HTC Legend Review

Friday, March 12, 2010

Clare Hopping of KnowYourMobile.com has recently reviewed the HTC Legend, and suggests that it is a lot more than just an upgrade to the HTC Hero. Here is what she had to say;

It may be a bold statement, but it’s true: The HTC Legend is the best Android handset to date.

There are many reasons why this statement is true, and the design is just the first. HTC has been working with a design agency to build its newest devices and HTC Legendthis certainly shows with the Legend. The device is crafted from a single piece of aluminium, making it super light and perfectly formed to fit in your hand. It’s smooth and feels premium.

Breaking up the aluminium is the screen on the front and speaker/camera panel on the back, plus the battery door. The battery door is constructed from soft touch plastic, and also accommodates the antenna. HTC apparently made the decision to use plastic for this part because a full metal casing can interrupt signal getting to the antenna, and reduces signal strength. This is one of the factors that made the first generation iPhone fail so miserably. The quirky battery cover does have an issue though – it makes sliding the battery, microSD and SIM card in and out quite a task.

We were concerned that our SIM card would be stuck in the phone forevermore, although this could have been classed as an advantage: maybe then we’d be able to keep our review sample for longer than the four days HTC had allowed us. The microSD card slips completely into the insides of the Legend, so be warned – you may never see it again.

 

Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by Aron

Acer beTouch E200 Review

Monday, March 8, 2010

Review compliments of Steve at Tracy and Matt’s Blog.

Following on from my last Acer review which I was fortunate enough to have spent some time with the Acer Liquid, this device appears to be as diverse as it can get in terms of specification and price, let alone the size.

Acer L1

Acer have recently released a couple of new budget handsets, the beTouch E101 which is a touchscreen only handset without 3G connectivity (the E100 has 3G) and this the beTouch E200 which has a sliding 12 numeric keypad. It’s also possibly one of the least expensive Windows Mobile 6.5 handset that you’ll find on the market. Other benefits of the Acer beTouch E200 include a 3 Megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.1 and integrated GPS receiver. So it would seem that although it’s cut price it’s not cut spec.
Is the Acer beTouch E200 a bargain not to be missed or definitely one to avoid?

General
On the top of the Acer is the back cover release button and the home for the really small and thin telescopic stylus, which when removed reveals a small reset button, similar to that on the HTC Touch Diamond.

To the left you can find the power button, volume up/down rocker and the open miniUSB housing.

The bottom of the E200 only has the microphone hole.

On the right hand side, there is only the dedicated camera button.

The back of the beTouch is home to the 3.2 megapixel fixed autofocus camera, with no portrait mirror and no flash, under which is a large handsfree speaker grill

At the sharp end is the 3" flush mounted WQVGA 230×320 pixel resistive touchscreen, above which is the earpiece.

When closed, below the screen is a call and end button flanking a 4 way navigation and selection central button.

Open the slider and this will reveal a 12 button embedded. white backlit, keypad.

Highlights

  • Cheap Windows 6.5 professional phone
  • GPS
  • 3G/HSDPA

Lowlights

  • No 3.5mm jack
  • Lack of Wifi
  • Poor build quality

Review
When removed from the box for the first time the Acer looks quite nice, the chrome style banding around the case and the slightly rubberised backing of the phone means that it is comfortable in the hand, not a heavy device, but in my opinion it is on the heavy side at 146 grams.

I did find that the ‘flush’ fitting WQVGA wasn’t quite as flush as I would have liked, there were a few edges that sat proud of the case which proved slightly annoying, also the quality of the buttons on the bottom of the phone are not the best I have seen over the years, sharp edges and a plastic feel let down the overall aesthetics for me.

The slider is solid and provides a satisfying click at either end of its travel, with very little lateral movement evident. That said, I really can’t see the point of it, the fact that the E200 has a touchscreen in place kind of made the keypad redundant, and I rarely used it at all, so the extra weight and thickness again for me seemed a little wasted. I am aware that people do like this style of device and also seeing that the Samsung Tocco Ultra has the same kind of attributes and appears popular, there is obviously a market for this style of device.

It is nice to see that Acer have left the UI alone apart from the inclusion of their home screen, which is customisable to allow you to add icons for your most used programmes. The first row being fixed and the second and subsequent rows adaptable.

WM 6.5 has been so unmolested that noticeable absences are YouTube and Google Maps, but these are easily downloaded and installed from the included ‘Marketplace’.

Once installed YouTube worked well as was easily watchable, obviously not to the same levels of the recent monster handsets that have been released, but useable nontheless.

The handset has no preinstalled navigation, but the downloaded and installed Google Maps where perfectly acceptable.

The day to day use of the phone was fine, the call quality of the Acer is very acceptable, I found it to be clear and loud, using the handsfree did not disappoint either.

