Review Motorola’s been keeping its hand in with an interesting variety of Android handsets of late. The Pro+ is clearly designed for business rather than fun, which is fine, but next to the top-end, revitalised Motorola Razr, it’s not in the same league.
Doing the business: Motorola’s Pro+ Android smartie
Following on from the original Motorola Pro earlier this year, it offers a newer version of Android and a slightly improved screen, but not a great deal else, though the all-plastic body feels sturdy enough and the rubberised plastic back feels comfortable. Read the rest of this entry »
Review Full marks to Samsung’s marketing folk for the Galaxy Fit’s go-getting name, but it’s actually a fairly low-end Android smart phone with an outdated OS, low resolution screen and less than speedy processor. That said, it has a few good points too, including a surprisingly good 5Mp Camera.
Exercise equipment? Samsung’s Galaxy Fit
Bearing a passing resemblance to the recently released Galaxy Mini (aren’t there an awful lot of Galaxys recently?) the Fit has a similar glossy black fascia surrounded by chrome-look trim on its gently curved edges. What looks like a D-pad beneath the screen is actually the Android home button, flanked by touch sensitive menu and back buttons (there’s no search). Read the rest of this entry »
Review HTC has released two ‘Facebook phones’ of late – the Qwerty-packing ChaCha and the Salsa, the latter being a compact bundle of fun, which wears its dedicated Facebook button just beneath its screen.
HTC’s Salsa: spiced with Facebook favours
While the designers of the ChaCha had obviously looked over the shoulder of a BlackBerry owner or two, the Salsa’s style keeps things in-house with a nod to the HTC Desire’s odd little chin at the bottom of the phone, which seems to be getting less pronounced with each incarnation. Read the rest of this entry »
Review You can argue all you want about the merits of the various mobile operating systems but it’s undoubtedly Android that has put smartphones into the hands of the impecunious masses and in numbers that would have been inconceivable just eighteen months ago.
Tidy price: Vodafone’s Smart
The new king of the cheap charlies is the Vodafone Smart or Huawei U8160 to give it its manufacturer designation. This pound shop special runs Android 2.2 and has a capacitive screen but will only set you back £75.
That’s nearly 20 per cent less than the price of the Orange San Francisco, né ZTE Blade, which will lighten your wallet to the tune of £99 plus a mandatory £20 credit (£119 altogether). Buy online and Vodafone doesn’t demand an airtime purchase as a condition of sale. Read the rest of this entry »
Review Sony Ericsson’s top of the range Xperia Arc was a bold move, cramming a feast of the company’s very latest technology into a case seemingly not a whole lot thicker than a credit card. The Xperia Neo winds things down a notch, not least the price, and the style, but this Android mid-ranger still manages to pack a serious punch.
The Neo is decidedly chunkier than the Arc, at 116 x 57 x 13mm and 126g, though it retains an echo of the ‘human curvature’ design we’ve seen on recent SE handsets. Beneath the screen is Sony Ericsson’s by now familiar approach to the Android control buttons, with slivery hard back, home and menu buttons, but no search à la the Arc, though the Xperia Play had it. Read the rest of this entry »
