air: Well if you are mislead into thinking that this is some wireless variant of the Kies, then you are ………Wrong! It is way better than that, simply key in your Phone’s IP in a connected browser (remember the network has to be same) and up pops a potted version of Kies in your PC’s window. This interface comes in relatively handy with browsing contacts and messages, adding bookmarks, downloading media – it is like raking your phone open and exploring the insides of it, only that you do all these from the comfort of your browser. Uploading content from your PC is yet another option, but watch out as it could be kind of slow, particularly if you haven’t enabled the appropriate Java platform, uploading multiple files would only remain a dream.

AllShare: This DLNA client allows you to be connected to a TV that is internet-enabled, PS3, Smartphone or a PC wirelessly. It allows you to browse contents of your PC’s shared files and folders, download audios/videos sending the content to your TV. It works pretty decent as even 1080p video recordings looks to be ok and requires only minimal buffering, although there seems to be frequent pauses amidst playback in Full HD level.

USB on the go: With plugging a USB on the go in the device and the required cable, the Galaxy S2 reads the same transferring files to and from it, a pretty cool feat. You will just have to wait and watch the pricing that Samsung decides to place on it with launching the same and in all probabilities would be a few pounds on eBay.

HDMI mirroring: This happens via a microUSB cable with some TVs equipped to also charge the device via this method along with seeing what precisely happens in your handset on the big TV screen. Well it is a neat feature to try your hands especially on some games that are gyroscope-enabled.

Solid 8Mp Camera

The Samsung Galaxy S2 is packed with an 8Mp auto-focus camera that has a 3264 x 2448 pixel resolution. Well it does come with an LED flash, but is devoid of both a physical shutter key and lens protection. There is nothing changed about the interface and is pretty much the same as its predecessors with two shortcuts on either side of the viewfinder. Towards the right is the still camera along with the camcorder switch, virtual shutter key and a shortcut to gallery that takes the shape of a thumbnail of the photo last taken. There are quite a bit of controls by default on the left with the good news being you get to pick four shortcuts to be placed there, such that frequently used keys are just a tap away. Again when it comes to features, it is all here – Face, Blink and Smile detection, Geotagging, Touch focus, Effects, Digital Image Stabilization, Scene modes along with manual ISO controls, metering mode, so on and so forth. And of course, there are other features too and the above listed are just the frequently used ones.

Outdoor visibility mode is real splendid and is actually Samsung’s gimmick of increasing the contrast to ridiculous levels that it literally burns through direct sunlight. Nothing remarkable about the quality tough, but at least you will know what you are snapping, with it being a boon in disguise for outdoor shots.

Next up is the shooting modes, which are literally a mixed bag – don’t get carried away by the name action mode, because all it does is create a collage of a variety of frames out of a moving scene. Panorama/Beauty Modes are passable too, but the Cartoon Mode looks to be kind of pointless. Exploring further are the macro modes along with automatic metering and exposure alteration, which kind of accentuates the photo’s looks by bringing out the sharpness and colours in them.
Smile Shot and Blink detection work well too particularly to redo couple of family portraits where people generally have the tendency to shut eyes with the powerful flash lights and the former firing with detecting a smile – nothing spectacular again.

In terms of quality of images captured in the S II it can be rated as very good with minimal noise and plenty of precision. The contrast and colour are excellent too. There is however, a wee bit of oversaturation, but sometimes that is how we like our pictures don’t we? Long story short, the images produced are clean and crisp with minimal processing artefacts. Also there are no pink spots or moiré patters to whine about.

Stunning Full HD Video

Coming to the video interface of the Galaxy S2, there are no big changes and is pretty much identical to that of the still camera. You get a similar panel on the left that can be customised with the same four shortcuts. Video recording is possible with the front-facing camera too, but the resolution would be limited to VGA with the captured videos nothing short of being top-notch, a great eye for detail, minimal noise. Everything seems to be nice and smooth with a bitrate over 17Mbps. The only hitch would be the mono audio recording. Yet another minus point of the video camera is sadly the focus happens only after the recording commences, which means the first few seconds of every clip turns out to be out of focus. Hopefully, a future software update should take care of this! There is one peculiarity that you may notice with shooting FullHD videos – the field of view is kind of narrow in comparison to the still camera akin to the Apple in the iPhone 4. This is owing to the fact that the camcorder shoots only via the centre of the 8MP sensor as against using whole surface, scaling it down to 1080p. Then again, the whole sensor is utilised with shooting videos in 720p capture mode resulting in a wide field of view at 30mm akin to the still camera.

So for all those budding videographers who wish to try their hands on shooting videos, we would advise doing it in the 720p capture mode to avoid disappointment even in low lighting conditions. Because in all probabilities you might benefit from the suppression of digital noise too while the process of pixel binning takes place that downsizes info captured out of the 8Mp sensor down to 720p. But then if you dare to shoot videos in the 1080p mode, beware of the fact that there could a potential shake of videos owing to the longer focal range. So it would be ideal to support your hand better during recording to get the best out of the FullHD Camcorder of the Galaxy S2. There is the auto-focus feature also available in the camcorder which is fairly smooth, although a tad slow.

So to conclude, apart from the above-mentioned glitches, the video quality is whopping good at 1080p. There is a lot of detail accompanying the .MP4 files that come with 17Mbps bitrate. Again, there is consistent framerate with no dropped or duplicated frames. The 720p videos though short of resolution are equally smooth and nice. Finally a world of caution here, you might want to be well aware of the fact that FullHD videos suck in enormous storage – by saying enormous we literally mean HUGE like a minute of video takes a whopping 100Mb of your storage space.

Multimedia

Video/Image Editors

Image and Video editors come preinstalled in the Samsung Galaxy S2 with the former handling image cropping (you are not allowed to resize), rotation and adjusting Contrast/Brightness/Saturation. Also you are allowed to make selections via a smart tool akin to Photoshop’s Quick selection; though it isn’t so very accurate like the Photoshop tool. You are allowed to apply effects too and one interesting feature would be the Context fill feature akin to the Context-aware fill tool in Photoshop, but then again not up to the mark as Photoshop itself. You can play with the video editor arranging multiple clips/photos or music thus bringing forth a movie that you can share. Again with the various available presets, the final cut sure does get a brand new look. So go ahead and get innovative by trimming videos or splitting them, apply effects, moderate the transition amidst scenes, and a whole host of features.

Music Player

The music player is standard TouchWiz music player with no bells or whistles here. The player has equalizer presets enabled together with the 5.1 channel virtualization and Sound-enhancing DNSe technology. Again, there is a cool feature that looks up a song for you in Google or YouTube along with prompting you to select the option of looking up the Album/Song Title/Artist. The video player has a plain list-based interface on offer displaying video files on the phone and allows you to do the sorting by Date, Name, Size or type. Also it is smart enough to remember the exact position where you left off viewing a video, resuming it exactly from the same place the next time you play it. Also there are 3 crop modes on offer allowing you to decide what fits the screen best.

Extraordinary video player

Additionally there is sub-title support and 5.1 channel virtualisation also on offer. You may decide on the font size with adjusting subtitles sync or even move it forward/backward by a few seconds. But then there is no option to load subtitles manually and the filename and the video file has to be necessarily the same for it to load. Again, the video player seems to handle seamlessly almost any files thrown at it – be it a .WMV, AVI (XviD/DivX) or .MKV or .MP4 anything at all. Thee seems to be no issues in terms of resolution as well with the phone playing FullHD files or handling large files that was well over 2GB.

FM Radio

There is an FM radio on board the Galaxy S2 along with a RDS too. The interface is kept plain and simple with a tuning dial and the option to store as much as eight stations as favourites. Listening to the loudspeaker would be an option, but not without the headset though.

Impressive Audio Output

Samsung sure has chopped down a few mm here and there off its waist, but it sure still retains its voice and it has retained it nice and good. The Galaxy S2 performs an outstanding job in terms of active external amplifier showing no resistance whatsoever and scores extremely well. With barely any weak points to think of, it sure does impress us with its audio quality. Well, that said, things do not seem that impressive with plugging in the headphones. There is a rapid increase in stereo crosstalk with decreased volume levels, not to mention the intermodulation distortion creeping in.

Hubs

Now if you are someone who thinks Hubs are just for Windows Phone 7, well Samsung begs to differ here and has incorporated a total of 4 Hubs to this Super Smartphone.
For starters you have the Social hub that combines your mails with social networking and IM accounts displaying all incoming messages in a single list as well as providing handy shortcuts for marking favourites, replying, so on and so forth. It also filters the message source that aide with managing the incoming updates.

Now there is a Music Hub to browse your favourite tracks online and also provides with search tools, new releases etc. It also allows a 30-second preview of songs and proves to be handy when you decide on buying albums or tracks.

For all those book lovers out there, check out the Readers Hub, wherein you get to subscribe to magazines, newspapers or buy e-books on the web. Go ahead and download book previews free of cost. Also check out the extensive genre listings that give you an idea of books newly launched.

Last but not least is the Game Hub for all those gaming lovers, which rapidly finds new games. The titles are categorised into two – Social and Premium games along with a news section. Also there is a trial option, just in case you want to check out a game prior to investing your hard-earned money. A cool thing about this Hub is it includes titles by Gameloft, something that cannot be availed of in the Android Market.