The camera it has to be said is basic, at only 3.2 megapixels, it works and in the right light conditions wasn’t too bad at all, but generally it was adequate at best.

I find it strange that this phone is fitted with a miniUSB, with manufactures moving over to the microUSB, but I prefer this anyway, a shame that there is no separate 3.5mm jack to allow use of personal headphones, rather than the supplied miniUSB version.

The screen is not the best in several areas, I have already mentioned the fit, Matt also discussed the shininess of the screen in bright lights, (he never did conclude if there was a screen protector in place, I suspect it was the screen sitting higher?), the fact that it is WQVGA also works against it slightly, being only 320×240 megapixel, with the advent of the new generation of LED screens appearing, this screen appears lacklustre and not as bright and vibrant as many others around. Add to this that the rendering of web pages on the beTouch was OK, but with the small resolution took quite a bit of scrolling around to be able to read a full page. On a more positive note though is very responsive, meaning that scrolling and flicking around the OS is pleasant and easily done.

A definite mistake in my opinion was the omission, in this day and age, of WiFi, having become more and more reliant on wifi for such things as syncing with MyPhone, not to have it was a real problem, with data costs and limitations on certain call plans that are now available, this is probably the worst element of this phones specification that should not have been overlooked.

E200

Conclusion
As you can probably tell this is in my opinion this is not one of the best phones that I have tested and reviewed, don’t get me wrong, as a cheap version of a quite highly spec’d device, the inclusion of Windows Mobile 6.5, GPS, quad band, HSDPA etc. means that the E200 is very useable, and I am sure that a lot of people will use and like the E200.

For me though the omission of WiFi and all the other small annoyances, together with the unpractical keypad really did put me off.

That said I have been spoiled lately with some super phones, and it is now obvious more than ever that you do get what you pay for and my parting comment would be that the E200 is probably a bit of a bargain for anyone wanting an entry level Windows Mobile handset.

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Posted by Jon

Acer Liquid A1 Review

Friday, December 18, 2009

One of the first written reviews of the Acer Liquid – Shaun from PDA247 has the following to say. 

The HTC Hero and Motorola DROID have received much praise in recent months and are considered to be the best Android powered handsets on the market. They are indeed impressive, but the DROID does not have the best design in the world and the Hero has a slight quirk in its design which is not to everyone’s taste. However, they have proved to be tough competition for any new entrant into the Android smartphone world and it would take something special to compete with them, let alone beat them.  Is the Acer Liquid A1 a worthy contender?

First Impressions

The very first impressions are surprising indeed. Gone is the standard Acer feel of fairly cheap plastic and boring design which has been replaced with a sleek shape created out of high quality materials which come together perfectly. It sort of feels like a slimmer Palm TX and although this version is in white (not a preference for me) the screen dominates everything about the look. Build quality also feels very good indeed and there are no moving parts to offer a sense of insecurity in use. It is all a bit slippery in the hand, but the white plastic means that fingerprints do not show up at all.

The buttons below the screen are completely flush, but do work well enough which lots of spacing around each to ensure accurate thumb pressing. The power key is on the left, not the best place for it, and on the right you have the volume keys and the camera shortcut key lower down. This setup is almost more suitable for left-handed people who would tend to hold the phone in the right-hand, but it is not a killer problem. The microUSB port is at the bottom and is protected by a swivelling rubber flap which is great for stopping dust getting, but slightly awkward when you are charging the phone.

I have to say that from a hardware perspective the Liquid A1 is a seriously smart piece of kit and one of the nicest smartphones I have held in my life. It looks fashionable in a way that is not obvious i.e. it is so cool that this kind of look has not been taken onboard by the majority of manufacturers yet. It is the kind of device that would look good in smarter establishments and not necessarily in an office. When the black one is available it will look great everywhere.

This is the first smartphone I have used that has the singular feel of the iPhone in that it really does feel like one slab of material that is honed together perfectly and I would go as far as to say that it has much more style. The use of plastic is a curiosity because some metal here would take it to a whole new level.

This is just a quick first look, but the Liquid immediately feels better than the HTC Hero in many ways.

The Acer Liquid A1 has continued to impress in ways which I never expected. It manages to pull off the trick of being a reliable workhorse while offering some excitement which is rare these days. We tend to see devices which can do one or the other well, but rarely one that does both. The fact is that Android is a joy to use given the right hardware and Acer has managed to intensify the sensation by including a WVGA capacitive screen which looks fantastic indoors and which works well in bright conditions. When HTC invented Sense UI many of us felt that it would be needed to enhance Android use, but the Liquid A1 proves otherwise. Let’s look at the individual features-

General Performance 8/10

The speedy 768Mhz processor works alongside 512MB of ROM and 256MB of RAM and in my experience so far feels slightly quicker that the HTC Hero. Without all of the fancy pages that HTC offers there appears to be little room for areas where it will lock up and so far I have not experienced any slowness at all.

