According to the manufacturer, Sony Ericsson S312 is literally created for spontaneous photo and video. Despite the low price, this phone has several features that allow fast work with the camera. But first things first …
Design of majority of inexpensive candy bars from Sony Ericsson has long ceased to evolve significantly. Minor adjustments of the keys are made for the new models, which slightly retouch the front panel, and now the “new” phone is born. Alas, this is partly true for Sony Ericsson S312 as well.
The device is made in a monoblock form factor, traditional for Sony Ericsson devices in parallel lines and edges and not less than the traditional dimensions and mass (100 x 46 x 12,5 mm/80, 1 g). Plastic Case of Sony Ericsson S312 has a silver side faces and dark blue front and rear walls. It is noteworthy that in addition to blue, they plan to release models in the light-silver case that is sure to catch the fancy girls.
The mirror sheeting display is originally made. It is not abrupt halt at the edges of the shell and rests in a plastic frame, but as a smooth “rolled” on the edge. The absence of the plastic frame on the perimeter of display has given the new product a fresh and even futuristic look. The device is pleasant to hold in your hand – to the extent of heavy, pleasant to the touch, and pleases the eye. For the budget model it is the ultimate dream.

Display

LCD display of the novelty is a typical budget solution proven by time. On the one hand, a small diagonal and low resolution of 176 x 220 makes viewing the photographs and videos not very comfortable, but on the other hand, 262 thousand colors will not miss a single detail. The brightness and clarity of the new item is to the occasion. The one hundred percent truthful rendition is also pleasing. But viewing angles, alas, are not the best.

Luggage

When creating S312 the developers had a difficult task before them. On the one hand, they had to maximally reduce the cost of the device, and on the other – making it a good cameraphone. They decided to maximally cut through the installation of a novelty CMOS-sensor, which has only 2 megapixels. Even by yesterday’s standards it is quite modest, but by today it is very little. Naturally, the built-in camera is not equipped with auto focus. So that S312 could be called a cameraphone, it’s equipped with additional buttons (which we have already said), but also found next to the lens, LED flash.
Of course, the camera on this shoot was no better, but the increase in functionality, according to the manufacturer, should probably somehow compensate the shortcomings of quality. Of course, there are also drawbacks.
The exposure adjustment fails to improve the quality of images. Small details are lost (this is typical of any cameras without AF), noises are present in large numbers even when shooting in sunny weather, but under complex lighting automation is simply lost. The only thing that can be commended for the camera in a novelty, is a good color reproduction. Video clips also did not differ with decent quality – noise and lack of detail is not visible except when playing back footage on a small phone. So we can draw the following conclusion – S312 camera is easy to shoot, fast and convenient, but there are no pretensions to quality.

Communications

In terms of communication capabilities S312 belongs to the classical GSM-models of recent years, working in the 900/1800 MHz bands. Work on the Internet is carried out thanks to the GPRS / EDGE module. Reception of the new items in the measure of sensitivity, and the quality of voice are good enough.
Connectivity is maintained by the Bluetooth module, and the A2DP profile provides phone compatibility with wireless headphones. Bluetooth has been tested on sample and data communications with HP iPAQ Pocket PCs 4700. Devices quickly find each other, but the transmission of data (two dozen pictures) on your PC, as always, was very slow – average speed was 0.13 MB / sec.

Multimedia features

Despite the fact that the manufacturer has put the usability of the camera at the heart, all the other multimedia capabilities of modern phones are also not forgotten. Audio player is different with neutral interface and many options sufficient for not too demanding user, among which is worth mentioning 4-band EQ and level controls low and high frequencies. Video player did not have any settings, although it is extremely simple to use. Program for viewing photos has a little more opportunities. With the help of it the image can even impose one available in the arsenal of phone digital effects – for example, take a picture black and white or in shades of brown.
It is slightly annoying that all these players are not collected in a single multimedia unit, as in more expensive phones of Sony Ericsson, and literally scattered on the menu. But the FM-radio traditionally allocated to a separate tab, is located on the main page. It is good that producer sets FM-module with the ability to receive RDS-message even in their low-cost model.

Conclusions

Unlike many other budget sets, which practically do not stand out from the large gray mass of their own kind, Sony Ericsson S312 boasts a special feature – thoughtful management of the camera, as well as the presence of an LED flash. But not to increase the value, the camera is installed at the new items, alas, outdated. For this you can indefinitely blame the manufacturer, but otherwise the S312 simply ceased to be called a Budget.
Also pluses to this phone should include a fresh design, quite comfortable operation, long battery life and a complete set of hardware inside.

Nokia N86 looks so boundless and at the same time fully completed. In a relatively compact package is implemented a full range of opportunities with which N86 is going to attract all the afflicted. By the way, it’s time to take the camera in your hands and appreciate a dense assembly of each of the parts, between which there is the inevitable backlash, but here are the materials and body weighting 150 grams which will not miss the majority of fans of tech toys.

The selection of materials is not mentioned in vein because the front panel is made of glass, and its lining is a metal frame, which unknowingly may be confused with plastic, but in the process all at once will fall into its place. The sensor needs to adjust the brightness of the 2.6-inch screen, occupying all available space of N86. Despite the fact that the screen resolution is 240×320 pixels, the quality of displaying images with a palette of 16.7 million colors is really perfect; these parameters are shown only by smartphones of leading manufacturers. In addition, under the sun readable information from the screen falls only within reasonable limits, leaving the possibility to navigate through the menu and view the text.

Connection

Nokia N86 has a 2.0 with piles of various functions, and allows the remote drives to wander through the file manager, and to listen to music via wireless headphones, and transfer files to another device. If this is not enough, you can have a look at speed of the memory device, connecting a smartphone to a PC via cable, there you will feel the benefit of the speed of writing files to a level of 3-4 Mbps.

And lovers of active study of new spaces on the World Wide Web, will take advantage of Wi-Fi – in the implementation of Nokia. This device module IEEE 802.11 b / g is supported by a convenient search tool – access points, and owners of home wireless networks obviously will like another program that reveals the meaning.

Music

N86 has a traditional for most recently launched smartphones music player. Exactly the same functions: library, sorted by artist, album, genres, playlists, and other trifles, as well as the opportunity to establish the appropriate album cover. Then it can be seen in a simple playback window, with a minimum of frills, and with good ergonomics. If standard functions are not enough, you can change the type of repetition, and to switch on a random sequence of songs to choose from two sound effects, or go to the most effective way to adjust frequency response and 8-band equalizer with unlimited add-ins.

Camera

It is not surprising that the flagship camera phone with 8 MP is equipped with the most functional interface for maximum ease to process of shooting. At first glance, we face the familiar viewfinder with a scattering of icons and sidebar of any configuration tools, but here there is only a fraction of the available points, whereas others may be added in a separate setup menu bar, or vice versa, to clean it from the surplus. But before you find out for yourselves the most relevant setting in shooting mode, pay attention to the possibility of adjusting sensitivity, the use of scenes, adjust white balance and exposure compensation, as well as other, less visible parts. Already in a separate tab settings, you can change the image resolution, set the sound of the mechanical shutter and change the memory to store images, switch on the additional function Geonotes and trimming other details related to the work of digital zoom. In addition, if there is a desire to record video, then you can change the aspect ratio between 640×480 and 320×240 pixels.