Navigating the Google Way

The Samsung Galaxy S II is a loaded with a GPS receiver that manages to get a satellite lock in less than 2 minutes. Well, the A-GPS sure can speed it up real fast, but then requires internet access. The GPS performance works like a real breeze. Looks like Samsung finally decided to see some sense and got rid of their mapping software as Google Maps look to be the ultimate in Google-powered devices. The v5.0 update brings with it elements like Voice-guided Navigation, Vector-based graphic zooming, and 3D models of select cities. Vector maps seem more easy and small on data traffic with reroute being an option, in case you get off course, without having to connect to the net. Then again, if you intend planning your trip, then you might require a data connection for Navigation to cache the required maps. Again, Street View mode is supported too, provided it is available in the area of your interest, providing you a 360-degree tour of your surroundings. The voice search works well too with a technology called Vingo that the Galaxy S2 uses to learn and comprehend the words more frequented (not really sure if Google Nav App uses it), but looks fairly accurate. Yet another impressive feature on the S2 is the Compass, which proves to fairly precise than any of its rival Smartphones, and manages to really point in the accurate direction almost every time; Weird huh? As always, if you are not very happy with Google Maps (which we really doubt) there is always the option to grab an alternative, both free or paid app from the Android Market.

Battery life

Now 90% of the Smartphones last a day or say pull around a day and a half and eventually requires a nightly charge if you don’t want it to die on you in crucial times. Well, the same holds good for the S2 too, i.e., if you are the kind of person who plays around with your phone majority of the time browsing, whipping out the map here and there, listen to the media, watching videos, Push mailing, reading and freaking out on games, then you might be lucky enough to get a 10-hour charge of it. Well, the 1650mAh battery ticking inside would only take you faithfully only thus far. It sure does seem to be a step backward from its single-core predecessor that managed to give a solid 29 hours of charge. Now, dual processors sure does mean a lot of battery drain doesn’t it? Not to worry folks, the good news is the uniqueness that the Galaxy line of devices brings along with them in terms of screen brightness. The backlight can be adjusted to minimum brightness even without affecting the screen’s readability. Meaning by switching off the automatic screen brightness option calibrating the slider to a 1/8, you can increase the battery life to a whopping 30 to 40%. Again, doing so doesn’t really impact the screen’s readability despite it getting less visible outdoors. So relax even if you forget your charger and are away for the weekend, the Galaxy S2 will faithfully serve you as a wonderful texting and calling tool until you get back and doesn’t really die on you in a 6-hour span.

Hits

• Stunning Super AMOLED Plus screen.
• Excellent call quality
• 16GB built-in storage
• Impossibly Slim and light.
• TouchWiz 4.0 brings in lots of goodies.
• Robust Software
• Raging performance with dual-core Exynos
• Impressive photo quality with 1080p video capture.

Misses

• Average battery life (adjusting the automatic brightness fixes it though)
• Frustrating “Charge Complete” beep that refuses to turn off.
• A dedicated Search button would be much appreciated.
• Pricey
• E-mail app doesn’t support multi-select.

Verdict

Did you read the latest news that this phone has sold a few millions in record time!! The Verdict is an easy one here – go for it!! Samsung was a few months late into the dual core race but then if you had waited, you’re lucky. For the avid smart phone user, the connectivity options, AMOLED display or the dual core chipset are simply the best in business. It is one complete future proof package that is light, handy and easy to use. If you were possibly migrating from a Samsung phone, you could be asking for some more differentiators but then when you know you have the best phone in its category, you wouldn’t ask for more.

We recommend http://www.galaxys2deals.com/ for all latest Samsung Galaxy S2 Phone Deals.

Samsung Galaxy S2 Phone – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Samsung
Model Name	Galaxy S2
Dimensions (H x W x D)	125.3 x 66.1 x 8.49 mm
Weight	4.09 oz (116 g)
Form Factor	Candybar
Network	2G: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 3G: HSDPA 850 / 900/ 1900 / 2100
Released	February 2011
Software & Hardware	OS: Android v2.3 Gingerbread Processor: Dual-Core XMM6260 Processor Speed: 1200 MHz Memory: 1024MB RAM
Colours available	Black
Display Type	Gorilla Glass Display
Display size	4.27 inches
Display Features	Resolution: 480 x 800 pixels Touchscreen: Capacitive Technology: Super AMOLED Plus Colours: 16 777 216 Proximity Sensor Multi-touch Light Sensor Scratch-resistant Glass
Sound	Alert Types: Vibration, MP3, WAV ringtones Loudspeaker
Memory	Slot Type: microSD, microSDHC Maximum Card Size: 32GB Built-in: 32768MB
Connectivity	WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth: v3.0 +HS Bluetooth Profiles: GAP, SSP, SDAP, HSP, HFP, A2DP, SAP, OPP, PBAT, MAP, AVRCP, HID Internet HTML Browser: Android Browser NFC: Yes USB: microUSB v2.0 (Mass storage device, USB Charging) SyncML(DS)/(DM) Headphones Connector: 3.5-mm jack HDMI: via microUSB TV output: MHL PC Sync Application: Samsung Kies, Kies Air DLNA, SyncML
Camera	Resolution: 8Mp with LED Flash, Digital Zoom, auto-focus, 3264 x 2488 pixels Shot Modes: Single Shot, Beauty Shot, Smile Shot, Panorama Shot, Action Shot, Cartoon Shot Photo Effects: Negative, Greyscale, Sepia White Balance: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent Features: Geotagging, Touch Focus, Image stabilization, Face, Blink and Smile detection Image Format: JPEG ISO: Auto 100, 200, 400, 800 Additional Camera: Yes, 2Mp VGA Video Capture Resolution: 1920 x 1080 (1080p HD) 30fps 1 280 x 720 (720p HD) Video Light: Yes Video Calling: Yes
Messaging	SMS (threaded view), MMS Email: IMAP, POP3, SMTP, Push Mail, IM, RSS, Microsoft Exchange
JAVA	Via JAVA MIDP Emulator Google Search, Maps, Gmail Active Noise Cancellation With Dedicated Mic Optional NFC support YouTube, Gtalk, Picasa Integration, TV-out via AV/MHL link SNS Integration Digital Compass Image/Video Editor MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263 player MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC player Document Editor (Word, Excel, Power Point, PDF) Voice Memo/Dial/Commands Predictive Text Input (Swype) Adobe Flash 10.1 player
Phonebook	Capacity depending on system memory Features: Caller Groups, Multiple number per contact, Search by first and last name, Picture and Ring ID
Multimedia	Music Player Supports MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+ Video Playback Supports: MPEG4, H.263, H.264, DivX FM Radio YouTube Player
Personal Information Management	Calendar, Alarm, Document Viewer, Calculator, World Clock, Scheduler, To Do list, Stopwatch, Countdown timer, Memo
Browser	HTML, Flash
Built-in Online Service	Facebook/Twitter/Picasa/LinkedIn
Games	Yes
Further Information	Mobile Tracker, C-Type Touchscreen
Location Based Services	Yes A-GPS
Extra Features	1080 p recording/playing Social Hub, Music Hub, Readers Hub, Game Hub
Battery	Standard Battery Li-Ion 1650 mAh Battery Standby: Up To 710 h (2G)/ Up To 610 h (3G) Talk time: Up to 18 h 20 min (2G) / Up to 8 h 40 min (3G)
Warranty	1 year

Smartphone meets fashion – This is how we would like to describe the LG Optimus Black which is a combination of solid built and sheer elegance. This designer handset comes with Android on board and first of its kind NOVA display technology, (that boasts of an exceptional brightness of up to 700 nits) all these packed in a super slim package. This ironically named Black phone comes bathed in light with its brightest display proving to be the best in the Smartphone arena; looks like it sure does outshine all the LCDs and AMOLEDs in the industry. Want to know if it is really worth the Smartphone crown? Read on!

In the Box

• LG Optimus Black
• A Compact Charger
• microUSB cable that can used with the charger too
• Single piece handset
• 2 GB microSD card with an SD adapter
• User Guide

Design and Construction

One look at the LG Optimus Black makes it evident that it has been designed exclusively for the style-conscious users. This is endorsed by the fact that the handset’s thickest measurement is just 9.2 mm (0.36 in.), which means your jeans pocket will only be too happy about the same, while you tote around with the handset. Weighing 3.84 oz/ 109 g, the handset is neither too light, nor too heavy and sits snugly in one’s palms. Thanks to the all-plastic frame of the phone. As for the die-hard fans of metal body, guess you will have to live with it or start looking out for options.

So getting back to the design of the Optimus Black Smartphone, it is a no-nonsense minimalistically designed handset devoid of needless lights or buttons. That said, it sure is impressive to watch the four capacitive touch-sensitive buttons beneath the display change from milky white to a neon blue upon being pressed each time. There is a front-facing 2Mp camera (that sits right next to the almost invisible earpiece) which makes video calls possible. Upon flipping the phone around, a plastic back cover (matt finished) greets you that protects the phone’s internal components along with the battery. The rear is graced by a 5Mp camera with its LED flash and lens cleverly recessed in an effort to guard it against scuffs and bruises. Also seen is the LG/Google branding along with a mesh output for the single loudspeaker. Of note, the Optimus Black’s curved rear edges adds to its slim profile along with providing it nice comfy grip.

The left side houses something that LG prefers calling the G button. Sitting beneath the volume rocker, it helps interacting with the device’s interface upon being rotated or tilted (more on that later in the review). Charging takes place via the microUSB port that sits on the top beneath the sliding cover. Parallel to it one gets to find the 3.5-mm headphone jack, a petite secondary microphone (that aides in noise cancellation) along with the phone’s Power/Lock Button. Towards the bottom is an annoying tiny slot that aides with removing the battery cover. Good luck to those of you with little to no nails in opening the cover, as it seems to take eternity before the back cover decides to come off. Lurking under the hood is the SIM holder, microSD slot and the battery, of course.

