Design
The phone designed for a business man must meet certain standards of mobile dress code, without pretentiousness and brightness. The device should not attract attention. All these requirements and wishes fully correspond to a new Fly B600 business mobile phone.
The dimensions of this phone are 110×49x14 mm. Weight is also proportional: only 110 grams. The device easily fits in pockets of trousers or a jacket.
The front panel is made of a high-quality plastic. The back part of Fly B600 is made of a soft (it seems rubberized) plastic. Camera protrudes from the shell and has no cover. Thus, you will have to put the phone either on screen or on the lens of the camera – decide which one you need less.
I think that serious buyers can find any drawback in this phone.

Display
Asian manufacturers have accustomed us to the fact that their phones have displays above average. And if you’re skeptical you expect good performance from the screen of B600 but I have to disappoint you. Executed on TFT-technology, the display shows up to 260 thousand colors and has resolution of 240×320 pixels (2.4 inches). As a result, the screen takes up the most space; keypad and the speaker are simply lost in the background.
The first thing that your eye catches is that the display is very, even too bright. But the real shock comes after a short jogging on the settings. Colors are juicy and bright, the image is perceived well, did not catch on for anything. Such a display is perfect for working with text and calendar.
The only thing that upset me are its viewing angles. They are sufficient for comfortable work; however, the image is badly tarnished vertical even when rejecting a couple of degrees.

Keyboard
Dark and light gray buttons harmoniously complement each other.
The screen took so much space that the bottom row of keys, could hardly find a place, and moved gracefully as the fourth column in the right lane. Of course, such a decision is unusual for most users, but it is not so critical that the next day at the level of reflexes fingers themselves find the right path.
Buttons should be sufficient for comfortable work, have an average course and allow you to quickly and carelessly work with any text.
Additional controls are buttons to access the camera on the right end (horizontal shooting mode) and the usual rocker for volume control, on the left side. In addition, one should mention the three connectors (they are all closed strong enough plugs) – expansion slot for memory cards microSD, mini-USB (it also serves to connect the charger) and 2.5-mm headphone input (TV-out).

Menu
The menu of Chinese phone is almost always quiet horror. No eastern colors, all is very succinctly.
The main menu shows 12 icons; with the upper line the system information is available in both the substantive and in any sub-menu. Chapters are arranged quite comfortably and that is important – it is logical. There was only one question. It is unclear why the album is under “Entertainment”, but Video album in “Multimedia”. Agree that it can be called only a minor drawback.
Separately I want to note the high level of localization is another issue of Asian phones. All menu items are transferred without errors, absurd reductions as a result of which it is impossible to understand. Well, the font is very nice; the eyes do not get tired.

Functions
Although we have determined that this phone is suitable for business people. Thus the phone should support applications which business man needs. First, it is an organizer. Menu of Fly B600 consists of a calendar, tasks, alarm and world time. Calendar is comfortable enough, you can assign notes (point of the problem “duplicate this feature, and made, apparently for faster access) to the date and time, while adjusting items such as: light, repetition, timing, number of repetitions. The only drawback of the calendar is the weekly view.
The user provides three independent alarms, each of them can choose the time (including on the day).
Business phone should have a convenient phone book. Again, and this parameter B600 demonstrates enviable results.
Your phone can store up to 1000 contacts together with name and number there are 5 additional fields of information where you can indicate birth date and picture, video clip, tune and add to the user group.
The phone book displays contacts, both from the internal memory, and located on the SIM-card.

As we see, business indicators of the phone are up to date. But there are also additional functions. For example, an MP3 player with good mid-level (headset included, but the 2.5 mm input lets you connect via an adapter and more serious headphones).
There is FM-radio, a simple photo editor, composer, Java (games and programs in Java is not preinstalled), calculator, converter units and currencies.
But what is most interesting is that this phone has some exceptional abilities. First recall the aforementioned TV-out (cable included). Easily connecting your phone to your TV provides great opportunities for both presentations and to view photos in the family.
By connecting the telephone to a computer via miniUSB cable (included, but not with a standard connector), you’ll see a menu of three items: use your phone as a modem, a flash-drive or as Web-camera.