Screen 9/10

For completeness I will cover the screen again and this is without doubt the highlight of the device. It is as good as any I have seen to date and feels immediately responsive to touch. There is a slight quirk when inputting data in that you have to press slightly harder on the lower onscreen keys to register input. This is obviously because they are near the edge of the screen, but is something you will need to adjust to when you start typing- I am guessing a software fix could solve this.

 image

Battery 8/10

Judging battery life over a few days is never easy because they tend to take time to bed in and produce optimum performance. However, I managed 2 hours of calls on the first day and some intensive Wi-Fi use with the battery dropping down to 60%- I am guessing that heavy users will need to charge every day, but this is not unusual for touch screen devices now. I will follow the battery rating up in a week or so.

Buttons 7/10

The hardware buttons are often overlooked when reviews are done of smartphones, but they are very important during day to day use. The side buttons are neatly positioned albeit preferable for left-handers and the virtual buttons below the screen are highly responsive. I am not a fan of virtual buttons, but I am growing to like these and thus they just about receive a thumbs up from me.

Entertainment 10/10

Music and video are now more important than ever before and you shouldn’t be making a smartphone with a 3.5” screen and then implement poor entertainment capability. Acer has jumped up to a new level with the A1 and produced a phone which easily rivals the iPhone in the quality of music and video playback. I have never seen this on any other phone before, but this one is a rival to the iPhone in this area and I could go as far as to say it is slightly better.

The inclusion of Spinlets brings a world of streamed music and video to the equation and is well implemented. You can also share your personal media with others at the click of a button. Playing music and video on the Liquid A1 is a beautiful experience. Now I have picked myself up off the floor I will move on with the rest of the review…

 image

Web 9/10

The goodness keeps on coming with a web browser that is super quick and exceptionally easy to use. It is all too easy to compare to Safari running on an iPhone, but I will do so and proclaim it to be just as good. The lack of finger zoom is strange at first, but the way it handles pages and zooming actually has some advantages here- clicking the zoom (+) key will make the text bigger without ruining the layout of the page and I found it quick on almost every site I used. The web experience is second only to the entertainment side.

PIM 7/10

The PIM side is more important to me than almost any other which is why I use a BlackBerry every day. The calendar view is lovely and cleanly shows everything that is coming up and is one of the few that comes close to the simplistic visuals of the early Psion experience- adding new entries is not the easiest though and too many fields are required in my view.. Contacts is as you would expect- it looks nice and just about does what it needs to and is similar to the efforts on other operating systems such as iPhone and Windows Mobile. Tasks takes a similar line and offers basic management, but remember that there are many third party enhancements available so you have room to experiment.

Data Entry 6/10

You will never get a high rating for data entry from me unless it has a physical keyboard. The data entry setup on the Liquid is similar to the Hero and most other touch screen devices and landscape typing is supported throughout.  Haptic feedback is included and suggested words so you will know what to expect. It’s as good as the rest and is usable, but my personal issues with onscreen keyboards leaves me airing on the negative side.

Voice 5/10

The voice quality is not good, especially the speakerphone which is not very loud and which breaks up when you attempt to crank it up to its loudness setting, which as I said is not very loud anyway.

It reminds me of the quality of some of the lesser Windows Mobile units and is the main drawback with the Liquid A1.

image

Camera 7/10

The 5MP camera with auto-focus is acceptably good and produces some decent snaps, but the process of taking pictures can be slow. This is not a camera that you can whip out of your picket, capture the moment and then carry on- it takes some effort to reproduce good quality snaps.

Video capture is better than I expected, but the sound appears to be limited to just those noises near to the phone. This camera setup reminds me of many others- works OK for most purposes, but could be better.

The Acer Liquid A1 has surprised me in so many ways and is a complete departure from what Acer has made before. Acer has a habit of making competent phones which have advanced features and which somehow fail to inspire. The A1 is completely different and the screen makes Android come to life in more ways than I thought possible.

From the fashionably cool design through to the screen and the general speed of the unit I have struggled to find significant failures. The entertainment capabilities take it to a whole new level and make it a genuine competitor for the HD2 and iPhone. Indeed, it is sort of a marriage of the two- you get lots of expansion, a highly customisable OS and iPhone style entertainment.

The words ‘iPhone killer’ are far too often written, but in this case I would go as far as to say that the A1 is close. The voice quality is the main issue, but that is because I am seeing it on a unit which does almost everything else near perfectly.

The A1 is without doubt the best Android device I have used to date and the mixture of all of the parts (hardware, OS and software) make it better than the HD2 in my opinion, and even the iPhone. It truly is an excellent smartphone and much better than I ever expected. Acer is finally in the game.