So to wrap-up, the Optimus Black looks and feels great to be held. Despite its lightweight and super sleek profile, it looks sturdy. While the curved rear makes handling a pleasure, the matt finish gives a pleasant feel and is fingerprint resistant too. We must admit that Mr. Black feels amazingly light for a device of this size, and while some might prefer heavier handsets to get a feel of it, majority of us prefer going light on the pocket. Anyways, the Optimus Black sure does win hearts with its blend of subtle elegance and rock solid build

The All-New Impressive NOVA Display

Upon turning on the LG Optimus Black phone you will be greeted by the 4-inch LCD screen boasting a 480 x 800 resolution, which LG prefers calling the NOVA Display. The specialty of the NOVA technology is that it brings out the brightest display ever that has been installed in a Smartphone, literally making the screen jump to life instantly. Also it clocks an impressive 700 nits (700cd/m2) luminous output, which is way ahead of the iPhone 4′s display that boasts of a brightness of 500 nits or any other Smartphone that averages a max of 480 nits. LG claims the 700 nits to be an exact threshold in order to achieve that perfect outdoor visibility enabling the human eye to distinguish content at ease even with the brightest of sunlight. Also worth mentioning would be the energy efficient trait that tags along the NOVA technology that helps greater amount of light to traverse through, thus bringing about a brighter screen without causing a battery drain. Furthermore, pixels displaying black essentially get turned off, literally bringing down the power drain to zero. Again, the NOVA technology plays a major role in making photos and videos lifelike with nice and deep shades of black. Whites look more warm and bright without any yellowish hue or tinge. Then again, for the more colour conscious, who are not a major fan of blacks and whites, the entire spectrum of colours is more intense and vivid springing to life, to the extent that the blood reds stand out a wee bit. On the whole, photos and videos look pleasing with bright and impressive splash of colours that probably have a tinge of over saturation.

In terms of sunlight legibility, the Optimus Black literally outsmarts most of its rivals. With the display’s brightness being tuned to the maximum, the playback and composition of photos/videos look to be flawless despite being bathed in sunlight, which is quite an accomplishment. Again, when it comes to outdoor readability, the Optimus Black looks to be a real asset. Now for a word of caution, you might want be well aware of the little too sensitive auto-brightness, which is constantly on the prowl for a mere feel of the finger on the handset’s ambient light sensor to mess with the brightness setting. So, you are better off having a control over this setting, to save yourself from a weird light show.

To sum it up, the LG Optimus Black Android Phone definitely looks a tad slimmer and smaller in comparison to the Xperia Arc or the Galaxy S II and when it comes to build quality, the Black definitely beats its competitors hands down.

User Interface/Functionality

The LG Optimus Black runs on Android 2.2 (Froyo) out of the box and is also topped by the Optimus UI 2.0. The familiar Froyo has undergone a makeover here with a revamped homescreen, modified lock screen, and the music controls grouped into a drop down menu, all of which scream LG Optimus series. There is a Flash-animated weather app and widget that derives info from the AccuWeather providing users a 15-day forecast; neat huh?

Yet another feature worth mentioning would be LG’s motion gestures. Akin to the Optimus 2X, tapping on the sides of the phone moves the cursor while typing or browsing the gallery. Also these motion gestures come in fairly handy with turning off the alarm or muting an incoming call with just flipping the phone over. Ideally, these motion gestures prove to be fairly useful as against physical key presses, which could lead to accidental drops, especially for the butter fingered. Well, for those of you who are not a great fan of such motion gestures, there is always the option of turning these gestures off from the Settings menu.

It is kind of disappointing to see the Optimus Black being launched with Froyo as against the much favoured Gingerbread, but then LG promises that users will see an upgrade to Gingerbread fairly sooner. Again, there is nothing much to complain on the existing interface, which runs fairly smooth majority of the time, although you get to witness occasional lag/delays. Looks like the software is not equipped enough to handle the single-core 1GHz TI OMAP 3630 chipset, that is backed by a 512 MB RAM. On the flip side, this chipset is well-known for its energy efficiency trait as against the outstanding computing expected out of it.

In terms of games, just because the Optimus Black comes with the energy efficient tag, it doesn’t really mean that it is incapable of playing any games. The “PowerVR SGX 530 GPU” is good enough to entertain users with not so demanding 3D games at reasonable frame rates. However, expecting any groundbreaking benchmark would be asking for more.

In terms of storage, the Optimus Black handset packs just 1GB internal storage, but there is always the option to increase its capacity to as high as 32GB. Again, though the Optimus Black packs a 2GB microSD in the retail box, you might want to think about expanding the capacity as things turn a wee bit crammed, particularly if you want to try your hands on your video recording skills or photo skills, not to mention the amount of MP3s that you carry around.

For all the social networking fanatics, LG has taken care of your requirement too by implementing three most popular clients namely Twitter, Facebook and MySpace. All it requires is for you to login straight from your Optimus Black and it is matter of time before you could share your precious moments in the form of videos/photos. Tweeting your buddies doesn’t get any easier with the UI 2.0′s on-screen keyboard, which is fast, responsive, easier to work with in both portrait and landscape modes.

G Button

The G button on the LG Optimus Black (as LG prefers calling it) is good just to show off and is not of much significance and definitely something that we can do without. It takes care of functions like panning Up/Down, Left/Right with browsing through photos in the gallery or while surfing the web, and again with switching homescreens – no great shakes, as all these can be managed single-handedly as well. Also it takes care of launching the camera directly from the locked screen that is accomplished by long pressing the button and shaking the handset. Probably, the G button might come in handy for those who want to refrain from touching the display and keeping the phone fingerprint-free, but trust us, that is exactly what you would eventually end up doing, so why bother? Actually, the G button looks like more of a tease to us, wherein it helps with switching homescreens, but doesn’t help with browsing the App list; it allows navigation of your gallery, but refuses to help you with browsing through your music library. Long story short, it is nice to flaunt this feature, but in reality doesn’t really help the cause (everyday use).
Internet and Connectivity

The Web browser of the Optimus Black has the biggest advantage of the Adobe Flash Support; nevertheless it is not equipped enough to handle heavy Flash content with the single-core CPU on-board. So expecting embedded videos from webpages to load seamlessly would be asking for more from this handset. But then, there is not much of an issue in terms of casual browsing with average loading times and choppy scrolling with trying to load too many pages simultaneously. For the frequent travellers, surfing on the go is possible thanks to the Black’s 3G radio that supports 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA speed crest (so to speak). Well, nothing impressive about it alright, but sure does take care of everyday browsing or media streaming. If you wish to download large files or apps from the Android Market, there is always the built-in Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n connectivity that comes to your aide.

Wi-Fi Direct et cetera

Yet another cool feature of the LG Optimus Black Android OS Phone would be its Wi-Fi Direct connectivity. The novelty of the approach being you wouldn’t really require a wireless access point to act as an mediator between Wi-Fi Direct phones and laptops instead use your Wi-Fi radio throwing stuff around. It is more like a your Bluetooth connection, that simple. Essentially, you get to communicate with as many as 8 devices at a time with the Wi-Fi Direct making transferring and sharing of files and images among groups seamless. The transfer speed is roughly around 250 Mbps supposedly, and is far better than what the Bluetooth 2.1 radio is capable of, all of these without the need for a hotspot or router; neat huh?  Yet another cool feature via which you can share content wirelessly would be the SmartShare. This allows for media stored on the Black to be played back, viewed or browsed on another device namely a TV that supports DLNA connectivity.

Few other tweaks that LG has managed to do on the Android UI worth mentioning would be features like the following – The lock screen getting self updated with your missed calls/messages allowing you to unlock the handset directly into that relevant section. While the conventional unlocking gesture is done through an upward swipe, unlocking a missed call would be a downward flick. Furthermore, with an incoming call you can choose to slide the device up that pops up a list of message responses that rejects the call and simultaneously sends out a message to the caller to avoid consequences. In terms of music, playback controls have gone through a makeover with being included in the Android slide-down menu together with 5 toggles for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Sound, Data and GPS. The same is available as a mini slider menu on the Lockscreen as well, both of which have been neatly organised and fairly handy to use.

Again the contacts list is equipped to pick up all your Google contacts by default as against just the ones listed in your Contacts menu. Nothing poses to be a real problem and using the phone is a real delight. Again, it sure is an impressive move by LG to have appended plentiful widgets and shortcuts while editing the homescreens, thus making customizations much more rapid and a literal breeze to execute.

The 5Mp Snapper

The shooting skills of the Optimus Black looks to be way above average. Though it is not loaded with a mighty 8Mp camera like its predecessors, the 5-megapixel imager manages to capture images where it has a sharp eye for detail and is retained all over the images with no signs of blurriness or noise. Performance looks to be great, both in terms of long shots and close-ups and with being shrunk to a megapixel size, you might find it hard telling the images apart from the ones shot with a dedicated camera. On the flipside colour reproduction fails to meet expectations with contrast depletion evident in few images, but the same can be easily fixed or even be ignored. In essence, the images are highly detailed and a quick run through an image-enhancing program is sure to make them seem best. For the aspiring photographers, there is a detailed options and modes menu to explore your skills in this sleek and lightweight tool of the trade.

A smart tweak to the camera’s interface would be the on-screen buttons following the phone’s orientation. Browsing the camera menu of the Optimus Black reveals that there is support provide for both manual and automatic focus and face recognition. Sensor sensitivities range from a 100 to 800 ISO that can be adjusted both manually and automatically. You might not find a dedicated shutter key in sight, but that should not be a concern as long as the Black does not brag to be professional shooter. We would have liked to see the contents in HDTV, but then again the absence of an HDMI-out port proves that LG did not find it important enough to incorporate one.