Fans of honor on the road will appreciate the availability of reading “electronic books”. Settings are enough for comfortable reading. Of course, you can find a replacement in the ranks of Java-applications, but the existence of such a function is inherent, whatever one may say, plus.
Finally comes the function that you’ve encountered only in smartphones running Symbian and then as an alternative software. This is the background sound, overlay tube during a call. You can adjust the volume, duration and interval. You can choose from 10 preset or 10 of your (possible record with voice recorder) ringtones.
When you activate this feature you can lay on the couch, honestly say that standing there in traffic and the phone will simulate car horns, noise, uproar, and all that you want. Of course, it’s not fair, but – rather funny.
You can connect your phone with the rest of the world through the miniUSB cable, Bluetooth 1.2 (support SPP, DUN, OPP, FTP, A2DP profiles, and remote control) and GPRS (WAP 2.0, built-in POP / SMTP-client).

Camera
A 3.2 megapixel camera with flash and autofocus is already a matter of respect, though photos are not of the best quality.
As we have already mentioned, you shoot in a horizontal position.
The camera cannot turn into a camcorder. The latter is a separate program and is available from the “Multimedia” menu. Rollers can record the entire free memory at resolutions 176×144 and 352×288. Codecs are MPEG4 and H.263. Video has good quality, it is quite enough for viewing on the phone and share with friends. As for the camera, it works very slowly. When shooting with a maximum resolution (2048×1536 pixels) by pressing the capture button to direct the photograph, is about a second or two, during which you are sure to slightly move the phone, and this guarantees blurry picture.
It is noteworthy that when shooting from 1600×1200 and less, you can not notice such things. There is a problem with low productivity of the processor.
You can save your photos or video in 87 MB internal memory and microSD memory card (not included) up to 2GB.

Conclusion
Even though the phone has two stereo speakers, it is virtually inaudible in the city noise.
The situation could partly rescue the vibration, but it is very weakly expressed, as in the pocket of pants, it is hardly felt.
It is very uncomfortable to type SMS-message. For example, standard things such as capital letter after full stop.
You can find a few more minor soft-roughness and irregularities. But let us remember the low price of the novelty above opportunities. Thanks to TV-out all the deficiencies can be forgiven at once.
Despite the huge display, Li-Ion battery (940 mAh) copes with its task. Telephone works up to 4 days at 20 minutes of talking time and use of various functions. But even with such a very decent performance, the manufacturer added the supplied spare battery, just on the safe side.
As a result, Fly B600 is very pleasant and worth much money. If you want a modern, reliable, functional assistant in the cheap price range, Fly B600 definitely can rightly be considered one of the best mobile phones.

Construction
In fact, RoverPC S6 has a twin brother – the communicator Lenovo ET600, released only for the Chinese market. But unlike it, the device from Russian brand has its own complete set.
As Lenovo is one of the largest manufacturers of computer electronics in the world, there is no need to worry about the quality of this novelty. Indeed, if you hold RoverPC S6, you can feel that you do not hold a plastic toy, with which the market is filled but a solid weighty (128 grams) device. The build quality of this communicator can be assessed a firm “excellent”! Even the more expensive devices may envy this novelty.

RoverPC S6 seems to be quite voluminous (110×59x15, 8 mm), but due to the rounded shell the device is simply perfect in the hand. In this case the index finger and thumb clearly fall into two blocs of control buttons.
The buttons are decorated in accordance with the style of the communicator – it seems that designers have worked on this device.

Now let’s talk about the design … RoverPC S6 is made of high quality and very pleasant to touch plastic, and the front panel is covered with metal. The main color is purple metallic unobtrusive light shade. The sides of the case are decorated with a wide silver border, where control buttons are placed. There is a camera activation button, and “reception / retreat” rocker. Of course, the location is a bit puzzling, but as it turned out during the operation, there is nothing uncomfortable about it.
Another cluster of four buttons and a multifunction joystick is located below the display. All buttons of RoverPC S6 have the best short course and excellent tactile feedback – tactile feedback is very clear. The same applies to the joystick.
It has a microSD slot for memory expansion, and the proprietary interface to connect the device to a computer located at the lower end which is closed with plastic plugs. Here (in the lower right corner) is located and the metal telescopic stylus.
Unfortunately, we could not find a separate audio output on the shell. It turned out that the headset is connected directly to the interface connector without an adapter. This means that in case of losing or damaging the headsets you have to make friends with a soldering iron, or … find a new one. In addition, the headset from the package can not compete with headphones Koss or AKG.