You can purchase the Acer Liquid HERE

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Posted by Jon

Samsung Omnia Pro B7330

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Shaun over at PDA247 has undertaken a review of the Samsung Omnia Pro B7330.

A fairly complimentary review, Shaun really looks at the positives and negatives of this device.

His concluding comments –

The B7330 is a superb phone in many areas and because of this it builds into a complete unit which is capable of being used for a variety of tasks. It does not attempt to stun you with fancy gimmicks and a fashionable design, it has no pretentions of burying the Windows Mobile OS beneath layers of graphics and because of this you end up with a seriously capable phone which is much, much better than I ever expected. Is it better than the HTC Snap? I would say it is, but the design of the Snap is better and the Inner Circle feature is exceptional. There is little to choose between them. But I would go for the B7330.

The review is in two parts, but you can read PART ONE HERE and PART TWO HERE.

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Posted by Jon

BlackBerry Bold 9700 (Bold 2) Review

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Review compliments of Tracy and Matt’s Blog.

Also being called the Bold2 the Blackberry Bold 9700 is the new version of the original Bold 9000. Although there are not too many major software changes there are a few hard wear ones. Is the 9700 an improvement?

9700

Blackberry Bold 9700

What’s in the box:

  • Device

  • Battery

  • Charger

  • USB Cable

  • Headphones

  • Case

  • Software/Manual

The ten second review:

Device: Blackberry Bold 9700

Summary: A hardcore messaging device that does pretty much the works.

Best of: Keyboard, Wi-Fi, 3G.

Worst of: Web Browser.

General:

The top of the Blackberry 9700 appears to have no buttons but there are actually two. The first locks the device and the second puts it into standby mode.

Top

Blackberry Bold 9700 top

The bottom also appears to have no buttons and that’s because there are not any! Both the top and bottom are extremely smooth.

Bottom

Blackberry Bold 9700 bottom

Housed on the left side of the device is the 3.5mm headset jack, a shortcut button and the microUSB port. This shortcut button is preset for voice dialling.

Left

Blackberry Bold 9700 left side

On the right side is another shortcut button. This one is preset as the camera button. There is also an up/down volume rocker.

Right

Blackberry Bold 9700 Right side

The rear of the handset contains the camera lens and flash. You can also see the nice leather battery cover with the Blackberry logo on it.

Back

Blackberry Bold 9700 rear

And of course the front of the device houses the full QWERTY keyboard, send/end keys, a back button and a Blackberry menu button

Front

Blackberry Bold 9700 front

Highlights:

  • 3G/Wi-Fi
  • QWERTY Keyboard
  • 3.5mm headset jack
  • Multiple push email accounts
  • Optical Track Pad

Lowlights:

  • Web Browser
  • Cheap looking supplied headphones

Review:

Straight out of the box I was amazed at what a nice looking device the Blackberry Bold 9700 is. The combination of jet black plastic and shiny metal give the Bold 9700 a really sweet look. Like the original Bold 9000, the 9700 has inherited the leather battery cover which helps give it a luxurious feel.

The device is fairly lightweight but doesn’t feel as robust as some other handsets. Only time will tell if the 9700 can withstand heavy daily usage.

The Blackberry Bold 9700 is a few millimetres smaller in both height and width compared to the 9000. Thickness is the same but this new Bold really feels a lot smaller. Its now about the same size as the Blackberry Curves. The one concern I did have prior to receiving the Bold 9700 was that this reduction in size may make typing a little harder. I was wrong. The keys on the 9700 are the same design as on the 9000 which in my opinion are a lot better than on the Curve models. I have never owned a Blackberry myself and have only reviewed one, the 8520, and I can honestly say I took to typing on the 9700 like a duck to water. I do prefer a hard keyboard over an onscreen one and I instantly found myself getting as few errors as I do on my HTC Touch Pro2. I was most impressed.

The other major difference between the original Bold and the new 9700 is that RIM have replaced the trackball with a optical track pad. This is the same as I used on the 8520 and a real joy to use. I have played with friends Blackberries which have the trackball and I found the new track pad to be better to use in every way. Hopefully this will now stop millions of Blackberry users complaining that their trackball has stopped working as they are prone to getting dust and debris inside them. This new move by RIM is fantastic and I would imagine the trackball is now history.

As you would imagine the track pad can have its sensitivity altered. This will allow you the choice of speed that it moves. I did test it out on its highest setting but it was way to fast and totally uncontrollable!

Messaging has to be the main reason that people use a Blackberry. This was my first time setting up email on a Blackberry and after the nice people at Orange gave me a few tips I was off to a flying start. It could not have been much easier to be honest. It was just a case of registering the device and then inputting the email account details onto the Orange Blackberry site and that was it. The accounts appeared on the Blackberry. Now, the beauty of the Blackberry is you can have multiple push email accounts which I think makes it unique and it works perfectly.