Video Quality

Videos can be recorded at 720p HD in 3GP format at 30 frames per second. You will not be disappointed with your footage as long as you record it in decent lighting conditions. The only glitch to the videos seemed to be with playing back the same shot in HD on the computer, wherein the aspect ratio seem to stretch horizontally in a weird manner. Switching media players does not really seem to help much. Again, the glitch was absent with videos shot in low resolutions, so we guess the same can be fixed with a software update, hopefully.

Multimedia

The LG Optimus Black packs a wired headset in the retail box that comes in fairly handy to pick calls as well as listening to music on the go. The sound quality of the earphones can be rated as far too decent in being loud and clear, not to mention the comfy fit provided by the rubber tips.

Additionally, these earphones double up as an antenna for the FM radio on board. Using the media player in the Optimus Black is simple and straightforward with the songs being stacked into a playlist, which can arranged as per the user’s discretion. Flipping the handset to the landscape mode triggers a 3D display of the media library sorted alphabetically and is complete with album art.

Playing 720p HD video looks neat and smooth on the vivid NOVA display. Support is provided for formats like XviD and DivX that can be played right out of the box, but there seems to be issues with H.264 videos. Well should not be much of a problem as the same can be handled by using an alternative player from the Android Market. Uploading media to YouTube, Facebook or Picasa can be done directly from the gallery. Likewise basic photo manipulations like crop and rotate are just few taps away.

Maps and APPS

The LG Oprimus Black packs the conventional Google Mapping Software with an in-built GPS receiver getting you an accurate GPS lock instantly. If general location is all that you need, say around 100 to 150 meters, the location-based services like Wi-Fi positioning and Cell-ID comes in handy. Google maps 5.0 comes with the conventional Android package and uses vector maps, which are smaller and faster to download along with supporting some super cool 3D views. You can toy around with the camera rotate and two finger camera tilt gestures to probe around. Then there is also the Google Maps Navigation option (only for supported countries) with the new version offering offline rerouting. Meaning this caches the required maps helping you navigate to your destination and is capable of devising a new route in case you wander off your course, despite the absence of a data connection. Again, there is also the Street View Mode with the compass trick up its sleeve, giving you a virtual tour of the location.

So now coming to Apps – the Optimus Black runs on Android v2.2 Froyo with a WVGA screen and offers access to just about every app in the Android Market, name it and you have it. That said, there are some apps that require Gingerbread support, but no worries that would be just a small percentage of the vast 200,000 plus apps that is on offer at the official app cache. The configuration of the Android Market is relatively easy to figure – with the featured apps on top you find 3 sections branching out above it namely the Applications, Downloads and Games. You are also provided with a shortcut for initiating and simplifying your search. The Games and Applications sections further get divided into subsections like the Entertainment, Communication etc., such that you can filter your relevant app. It would take days of browsing, if you do not know that exact app that you are looking for. So you are better off defining your search, in order to avoid disappointments or wasting time. All important apps like document readers, file managers and navigation apps are covered with the preinstalled LG App Advisor offering a whole list of recommended apps. So that is that, nothing much fanciers.

Battery life

Looks like LG has gone that extra mile with the 1500mAh battery ticking inside the Black – slimming it down and elongating it to match the handset’s dimensions. Kudos to LG for that kind of an engineering accomplishment, but then that really doesn’t seem to take care of the phone’s longevity though. The manufacturer claims that the NOVA display takes care of cutting down power consumption to a huge 50% with general indoor use as against the conventional LCDs and true to their promise the Optimus Black does seem to be in par with its even more powerful elder brother, the Optimus 2X. There seems to be a significant battery drain even with a bare minimum 10 to 15 minutes of gaming. Anyways let us face it, with daily charging almost becoming the norm of the day for all major Smartphones, it would be ideal to plug it on charge once you get home in the evening for it to work hassle-free the whole of next day.. On the flip side, it does charge fairly quickly and if you are not a browsing or social networking buff, then you might manage to squeeze an extra day of charge

Hits

• First of its kind NOVA display
• Quick to navigate
• Thin but solid chassis

Misses

• Outdated OS
• Occasional microSD issues
• Disappointing video quality
• Gesture UI is fun, but for the most part useless

Verdict

The LG Optimus Black sure does seem to be an owner’s pride with its slim waistline and a magnificent 4-inch NOVA display. It would prove to be a perfect phone if you are not very keen on owning a contemporary, powerful, dual-core Smartphone out there in the current day Android market. It looks to be your best bet, if you just prefer a black aesthetic bar that is sure to grab the onlooker’s attention along with proving to be a capable device.

Read exclusive reviews of other Android Phones in this website.

LG Optimus Black – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	LG
Model Name	Optimus Black
Dimensions (H x W x D)	122 x 64 x 9.2 mm
Weight	3.84 oz (109 g)
Form Factor	Bar Phone
Network	2G: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 3G: HSDPA 900 / 1700 / 2100
Released	May 2011
Software	OS: Android v2.2 Froyo Processor: Single Core TI OMAP 3630 Processor Speed: 1000 MHz CPU Speed: 1GHz Memory: 512MB RAM
Colours available	Black
Display size	4 inches
Display Features	Technology: TFT LCD Resolution: 480 x 800 pixels Colours: 16 777 216 Touchscreen: WVGA 4.0 Capacitive Proximity Sensor Multi-touch Light Sensor
Sound	Alert Types: Vibration, MP3, WAV ringtones Loudspeaker
Memory	Slot Type: microSD, microSDHC Maximum Card Size: 32GB Built-in: 1024MB
Connectivity	WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Hotspot Bluetooth: v2.1 with A2DP, EDR USB: microUSB v2.0 Headphones Connector: 3.5-mm jack HDMI, DLNA
Camera	Resolution: 5Mp 2592 x 1944 pixels, Autofocus, LED Flash Features: Geotagging, Face and Smile Detection Additional Camera: Yes, 2Mp Video Capture Resolution: 720p @ 30fps Video Calling: Yes
Messaging	SMS (threaded view) Email: IMAP, POP3, SMTP, Microsoft Exchange
JAVA	Via JAVA MIDP emulator Google Search, Maps, Gmail YouTube, Gtalk, Picasa SNS Integration Digital Compass MP3/WAV/WMA/eAAC+ player MP4/DivX/Xvid/H.264/H.263/WMV player Document Viewer (Word, Excel, Power Point, PDF) Voice memo/dial/commands Predictive Text Input
Phonebook	Capacity depending on system memory Features: Caller Groups, Multiple number per contact, Search by first and last name, Picture and Ring ID
Multimedia	Music Player Supports MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WAV, Poly Video Playback Supports: MPEG4, H.263, H.264, DivX, WMV FM Radio: Stereo FM Radio with RDS YouTube Player
Organiser	Calendar, Alarms, Document Viewer, Calculator, World Clock
Internet Browsing	Yes, HTML
Built-in Online Service	Facebook/Twitter/Picasa/MySpace
Games	Yes, Downloadable
Location Based Services	Type: GPS and A-GPS Navigation: Yes
Battery	Standard Battery Li-Ion 1500 mAh battery
Warranty	1 year

Looks like we are in the era of big-screened Smartphones, with options galore! This includes the likes of Samsung Galaxy S, HTC Desire HD, HTC HD7, Samsung Focus…the list goes on. So what about consumers getting their first Smartphones, who do not fancy the idea of carrying a phone that is almost the size of a DVD case in their pockets? Don’t you think that this overnight shift from feature phones to Smartphones is leaving a sizeable portion of the consumers overwhelmed, in terms of finding a gadget that preserves the ease of use, but still provides for the “smart” phone capabilities? Well, the answer is a big YES, which is more than evident by the way phones like Xperia X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro became an instant hit among consumers, thereby proving such people do exist.

So now it should come as no big surprise with manufacturers trying to swim against the tide by releasing “Mini” models like Samsung’s Galaxy Mini, HTC’s Wildfire S and now Acer Liquid Mini, our phone in discussion today.

In the Box

• Acer Liquid Mini
• A Stylish Leather Pouch
• 2GB microSD card
• microUSB-to-USB cable
• USB Wall Charger
• A Basic headset that comes with a clip-on design
• User Guide

Design and Feel

In terms of design, it is a deja vu for those familiar with the Acer Liquid Metal– same rounded body, curvy lines with chromed plastic strips adorning the top and bottom, all of which evokes the big brother, the original Liquid Metal. Again, those who have not had a chance to look at the handset, can’t help, but notice the robustness and well-honed design of the Liquid Mini Android Phone. What makes the Mini exceptional is Acer’s choice of colours. The Acer Liquid Mini comes in an array of five different colours to choose from, not to forget their fancy names, Royal Blue, Jet Silver, Piano Black, Light Pink and Lime Green. While you get to adorn the long edges and backplate with the colour of your choice, the top and bottom edges come in a silvery finish along with a black front. With its matte finish, the device looks untouched and clean weighing 109 g (4.78 oz) while enjoying a depth of 13 mm. While the phone’s curved top and bottom edges gives it an unusual appearance, it really doesn’t have much to do in terms of usability. Despite its diminutive appearance, the Acer Mini squeezes in a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen with virtual QWERTY on offer that is usable in both portrait and landscape modes. While many Acer handsets are known for their fragile built, the Mini looks to be an exception and is fairly solid and well bolted together.