Of course, the final score of examples of images is the privilege of readers, but in any case, a couple of words to say about the camera N86 will not be useless. First, wide-angle optics with a maximum resolution of 3264×2448 pixels gives to images good result in greenhouse weather conditions. If lighting can be called nothing more than tolerable, a tiny optics is clearly losing its way, and a small aperture ratio does not correspond to the use of only a single LED flash. But once again, this phone is equipped with a 5 Mp camera, so that among the devices there is almost no competition.

Conclusion

In Nokia N86 you can find everything for smartphones and the camera here is rather good, but not the best on the market.

The central control buttons are traditionally located under the display and are made from a metal pleasant to the touch. The buttons are balanced with a little aggressive design and are responsible not only for the reception or the abolition of call, but even for charging and job-specific functions of the new operating system – call (or cancel) the Quick Launch toolbar utilities and applications.

It has all in all five buttons – first, the smallest, breaks the symmetry and extends slightly between the two buttons in the right side of the device.

This block of the cursor is surrounded by a thin chrome ring. In the center there is a confirmation button “Ok”. If this button is made convex, then the ring itself controls for greater convenience concave inward. Indeed, the buttons at the Samsung I7500 can be clicked blindly, random errors are eliminated. In addition, each time you feel very clear and confident, which is usually characteristic only with expensive machines.

Filling and Communications

The novelty is built on a Qualcomm MSM 7200A CPU platform at a frequency of 528 MHz. Nowadays this is one of the most powerful processors, which is convenient to work with absolutely any application. RAM on board is only 128 MB, but the device has a built-in flash 8 GB drive, in which you can install programs, store cards to work with navigation, etc.

Unfortunately, we can only subjectively evaluate the performance of Samsung I7500 – at the speed of those or other programs, because test packages for Android are extremely difficult to find. But dealing with Windows Mobile – communicators on Qualcomm MSM 7200A platform – we can say that such a powerful device will be quite suitable for small mobile activities, as well as for games and multimedia tasks – such as watching movies with high quality.

Developers paid particular attention to the fact that the Android OS is designed for those users who spend a significant part of their time in the network. Here they can (according to the developers) communicate, store personal data, work and relax.

Samsung I7500 supports module GSM / GPRS / EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) as well as new networks of third-generation UMTS / HSDPA / HSUPA (900/1700/2100 MHz. The presence of Bluetooth 2.0 and Wi-Fi is very important, because in the big cities there is Wi-Fi in many locations.

Display

The novelty is equipped with 3.2-inch display with HVGA resolution (320 x 480 pixels), established in AMOLED-technology. This is a very bright display with live (literally) images and natural color. Granularity is not visible on the display, and viewing angles can be described as the highest. Unfortunately the display fades in the sun so that reading at least some information is not possible. In general we can say that this is one of the most suitable displays for viewing mobile video and photo.

Camera

Samsung I7500 is equipped with a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash. Photos from this camera are obtained with a resolution of 2592 x 1944 pixels.

But despite the large number of megapixels and a solid value of the smartphone, the quality of the images does not withstand serious criticism. Even when shooting in bright sunny weather in the photos it is easy to see a number of significant shortcomings, which should include low for such high-resolution detail and a strong distortion of colors.

Battery power and software

Samsung I7500 boasts with a fairly capacious battery (1500 mA ∙ h). With an average daily load (20 minutes of calls a day, work with address book and the Internet) without recharging the device works almost three days. Therefore, in order not to remain without communication in the morning on the third day of operation, it is better to charge the device in the evening.

Conclusions

If we talk about hardware of Samsung I7500, then we can say that this is a classic business-genre: high-quality and expensive shell, productive filling, the full range of communications, a convenient multitouch-control. There is practically nothing to fault – the device is placed on a high level. If it disappoints someone, it is only the most ardent opponents of the fashionable gloss and glitter, which after five minutes of work without gloves can easily turn the apparatus into the “criminal’s dream”.

Not so long ago we reviewed one of the most interesting models of the last generation communicator E-Ten – Glofiish X600, which launched the niche budget sets of the class all-in-one. Meanwhile, design and ergonomics of the novelty deserve to decorate a much more powerful and technically worked solution. But the striking design of E-Ten X800 with a support for 3G-networks have already been formed, so it was decided to issue an interim model, and take the empty niche between X600 and X800. From the first sight this novelty has a stylish and practical design, but from the second it has borrowed a delicious filling. The only thing lacking in Glofiish X650 – is the support for third-generation networks.

Design Features
The E-TEN Glofiish is one of the thinnest Pocket PC phones on the market. It’s only 0.58″ (a hair thinner than the 0.62″ Glofiish X800), and it’s fairly light at 4.8 ounces. Though not as amazingly compact as the HTC Touch, the X650 has a lot more inside and miniaturization can only go so far. The PDA phone has a soft touch finish that helps to keep it in hand, and the same minimalist rectangular design as the X600. The device “feels” OK in hand, but not nearly as pleasant as more curvy PDA phones. Build quality is good and the unit looks and feels well made. The X650 is more sedate looking than the somewhat flashy X800, and gets a no-frills design.
The camera lens and LED flash live on the back and the battery door at the rear is easy to remove unlike the X800’s. There’s a battery lock switch inside– be sure to flip it to insert or remove the battery. It won’t power up if that switch isn’t in the locked position. You must also remove the stylus before removing the battery cover since the silo (right bottom corner) opening is in the cover.
The volume buttons, voice command button and the reset hole are located on the left side while the power and camera buttons are on the right. The GPS antenna and wrist strap slot are up top and the mini USB sync/charge port and microSD card slot are on the bottom.

The nipple joystick on the X800 was decent but the X650’s is just a bit shorter and that makes a great deal of difference– it’s just not easy to use. Windows Start menu and OK keys are located above (rather than being tiny things as on the X800) in the silver section, with the two Windows Mobile soft keys in between. The GPS status app and E-TEN Home screen (short press) / M-Desk launcher (long press) buttons live in between the call, send and end buttons.
Glofiish X650 runs Windows Mobile 6.0 Pro.
It has a Samsung SC32442 processor with a frequency of 500 MHz.
RAM traditionally is small 64 MB from which only 47,20 MB is available. However, the user ultimately left with only about 19 MB, because of already installed service applications. But the manufacturer does not hurry to increase it – 64 MB uses almost all vehicles from E-Ten.
ROM size is 256 MB (which will please the user) 36 MB of which is occupied by preinstalled programs, but you can safely delete them.

Display
Glofiish X650 has a VGA-display with resolution of 480 x 640 pixels and a diagonal of 2,8″. The picture quality is high: large viewing angles, bright colors, a wide range of changes in brightness, high contrast and clarity – virtually not visible grain.
The display is highly commendable and is a perfect assistant for viewing movies and photos.