Display
LCD touch screen with 240×320 pixels, 2.8″ diagonal, which is one-tenth more than most competitors have. However, this is not the most important feature. The display supports for 262 thousand colors and has an excellent color reproduction.
The contrast and brightness allows you not only enjoy viewing photos, but even working with ordinary office programs. The brightness of the display is regulated in a very wide range, so it is comfortable to work with the communicator in a dark room, and in bright sunlight. Certainly in the latter case, the screen fades, but this is typical for any LCD panel.
RoverPC S6 is built on a processor from the Texas Instruments company, as some other smartphones and communicators from Rover Computers. OMAP 750 processor has a frequency of 200 MHz and does not pull serious calculations. But in order to work in the office programs this is quite enough.

There is 64 MB RAM and 128 MB ROM – a standard size of memory for communicators. Well, to expand the memory the user can take Micro SD.
Performance of the device was tested using Spb Benchmark.
Spb Benchmark index 268
CPU index 975
File system index 98
Graphics index 2359
As expected, the results are not very high. However, the novelty is quite suitable for listening to music, and for reading electronic books, as well as for watching movies. It is unlikely that someone would do mathematical calculations with this device, somewhere in the underground.
But for the purposes of office, this device fits very well. By the way, as we already mentioned, RoverPC S6 runs the operating system Windows Mobile 6.0, which comes with an expanded package of Office Mobile, which includes not only Word and Excel, but also a package for working with PowerPoint presentations in the Mobile-version.

Communication abilities
The device operates in GSM: 900/1800/1900, supports GPRS, and also has a traditional set of wireless communication interfaces: Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Contact for all these interfaces is carried out without any problems, but some details still saddened. Thus, the novelty does not support GPRS called EDGE. In addition, Bluetooth is fairly new to the old version 1.2, and therefore works relatively slowly.

Camera
Camera is located on the reverse side of the battery compartment. The camera does not have a curtain – the manufacturer has decided to limit with the usual protective glass, behind which are hidden the lens and built-in LED flash. In terms of ergonomics the camera is ideally located.
The device is equipped with 2 megapixel cameras with autofocus. Of course, this won’t surprise anyone, but do not forget that RoverPC S6 does not claim to be named a fancy (expensive) device.
A software application that is responsible for the camera with one hand catches the eye with its stylish design, but on the other hand – disappoints with its slow work.
It takes only photos in JPEG format with a resolution of 320×240 up to 1600×1200 pixels. In addition, there are settings such as brightness, contrast, white balance.
You can even choose one of the preset user programs of shooting – portrait, daytime, night, landscape, standard. You can set the timer (2/5/10 c) and take pictures yourself in.
Video recording is available in formats 3GP, 3G2 and MP4 with resolution 160×120 or 176×144 pixels. The settings for video are the same as for the photo.
The quality of the images can be assessed as a solid four. There are some noises, but only when the lighting is really not enough. The camera focuses on a fairly long time, but accurately.
Video quality is worse, and the colors are not very natural.

Sound
On either side of the built-in camera there are two stereo speakers that produce rich and loud sound. The quality of their sound pleasantly surprises. Of course, you are not going to listen to music in the crowd, but you can stand out with your stylish and beautiful as well as loud ringtone.
The sound quality is quite standard.

But the built-in microphone has surprisingly high quality – the noises are little. In addition, the system has a special program, which also helps to reduce annoying background noise while recording.

Battery power
RoverPC S6 is equipped with Li-Ion battery with a 1100 mAh capacity. And here is the full opening of improvement in the low productivity of the communicator. The manufacturer claims that in talking mode the novelty will work up to 6 hours and in standby mode up to 200 hours. But we have found out that these indicators more or less correspond to reality or even a little understated.

Conclusion
This novelty from Rover Computers is a device for practical people. The build quality and long battery life with the convenience of control is adjusted for an adequate price. Yes, this device is for practical people… but only for those who are not behind the fashion world of electronics and appreciate the design of the communicator.

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.

