Posted by Mia in
Appearance
The smooth plastic shell of Philips X800 is pleasant to the touch, the good shape and compact size (102 x 51 x 11 mm/110 g) are satisfactory. The front panel of the new model, like in most modern communicators and smarts, is a mirror coating.
But the side faces look a little unusual. They consist of two closed contours on the perimeter – silver at the bottom and black at the top. These contours form a broken facet with each other – bright, but elegant.
The rear surface of Philips X800 is fully removable. Under it there is a battery compartment. Interestingly, except a black lacquered panel, there are two more in the set – grey and brown with a golden hue, the latter is made of nice soft-touch plastic.
The main control unit, located below the display, is presented with two buttons that are responsible for the reception, the cancellation of the conversation, and power on / off.
The absence of traditional (even for normal phones) joystick or a cursor block affects the administration not in the best way, because there are situations when controlling the device using the touch screen is simply inconvenient.
Additional buttons are located on the sides. On the right are the double volume keys, as well as a round button activating the camera. And on the left is a sliding button which locks the phone that is simply necessary for a sensor model.
The new model is connected to computers via the miniUSB, located at the lower end. And stereo equipment is also connected through it, alas, there is no other exit. In one of the bottom corners is the habitat of the telescopic stylus. Surprisingly, the stylus of the X800 was much better than in most communicators.
The large diameter of the metal body is sufficiently long, edge lines are from high-quality plastic – all this allows working with comfort, the importance of which many manufacturers do not often consider.
If, however, to describe the appearance of Philips X800 in two words, we can say this: it looks simple, but elegant and with style. Perhaps, this is just how a classic and not the cheapest communicator is supposed to look like.
It must be noted that in the box with the X800 you will find many interesting things. First, we have listed the additional removable panels. Secondly, in the set there is a special napkin for wiping the display. And to avoid scratches on the display, the manufacturer suggests gluing on it the protective brand film, which also does not have to be bought extra. A MicroSD memory card of 1 GB is also available in the set. Well, in addition, the unit is supplied with a standard set consisting of a power adapter, interface cable miniUSB-USB, plain stereo, CD with programs and utilities, and operating instructions. The only thing one can wish is an extra stylus in case of the loss of the first.
Display
The sensory TFT-screen of Philips X800 is much larger than in most phones – here we have a diagonal of 2.8 inches and a resolution of 240 x 400 pixels. As to the indicators of the brightness, clarity and proper angles, you can call them without reservations as one of the best.
There are screen settings, therefore everything is in order.
Yes and no color problems, either – the picture looks bright, juicy, almost alive. Viewing photos on the X800 is becoming a very pleasant pastime.
And to ensure an easy management with fingers rather than stylus, the display is placed on a level with the shell and covered with a protective cover. To the sensitivity of the sensor substrate it is also difficult to present any claim.
Communications
Judging by communication opportunities the X800 is a classic GSM-device that works in range of 900/1800/1900 MHz. Data transfer is carried out through GPRS, and through faster EDGE. Connecting to other devices is carried out via Bluetooth. The phone keeps connection beautifully – no reprimands. But it is connected to the computer via classic USB 1.1, so the data transfer rate is low – about 0,5-1,0 MB / sec.
Camera
Philips X800 is not an expensive device, so its built-in 2-MP camera shines with no decent functionality. The only advantage is its autofocus, but it does not work as one would wish either – too slow to bring on and often wrong. The supplement to the camera control is executed without sophistications. The most important thing is that all of it is adapted to the administration of a finger.
Settings are few, but in this case it is not so important, because images are obtained with noise, with problems in color transfer and are not sharp, although the maximum resolution is decent – 1600 x 1200.
Below you can see the test images by the camera of X800. You can see that the quality is far from ideal.
Time of autonomous work
Unlike the camera, the manufacturer has paid much more attention to the choice of the battery – Li-Ion battery of a capacity of 1250 mAh is rather infrequent in other phones.
Perhaps this choice is due to the decent diagonal display, which requires considerable energy expenditure. The time of autonomous work is 20 minutes of day talking, watching the address book and tapes of news websites via GPRS took a whole week! According to this index it is extremely difficult to find competitors to X800 in the Russian market of mobile communications.
The main menu is made in the form of a matrix of 3×4 icons.
The manufacturer did not make the design elements variegated and bright, but was confined to only two or three colors and their shades. Nevertheless, the icons and fonts look good and stylish, and they are worked out in detail. In addition, the main menu icons, and text sub-strings are made quite large, so that navigation with the finger is no trouble.
It is impossible not to mention the scrupulous execution of the menu, common to all interface colors and style, as well as very high functionality. The interface does not pull up – all the switching and transitions between menu items are implemented promptly. The reproduction of animation also presents no special difficulties for the new model.
The phonebook of X800 is not worse and not better than in other modern devices. Typing names in the book (as well as text messages) is easier after all with the stylus – the letters of the virtual keyboard are not large enough.
For each recipient, you can enter four numbers, assign a ringtone, and set an image. In addition, contacts can be divided into several groups with individual calls.
The work with office tools (notes, alarm clock, stopwatch, world time, currency converters and values) is satisfactory. It is here that the stylus is indispensable. But a «reader» of e-books is not found in every phone. It is especially pleasing that this utility even has a number of settings, such as a choice of font size and scroll speed.
It would be better, if it could read other formats of electronic books as well, besides the simple TXT, and worked more correctly with the Cyrillic.
Even more rarely phones are able to view office files in formats such as doc, xls, ppt, pdf, html. The X800 copes with this easily.
The built-in recorder amazed with its elective sensitivity – the recorded voice was clear, without noise and other artifacts.
Multimedia features in the new model are presented in the form of a conveniently manageable MP3-player, working in background mode, and an FM-radio.
Unfortunately, the playback volume is low, so in the streets, subways and in other transport, almost nothing is heard. To say anything specific as to the quality of the sound is difficult: too low volume, for example, and almost no noticeable bass. Apparently, music, alas, is not the strongest point of the X800.
Preinstalled games on the phone are just two.
But because the X800 is supported by Java MIDP 2.0, the installation of additional software will cause no trouble. The only thing that the attention of the user should be drawn to, is the absence of a navigation key in the device, without which it is simply impossible to play most games.
Conclusions
Philips X800 is not expensive. For that money the user gets a stylish phone in a form-factor of communicator with an excellent touch screen and with an interface designed specifically for finger control. In addition, the new model is specified with an unprecedented long time of autonomous work, and a good set. Of course, the “weak” camera and the absence of a button block of cursor regulation are the indisputable bad sides of the X800, but the rich functionality of the built-in software brings the phone close to the family of smart phone- communicators, which are at least twice as expensive.
Philips will be a good purchase, if you want to get a sensory control and a big screen, but do not want to spend considerable funds for the purchase of a communicator, or you do not need all its capabilities.