Camera
E-TEN’s last-generation cameras looked good on paper but didn’t impress us in the real. Their recent devices yield much better photos that compete well with 2-3 megapixel autofocus cameras on other Windows Mobile phones. Nokia still wins, but the X650 takes satisfying shots that will please most non-hardcore photographers. The Glofiish X650 has a 2 megapixel camera with autofocus lens and LED flash. It can take photos at a maximum 1600 x 1200 resolution, with several lesser resolutions available for caller ID, MMS and etcetera. There’s also a JPEG with EXIF data mode that includes latitude and longitude courtesy of the GPS (and the coordinates are accurate). A GPS icon in the viewfinder flashes red and turns white once the Glofiish has acquired a signal. In general, color balance is fairly accurate, images are sharp but not over-sharpened and indoor shots have relatively little noise.
Communication possibilities
Glofiish X650 has a full range of wireless modules. The device supports Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g, and of course GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GPRS with support of fast data transfer EDGE.

FM-radio
Glofiish X650 is equipped with FM-receiver. The work of this module is controlled by a simple but useful application that is stored in the Multimedia. FM-radio operates at a frequency from 76 up to 108 MHz, depending on the chosen place of residence. Frequencies can be entered manually as well as to search for stations in the automatic mode. In addition, each station can be given a name. The memory of the program is designed for 50 stations, which is quite enough.

Battery Power
The X650 uses the same 1530 mAh Lithium Ion battery as the X800. Battery power is slightly better than average for a Pocket PC phone, likely thanks to the lack of 3G and large battery. It is difficult to describe battery power with “average” usage. If you use the GPS to map a short (20 minute) route, surf the web over EDGE for 45 minutes per day, talk for 30 minutes per day on the phone, look up contacts and calendar items and manually check email once/hour, the battery should last 2 to 3 days. If you plan on using the GPS for an all-day road trip, get a car charger. If you use WiFi heavily or watch feature length movies, plan on charging each evening. The X650 takes quite a while to charge, compared to several current Pocket PC phones from other manufacturers– up to 3 hours.

Additional software
The Glofiish X650 software bundle is identical to the Glofiish X800’s. E-TEN has always added a nice helping of their own lightweight yet useful software and the latest Glofiish models have the best helping so far. First, E-TEN bundles a non-homebrew application that’s one of our favorites. This gives you 4 compact tabs with battery status, favorite or recently used apps, the weather (there’s no subscription charge for weather info), visual speed dial and world time. E-TEN’s Speed Dial is here, basically unchanged from prior models– it has two views, frequency and index dialing (you can switch between them and select a default). Press the left soft key in the Today Screen and you’ll get finger-friendly frequency dial buttons on screen or index dial where you press the letter C to see all matches (first name and last name) again in finger-friendly large on-screen buttons.

A task manager lives at the bottom of the Today screen and makes for an easy way to quit running programs since Windows Mobile doesn’t exit applications by default when you tap the close box. The X650, like the X800, needs this feature given the slim 64 megs of RAM. The Home button brings up a finger-friendly palette of commonly used apps and functions and the voice command button brings up the very good Cyberon voice command program. E-TEN’s long-lived M-Desk application is an alternative launcher with tabs and shortcuts for settings, applications, memory and power status, screen rotation, quick profile change, Bluetooth settings and more. If you press the Home button when in, an application M-Desk launches. E-TEN also includes a backup utility that backs up the Pocket PC to a micro SD card and an application restores feature just in case you delete one of the pre-installed programs and decide you want it back. Other E-TEN applications include Multimedia Manager (browser and viewer), a business card scanner and location-based SMS.

Conclusions
Glofiish X650 is one of the most stylish and comfortable VGA-communicators. We can not say that it has a very high performance, it can be called average. But its technical capabilities in comparison with other models of “all in one” class are a small step forward. In addition to the full set of communications capabilities, GPS-receiver and FM-radio, the novelty has also FM-transmitter, which allows sound to broadcast in FM-band.
The cost, compared to competitors (for example, GSmart i350), is even slightly lower, although the opportunities and the number of pre-installed applications on Glofiish X650 are worth this.

In 2006 Motorola began releasing a new line of MOTORIZR image sliders. The first was the model Z3, which is the first GSM-slider of the company. Great attention was paid to materials, as well as on internal functional filling which couldn’t make this mobile phone a bestseller. In early 2007, an updated model Z6 was launched. Now the phone is positioned as a musical image slider. And again – beautiful, functional, but unpopular. Till the end of 2007 an updated Z8 model released. In addition to black-and-green color it has Symbian UIQ platform and many other advantages.

Finally, there comes RIZR Z10 – an updated model of Z8 which has a more rigorous design. So let’s have a look at this novelty.

Design

With all of its non-standard (in a good sense of the word) design, Z8 had a very cool reception. Young people, to whom the acidic insert might come to taste, started criticizing the price of the device.

Speaking about its design, we can not accept the harsh brutality of the Staff. This feature is peculiar to many phones from Motorola. On the contrary, in an era when everything is “Slim, soft and low”, to have a heavy device in the hand during conversation is not very convenient.

Unfortunately, here come some disappointments. First of all the metallic color. The phone is entirely made of plastic.

The original arrangement of this new Z8 slider has not been modified. Moreover, the numbers did not differ from each other with designing elements, with the exception of the back side, which is caused by a more serious camera in RIZR Z10.

As in the previous model, the opening of the upper half is lifted under a small angle. This is definitely an interesting solution.

With regard to the process of opening / closing, despite the complex mechanism, to perform this operation you can either injure your finger in a special rubber stress below the display, or in the upper halves of the rib.

As for the remaining designing solutions they are acceptable, such as bolts on the rear lid. The size of the phone and the weight fit into the overall image due to the fact that the phone is large in order to work with it comfortably. In general, even in the pockets of jeans or trousers Z10 isn’t comfortable to carry. However, if once again we draw a parallel with the predecessor, the Z8 is 1.5 mm thinner and 5 grams lighter.

Display

Z10 is only a continuation of Z8 (in fact – an Update). Like Z8, it has a 2.2-inch TFT-display with QVGA-resolution (320 x 240 pixels) and supporting 16 million colors.

As in previous models, the screen does not have impressive specifications, but generally looks modern. Getting ahead, I will say that Z10, with its entire functions is a simple device poorly suited for multimedia.

Keyboard

Describing this phone’s keypad, we traditionally divide it into three units – nautical, digital, and additional keys. In the case of Z10 the navigation block is executed in classical style for this line. There is a 4-position button in the middle, two soft keys, two additional buttons (Menu / list of tasks and “back”), as well as standard “phone”.

The buttons are made of rubber, so pressing them is hard enough. That is, any action requires serious effort.

The second stage of our conversation will be about additional buttons. At the left end of the monoblock there are three buttons.

Two are responsible for the volume, and the third – for quick access to multimedia gallery. This is more than a controversial decision. You can easily get to the gallery through the menu and, yes, and you need it less frequently. Below there is a slot for memory cards. Suitable card format is microSD, up to 32 GB.

Right end is equipped with one button, which is responsible for the rapid launch of built-in camera. Here is the miniUSB connector, serves to connect the peripherals and the charging / docking to a PC.

All connectors are covered with plastic plugs, so the aerodynamics of the shell did not violate anything.