There are phones that are difficult to be classified or described. This device is more than just a “business-phone”. This is a phone that combines the best features of representatives of different categories in the harsh realities of the mobile market and is almost something unique. A new model Samsung F250 is bright, memorable, comfortable, functional and of course available. It seems to be a culinary masterpiece. So let’s start baking the cake.

Design

Samsung F250 is associated not only with the cake. Plump shape, color palette resemble éclair.
Despite the impressive size of Samsung F250 (94 x 46 x 18 mm) and 85 g of weight, it seems almost airy.
In the users hand it does not cause any discomfort, just on the contrary.
It’s not a secret that Samsung produces a huge number of models, which have a very short lifetime in the market. In one word it is a perishable product. Nevertheless, in such volumes all devices from Samsung have some insanely attractive effect. With regard to Samsung F250 this is the slider mechanism.
When we see prefix Le Fleur in the name of the phone from Samsung, we understand the pastel colors and floral body. The first rule in this case worked. However F250 is also available in white and silver colors.
Thus, the phone in the silver version is not feminine and quite suitable for progressive young people.
Summing up arguments concerning the design of F250, I’d like to note once again the magical properties of this device. Others should pay special attention to this fact.

Display

Screen is located on the front panel, made in a mirrored version. It has 262 thousand colors, TFT, the physical size is 32 x 40 mm, but the resolution is only 128 x 160 pixels. In order to navigate it easily, such authorization is typical for mid-level phones about two-three years ago. In practice, it is quite noticeable, but could be better.
The rest of the screen corresponds to modern requirements and it is quite suitable for viewing pictures, videos, Internet and text. In addition, the display has good viewing angles. In sunny weather to it is not very comfortable to work with F250 because of the dark design of theme menu.

Keyboard

Functional buttons are located on the outside, harmoniously with the general set up of the phone.
Navigational pad, flanked by a silver frame, harmoniously blends into the image, creating a complete picture of F250. Two soft buttons of transparent plastic are miniature in size, but easy to use. And that is important – do not spoil the general picture.
Navigation buttons support music features. However, starting the music by pressing Play does not work; it opens the default web-browser.
The numeric keypad is made in the RAZR format. At first sight you think that it is made of metal, but, unfortunately, it is not. Only the texture is “under metal”, although it is hidden inside transparent plastic buttons, which are smooth to the touch.

Menu, functions, capabilities

Test results of any phone is the subjective opinion of the author, and not more. So I want to tell about those things that can not be seen within five minutes. Usually first you notice such things as calendar, organizer and other standard features of modern phones from small to large. The standard features, migrating from the phone to phone, are quite comfortable and not worth a special attention.
This slight digression may be considered complete, let’s go back to the functions, which I would really like to mention.
First one, of course, is a music player. Getting to the player can be done in two ways – from the main menu and by pressing a special key. The player interface is made in the same purple color as the entire phone menu.
For music applications, you can see the artist name and song title of the assessment file to be played on a 5-point scale, the current time and the length of the entire track, as well as the active configuration at the moment – continuous playback, equalizer, etc.

The main space is occupied by the album cover.
Music can be divided into the following categories: All, Recently, recently reproduced, often reproduced. However, it is possible to sort songs by author, genre, albums, composers, pod casts.
The most convenient option is creating your play lists, and adding and removing songs from the sheet can be done directly from the phone.

The last thing what I want to say in relation to the music player is that it can work in the background, so that the user is free to listen to music and at the same time do another useful action.
There is a Bluetooth 2.0 (profiles Headset, Handsfree, Stereo headset, Basic printing, Serial port, Dial-up networking, File transfer, Object push), so that you can listen to music and wireless headphones.

Camera

Installed panel lets you take pictures with a resolution of 1.3 MP that in these times is the minimum.
Work with the camera will have a horizontal position, not because it’s more convenient, but because of the fact that it is the only way get to control the camera.
Maximum resolution of photos, as we expected, is 1280 x 1024 pixels, and you can choose the quality from three options.
F-250 model also supports a number of functions: serial shooting, manual and automatic white balance settings, ISO and choice frames-vignettes.
Videos are recorded in 3GP format with a maximum resolution of 176 x 144 pixels. Rollers are obtained quite tolerable, without hesitation, you can send to your friends via MMS.
In order to store the images you can use 20 MB internal memory of the device or microSD card up to 2 GB. Card slot is located under the battery.