Perched beneath the screen are the four conventional Android touch buttons namely Home, Menu, Back and Search functions. In contrast to other high-end Smartphones, these do not dim out with the screen is turned off, but is always present with a bright white light kicking in upon turning On the screen. While three of the edges houses connectors and buttons, the left long edge is left totally blank. The right houses a pair of volume controls along with a dedicated shutter key for the 5Mp camera that is devoid of flash or any protection. Below that one gets to see the speakerphone responsible for the handset’s loud noise. While the top houses a 3.5-mm headset port and a power button, towards the bottom sits a micro-USB slot that comes in handy with syncing and charging. The matt-finished backplate comes in a soft finish making it sit comfy in the hand, giving a good grip. With its own Android skin, the OS opted for is Android 2.2 with Wi-Fi, GPS, HSDPA and Bluetooth all skulking under the hood.
The display screams cost cutting at you, which is evident with the relatively slow to respond 600MHz Qualcomm 7227 processor, average 480 x 320 screen resolution and a sparse in-built storage capacity of 512MB. Well, on the brighter side, there is a 2GB microSD card that comes in the retail box along with the screen being capacitive. Having said that, we guess the capacitive screen doesn’t really help as the Mini suffers a touch of lag with pressing an icon and before it actually comes to life. Also with the feedback being haptic, if you choose to use the virtual QWERTY along with the 4 touchscreen keys, you are often left pondering over the fact, if the key press has been recognised or not.

Long story short, there definitely seems to be some compromises made with the cost-cutting in mind. The question is, was it worth it? Well read on to find your answer!

User Interface

Acer uses its very own skin for Android called the Breeze (for the newcomers), which has gone through some tweaks this time around. Though, a little tortuous, it is really a “breeze” once you get the hang of it. Switching on the handset prompts the Lock screen that notifies you about messages and missed calls along with the date and time. The right bottom of the screen displays your network provider and the bottom left looks like it has been curled over (like shown in the picture below).

Tapping on a notification and sliding open a box that appears, takes your directly to your messages or missed calls, if any. On the other hand, sweeping the left bottom corner takes you directly to the main screen. Things take a interesting turn from here. With the screen being divided into three sections, towards the bottom is where you find 2 rows of quick shortcuts leading to Apps. An upward sweep takes you to the main menu of apps spread across three screens, which requires horizontal sweeping. Well, the good news is the notification bar is back to its place (top of the screen) which was above the shortcut pane in the Liquid Metal (something Acer decided to toy with) with the nifty alert bubble being retained. Tapping the notification bar prompts bubbles to pop up that grant access to additional features. And if you want to move between them, all it takes is to sweep your finger. Go ahead, set alarms, make connection settings or view recent notifications. You get to see more bubbles appearing with the use of some apps, namely during media playback. Now, for a little secret, try sweeping your finger in the middle section and out pops a window on the left displaying your recent usage history in an amazing thumbnails format that takes a from of a carousel. It is real delight traversing through this to get the recently used app. Sweeping to the right pops a new window that takes you directly to the media browser that helps you access your music, photos and videos.

So now coming to widgets – you can set up to 5 screens. Either tap the small widgets icon that sits on the main screen or while on the main screen tapping and holding the Home key takes you to the widgets screens. Now scroll right or left to view the widgets or use the + button at the base of the screen on the left to select the new list of widgets. Using the widgets on Acer’s handsets might look kind of gawky, but on the flip side it works fairly well and you get to have five widgets screens along with an interactive Lock screen and compatible Home screen, though it does act fussy at times. Guess nothing comes for free!

Phonebook/Telephony

When it comes to basic functionality, the Acer Liquid Mini Smartphone is loaded with a conventional phonebook that supports smart dial. For a more in-depth social networking integration, you are provided with the SocialJogger app, which takes the form of a rotating wheel displaying the latest posts of your contacts in Twitter and Facebook. Though it adds to the cool looks, the 600MHz processor evidently scuffles to rotate your feeds, so you are better off using the Vanilla Android Twitter/Facebook clients.

Messaging

With SocialJogger handling Facebook and Twitter, the Liquid Mini Mobile Phone provides a whole host of options for Android newcomers, in fact it gets kind of confusing at times, that it looks overloaded. On the flip side, widgets come with the option to easy scroll via messages with a single tap opening up the entire screen for you to compose your replies. SMS takes the form of threaded messages in the Acer Liquid Mini, which doesn’t look very fancy though, but does its job fairly well. It additionally offers to pick numbers out of the messages and provides a ‘Call option’ in the menu just in case there is something that requires immediate calling to follow up. Then again, the keyboard of the Liquid Mini poses to be quite a problem, especially for those with big fingers. The 3.2-inch screen does not really offer the required real estate leaving users with a cramped feeling, both in the widescreen and tall mode. Well, for those of you with petite fingers, this doesn’t really apply. The Acer Liquid Mini supports mobile e-mail undoubtedly with Gmail being delivered in its own inbox. The rest of the mail is taken care of by the email app which requires you to configure your details.

Camera/Multimedia

The 5Mp camera in the Liquid Mini is a biggest disappointment in the handset, as it uses a fixed focus unit. Meaning, pretty much all objects fall 20-inches away from focus, making stuff within that 20-inch range fall out of focus, which would mean bye-bye macro shots. Also the camera lacks autofocus and flash capabilities.
It is activated by the side button that needs to be held for less than a minute as against the conventional press style or can also be activated by a Homescreen icon. There is the option of geotagging too. Likewise exposure can be set to centre weigh, frame average or spot meter at your discretion and you could also toy around with the ISO settings, if you wish to get explorative. The colour effects go on to include the conventional Sepia, Mono, Negative and Aqua along with an infamous digital zoom. After clicking a shot the same can be viewed via the gallery with a number of sharing options being presented to choose from.

Even with perfect settings, there is an unnatural yellowish hue about the colours with some oversaturation as well. This leaves the user with a below par camera experience. Also in terms of manual settings, the options are limited and few like white balance and ISO, which does help the colour issue to a certain extent, but doesn’t really change the average picture quality.

Video Quality

Things begin to improve with the Liquid Mini’s video recording as the Acer Liquid Mini phone records videos in a resolution of 720 x 480 pixels at 30fps, which is fairly okay and nothing big can be expected. The little-to-no manual settings along with colour representation doesn’t spare the video capture as well. Again, none of the shooting effects like the sepia or aqua is available in the video shoot mode. The least you can do is to flip from MPEG to H.263, if you wish to.

Media

Media can be accessed by two apps- the first one being the stock Froyo, which seems to run perfect and the other is custom-made by Acer. The latter can be accessed with a single swipe of the homescreen. For starters, there is hardly any internal memory available in the Liquid Mini with a bare minimum 512MB, so you might want to consider a microSD card to store your precious memories or your all-time favourites. Nevertheless, you get a 2GB card to get started with.

Coming to the music player, it is plain and simple-looking, functional though, with the playback controls providing you with stuff that is required. Check out the cool control bubble that lurks in the notifications bar that lets you toy with playback regardless of the app you are in.

Video playback happens through the Gallery. The screen quality doesn’t really justify the vibrant colours with the small screen adding to the misery in failing to double up as a frequently-used player. That said, it seems to cope fairly well with almost all MP4s thrown at it. There is an alternative offered by Acer for media playback in the form of Nemo Player, which allows you to access photos, videos and albums all together in a single place. It comes with a decent skin and gives you the advantage of accessing Gracenote online to fish out info on the tune of your choice. This comes in real handy particularly if you do not have access to album art.

The loudspeaker of the Liquid Mini is not so impressive and delivers just average sound quality. The headphones do come to your rescue, but then again as they are designed flat, they fail to stick on to your ears constantly. To sum it up, the music player can be categorized as good, but nothing incredible about it.

The Liquid Mini is loaded with a FM radio that has the capability to autoscan, save individual stations thus forming a favourite list. With the RDS support being fairly sound, you have a pretty good idea of what is being played in supporting stations. Then again, there is no option to record from the radio.

In addition to the above, the Liquid Mini also packs DLNA that takes the form of an applet, which Acer prefers calling their Media Server. This helps with sending the stored videos, photos and albums in the Liquid Mini to compatible devices. It does work fine, but it is a mystery as to why Acer never bothered to provide any info on the how to go about setting this up.

Internet and Connectivity

If you are under the impression that as the Liquid Mini runs on v2.2 Froyo, it would by default support Flash, you are absolutely ….. Wrong! Looks like the 600MHz processor is not equipped enough to handle the load, thus limiting your browsing experience. On the flip side, you will be able to load the sites that you frequent relatively quickly, as the browser supports 3G capable of 7.2Mbps on the downlink. Multitouch and double tap for zooming in/out is also on offer by the browser making browsing a fairly smooth experience. That said, it still doesn’t stop the phone from lagging behind in graphically cluttered web pages. Again, the connectivity options go on to include Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi b/g together with microSD cards and support being available for up to 32GB cards. Apparently navigation takes place via GpsOne chip manufactured by Qualcomm.

Maps and APPS

If it is Android, then it obviously is equipped with Maps and the Acer is no exception for this. Yes, it is all here and complete, evidently with the inclusion of street views and satellites additionally with the all new 3D mapping that has been rolled out for certain areas. With an exclusive app taking care of the Google Maps & Navigation, getting around never seems to be an issue.  Particularly with spoken destinations, you wouldn’t have to bother using the small keypad. The GPS looks excellent giving you very little chance to whine about.

Acer has tried its best to measure up to the other Android gadgets in terms of Apps with the likes of media streaming service, critters, Spinlets, and the not-so-significant Avatar Creator urFooz. Yet another nice little app worth mentioning would be weather app that keeps you updated on the forecast and new updates in your city. Then there is the conventional Document Viewer, which only helps with viewing and not editing files.