So lets see what else is different compared to the 9700s daddy. Well the screen is obviously smaller but of a better resolution . This time 480 x 360. It looks pretty sharp. We have lost some internal storage though, which is a shame. The Bold 9000 came with 1GB but now we are down to 256mb on the 9700.

The camera has been upgraded to 3.2 mp with auto focus but I will cover that in more depth later in the review.

Apart from the above, I think the features are more of less the same but now in a new shell. I am most defiantly not a Blackberry expert so I may be missing a few things!

In terms of performance in all other areas I have been really pleased with the Blackberry Bold 9700. I have been using the device as my primary handset for nearly a week now and I have become addicted!

As a phone the 9700 does a great job. Accessing contacts is simple. Just start typing their name and up they pop. Getting contacts onto the phone was easy for me. As I use Microsoft Outlook I set the Blackberry desktop software to sync with Outlook so in a matter of minutes all my contacts were on the handset. Perfect!

The calendar on the Blackberry is also nice and easy to use and this again syncs with Outlook, making the transition to using Blackberry as simple as can be.

One thing on all Blackberries that has never been great is web browsing and this is the one main area that I feel let down. Coming from a big touch screen device I knew that using the browser would be "pants" but its not been as bad as I thought it would be. Of course compared to handsets like the iPhone, HTC HD2 and the Samsung Omnia2 its totally rubbish but I think you need to decide what is of most importance to you when thinking of switching to a Blackberry. If you are constantly browsing or using your phone as an in-car satnav then a Blackberry is probably not right for you (apart from the Storm or Storm2). If messaging is what you do most then this could be the device you need.

Connectivity on the Blackberry Bold 9700 is great. Its a 3G device and also has Wi-Fi. I think this is what will get a tonne of Blackberry Curve users switching to the Bold2 as none of the Curve models were 3G. God knows why but at least now there is a solution.

I have managed okay with the browser. To be honest I have not spent as much time browsing as I did on my touch screen phone but I can do pretty much everything on the Blackberry that I could do before. The downside is that the screen is not as big and if you need to zoom in you will find yourself scrolling left and right just to read a sentence. But as I said before it was better than I thought it was going to be.

If social networking is your thing then you will be pleased to know that Blackberry is pretty good when it comes to that sort of thing. There are some fantastic apps to help you stay in touch with your buddies.

Facebook has to be the top one at the moment and the Blackberry Facebook app is not bad. Compared to the windows version I would say its better as it keeps up to date. I found the windows one lagging behind a lot. As well as seeing your friends status updates you can also see news feeds, photos and links. Uploading photos to the app is also dead easy and its an all round decent application.

Like on most operating systems there are numerous Twitter apps and Blackberry is no different. I found Ubertwitter to be the best one and it worked faultlessly.

I’m not a massive Twitter user but tweeting from the Blackberry was easy-peasy.

I also installed Windows Live Messenger as Matt and I use it all day to communicate and I also found a good Facebook chat app so I could IM my Facebook buddies.

One of the first things you need to do when you have your new Blackberry is download Blackberry App World. Although its not on par with Apples iPhone app store its not bad. There is some decent stuff in there and the prices are reasonable. Of course there are loads of free apps as well . Its easy to navigate round App World and you are given a lot of info about the apps before you download, including screen shots. The graphics are not great for gaming but you must remember that a Blackberry is primarily a messaging device.

Media on the Blackberry Bold 9700 is taken care of nicely. I put a few movies onto my MicroSD card and they played straight away. Although not the biggest screen viewing is possible thanks to it being so crisp and bright.

Viewing photos was fine and dandy. With the vibrant screen the pictures look fantastic. A simple swipe of the optical track pad moves pictures left or right so you can either view all pictures in a grid or just view full screen and scroll smoothly to the one you want. Nice.

The 9700 has a built in music player and the quality it produced was surprisingly good. Using the external speaker the music was loud but not of great quality. Using the supplied headphones made things a lot better although they don’t feel the best made bit of kit. Once I plugged in my own JVC headphones (which only cost about £12.00) Guns N Roses rocked! The quality was super good and after I found the equaliser and turned up the bass I was rocking my socks off. If you listen to music you will be more than pleased with the results the Bold 9700 produces.

With built in A-GPS you wont be getting lost with the Bold 9700. It comes pre-installed with Blackberry Maps which is much the same concept as Google Maps. I also tried Nav4All which is a turn by turn navigation tool and it worked perfectly. Its never going to replace a stand alone satnav but for those times you are out and about on foot it will certainly come in handy.

No one is every going to buy the Blackberry Bold 9700 for its camera but it actually does a good job. At 3.2mp its not going to produce the best pictures in the world but the powerful LED flash helps a lot. Certainly does a better job than the camera on the Bold 9000. The camera interface is dead simple and fool proof really.