Conclusion

So we have have baked the cake. I can not say that F-250 is an ideal low-cost phone, but it gives more than others. Choosing F-250, the user gets a nice design and good functional set at a level that is typically offered by slightly higher class of phones. For example, Li-Ion battery (800 mAh) without problems allows the device to work 4 days (up to 20 minutes of calls per day, up to 30 minutes of using other functions).
Throughout the rest, F-250 has showed small defects (such as the possibility of an answer only when you open the phone) which doesn’t play any role to such an extent that is not reflected in the survey.

Among the products of Samsung the DUOS series is very successful, so the developers from time to time introduce new models of the device (with 2 SIM-cards). Because of the world financial crisis, the idea to release a low-cost model is to the point. So, meet the budget DUOS – C5212 Model.

Design

Monoblock as monoblock, nothing special. The device fits in any pocket. The thickness of the phone is 14.3 mm, but for low-cost handset it is quite acceptable.

Build quality of Samsung S5212 does not cause complaints, but the glossy plastic spoils everything. The manufacturer could make the back cover from rough material, as it is too glossy and can easily slip out from hands. In addition, the back cover’s plastic rapidly scratches and they are clearly visible on the shell. So, keep C5212 away from keys and other “evil” items.

If we again return to the evaluation of design, then one thing is clear – Samsung C5212 just can not look as solid as the first DUOS (D880), but it certainly looks better than many budget handsets.

Keyboard and display

The control is also not original. But some people like simple buttons that are easy and comfortable to control. They think that the fewer frills, the better. As a result, we have a convenient set of buttons with short stroke and white backlight.

The 4-side navigation button is raised above the surface. It is not highlighted, so it cannot be seen in the dark.

The rest of the keyboard is comfortable, of course, the plastic is cheap, but that’s another conversation.

The display, of course, is not the best the resolution is 176 x 200, 2.2 inch, TFT-Matrix. The picture quality is not bad.

Of course, the screen with a modest resolution is not suitable for viewing videos or photos, and even reading e-books is not convenient. Under direct sunlight the picture decently “burns out”, but the menu and icons are readable. As a result display can get the “quiz”, taking into account its low cost.

Menu

It has a standard menu, like most Samsung devices produced in 2007-2008, so those who are familiar with the Korean phone manufacturer in the whole will easily deal with such menu.

Familiar large icons, well distinguishable font (you can change the size), three nice themes.

Everything is convenient and logical; control will not cause problems even for beginners. For those who do not like to wander through the menu, there is a custom menu, consisting of five items, which are selected by the user from 24 functions.

Two SIM cards

As other devices from DUOS series, C5212 has a manager of SIM-cards. Here you can turn on one or another SIM-card, select the card as primary, giving them names, assign icons (seven pieces), in one word – control.

Finally you can choose a melody (vibration) for SMS for each SIM card.

As before, you can choose ringtones and signals for other events individually for each card. I’d like to mention that the main ringtone of Samsung phones has changed a little bit. It sounds more glamorous.

The device holds four calls (two on each card), switching between them takes place smoothly. During the data transmission (using phone as a modem, or just while surfing on WAP-sites) the number from which you have switched to the network becomes unavailable, while the second SIM-card can receive calls.

Calling and sending messages takes place in a standard for Duos way – dial the necessary number or text and select one of two SIM-cards. Everything is very easy.

Entertainment

Samsung C5212 can not boast about advanced multimedia, but it has a camera, MP3-player and FM-radio.

The camera takes pictures with a resolution up to 1.3 megapixels.
Camera settings are standard. The quality of images is not so bad.

MP3-player is already well known from earlier models. It has Simple and nice interface.

FM-radio works properly, the sensitivity is above average, and most of the stations with strong signals were received without interference. Automatic search works well, finding more than 60% of stations.

You can make records from air and keep audio content in the memory of the phone.

Applications

There are five independent alarms with the detailed configuration.

Lingvo Dictionary is also useful, which is convenient to use because of ease of implementation of the application.

Calendar, world time, calculator, notes, etc. are placed in the folder “organizer”, everything is standard. Recorder saves the content on the memory card or in the phone.

File Manager is convenient; it shows all the folders, etc.