Battery life

In terms of battery life, with a 1300mAh battery running the show, you cannot expect the Mini to run for days really! Well, with it being on standby or absolutely no use, it does go on and on and on for days together. But it is an entirely different story if you decide to thrash it with Music and 3G and Wi-Fi, where there is an every good chance that you might drain out the charge in a bare 6-hour timespan. Needless to say, any Smartphone does require a daily charge, and to top it, if you are a power user constantly using the browser, GPS and 3G with no access to mains power, then we guess you are better off looking out for options, as this is not the phone for you. Incidentally, the manufacturer promises 6.5 hours of talktime on 3G and 8 hours of talktime on 2G with 480/400 hours of standby on 3G and 2G respectively.

Hits

• Catchy design
• Powerful Froyo platform
• Compact and solid build
• Handy UI tweaks
• Attractive colours to choose from
• Quite affordable

Misses

• Mediocre screen
• Slow Processor
• Underwhelming battery life
• 5Mp camera lacks LED flash
• Poor Image Quality

Verdict

Summarizing the Acer Liquid Mini is best done with some obvious scenarios. We believe that you should buy this phone only for its price, size or if you are a beginner with Androids. If you are already used to Smartphones and are looking to upgrade, don’t bother.  The phone does surprise in not living up to its expectations on being nimble (with applications) or with its camera that does not flash. If you’re new to this world, take a look at this one; if not, keep looking.

Acer Liquid Mini Android Smartphone – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Acer
Model Name	Liquid Mini
Dimensions (H x W x D)	110.4 x 57.5 x 13 mm
Weight	4.78 oz (109 g)
Form Factor	Candybar
Network	2G: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 3G: HSDPA 900 / 2100
Announced	January 2011
Software	OS: Android v2.2 Froyo Processor: Single Core Qualcomm 7227 Processor Speed: 600 MHz CPU Speed: 1GHz Memory: 256 MB RAM/512 MB ROM
Colours available	Piano Black, Royal Blue, Jet Silver, Light Pink, Lime Green
Display size	3.2 inches
Display Features	Technology: TFT Resolution: 320 x 480 pixels Colours: 262 144 Touchscreen: Capacitive Proximity Sensor Multi-touch Light Sensor
Sound	Alert Types: Vibration, MP3, WAV ringtones Loudspeaker
Memory	Slot Type: microSD, microSDHC Maximum Card Size: 32GB Built-in: 2GB
Connectivity	WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g Bluetooth: v2.1 with EDR USB: microUSB v2.0 > Headphones Connector: 3.5-mm jack DLNA
Camera	Resolution: 5Mp 2592 x 1944 pixels Autofocus, Geotagging Video Capture Resolution: 720 x 480 (DVD) (30 fps)
Messaging	SMS (threaded view) Email: IMAP, POP3, SMTP, Microsoft Exchange, Push e-mail
JAVA	Via JAVA MIDP emulator Google Search, Maps, Gmail YouTube, Gtalk, Picasa Integration MP3/WAV/WMA/eAAC+ player MP4/WMV/H.264/H.263 player Document Viewer (Word, Excel, Power Point, PDF) Voice memo Facebook, Twitter Integration Predictive Text Input
Phonebook	Capacity depending on system memory Features: Caller Groups, Multiple number per contact, Search by first and last name, Picture and Ring ID
Multimedia	Music Player Supports MP3 Video Playback Supports: MPEG4, WMV, H.264, XviD FM Radio YouTube Player
Internet Browsing	Supports: HTML, Flash
Built-in Online Service	Facebook/Twitter/Picasa
Games	Yes
Location Based Services	Type: GPS and A-GPS Navigation: Yes
Battery	Standard Battery Li-Po 1300 mAh battery
Battery life	Stand-by: Up to 400 h (2G) / Up to 480 h (3G) Talk time: Up to 8 h (2G)/ Up to 3 h 30 min (3G)
Warranty	1 year

The word “Smartphone” instantly brings to our mind a cool gadget managing all those myriad responsibilities, be it scheduling business meetings, keeping track of family agenda, mails or surfing the web. Well! Hold that thought right there, because that is the outdated version of a Smartphone. Sony begs to differ here by introducing the first ever PlayStation-Certified Android gaming device. Imagine slide opening a phone anticipating a conventional unexciting QWERTY keyboard, but instead a PlayStation controller staring at you. That is exactly what you get to see on unboxing the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play Android Phone; something that sets all gamers heart aflutter. With the line between business Smartphones and consumer-friendly multimedia gadgets getting thinner and thinner with every new Smartphone being unveiled, the Xperia Play is blend of portable gaming console and a phone – but yes undoubtedly Android all the way. So if you are wondering what sets the Xperia Play apart from its rivals – does it sport a chipset strong enough to handle suave titles? What about the gameplay? Is there a dedicated gamestore for the XPERIA play? And Oh! More importantly can old titles be revived? Read on to know how Sony handles the above questions.

The XPERIA Play at a Glance

• OS: Android 2.3 Gingerbread
• Form Factor: Side-Slider with capacitive touchscreen and dedicated gaming controls
• Dimensions: 4.7 x 2.4 x 0.6 in./6.2 oz
• Display: 4 inches, 16M colour TFT touchscreen, multi-touch, 854 x 480 pixels FWVGA
• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 900/2100 MHz, HSDPA and HSUPA supported
• Chipset: Snapdragon platform Qualcomm MSM8255; 1 GHz Scorpion CPU, Adreno 205 GPU
• Memory: 512 MB RAM, 400MB storage, microSD card slot, inclusive of an 8GB card.
• Camera: 5 Mp auto-focus with LED flash, touch focus and face detection; WVGA video recording at 30fps
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi b/g/n with DLNA, standard microUSB port, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, 3.5-mm audio jack, GPS receiver with A-GPS.
• Misc: Timescape UI, proximity sensor, secondary video-call camera, active noise cancellation with dedicated mic, digital compass and built-in accelerometer.

Looks and Feel

Retaining the “human curvature” design the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play continues in line with the Vivaz, following the curved outline making the device sit snugly in your hands. Weighing a hefty 175 grams, it might not be considered a burden for two-handed gamers, nevertheless it is a heavy phone for single-handed everyday use. The curvy rear of the Play along with being comfortable to hold, cleverly manages to camouflage a good portion of its thickness. Standing at a height of 119 x 62 x 16 mm, it comes with a 4-inch 16M-colour LCD screen with a resolution of 854 x 480 pixels. Additionally, the phone boasts of some good viewing angles, especially with being tilted in almost all directions, while frantically reaching for those controller keys. Staring at the screen head-on, the colour rendering and contrast looks fairly decent and it is not too bright even with the brightest of settings. Though the text on the screen remains fairly visible, the contrast tends to degrade a tad faster owing to the gradients appearing as a solid colour; definitely not the best in comparison to the latest AMOLEDs or SuperAMOLEDs. The glossy plastic on the rear hosts a 5-megapixel camera (that is LED flash equipped) along with the embossed silver-green logo of Ericsson’s. It might not be the best design, but there is not hing to whine in terms of is appearance, especially with a cool white variant being available.

The XPERIA Play borrows a few customary elements in terms of design from the Neo and the Pro, in which it hosts an oblique top and bottom with a curvy back, as mentioned above and is available in Black and White. Beneath the screen one might find the standard Android navigation keys – Home, Back, Search and Menu, chromed and neatly aligned in a thin arc (a trademark of the XPERIA line). With these controls being a tad narrow, you might occasionally tend to hit the wrong key, but are nevertheless solid to press. The fringes are also chromed and shiny, blending with the glossy plastic giving the phone a classy look. The screen is kind of crowded with the earpiece, proximity sensor and the video-call camera. Disappointingly, the phone does not adjust its screen brightness by default as there is no ambient light sensor. Towards the left are the standard microUSB port and audio jack with the Power/Lock button sitting on the top and towards the right is the volume rocker in the middle, and two keys that cannot be seen on any other Android handsets, namely the shoulder buttons for accessing the game controller. The rocker’s central positioning and thinness makes it kind of awkward to use. Towards the bottom is the loner lanyard eyelet. Coming to the rear of the XPERIA play, you get to see the following: The 5Mp camera along with the LED flash, sitting right next to it a secondary microphone, stereo speakers that are cleverly perched on a slanting edge ensuring muffle-free sound quality. The microSD card slot is right beneath the battery cover as against being beneath the battery itself and can be hot-swapped. Though an 8GB microSD comes in the retailer package, the device supports 32GB cards. Check out this cool feature, with the back cover being accidentally left open, a clever system detects the same automatically unmounting the microSD card. Neat huh? Last but not least, the SIM card compartment lies beneath the 1500mAh battery.

Well! Let us get to the interesting and the most awaited part – dedicated gaming controls. The gaming deck is a literal breeze with it effortlessly sliding out – thanks to the spring-assisted slider. Despite the slider being fully open, you do not witness any wobbling or quivering. The gaming deck takes over the DualShock controller with a set of dedicated gaming keys in the PlayStation Console. The controls are divided into four with the directional keys to the left and action keys on the right (indicated by a square, triangle, circle and cross). Surrounded by an inset circle, these keys are fairly tactile.