Conclusion:

So is the Bold 9700 an improvement over the 9000. I should say so. As long as web browsing is not what you do most and you like a QWERTY keyboard then the Blackberry Bold 9700 is in my opinion a fantastic phone well worthy of its price, although in time I am sure most carriers will supply it free on contract.

I liked it so much that this review device is not going back. I have dipped my hand into my pocket and I am keeping it. We cant bare to be parted!

I never thought this would happen as I am a big Windows Mobile fan but the Blackberry Bold 9700 just does everything well and its so easy and quick.

I have also just upgraded my girlfriends phone and she now has a Bold 9700 coming!

Good job RIM. Lets see if the Storm2 is as much of an improvement as the Bold2 is?

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Posted by Jon

Pocketnow.com HTC HD2 Review

Thursday, November 26, 2009

We know we keep reporting on the HTC HD2, but it is for good reason.

Our friends over at Pocketnow have put together a very comprehensive review of the HTC HD2.

Best to head over HERE to read it all.  There is lots of images, photos and information and if you are considering one it is a must read.

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Posted by Clove

HTC HD2 v’s Apple iPhone

Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Shaun at PDA247 has put together a nice review of the HTC HD2, against the iPhone.
It make for very interesting reading Here are a few snippets from the review:
SCREEN
HD2 9/10  iPhone 3GS 8/10
The HD2 wins here purely because of size. There is little doubt that both screens are excellent and work well in all conditions, but after a few days with the HD2 the iPhone screen felt a bit small. That is of course crazy because it isn’t and I still have reservations about a screen as big as the HD2s, but overall it just wins.
GENERAL PERFORMANCE
HD2 9/10  iPhone 3GS 9/10
The HD2 is very fast for a Windows Mobile device, but there will be times when the occasional slowdown occurs. However, these slowdowns are few and far between and short lived, and the HTC HD2 can multi-task exceptionally well. The fast processor and large internal RAM mean that you can have multiple apps running at the same time without issue. It is tempting to proclaim the HD2 the winner in this area, but the 3GS is very, very quick and so I have to rate them equal.
CAMERA
HD2 8/10  iPhone 3GS 8/10
If you consider a smartphone camera to be necessary for grabbling quick clips and videos then both of these cameras will serve you well. The iPhone camera is very easy to use, but has no flash and the HTC HD2 camera is a bit fiddly, but does produce better quality photos. It is a case of each having some omissions and so they end up equal.
To read the full review CLICK HERE
HTC HD2 available now at Clove Technology

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Posted by Clove

BlackBerry Bold 9700 review – Boldly going where no RIM has been before

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Article reproduced with the permission of T3

RIM has decided to update both its flagship devices at the same time, so following the Storm 2, we’re now treated to the Blackberry Bold 9700 – Watch the T3 BlackBerry Bold 9700 video.

The keyboard is the most noticeable difference between this and the original version, with 6mm less room to work with.

The result is keys which are a lot closer together than the paddle like buttons on the first Bold, but at the same time they’ve been re-modelled to keep the supreme typing ability of the first.

The design also now apes that of the Storm, with a lock and mute key sitting flush with the body at the top of the phone, rather than a big chrome button.

BlackBerry 9700 is a lot sleeker and more stylish than the previous Bold 9000, even down to making the chrome band around the edge more understated.

But it’s not all about the aesthetic changes – the Blackberry Bold 9700 has a lot more going on under the hood.

Souped-up innards

The processor has been souped up to 624MHz, and boy, can you feel it working. Where other BlackBerrys have struggled with more high end media tasks, such as displaying the thumbnail images of your recent snaps, this new Blackberry Bold 2 sprints through the task with ease.

The OS has been re-booted as well – BB OS 5.0 is all change for the regular BlackBerry user, with better designed menus and easier to find elements – for instance music and video are now grouped together in one place rather than the Music application swanning off on its own, making out it’s more important than video playback.

But this OS update hasn’t really affected the main core of the new Blackberry Bold 2, with messaging still as seamless as ever to set up. Simply enter in your Enterprise details to get push email from your company, or if you’re a webmail person you only have to put in your name and password to begin receiving updates.

Tapping out messages is a pleasant experience too, with the newly remodelled keys neither too firm or too soft and clicky (we’re wondering if they were designed by a blonde girl and some bears). While we’re not BlackBerry addicts, we were able to get a reasonable level of accuracy fairly soon after picking up the phone.

We’ll be honest and say we still prefer the keyboard on the original Bold, but this is a very good second best.

Multimedia maestro

Media playback is becoming ever more important to RIM, with the presence of a 3.5mm headphone jack testament to that fact.

Video is stunning on the upgraded HVGA screen, packing 480 x 320 pixels resolution into the 2.4-inch display. While this may be a little small for watching feature length films, it’s perfectly acceptable to while away those boring minutes when the train is once again late.