The own memory of the phone is 30 MB. This is not much, so it is desirable to purchase microSD-card for 1 GB.

Conclusion

With two SIM-cards on board, in the mode of 15-20 minutes of calls a day, an hour listening to music and the use of other functions, C5212 battery lasts about three days. This is a good result for the budget DUOS, because many of the expensive smart phones work much less.

Anyway, I liked the phone, just as an affordable solution for those who urgently need a phone with two SIM-cards.

Last spring, Acer has signed an agreement to purchase one of the leading players in the market of smartphones and communicators based on Windows Mobile.
The result of beneficial cooperation was the first line of communicators under the Acer brand name, which doesn’t have any common features with known Glofiish E-Ten devices. Today we’ll describe one of the representatives of the new line – Acer F900 communicator.

Construction and design

The first thing that comes to mind when looking at the novelty, is iPhone! The device is actually very similar to the famous “apple phone”: the same shell (118 x 64 mm), very large display, smooth glossy front panel, the rounded corners and edges, mirror framing around the perimeter and even metallic lid of the battery compartment! But … this is Acer.
Although the thickness of the shell (13 mm) and abundance buttons on the sides, connectors and interfaces are not peculiar to the device from Apple. However, judging by the quality of manufacture, materials and design in general, Acer F900, without a doubt, is one of the best communicators on the market.

Thanks to smoother edges, the novelty lies in the hand like a glove. The only shortcoming is that the glossy front panel covers with fingerprints.

Under the display four touch buttons which are illuminated with bright blue LEDs are located. These buttons are responsible for the reception and the abolition of the call, the opening of the standard menu “Start” and closing the current window. It’s nice that the manufacturer has taken care of those who are not fond of touch control, as any click is accompanied by vibration. But the lack of a joystick or even touch navigation button adds a bold minus to the developers.

On the right side in the upper part there is a button, swing to adjust the sound with an extra button in the center of confirmation. This group of buttons performs the role of the buttons and vertical scrolling of the document. Below there is a button activating the camera. Here the manufacturer placed a tight-fitting plastic plug – a slot for microSD memory cards.

You should pay special attention to the telescopic stylus and its place which is located in the bottom of the shell. Perhaps this is the best stylus from all we’ve seen recently. It has three sliding knees, one of which is made thick enough so that the fingers do not feel any discomfort.

Acer F900 looks really expensive, and even elitist. Unlike most competitors, who seem to be such only from a distance, the novelty does not lose its attractiveness even being in the hand. You feel that you hold the thing!

Filling and productivity

The filling of Acer F900 is far from the title of leader. The device has a Samsung S3C 6410 processor with frequency of 533 MHz. If the design of the novelty is a merit Acer, the platform is entirely borrowed from communicator E-Ten of the last generation.

Memory on-board is standard: 128 MB RAM and 256 MB ROM, from which the owner can use 16, and 42 MB respectively. All the rest is occupied by the operating system, preinstalled programs and, most importantly – a new graphical interface. It runs the operating system Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro.

Overall system performance we evaluated by using the Spb Benchmark 1.6, and for comparison we took communicators Toshiba Portege G810 (CPU Qualcomm MSM7200 400 MHz, RAM 128 MB RAM and 256 MB of ROM, a display QVGA, OS Windows Mobile 6.1) and Gigabyte GSmart MW720 (processor Marvell PXA270 520 MHz, RAM 128 MB RAM and 256 MB ROM Display VGA, OS Windows Mobile 6.1).

The novelty can be classified as a medium communicator, capable of performing almost any task. To find out how to handle the device with video playback, we tested it with the benchmark CorePlayer, which in its turn runs three videos, differing from each other qualitative characteristics: 320 x 240/550 kbps, 640 x 480/784 Kbit / s; 640 x 480/1320 Kbps.

While testing, the video lost with a score of 105%. The results can be called medium and say that Acer F900 is well suited for viewing movies on the road.

Display

The display can be proud to belong to Acer F900. Judge yourself: the diagonal of 3.8 inches and resolution of 800 x 480 pixels. Now add to this a substantial margin of brightness, high clarity, excellent color reproduction and viewing angles. Do you need something else for comfortable viewing of movies or photos? Correct – G-sensor automatically deploys the image on the display while turning the device. By the way, G-sensor has a number of options, among which there is a function of binding any programs and utilities.