The digital keyboard brings controversial feelings. In principle, it has not changed since Z8.

All the keys are highlighted with pale green light, which is not very suitable for this device. Milky and white would be fine.

Features

As we have already noticed, the phone is built on Symbian 9.2 (Motorola Symbian UIQ 3.2). In fact it is a capricious platform which has little in common with the classic S60 from Nokia, and with UIQ from Sony Ericsson. As a result, all the charm of the smartphone as a multimedia device is reduced to 0.

First, it requires a very long download time. In order to switch the language from English into Russian (search for the notebook, or enter the address in the browser), you must enter the corresponding menu, select language, press “save”, then “use”, and only then get the desired result.

Almost every operation is perceived as a personal affront to the phone and requires a minimum double confirmation. For example, setting the alarm clock: you choose the time, say 9:00, press “save” and come out of the directory. In the morning, you get at 11:00, remembering that you have not clicked “use”.
However, the heavy menu is the only serious shortcoming of the phone. It is not just difficult to control; it is not suitable for everyday use.

From the additional features we can mention a list of supported formats, such as: AAC, AAC +, WAV, AMR NB, MP4, MP3, MIDI, WMA, MPEG4 (30 fps), H.263, H.264. Thus, the device is more than suitable for listening to music, and even for viewing videos. The player is quite suitable.

Regarding the possibility of connecting to other devices, you can use USB-cable or Bluetooth 2.0 (A2DP, AVRCP, DUN-GW, FTP, GAP, GAVDP, Headset-AG, HFP 1.5 AG, OPP-Client, OPP).

Camera

The camera is good. Basically the camera is the main difference of Z8 from the Z10. Thus, the latest has a 3.2-MP CMOS-matrix with autofocus and flash, and the opportunity to make up to three images per second.

The camera works in a horizontal mode, like Sony Ericsson. For the convenience of shooting the camera has a pre regime: “normal”, “indoor”, “street”, “Sport”, etc. There is not a very powerful LED flash (there is a regime of “red eye”). It has the following functions: color effects, white balance, sharpness, you can select the image quality and size. As you can see, it has a solid set of features.

Z10 has a 3,2 MP camera. The photos in good lighting are bright, juicy, but not ideal.
You can save the images in the internal memory (45 MB) and a memory card, moreover, the phone has a built in Photo Editor, so you can process the received pictures.

The modern phone should have a powerful battery. Battery 1130 mA • h (Li-Ion) is able to provide vital energy for needs of the phone up to 3 days.

Outcome

In a competitive market Z10 is largely inferior to the alternative proposals to price / capabilities and status of the device. If you want to stand out, then it is for you. The phone did not become popular and is quite rare. However, once again reiterate that this does not make Z10 a bad phone, it just has its own specifics.

Get Motorola RIZR Z3 Rose Phone (T-Mobile) from Amazon

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 can be called one of the most expected communicators of this season. The firstling on the platform of Windows Mobile from the Swedish-Japanese alliance claims to be a device with an exclusive design, maximum functionality and high performance. The best of the best. The proof of this is the fact that Chinese craftsmen have begun to flood the world market with all kinds of clones of Sony Ericsson X1 – a sign that the device of Sony Ericsson has turned to be truly worthy attention.

Design
Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 – is a horizontal QWERTY-slider of very strict and regular forms. For its size (but not the design!), it looks more like a simple phone than a communicator: 111 x 53 x 17 mm/158 g.
The facets of Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 have a barely noticeable rounding, highlighting the elegance of the new model. In the main, the body is made of rugged metal nice for the touch, black outside and silver inside – it is included in the interior design and even the keyboard keys are also made from it.
The main control unit beyond the display is designed originally. Eight triangular buttons are folded into two squares, and two navigation buttons surround the central confirmation button on top and bottom.

That very key has a surprise. It has a touch surface, which will position the cursor in the same way as it is implemented in an Apple iPhone – you just need to hold your finger on the button in one direction or another. You get used to working with the panel at once – the movements of the cursor are measured and it does not “escape” more than you want. Two ways to control – this is the first strong point of the X1.
All other elements, located on the side faces, are standard for most communicators. Thus, at the right end are the buttons of volume adjustment and the activation of the built-in camera.
The right side bears the interface port miniUSB for charging the battery and connecting the device to your computer. In the upper part are the power button, a separate jack for connecting headphones with a minijack of 3,5 mm, and a case for the stylus.
The latter has a metal case, is well-made and is of a very high quality, but because of the too small diameters it is inconvenient to work with – constantly sneaks out of the hands.

QWERTY-keyboard
The second zest of the X1 (the first is the sensory management) is the QWERTY-keyboard, or rather its implementation. Firstly, the halves are made with a curve – the keyboard is concave and the lid is deflected.
It does not give an additional convenience to the work, but looks stylish and expensive. It is disappointing that the progress of the mechanism is very soft – shell halves are displaced relatively to each other even from the slightest pressing, although the slider does not open. When taking the device in your hand, it slides apart giving an unpleasant feeling. The second key feature is that it has relatively large buttons with big gaps between them. This came to be due to the fact that the producer was confined to the installation of only 42 buttons in four rows – the figures will have to be typed in the Fn register.All the buttons have a clear, but a little tight turn. For typing small text messages and even texts the keyboard fits perfectly, although it requires adaptation.

Filling and productivity
The communicator is built on a Qualcomm 7200A platform, the processor clock speed is 528 MHz. For now, this speed is enough for working with any applications and tasks. A 512 MB flash-memory and 256 MB of RAM are on board – capacities are quite corresponding to modern realities. More than half of the flash-memory (281.33 MB) is used for data storage. We can confidently say that with such amount of memory and such functionality of the processor the owner of the X1 can safely install on any application it – the main condition is that they are compatible with Windows Mobile 6.1 which administers the communicator.

The performance was tested using the package Spb Benchmark 1.6. For comparison there are the results obtained earlier for the Glofiish X900 communicator and HTC TyTN II.
The backlog from Glofiish X900 in the graphical test is expected due to the fact that the X1 has a non-standard widescreen display, the signal processing of which requires considerably more time. To find out which are the video capabilities, we tested the communicator with another well-known benchmark CorePlayer, and for this purpose a test video of the format 640 x 480 with bit rate 759 Kbps was played.
The ideal is considered to be the result of more than 100%. Our obtained results of 73.56% showed that the playing was accompanied with a loss of shots, although it was not noticeable for an eye. That is, this type of video formats is actually the limit for comfortable viewing. If you want to watch movies in a 800 x 480format size, you will have to reduce the bite rate.

Display
The large touch screen with a diagonal of 3 and resolution of 800h480 points, larger than in most communicators, is the third, perhaps the most important highlight of the new item. Due to the relatively small width it is virtually impossible to distinguish the individual points on the display. The clarity and color of the display are visible at the very first acquaintance with the Communicator.
In addition, it boasts of a wide range of brightness, maximum possible angles of view and very fast response, which could not be better suited for viewing movies and photos.
The only negative is that not all third-party developers will want to work with a non-standard resolution. But it can be safely recommended for reading. The well-known “reader” HaaliReader is easily adjusted to the non-standard resolution and allowed to enjoy a useful pastime, especially since the display of the X1, allows to read even the most minor texts quite easily.