Well getting to the trigger keys, one can find the L and R trigger keys towards the right side of the phone, comfortably beneath your forefingers at the back of the screen in the game mode. These are big, aptly positioned and by and large quiet comfortable to be used. The next type of control would be the analog touchpad – there are two of them replacing the analog sticks of the DualShock controller. Watch out guys – for those of you with big fingers, you might find that small and lacking precision. Lastly comes the conventional gaming keys – Start/Select and a Menu key that acts as a shortcut for the game settings. Thankfully with these keys being small and totally out of the way, you wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally presses while gaming.

The Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play Smartphone is definitely neither small nor thin, but that actually makes it a plus point for the phone especially with gaming. A good stable grip especially with it being slid open is exactly what one would look forward to in order to have a good gaming experience. The heftiness and size of the phone comes in fairly handy with your index and thumb fingers frantically moving around the control deck and the shoulder keys located behind the screen.

So, long story short, the play has an excellent feel to it when held with both hands; nevertheless the same cannot be appreciated while using it as a phone for single-handed regular use.

User Interface

The XPERIA Play comes with the Android Gingerbread, obviously with some tweaked customizations. Mediascape is ditched in the PLAY with just the vanilla Android, but the proprietary Timescape UI is very much present. There are not dramatic changes in the interface with only few touchups tried here and there by Sony. You are allowed by the homescreen Overview to pinch zoom from any of the 5 homescreen panes to a new screen giving you a summative view of your active widgets. The launcher key has 4 docked shortcuts – two on either side, that are visible on all of the homescreens, which can be edited. These are either folders consisting multiple items within or single icons.  In terms of creating folders – well it’s a real breeze. Just drag an icon over another and you will be prompted to select a name and layout for the new folder; simple huh? For those of you with a fetish for wallpapers, the choice is endless, both live and static. To set a wallpaper press the menu key and select the wallpaper icon, which in turn takes you to a page that allows choosing from your gallery images, live wallpapers or Sony’s custom wallpapers. Again, placing widgets on the homescreen is also a cakewalk. Holding your finger on a blank spot in the screen activates the add-to-homescreen popup allowing you to create shortcuts, folders and widgets along with setting wallpaper images or just go ahead and hit the menu button and choose add. The notification area is nothing, but vanilla Android displaying recent events in addition to running apps. Well, if you want to launch the task manager, just hold down the Home key.

Now, coming to the best part – text selection, where Gingerbread literally takes it to the next level. There are two pointers on either side of the selected text which can be dragged to make the necessary selection; life doesn’t get any easier – does it?

Gingerbread supports third party video drivers, which help accelerating 3D graphics, together with system level coding thereby curtailing application pauses. The result being effortless animations coupled with enhancing game responsiveness. With the Gingerbread platform supporting touch and keyboard inputs along with keeping a tab on the CPU load, it results in smoother interactions on your Android handset with games benefiting the most (as it uses touch controls). Well, the PLAY happens to be the best example of this scenario with its dedicated gamepad and PlayStation symbols.

So, to conclude, the XPERIA PLAY is quite rapid and smooth with no apparent setbacks. It manages to score a decent 1500 on Quadrant, with its 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 chipset and Adreno 205 graphics subsystem. Despite not being dual-core, it sure is good enough to rock few games on the Android handset. The user available RAM is 380MB out of a total 512 MB RAM.

Contacts/Call Quality

There is an icon by default in the dock/menu to access contacts. This can also be done via the call log, phone dialer or favourites from the menu found at the bottom. Importing contacts is a literal breeze. Additionally, there is a wizard in place that finds multiple other ways to import your contacts on the handset. That being done, they get presented in the conventional alphabetical order that can be filtered, but not re-ordered. Though the presentation is stylish, the main page is awkwardly inconsistent. Tapping the message icon sends a message and tapping a phone number from the list of numbers would prompt a call. But then setting a number as a primary one would not be possible in the PLAY, especially if you have a buddy with personal and work phone. Well rest of it looks decent, with handy pages getting added and info being available, like Facebook updates or message threads in conversation bubbles, which is kind of fancy. A dedicated button sits on the top right corner of the screen that helps with adding contacts. In-calls are fairly decent with the dialer kept simple. You do not really miss the smart dialing feature with the screen being big and legible enough to key in all that you want.

The call quality seems fairly decent with no drops during calls. The volume could be a little higher, particularly while being stranded in the traffic. A word of caution though, letting the phone’s speaker drift a little bit away from your ears can lead to drastic dip in volume, thanks to the handset being extremely sensitive. Well that is Android for you!

Messaging

Messaging on the Xperia Play is real stylish with the translucent bluish-black conversation bubbles. Firing the app pops up your current messages, drafts, and the New Message button at the top of the screen. Tap any message to beckon the conversation view, with all messages being time-stamped making scouting through conversations easier. Tapping the white bubble at the bottom marked ‘Write Message’ helps with composing a message to which you can add your photos/videos by clicking the icon on its right in the portrait view. Additionally, there is also an option to record new media explicitly for sending here. Though the keyboard looks more similar to Android, majority of the keys are clustered at the bottom in the portrait view – something not really wise to do especially with such trivial real estate. But on the brighter side, flipping over the phone welcomes you to a better and spacious version, which is undoubtedly far more at ease in the thin long screen.

With typing being fairly standard, autocorrect options are allowed only for the current word being typed. So with any slip-ups just long press the word to select and fix them. Again forming your own chat lingo is simple too – just add your newly formed words to the user dictionary bypassing the correction and there it is, all ready to be used again. Email is again no rocket science – it is the same list view of the inbox, only with the inclusion of additional fields and attachments. Well if you are in a real jiffy to skim through your mails, just rotate it to the landscape view and clicking on any mail from the inbox gets presented as a mini frame on the right-hand side of the screen.
But alas! All goodness of the app gets nullified by the fact that the XPERIA Play is not equipped to hint users of incoming new mail, which is a real disappointment. Again, with no widgets being available for the Email app, there is just no way of knowing stuff landing in the inbox unless you do a manual check. On the contrary, with the Gmail app on board, it sure does do a better job and keeps you updated through the notification bar.
Media

Great Player – The PLAY proves to be an excellent handset for movies and music buffs as 8GB of storage along with 400MB of internal memory sure does take care of media collection of any size, not to mention the swappable 32GB storage card.

The media player in Xperia Play can be controlled via both, the Home screen widget or the main menu. The music player interface takes a closer similarity to the Mediascape app that is ditched in the PLAY with the music interface divided into four tabs to help with sorting – Tracks, Artists, Albums and Playlists. The ‘Now Playing Screen’ offers conventional music controls like – the shortcut to library and Infinite key. The latter proves to be handy especially with looking up tracks or albums on YouTube or Sony’s very own Play Now arena.

Upon entering the media player, you get to see the current track’s album artwork front and centre, together with the Play/Pause buttons and track skipping keys on either side. Towards the bottom is an accessible slider that comes in handy with skipping through tracks exhibiting the time reference that is fairly prominent on the top of the screen (that is as long as your finger stays on the slider). Beneath that you get to see three icons that help you with accessing your tracks, getting online info about the currently playing track along with displaying a list of tracks being played. Everything looks neatly planned and perfectly thought out. The equaliser presets can be accessed by hitting the Menu key (it is not customised though) and you are even allowed to set the current track as your ringtone. It is worth mentioning that the Play comes with two in-built speakers responsible for flawless stereo sound that is particularly evident with watching movies on the 4-inch screen. There is no shuddering with fast panning; nevertheless some images looked a wee bit misty in the full screen mode. For those of you with big hands, the weight of the device wouldn’t pose a problem, as it is fairly comfy to be held while you watch an episode or two to kill time during any planned journey.

Let us quickly wrap it up with the Gallery, which is a neat app that has been devised well. Upon entering the main screen you are taken through your pictures and movies that are stacked in a refined manner. Tapping the stack of pictures expands it into thumbnails from where you get to select either one or just start off a slideshow. Basic editing and sharing options are available with a single tap of the Menu key.

Well! The PLAY’s player is plain, but competent with the controls kept simple like the skip buttons, Play/Pause keys along with a grey timeline bar that gets displayed with tapping the screen.

Camera/Web Browser

 

Decent 5Mp snapper

The Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play is loaded with a 5-megapixel camera together with a single LED flash that is capable of producing images in 2592×1944 resolution. Also on offer is image stabilization and touch focus together with geotagging (thanks to the GPS receiver on-board). The PLAY lacks a dedicated shutter key as that real estate is taken over by the trigger keys and what is more frustrating is that these cannot be toggled to be used as a shutter key. Well on the flip side, few gaming controls work in the camera mode. The keys marked X and O serves as shutter and back keys respectively with the menu key bringing up these relevant options. That being said, the main options include exposure, focusing mode, color effect and picture size and scene mode with ISO being left out in the user-configurable options.
So to sum it up, the picture quality of the XPERIA Play is quite good with a good amount of detail and pleasing colours to the images together with low noise levels.

Video Recording Lacks HD

Oddly, the XPERIA Play Android Smartphone is not equipped for a 720 pixel HD video capture option and the best you get is 800×480 at 30fps exhibiting good focus and detail with warm colours akin to the still images of the camera. You are allowed to shoot at medium/low resolution settings with an additional option for YouTube-optimised video. Also on-board is a video light, for all those ardent users who would want to try their hands on their shooting skills. This can be found in the flash mode, which is kind of sloppy though. You also have the option of applying colour effects like Mono, Sepia, Negative and Solarize along with tweaking white balance. Again, the cam does not support zooming. A little disappointing, as contemporary 1GHz chipsets come packed with HD video, probably Ericsson is planning on a software update or whatsoever, which would be appreciated.