In addition, the device has a built-in light sensor that can automatically adjust the backlight level. It is noteworthy that the utility which is responsible for the control of this sensor has many flexible settings.

Camera

The device is equipped with 3 megapixel camera with auto-focus and LED flash. The camera belongs to the medium class. Its interface is designed for a Spartan, but this is the whole of its zest. Well, a set of settings is standard: the quality of shooting, white balance, brightness, exposure, etc.

But the camera has very bad focus at close distances. Another concern when using the camera – the lens is too close to the corner of the shell. As a result, the finger of your left hand always gets in the frame.

Communications

In addition to networks GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), it also supports third-generation networks, such as HSDPA / HSUPA (850/1900/2100 MHz). From wireless modules on board there are Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR and Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g, which work has been tested with HP iPAQ Pocket PCs 4700. The result raises no objections.

FM-radio has not only a good selective sensitivity, but also a stylish proprietary interface.

GPS-navigation

F900 among all Acer phones is equipped with a built-in GPS-module SiRFstar III, perhaps the best available on the market today. From the navigation software on board there is only one small utility that displays the main parameters – coordinates, altitude, speed, etc.

The Navigator was tested both in the city, among the sky-high buildings, and in the park area, among the trees. Everything was alright.

Conclusions

Acer F900 leaves an ambivalent impression. On the one hand, chic design, high quality, a great display, the availability of various hardware details (G-sensor, light sensor) and a giant set of useful proprietary software put the device in one row with the latest top models of the leading manufacturers of communicators. And the price for the novelty is not cheap. But the modest hardware stuffing spoils all these. Memory is not enough even to install all necessary programs, and processing power is not enough for comfortable video viewing. If shortly device should cost less, then such a purchase can already be called beneficial.

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.

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We can’t speak about Omnia HD without using of the following words: impressive, excellent, hurricanes, fascinating. What a piece of technological leadership is hidden under the name Omnia HD, and why this model has dropped competitors in February. All these will be discussed in our article.

Appearance

A multimedia entertainment tablet or a natural competitor of any PMP Archos- this is exactly what can be told about Omnia after the first minutes of acquaintance. However, the manufacturer claims that this is a smartphone with S60 5th Ed on board and therefore it can be evaluated as Smart.
Omnia HD leaves the impression of the handheld PMP, as when you look at it attentively on the front panel you will notice the slot for conversational dynamics on the top, as well as VGA-camera for video calls. The central button i8910 allows entering the main menu and switching between running applications in the Task Manager.
But all these buttons and speakers are fitted within a silver border. Yes, it is a 3.7-inch AMOLED-QHD resolution display with 360 x 640 pixels and the ability to display up to 16 million colors. The picture on the screen looks exactly the way we used to see it on the 24 “tube monitors with Mitsubishi Diamond. Yes, the screen is luxurious. Everything is excellent – starting with the color and ending with the angles of vision.

One screen for watching video clearly isn’t enough, that’s why on the upper and lower edges stereo speakers are located, next to which there is a 3,5-mm input for headphones on top, and the microphone at bottom.
On the left end, there are convenient buttons, as well as a slot for microSD HC- memory card, which adds to the built-in 8 / 16 GB up to 32 GB of additional space for any need. On the right end of Omnia HD you can see the locking button, large and convenient camera button.
There is an 8-MP module in the center of the silver frame with autofocuse and many interesting features, about which we will tell you later.
Most of the surface is occupied with the battery compartment cover, which you are to push with your big finger and pull it down to tinkling of the strikers. Under the lid there is Li-Ion battery 1500 mA / h. The smartphone works two days with an average load.
Directly above the battery compartment there is a slot for SIM-card, it’s better to say for USIM.

Interface

About the possibilities of the device, we will talk a little later, but now let’s look at the best standby mode, where you can place the traditional filling for smartphones with the four labels under the top row of indicators, icons and clock. You can “hang” full static background wallpaper, or dwell on the version of the theme. Widgets are also presented to us, which speed is much higher than in the other telephones of this company.
As we have mentioned, the remaining options for standby mode are not so interesting to be described. By the way, Omnia HD, as Nokia 5800, in the main menu can display six icons instead of 12. In the settings, you can setup a whole bunch of interesting, and sometimes necessary things, checking of certificates, disabling automatically rotation of the screen on the left side, as well as the ability to customize the work of connections.