Camera
3.2 MP, Autofocus, LED flash are typical of most modern cameras of smart phones. And the X1 is not an exception. The Russian interface of the camera is traditionally simple and easy to follow even for the beginner.
Settings in the main page are also standard, except for one – shooting in a wide format is fitting the display. At first sight, it is an interesting feature. In fact, there is little sense in it – the camera simply cuts the picture above and below. For example, a frame with a maximum resolution of 2048 x 1536 would be cut off to 2048 x 1280. Furthermore, for a night shooting in automatic mode, the camera exposes a very long shutter speed. On the one hand, dark images are obtained lighter, but on the other – most of them are lubricated because of shaking hands. For example, the next frame is done in almost total darkness – other mobile cameras could not shoot it at that time of day.
And this is the result of shaking hands – it was not possible to obtain clear images despite adequate street lighting.
If the device is placed on any fixed object, as was done when taking the next frame, the night images of city streets will be no worse than during the day.
The camera operates well when shooting in daylight, as well as in artificial light.

Communication capabilities and FM-radio
The X1 is equipped with a full set of communication modules: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz with support for data transmission via GPRS / EDGE, and HSPA 900/1900/2100 MHz. For video conferencing in 3G the VGA-camera, which is located above the display, is used.

As a rule, simple mobile phones are almost never equipped with a Wi-Fi module. For some reason, it is believed that this is for communicators or multi-functional smartphones only. However, people around the world use mobile phones to read news on internet sites, download ringtones, watch weather forecasts. All this they do through GPRS or EDGE. This situation is beneficial to operators of cellular communication, but has a negative effect on the thickness of the user’s purse.In the meantime, there are a lot of free Wi-Fi access points in major cities, but only owners of communicators, PDAs or laptops can use them. Sony Ericsson G705 solves this.

Appearance
The thin, lightweight, compact Sony Ericsson G705 (95,0 h47, 0h14, 5 mm/98 d) perfectly fits even in the breast pocket of a shirt. It lies excellently in the hand thanks to the uneven soft-touch plastic, of which the rear cover and the hand edge are made. In addition, the rounded edges of the rear wall allow to better hold your phone in your palm.
Sony Ericsson G705 is a vertical slider, and because of this its entire front panel is a large display, covered with a mirror protective coating, and a unit of control keys. The sliding mechanism itself has a notable gap – the shell halves are slightly relative to each other, but it has no effect on the effectiveness of the disclosure. The closer of the slider is a little bit tight, but on the other hand it does not allow the device to open accidentally.
At the top end there is the «Play» key, which provides a quick start for the MP3-Player.

Unfortunately, the key is too small, so working with it is uncomfortable. At the right end, buttons of volume adjustment and camera activation are traditionally placed. But the left side is occupied only by the interface connector.
According to tradition, it is responsible for connecting to the charger/ computer, as well as to «music» adapters, to which the user can connect headphones with a plug minijack 3,5 mm.
In general, the quality of the assembly of Sony Ericsson G705 is nice, as well as the quality of materials. Of course, only the fussy control below the display cuts the eye. It should be noted that in the collection of Sony Ericsson there is a slider which has a similar appearance – the model W705, positioned as a music phone.
Outwardly it is different exactly with the control buttons – in the W705 they most harmoniously fit into the overall concept of the phone.

Management
The control unit, located below the display, has already been mentioned. Just note that it consists of a large 4-positional navigation key with a central button to confirm and six additional buttons. They are enough not only for basic work with the phone, but for the quick start of any applications.
All buttons have a flawless operation, but also a strong backlash that coupled with the gap, found in the study of the sliding mechanism, weakly corresponds with the high value claimed for the device.
The digital keyboard is executed in a single plastic panel, very nice to touch.
The roughness of the wave-like keys is high and fingers do not slide off while typing numbers. In addition, accidental activation of neighboring buttons was not observed.
Only the dim lighting was disappointing, as only the right edge is bright enough.

Other Features
When removing the back cover it is necessary to move the locking lever, located on the lower end of the shell and hook the cover by a small ledge.
But even after removing the lock you have to detach the cover almost by the entire perimeter, as it clings to the shell in striking way.
The pleasant features include the fact that the phone supports M2 memory cards up to 32 GB (maximum capacity for this size up to date), whereas in the set there is already a card of 1 GB capacity. In addition, the internal memory of 120 MB in the tube for recording address data, text or photographs is more than enough.

Display
First of all, the phone display pleases with its large size. The diagonal is 2.4 “- almost like in modern communicators, but there is not a sensory substrate.
Instead the resolution of 240 x 320 pixels and the support of 262 thousand colors there is a new tool not only for surfing mobile web sites, but also to view photos or play videos and even movies. In addition, you can boast bright colors and large living angles of vision.

Communications
The device works not only for the entire range of GSM-networks (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), but also supports the UMTS networks (850/1900/2100 MHz). The transfer of Internet data is carried out, respectively, via EDGE and HSDPA. We have not tested the 3G, but the GSM was studied well enough to express the high sensitivity of the phone.
In addition, there is a bluetooth-module and what is more interesting, a full Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g, allowing you not only to connect to Internet networks, but also to organize home networks.
For this the new model has a DLNA-server that provides connectivity to any home equipment with embedded Wi-Fi modules. For example, you might organize a wireless network with your home router, and view photos from your phone in your computer. Connecting to an access point does not cause any problems – the phone clearly shows the visible networks on the screen. The user can only select the appropriate. But the work of Wi-Fi has been tested in one of the capital’s cafes with free Internet access. No criticism – websites loaded fast enough.

Wireless Modules
It must be said that by this model the company Sony Ericsson, following other leading manufacturers such as Motorola and Nokia, has decided to break the existing unwritten standards for «simple» phones. In addition to this Wi-Fi, the manufacturer has equipped the device by another two wireless modules. First – it is a usual FM-radio, using as an antenna the connected set. The interface of management program is stylish, familiar to other models of phones by Sony Ericsson.
But the second module in most cases is established only in communicators – it is a GPS-receiver. For navigation a good program Wayfinder Navigator is used, with the ability to save the downloaded maps on the flash-card of the device. In addition, you can use the well-known Google Maps.
But if you only want to know the exact location or speed, it is better to run a small utility, which provides only brief information about your location, and found companions.
The quality of the GPS-navigator is nice, but the connection is often lost. In the car, the navigator is stable only near the glass. The cold start time is approximately 5 minutes. It can be sped up, immediately after starting the device, by forcing the navigator to work in A-GPS mode, i.e. to determine its location by cells.

Camera
The camera, unfortunately, is not included in the strong points of the new model. It is based on CMOS-matrix 3.2 MP, has an LED flash, but, alas, has no autofocus, so the quality of the images is poor.
Photographing is carried out up to a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels. The menu of the camera and its settings are well known from the other tubes of Sony Ericsson. Among the interesting features only the possibility of putting together the panorama of three shots can be noted, though the result is often of a very mediocre quality.
The photos have good color, but variegated noises. In addition, due to the lack of autofocus the frame details are at a low level, and it is better to forget about macro.
Below you can see samples of photos, the archive with photos can be downloaded here.