Flash Supported Web browser

With the mighty giant Google backing the Play’s OS, surfing experience feels surprisingly mediocre. It seems to handle the Wi-Fi setup like a pro, but the stock browser staggers once connected. Loading of sites seem to happen rapidly enough, but the PLAY starts lacking pace when it comes to scrolling around pages. The pinch-to-zoom function seems jumpy too. Text reflow is also average requiring double tapping for the phone to accomplish a task, post zooming in. The tiny +/- zoom keys seem to be of greater help with reading news on sites in both mobile/regular formats. Then again, this also turns a bit frustrating when keys get hidden behind the content. Flash support looks to be the only comforting attribute with sites loading rapidly. There is also a bookmark function that offers a small icon to add your favourite sites. The top-left corner of the current screen offers a pane (that can be accessed by the Menu key), which aides with bookmarking the current site with the other sites that are bookmarked getting displayed as thumbnails. Opting for a list is yet another alternative. The same is applicable for the frequently viewed pages, which come in relatively handy with jumping pages and viewing history.

Bottom-line – though the browsing experience in the PLAY cannot be categorised as appalling, it is not affable either due to the jumpy nature of the pages, which definitely cannot be compared to its other Android rivals like the HTC Desire or Hero or the iPhone 4.

Gaming

Well, coming to the most awaited part of the review as to how the Xperia Play  Mobile Phone performs as a gaming device and does it manage to outdo the big boys in the gaming arena?

Let us start with the controls (that is considered the heartbeat of any gaming device) – the D-pad and the face buttons (square, triangle, circle and cross) are superb ensuring a definite click making the gaming session real exciting. It feels real good on the fingers and a welcome change as against the conventional on-screen controls. The performance of the twin thumbpads vary to a good extent based on the kind of game chosen, and hence less laudable. The metal circle in the middle helps with orienting oneself and warns if you drift away. If you are a first-timer, in terms of gaming, there is every chance that mastering the controls could actually be demanding. Because every little movement makes a big deal that requires fast pace and good reflexes. Also beware of the soft shoulder buttons, as there is every chance that you tend to clash your fingers on the back edge of the screen, if you do not hold the device in a comfortable position. Remember? It is just a phone and not a full-fledged gaming device! Well nothing much to fret over the Start/Select and Menu keys as they seem fairly good. The slide mechanism is sturdy snapping the pad up and down with a satisfactory click. Also the screen is devoid of any wobble or quivering.

The gaming action begins with sliding open the gamepad that eventually fires the Xperia Play app displaying all titles supported by the Xperia Play with a separate section for the ones already installed and the ones still out there. The “Get Games” app provides you with a complete list of available titles, regardless of the source; both Android Market and developers’ very own websites. There are as many as 7 preinstalled titles that comes straight out of the box, (depending on the region) and around 30 plus or so titles in the Get Games app list priced roughly around $4 and some for free.

The Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play beyond doubt does take gaming experience to the next level alright, but let us not forget the fact that it could also be due to the absence of a competitor. So for now looks like Sony is way ahead in the current competition and is managed to sweep users off their feet, particularly those who are not great fans of touchscreen gaming.

Apps

Sony has decided to keep the apps available on the XPERIA Play crisp and neat as against packing it with scores of them like many contemporary Smartphones tend to. Well, for starters, there is Timescape’s dedicated UI offering a whole host of social media updates along with your text messages being presented in a scrollable stack of cards. While the first tap brings a message up in full, a second tap allows viewing a full SMS conversation or the profile page of the contact chosen. There is also a dedicated Facebook app on-board, which is functional though not ostentatious. The calculator can either be used in its all fancy blue-back bubble background or can be switched to function as a basic one in the advanced panel. Yet another app worth mentioning would be the PlayNow media store wherein you can purchase all the music that you fancy for your phone, but watch out as this can burn a hole in your pocket as it is evidently expensive in comparison to Amazon’s MP3 service or the iTunes. Check out another cool app – TrackID, akin to Shazam. What makes it more special is that it has the option to search for it on YouTube and recommend the same to your buddies. Speaking of search, checkout the Voice Search option, which is yet another available app. The Calendar app comes in handy with keeping you updated of your tasks, but making new appointments is unfortunately tucked beneath two seams of menu from the default screen. Then there is this OfficeSuite icon, which we seriously doubt would be of any use in a gaming device.  Needless to say there is a whole array of software that is available from the Android Market where apps keeps growing by the minute.

GPS Navigation

The Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play comes with a GPS receiver that gets a lock on satellites in less than a minute. With Google maps being your main app, Street View Mode would be your best bet particularly in places where turn-by-turn navigation is not on offer. With the Street View being available in the area of your interest, you get to enjoy a 360-degree view of the locale with zoom being supported via double tap and pinch gestures. You get to enjoy a virtual tour of the area and its surroundings with the digital compass turned on.

With turn-by-turn voice guidance via Google Maps Navigation that is offered only in select countries, you cannot enjoy the same unless you reside in one of them. So at the best all you can do is to map your route well in advance and keep track of your current location during travel. Better still grab a dedicated navigation app allowed for your region from the Android Market, which would make life easy for you.

The XPERIA Play is packed with preinstalled 5.0 Maps allowing you access to some amazing features, Offline Rerouting to name one. This is how it works – with you straying away, maps recalculate your route even in the absence of an internet connection, but then you cannot change the destination without the connection. Few other features worth mentioning would be the 3D buildings (wherever applicable) tilting, two finger rotation, so on and so forth, that is borrowed from Google Earth app and the effects proves to be a real feast for the eyes.

Battery Life

Sony promises 6.25 hours of talk time in the 3G mode, which could possibly be extended to 8 hours upon turning off the 3G radio. With GSM/EDGE networks, guess it could pull an easy 8-1/2 hours of call time and around 6-1/2 hours with UMTS/HSPA. The stated standby time can be stretched to over 400 hours. In terms of gameplay, the 1500 mAH battery is supposedly equipped enough for 5-1/2 hours of thumb-numbing fun. Probably it could be a little less when it comes to 3D titles as the drain is evidently significant. Come on! Let us face it, it is after all an Android Smartphone and beyond doubt would require a daily charge.

Verdict

Three simple variables can be used to summarize the ‘Experia Play’- Price, Gaming and ‘rest of the Phone features’. For the exorbitant price, if all you care is the gaming experience, you can afford yourself this luxury; but we would think the larger percentage of audience will mostly evaluate the Price variable with the other features expected from a phone in this category and be disappointed. Sophistication and ease of use are not its forte when it comes to features outside of the gaming gadget that it is. While this is a great start to the world of mobile gaming, it leaves you wondering how that can be the only reason for buying a phone!

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play – Full Phone Specification Details

Manufacturer	Sony Ericsson
Model Name	XPERIA Play
Announced	February 2011
2G Network	GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network	UMTS/HSPA 900 / 2100 UMTS/HSPA 800 / 850 / 1900 / 2100
Operating System	Android Gingerbread 2.3
Design	Side Slider
Dimensions (H x W x D)	4.7 x 2.4 x 0.6 in. (119 x 62 x 16 mm)
Weight	175g/6.2oz
Colours available	Black, White
Display	Technology: TFT Resolution: 480 x 854 pixels Size: 4 inches Colours: 16,777,216 Touchscreen: Capacitive
Display Features	Accelerometer Sensor for UI auto-rotate Touch Sensitive gaming controls PSP-like gaming buttons Timescape UI Proximity Sensor for auto turn-off Multi-touch input method
Sound	Alert Types: Vibration, MP3 ringtones, Loudspeaker with stereo speakers 3.5-mm jack
Data	GPRS: Yes Edge: Yes 3G: HSDPA/HSUPA WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fo hotspot Bluetooth: Yes, v2.1 with A2DP Infrared Port: No USB: Yes microUSB v2.0
Camera	Resolution: 5MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels Flash: LED Features: Autofocus, Geo-tagging, Touchfocus, Image stabilization Additional Camera Video Capture: Yes, WVGA Resolution: 1280 x 720 (720p HD) 800 x 480 pixels 30fps Video Light: Yes, Video calling: Yes
Messaging	SMS, Predictive Text Input IMAP, POP3, SMTP, Microsoft Exchange
Location Based Services	Yes Type:A-GPS Navigation: Yes
Software	OS: Android v2.3 Gingerbread CPU: 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon Processor: Scorpion ARMv7 Processor Speed: 1000Mhz Internal Memory: 400 MB, 512 MB RAM Card slot: microSD up to 32GB, 8GB included 3D Graphics hardware accelerator: Yes(Adreno GPU graphics processor)
Multimedia	Music Player: Yes, supports MP3, AAC Features: Album art cover, Music recognition Video Playback: Yes, supports MPEG4 YouTube player: Yes
Internet Browsing	Yes, supports WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, Flash Lite Built-in Social Networking: Facebook, Twitter
Phonebook	Support: Yes Capacity: Depends on system memory Features: Caller groups, Multiple numbers per contact, Ring ID, Picture ID, Search by both first and last names
Organiser	Calendar Alarm World Clock Calculator
Connectivity	Bluetooth: Yes Wi-Fi: Yes USB: Yes, microUSB v2.0 Features: Mass storage device, USB charging Headphones connector: 3.5-mm DLNA/Tethering: Yes
JAVA	Yes via JAVA MIDP emulator SNS integration Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic Digital Compass Document viewer/editor
Games	Yes, also downloadable, motion and gesture gaming
Battery	Standard Battery, Li-Ion 1150mAh
Battery life	Stand-by: Up to 425 h (2G)/413 h (3G) Talk time: Up to 8 h 25 min (2G)/6h 25 min (3G) Music Play: Up to 31 h
Warranty	1 year