Music is a similar experience – it’s got all the bits you’d need from a mobile phone MP3 player (although the Blackberry Bold 9700 can also playback AAC+ and WMA too). There’s album art, the normal set of navigation keys and the option to put any song into a playlist from the ‘Now Playing’ screen.

Browsing bugs

One big let down, as has been the case with so many BlackBerries in the past; the internet browser is poor, with a slow experience coupled with very low range of technologies supported (such as flash). We’d have hoped for something like tabbed browsing but instead we’re forced to resort to downloading trusty Opera instead.

But the biggest change of them all is the battery life improvement, with nearly 1.5 days of normal usage (push email, Wi-Fi running all the time) at a stretch. But it basically spells the end of having cart around a spare battery or charger in case of a juice-less situation, which is going to be a big selling point for BlackBerry lovers.

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Posted by Stephen

Blackberry Bold 9700 – Review

Friday, November 13, 2009

Review compliments of Shaun from PDA247

The Bold 9700 is a curiosity in many ways; it carries the ‘Bold’ name, but shares the bulk of its physical similarities with the Curve 8900. Put them next to each other and it is hard to tell the difference. The 9700 is slightly less curved and of course the back is leather, but besides that I would bet good money than few people who do not know much about BlackBerry’s would see any discernable difference.

However, the improvements in the Bold Bold 9700 mostly lie under the hood and this is what makes the Bold 9700 a definite improvement on what has come before. Outwardly the keyboard and optical trackpad complete a set of changes which come together to create something evolutionary which will appeal to a specific set of users who want the ultimate BlackBerry which can handle a variety of tasks in a way that only a BlackBerry can.

It would be all too easy for me to sit here and proclaim the Bold 9700 to be a minor update in a long line of BlackBerry devices which seemingly change very little from year to year, but who am I to say that this approach is not right? RIM has made a fortune out of these smartphones so it must be doing something right and there is a solid argument that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Here is a quick rundown of the current BlackBerry line up (Storm not included) and the negatives that come with each-

  • BlackBerry Bold 9000- quite big, serious lack of internal memory, trackball reliability issues
  • BlackBerry Curve 8900- only 2G, questionable build quality (some have loose keyboards and battery covers), video playback can be choppy, trackball reliability issues
  • BlackBerry Curve 8520- only 2G, poor music quality, low resolution screen

ALL of the issues above have been fixed in the Bold 9700; it is similar in size to the 8900, it has a lot of internal memory, is built like a brick, has a high resolution screen and the optical trackpad which is a huge improvement over the trackball. Let’s take a look at each aspect of the Bold 9700 in detail-

Keyboard / Trackpad
Somehow RIM has managed to bring the original Bold keyboard feel to the smaller 9700 and produced a keyboard which is light to the touch, yet extremely accurate during bouts of super quick thumb typing. Anyone who has used a BlackBerry before will understand the lack of a full stop key (that still annoys me) and even those new to this kind of device should have no problems. It is the best front facing keyboard on the market and beats all of the others I have used from the newer smartphones all the way back to the Palm Treos.

The trackpad is a revelation after the trackball. I have suffered multiple trackball issues and started to lose faith in the entire idea. The trackpad is easy to master and feels more natural than almost any other hardware navigator I have used in the past.

Screen
I don’t have much to say here. It is 2.44” which is obviously smaller than the original Bold, but at 480×360 pixels the detail on offer is crisp and offers the same exceptional quality seen on the original Photos jump out of the screen and well encoded videos also display well with no stutters. I had many problems with the Curve 8520 and 8900 video playback, but the same videos have all played without any problems on the 9700- that’s a relief.

Build Quality
Exceptional. It is a solid as a rock and there are no moving parts to take away the feeling that it will serve you well on the busiest of days. After so long with the, in comparison, flimsy 8900 this feels just right to me. The only concern I have is the silver BlackBerry logo on the back leather cover which looks like it could easily peel off to me.

Buttons
On the sides we have rubber volume and side keys which most people seem to like. I am not a huge fan of these because they detract from the overall look, but I guess that they will be more hard wearing than the standards seen on previous devices. The expected mute and standby keys adorn the top and work as you would expect, but it would have been nice to see the media keys lifted from the 8520. It is a personal choice, but I never use the top keys. The 3.5mm headphone jack is top left and curiously I can use my iPhone headphones with this device. I never could with the 8900. The microUSB charger/sync jack is on the left as well which is not ideal, but the inclusion of the charger pods (left and right at the bottom) means that the classic cradle can be used. Every BlackBerry needs a charging cradle which rivals the Palm Pre touchstone for ease of use.