Time of autonomous work
The unit is equipped with a Li-Pol battery with a capacity of 950 mAh. In the normal mode of work (20 minutes of conversation per day, working with the address book, viewing news feeds via GPRS) the device will have to be charged no sooner than after three days. On the one hand, this rate is fairly high, but on the other – do not forget that the G705 has a number of energy units that “eat up” the battery power in a few hours. For example, when working in the networks of Wi-Fi the phone will require charging after just three hours. The same index of autonomous work will be demonstrated with the enabled GPS- navigation.

Software Features
The menu of the phone is a 3 x 4 matrix consisting of superbly worked animated icons.
There are four design themes, each of which is interesting in its own way. Address book, calendar, alarm clock and other office functions are already known from other models – no criticism to the manufacturer. It is better to see what applications are installed in the phone.
The main installed program characteristics are directed on the work with the Internet. For example, there is a utility for viewing clips from YouTube, or a good program for viewing the weather forecast.
But the original screensaver showing the time in different cities around the world, or the not less interesting customized pedometer does not require an access to the Internet.
In addition, there is a small editor to edit photos taken by the phone – to turn them into funny pictures, or even comics, “gluing” on them ready images (for example, an enormous moustache on your friend’s face). Games on the phone are only two, and rather simple too.
Well, the G705 media player is a standard solution, which is found today in any phone of Sony Ericsson.
The manufacturer does not position the new device as musical, but the sound quality is very decent if you connect good headphones. But it is better not to pull out the set headphones – just buy new ones. All the more if the adapter allows you to connect any headphones with a standard 3.5-mm jack.

Conclusions
The cost of Sony Ericsson G705 is about 13 thousand roubles. The price bites, especially in view of the application of not the most expensive materials and not the most accurate development of all its elements. So the cost of the apparatus is at the level of communicators, whose capabilities are incommensurably larger. You can, of course, argue that the G705 supports 3G, but in Russia, this possibility has not yet been greatly needed, not to say that it is generally needed only by those who are often abroad. So if in a couple of months, the cost of the new model will descend to about 10 thousand roubles, this device (with embedded Wi-Fi modules and GPS) can be considered an advantageous purchase.

Construction and Design

The new model is slightly bigger than most devices in the market today, but it will fit normally in a shirt pocket – its mass is only 123 grams. On the one hand, the device is executed in the same form-factor single block as the majority of other communicators, and the management of Toshiba Portege G810 is quite traditional.

However, the developers managed to create a quite unusual device in the frames of the usual. The fact is that behind the severity of its forms and traditional materials, Toshiba Portege G810 (soft-touch plastic for the rear wall and a smooth plate cover of front panel) hides some futuristic features manifested exclusively through the various elements of decoration and design. One cannot help to recall the words that the high quality of the product proves itself only if the manufacturer pays attention to the minutiae.

So, minutiae… To begin with, the silver plastic edging of the side faces is made continuous and wide enough to hold all the additional controls, merging with this edging, as well as … the stylus!

Apparently, the designers have given complete freedom to their imagination, because the stylus from Toshiba Portege G810 forms a single entity with the right-side edge.

At a closer look, one can see that the right edging of the shell is a little thicker. Pull it with the thumb to the top, and part of the side facets will jump off of its track and turn into an unusual type of stylus.

The design idea, of course, is for one hundred points, but just to enjoy a stylus, which resembles a golf stick or a toothpick is extremely problematic. First, it is very small, secondly, its operation is severely hampered by the bend at the top, and third, the tip of the pen is so long and fragile that it looks as if it is going to break, whereas in the fourth, to find even something resembling this stylus in case of loss or breakage will be simply impossible. This is how one has to pay for the design.

Both on the right and the left ends the user can detect a swing- key.

If on the left such a key is traditionally responsible for the volume control, the right-button swing has two different functions – the launch of the application to work with the camera and software for voice recording. It looks original and stylish, but uncomfortable to use, because while focusing the camera you will want to either grope a button of the pair or search it visually. In addition, this pair of buttons is located almost exactly opposite the key of the device launch, on the left end. Thus, while switching on the phone or putting the device out of sleep, you often accidentally run either the camera, or the recorder. Instead the power button could be just placed not on the side but on the top, as in most other communicators, and such problems of management would not exist.

The slot for memory cards microSD and interface connector miniUSB are located at the bottom of the right and left sides and the plugs are not covered. But what is worth special mentioning is the main control unit of the communicator. The point is that it is fully touch. It looks just perfect!

The navigation key and the six main buttons have a bright blue backlight, and in off regime buttons are visible only through a blind slot in the black mirror substrate surface. In this regard, the G810 has something in common with the control unit of Motorola RAZR phones – the design is clearly borrowed from the «Shaver».

In general, the quality of materials and assembly of the shell are worthy of praise, and the design is beyond praise. But, alas, as it is often the case – not everything is comfortable, that looks stylish. Designers of Toshiba did an excellent job, of course, but about the comfort in work they seem to have forgotten.

The processor of the new item for is not the most powerful for the present time, yet efficient enough to cope with any application, be it office packages or a serious program for calculations. It is a platform Qualcomm MSM7200 processor with a clock speed of 400 MHz.

The on-board memory is standard: 128 MB RAM and 256 MB ROM. But for the user, unfortunately, little is available, in our case – 100 and 38 MB. The interface Spb Mobile Shell is partly to blame, as it is designed to work with a device without a stylus.

In order to evaluate the performance of the new item in figures, we used the package Spb Benchmark 1.6.

The G810 cannot be called a leader, but the communicator realizes all of its hardware capabilities very well. So for those who are not in pursuit for top models, but want to obtain sufficient power for a reasonable price, the novelty from Toshiba will surely be suitable.

But the playing of uncompressed video is worse off. To test these abilities we have, as always, taken advantage of the benchmark CorePlayer, running on it by turns three videos of different qualitative characteristics: 320 x 240/550 kbit / s, 640 x 480/784 Kbit / s 640 x 480/1320 Kbps. Test results are presented in the table.

Recall that the ideal is the index of 110%, so even the naked eye can see that the unit is unable to play uncompressed video below 320 x 240. If you deviate from the figures, then such a movie looks on the display of the G810 as a slideshow. And if take some time and pre-compress all the films and videos, which you are to see, there will be no problem.

Display

Portege G810 is equipped with a TFT-display with a diagonal of 2.8 inches and QVGA-resolution 320 x 240. Today, this type of matrix is set in budget devices or working horses.

With the unusual appearance of the new model, this screen, to put it mildly, has little in common.

Nevertheless, this «classic of genre» is still capable of much. The indicators of the brightness and clarity of the image, as well as the juicy colors are unlikely to cause any dissatisfaction, even among the most demanding users. As for the angles of the review, here it is possible to find fault with the decrease of brightness, occurring while rotating the display. The only drawback could be that the white color in this case is too cold, with some mixture of light-blue. But this weakness only manifests itself when compared with the displays of other communicators.

Camera

The integrated camera, alas, can not boast of high-quality images.

However, all is relatively well from the outside: 3 MP, autofocus, LED flash, and even a mirror for self-portrait. Moreover, the settings of the camera are sufficient, though they are made in plain text interface – exactly the same, as can be seen in most settings of Windows Mobile.

But when it comes to shooting, there begin the problems. First, the camera is very, very slow. It takes five seconds after pressing the shutter before you can move the camera. Otherwise, the image on the photo will be smeared or will fail altogether. In addition, the display turned out to be slow itself – or rather, the image on the display does not change smoothly when shooting (if you move the camera), but with severe starts. And the quality of the images is on the average level only – the focus often works badly, there is noise on images, even with a lot of good lighting and the colors are slightly shifted to the range of warm pink. Examples of photos can be viewed below.

Communications and Wireless Modules

In addition to a full support in GSM networks, Portege G810 also works in the third-generation networks UMTS (850/1900/200 MHz) and an Internet connection using GPRS / EDGE and HSUPA. Wireless data transfer is done through modules Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR and Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g. For the on / off of any of the modules the firm task manager is responsible, differing from the standard only in stylish appearance.

When testing wireless modules, no problems have been observed. Moreover, the device has demonstrated strong reception even in a place where other phones show either its absence, or do not work properly.

The novelty is connected to a computer with USB 1.1, like the overwhelming majority of communicators from other manufacturers. Therefore, the data transmission rate, alas, is not high. Of the characteristics of connecting it is worth noting the possibility of using the device as an external removable disc or card, for which you need to select an appropriate item in the manager of communications before connecting.

On board of the G810 there is also an FM-radio with a high selective sensitivity and convenient interface. As an antenna the cord from the headphones is traditionally used. So if the headphones are not connected, there will be no music.

Time of autonomous work

Under the cover of the battery compartment is located a fairly high-capacity battery of 1530 mA • h, which inspires hope for long time offline. And we have to say, that hope is fully realized.

With an average daily loading of the phone (20 minutes of conversation a day with an address book and the Internet) the G810 should be charged no earlier than after two days of use. If you save a little, charging will be needed only after three days, which is a very high figure for a communicator. Video viewing «ate» the fully charged battery only after 7.5 hours of use! And uninterrupted autonomous music listening is almost around the clock – 23 hours!

Conclusions

The hero of our today’s review, Toshiba PortegeG810, was not an ideal communicator. Mediocre (or at least very controversial) management, a weak camera and an outdated display – these are the obvious shortcomings of the novelty. But on the other hand, a complete set of communication tools, the availability of GPS-navigation and FM-radio, long time of autonomous work, good performance and an unusual chic appearance outweigh these disadvantages. Well, the final decision is only after the price but it is competitive and low – 13.5 – 14 thousand roubles. If you like the unusual design and are not afraid of the unusual features of the management of this communicator, then at this price a better offer from the «all in one» series will be extremely difficult to find.

Appearance

Of course, Samsung M7600 has an unusual design, and at first glance the device resembles a miniature game console, and users of cell phones will recall Motorola V80, a sort of a rotator, which during its existence produced shocking impression on others. So the brand-new Samsung M7600 is also a bit shocking, as we have already noted with a form of a shell.

However, the phone does not seem very large, since it is comparable in size, for example, with the flagship sliders S8300 Ultra Touch. The musical novelty is suited well on the palm, although slips out of it at any convenient moment. The point is that in the «construction» of the model soft-touch plastic wasn’t used, here it is almost glossy.

At the end a lot of things are brought out. The right holds the camera button and the memory card slot. On the left there is a strap eyelet, a microUSB slot, a volume regulation, a sliding key of the blocking / inclusion of the player. If the convenience of the «blocker» is relative, it should be mentioned that during the conversation, the speaker volume adjusts comfortably. On the upper end there is a 3.5-mm jack for connecting headphones (headset) and near it one of the external speakers is situated. Such an arrangement ensures high-quality and loud sound – you can put the device on the table and listen to music.

Near the conversational dynamics the front camera, sensor of lighting and sensor of approximation, which locks the screen during a call, are hardly noticeable.

At the back side of Samsung M7600 are (the lid looks quite funny): a camera, LED flash and mirror for self.

Keyboard, display and menu

There are only three buttons under the screen – that of adoption and cancellation of the call and the return button.

The screen with the size of 2.8 inches and the resolution of matrix 240h400 points is made by AMOLED-technology. In fact, it is the same as in the model S8300 Ultra Touch, one to one.

Of course, as in the mentioned model, there is a position sensor, which itself vertically or horizontally turns the image on the screen.

The construction of the menu interface and other differences are executed in the same way as in the S8300. Personally, I found no differences.

As in many Samsung devices, the dialing or SMS sending are realized from the keyboard screen. It is not easy to say that such a method is comfortable, especially for beginners. But after a day or two, you get accustomed.

However, it is impossible to dial in gloves. Some may not like this. In the S8300 there was a usual full keyboard, which is absent here. So there is one way – to click on the screen. It is good that the sensitivity of the display is correct, as needed.

Camera

Samsung M7600 is not a cool camera phone, so it has a 3Mp autofocus camera without optical zoom. There is a LED flash-light, the range of the work of which is equal to 40-50 cm

The horizontal camera interface is well known from the previous models, you should control it with fingers; it’s a benefit that the icons are large. The functionality of the camera is visible on the screenshots. At least more than 10 scenes of shooting are present.

The player and the BeatDJ function

That part (if I may say so) of the phone, will seem interesting to many of you. And there is a reason. The processor IcePower of B & O is used as an «iron», the rest is an «add» from Samsung: the interface and sound effects.

The player has a user-friendly interface; it is easy to work with the musical setting.

The sorting of music is habitual, play-lists are supported.

The album covers are displayed on the screen, you can scroll around in a circle, selecting the desired one. Frankly, this is not always easy, because the graphics are slow, and you are simply wasting your time.

During playback, the screen displays album art, track title, artist name (Group), time code. One click can switch to the 5.1 regime, which significantly changes the sound. But it is for the sake of experiment, nothing more. Of course, it is possible to rewind within a track; with a light hand movement by pressing the virtual buttons «next» / «back» or by winding, touching the same virtual circle.

The player gives a very high quality, clean sound. You can safely connect good headphones, not being afraid that your favorite song would sound like something is wrong. The set headphones in this series are «fair», but, at least they do not fly out from the ears, and the wire does not freeze in negative temperature.

Let us continue about the sound. It can be modified by using five preset equalizers, or you can move the «sliders» yourself, achieving the desired result. There are a few sound effects, but they are more suitable for experiments.

More than 25 diverse digital effects may be applied to the track in real time; there is even a corporate scratch, when you rotate the disc on the touch panel. And, of course, the resulting outcome can be recorded.

Personally, this feature seemed to me not very interesting, but tastes differ. It is realized decently, some of young people like it, but again, I think that it is easier to go to a club (in summer – open air), where prominent DJs play and not to fret the phone.

FM-radio

The quality of the reception is at a high level – you can listen without any problems to the majority of stations in the city. The supplement is supported by RDS. This screen displays not only the name of the station, but also the composition, as well as other information, in a running line at the top of the display. It should be admitted that the RDS worked somehow, but from pre-release firmware anything can be expected.