General Performance
This smartphone is quicker than any other I have used to date. The 624Mhz processor is powerful indeed for an OS which is widely regarded as one of the most efficient in the business. Throw in 256MB of memory and the natural trackpad and everything feels snappy and you soon forget that you are doing multiple things at once. I managed to have 15 apps open at once and it did not blink once. With music playing in the background I could skip between the browser, MobiPocket and anything else in the blink of eye. At no point has this phone given me any cause for concern in terms of performance.

Media
As I said earlier video playback is excellent and photo viewing is also a pleasure. The ability to move through photos with just the swipe of the trackpad makes navigating a large collection of images very easy and the overall simplicity of the interface works well. There are few bells and whistles in terms of the look, but it is debatable as to how necessary this is. Music playback is much, much better than the 8900 and on a par with the original 8900. I would advise dumping the included headphones because they do not bring out the best music experience. It is a difficult one to judge, but it is just about comparable to the iPhone with maybe a little too much music up front if you know what I mean. I would still rate the iPhone as better for music quality, but we are talking by a minimal amount.

Battery
After the first charge I managed a full day’s email, 70 minutes of calls, 2 hours of music, 2.5 hours of Wi-Fi and lots of messing around installing new apps and moving calendar entries etc. I left Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled for the whole day. Result: 60% battery remaining. Find me a smartphone that has a better battery life and I will give you the Bold. OK, no I won’t, but you get the idea.

Camera
I didn’t expect much of an improvement over the 8900 here, but it is quicker and the snaps are much clearer than before. I am no camera expert, but the colour reproduction seems more real and I am able to grab good snaps much easier than I could before.

The video camera is rated at 30 frames per second and capable of 480 x 352 recording. Again I noticed a big improvement and it is more than acceptable for capturing those moments when you do not have a standalone camera handy. It will not compete with the efforts found on Nokia phones, but is more than good enough for most people’s needs.

OS5.0
At first glance the move to OS5.0 seems inconsequential and in many ways it is. The speed improvement is the most noticeable change, but there are lots of small interface changes which add a more modern feel to the OS. Buttons in thirds party apps like Ascendo Money are different and the other changes like the easier profile management do make a difference. There are many, many changes onboard, but none that make it is revolutionary upgrade from the previous versions. Hopefully RIM will look at some more wide-ranging changes in the near future despite serious BlackBerry users likely being well pleased with the latest update.

Voice Quality / Signal
The voice capability of the Bold 9700 is as I would expect from any BlackBerry nowadays. It is loud and clear in ear or through the speaker phone and easily one of the best in the smartphone market. Only Nokia creates a better voice experience on ‘some’ of its smartphones.

Signal wise I have been impressed with the 3G coverage and manage to grasp a 3G signal anywhere in my house. Besides that it is difficult to test, but the GPS chip is also efficient and works quietly in the background when I need it. One day we will see a decent turn by turn navigation solution for BlackBerry, but until then it is hard to really push it.

Connectivity
The inclusion of 3G was not something that bothered me before I received the 9700, but I may have to eat my words with regards to how useful it can be. There is a caveat here in that you need a device with a BIG battery life to get the most out of it and as I said earlier this one is capable of supporting long periods of 3G.

You are only getting up to 3.6Mbps speed which will seem slow to some and I fully understand that. The problem is that little on the BlackBerry OS needs faster speeds and this is why some will not even look at a smartphone like the Bold 9700.

Conclusion
As you can tell from the above, this review is unusually positive for me. I am conscious that there are minimal downsides in this review, but that is because there are minimal downsides to the device. I am no fanboy of the BlackBerry platform and recognise that the OS is boring compared to much of the competition, the third party app market is devoid of imagination and the whole setup is looking long in the tooth. The messaging application could be a lot better and the OS needs an all encompassing refresh to battle it out with Android, the iPhone and even Windows Mobile in the consumer market.

However, if you need a phone which has a great screen, a huge battery life, excellent data entry and general performance which is able to cope with the most needed tasks of everyday life then this is the one to go for. The OS may look boring, but it handles all of the major tasks perfectly and third party apps like Ascendo Money and TweetGenius are hard to beat on any platform. There is a lot going on in a small space on the Bold 9700 and RIM has managed to create a device which will turn few heads, but one which is almost flawless in its implementation. I will be keeping this one as my main smartphone and will report back in a longer term review in a few weeks time.

Order your Blackberry Bold 9700 today at Clove Technology.

 

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Posted by Jon

LG Chocolate Review

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The LG Chocolate BL40 has been getting a great deal of TV coverage in the UK at least through an advertising campaign that LG are undertaking.

Engadget have had a hands on with the LG BL40 and put together a comprehensive review.

It is not the most complimentary review but it highlights are great deal of the units features and shows how good it is if making phone calls, and sending a few messages is what you do mainly, but want something very stylish and different.

You can read the review HERE.

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Posted by Jon

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