Autosearch finds about 30-40% of the broadcasters and the rest – by hand. Up to 99 stations can be «hammered» into the memory, just what radio fans of the mega-cities need. A song playing on the radio can be recorded (MP3 format, bite rate of 128 Kb / s), and then you can find the folder with the downloaded song. And if you do not know the name of favorite songs aired on the radio, the function of music recognition (Find music) will help you.

Recorder and other functions

In a quiet environment the quality of Dictaphone recording is high, the maximum recording time is limited to one hour. After recording you can immediately listen the clip and it is very convenient.

Google Maps as always eat the GPRS-traffic with a great appetite, the map looks very well on such a quality display, the routes are laid. The GPS-receiver is working correctly; there is no problem with the reception of signals from satellites. There is no special program for the GPS, except for simple applications, pointing the coordinates and altitude.

As in the model S8300, the alarm turns on / off with one click, there is a mass of settings – up to 10 pieces of alarms can be created.

The file manager is very handy. The embedded memory of the M7600 is about a 90 MB, the memory card refers to a capacity of up to 32 GB, as claimed by the manufacturers. We had no problems working with an 8 GB card, there was no other available.

Conclusion

Samsung M7600 will price is not too attractive, but taking into consideration the excellent characteristics of the tube, we can say that it is worth its high cost. Perhaps someone will be scared by the unusual appearance and the lack of keyboard or someone, on the contrary, will be attracted with the excellent sound quality of the player and the quality touch screen. Tastes really differ.

]]> http://www.newphonesreviews.com/samsung-m7600-review/feed/ 0 http://www.newphonesreviews.com/nokia-e75-review/ http://www.newphonesreviews.com/nokia-e75-review/#comments Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:32:54 +0000 Mia http://www.newphonesreviews.com/?p=429

I will never compare Nokia E75 with Nokia E71. Despite the fact that both devices belong to the same series they are different with their design, keyboard (though both have a QWERTY-layout), and the display guidance.

The novelty has a quite acceptable size for this class of devices; the Nokia E75 fits excellently in the inner pocket of a light jacket and is not especially felt there, though it weighs 139 grams. The tube lies in the hand as expected, not jumping out from the palm of your hand at every opportunity.

The quality of the Nokia pleases, the details fit together perfectly, nothing creaking and annoying. The slider pleased me either – the closer strongly picks up the upper half, which opens with a loud click, in the middle way. Metal can be found on the reverse side of the slider at the ends around the display, and the lid covering the battery compartment is made of it as well. It is made of corrugated stainless steel, and looks good and solid.

At the ends are the volume keys, the camera button and voice dialing, the microUSB connector and memory card slot. The camera lens is located so that when recording the finger is not seen in the frame and does not interfere.

At the upper end there is a standard 3.5-mm jack for connecting headphones. This is good, because an adapter is not required.

Display and keyboard

The screen is quite standard for many Nokia devices, and if not a standard of quality, then certainly a very good option for this model. TFT-matrix decently «burns out» under the sun (the colors are indistinguishable), but the menu icons and text are well visible; it is possible to work under direct sunlight. Natural transmission of colors and decent viewing angles also refer to the advantages of Nokia E75. Of course, when disclosing the tube the picture overturns, however, it can be implemented by the sensor status as well. In general, the screen is suitable for any task, including GPS-navigation.

Decent size keys, including 4-position button-selector, are convenient; during one week of use there were only a few mistakes. The only «but», delete the characters, is not very convenient, because this function is assigned to the shared content key, which has a small area, and this causes discomfort. Numbers can literally be dialed on-the-run, as the finger always gets where necessary.

It is assumed that you need two hands when typing on the QWERTY-keyboard, otherwise it will not work. Keys are made of opaque plastic, are of sufficient size for quick (the adaptation takes two days) typing, fingers do not fly off, mistakes are rare. As far as to the use easiness, you again need to get used to the keyboard. As for me it was easier write an SMS on an «external» keyboard, and a long e-mail – on the «adult», but only after preliminary training.

Camera

The vast majority of users will of course shoot stuff with the camera. The particular model has nothing to boast about here, but this camera is what you expect to see in a phone for busy people – 3 IP, LED flash, mirror for self-portraits.

Seven scenes will be quite handy for creativity. There are several series of shooting modes, ranging from six shots «machine gun» to «capture every 30 minutes until the memory ends». Who may need such a function (I have in mind the latest), is not clear. It is also not pleasing that when the camera is turned on it always makes the «auto» flash mode, even if it was off before powering down. This is very uncomfortable. As the E75 has a GPS-receiver, the ability to put images on geo-markers is a self-evident joke. The autofocus properly fulfils its role, in most cases with the second attempt.

The output on the camera can be the following – it produces decent images under favorable light and with a strong desire (along with some skill). In early dusk the matrix begins to make «noise», and this must be taken into account. This is just in case.

Music

The music player interface is similar to previous Nokia devices, but has cosmetic refinement. As you can see the album covers are displayed without problems, info of the tag-files is often completely readable; rewind within a track is supported.

The sound can be changed through five preset EQs. However it is possible to decide oneself how music will sound by using eight lanes. There are the traditional modes of expanded and enhanced stereo bass.

The sound quality is decent, but with a noticeable «plastic» tint, in addition, the low volume should be noted because of which it is difficult to listen to music in the subway.

The radio is like a radio, nothing special. The quality of the reception is decent, at least in the city. A memory of 50 cells should be sufficient; RDS is supported, the sound can be put into an external speaker, recording the live-broadcasting is not possible.

Menu and Functions

There is no need to describe the mail client, because it takes long, and is not interesting for all (despite the mailing orientation of the model), it will take a lot of space, some people will even sleep (or simply close the page) while reading the text.

The menu is usual for new devices of the S60; you can see for yourself how it looks. Numerous tube settings are encapsulated in stylish icons or lists; all is sorted through, everything is logical and there is no need to refer to the instructions.

It has three themes of the main screen. One theme is standard; the other dubs the desktop icons, the third called «Active» – is the nicest. In addition, when it is activated, six icons for quick access to functions are displayed at the top of the screen, and at the bottom of the screen are thumbnails, which report events, such as missed calls or received SMS messages.

Office applications (the «Office» folder) are known from the early models, everything is familiar and everything works. For office workers, there is even the Intranet application. It will be used by some 10-15% of the owners of E75, but the function is not redundant.

The calendar is traced (executed) to a hundred points – informative, visual display of events, a simultaneous display of a whole month and the events on a particular day; convenient switching of the type of display of the created events. Everything is simple and convenient.

Outcome

If you work with e-mail by your phone every day, often go on business trips, your company pays for the mobile phone (GPRS-roaming is not cheap) and you are issued this model at the expense of the company, everything is wonderful. If not, then for all the benefits of the device, its price kills many people. In case the price is lowered, the E75 will become a justified purchase, but for me personally, I would have bought an HTC Touch Pro. Although this is a different class of device, but both have a full keyboard. In general, Nokia E75 is a good bargain if you just want to have such a phone in your pocket, and the price is irrelevant.