Communications

The place for the infrared port was not found, as there is Bluetooth 2.0 with support for a pile of profiles for all tastes; among them are EDR and A2DP. It’s interesting to listen to music via wireless headphones due to good sound quality, and receive files at a speed of 130-150 Kb / s.
And for entertainment at high speeds it’s better to take a Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g module, providing traditional search comfort to WLAN- points of access with following connection. By the way, if a connection is active, the phone will let the use of GPRS-connection program, until the breakage of communication.

Music and Video

You just need to take AVI video in encoded DivX, or XVid, with subsequent transfer of a file in the device memory or on expansion card, and its opening through the file manager. That’s all, now just watch and enjoy, because clips in the resolution of 1280 x 720 are swallowed by standard players to cheer. Of course videos can be stretched, it is possible to contract up to 1:1, and you can scroll through virtual buttons or the scroll bar.
It is already difficult to surprise us with music. It remains only to look at the screen while playing music at 10-position volume control, standard inactive equalizer settings and a few additions to the “distortion” of sound. But this is trifless compared with the beautiful three-dimensional visualization.

What have we forgotten? Oh yes, sound. Margin of volume in the subway is zero, on the street 10-20%, or one or two divisions. But the quality of play is comparable to the softness of Samsung MP3-players. But the overall picture is too soft, and there isn’t sharp deep bass, as well as penetrating the upper frequencies. But the ears do not get tired after 3-4 hours of listening between meetings at work, and this is exactly a positive feature of the Omnia HD sound.
Radio is not deprived of the attention, just on the opposite. Samsung has lots of features, which allow the brand to attract loyal owners to its side each year, and high-quality sound recording with 192 kbits bit rate, only confirms this. But this is only a drop in the sea of possibilities, there is a place of memory for 50 stations, and support for RDS and AF.

Camera

Samsung Omnia HD i8910 camera has a resolution of 8 MP and autofocus optics. In addition, there is, power LED flash. With regard to the interface to work with the camera, everything is done in the simplest and convenient way for working with both hands.
There are two columns of icons with settings (flash, autofocus, image brightness, the choice of scenes, changing shooting modes, change the permission of the frame, as well as the transition to video). But before shooting video it’s better to drop in the settings and find the setting of sensitivity ISO, shift quality compression, the use of HDR, as well as the shutter sound setup.

Conclusions

If you do not have any problems with the means to all sorts of pocket-sized fun, yes, moreover, you want to feel something really new and impressive – you can take Samsung Omnia HD. Indeed, this summer i8910 is the most interesting mobile phone. But if the OMAP 3430 and the 720p does not make the heart beat more often, and you don’t have enough money– you’d better give up dealing with it, because software from Samsung traditionally concedes its competitor Nokia.

In general, the appearance of Nokia 6210 Navigator left a pleasant impression. All elements of management and other technical units are in place, but it is no wonder, because these indicators the 6210 has completely copied from other models.

Display
In the process of getting acquainted with new phones I again and again catch myself at the thought that, in general, today’s screens of mobile phones are equal among themselves. This is particularly true for Smart-phones, and even more so for the platform S60. If earlier the consumer quality was judged by the number of supported colors, today, in most cases, this parameter is equal. Nevertheless, let us run through the technical data of the display of the 6210. The screen has a QVGA-resolution (240 x 320 pixels) supports up to 16 million colors (24 bit). With regard to physical dimensions, here too everything is in order- 2.4 inches.
The front panel is the light sensor that regulates the intensity of illumination of the screen. The function is not only convenient, but also useful. In fact, although slightly, but it saves battery power.
A unit titled with the responsible name of Navigator simply must demonstrate excellent results in the intense daylight. Unfortunately, these rates are at the secondary level. Neither under the direct (the use of navigation in walking mode), or under the slanting (used in car) rays, the 6210 has not shown any special abilities. The phone display goes fairly blind though the information is still legible, but to call this kind of work comfortable is not possible. However, we should note that in the standard mode, the screen displays 8 lines of text and 3 service lines of information (up to 14 lines in certain modes) and it again is a standard for such devices.
In general, the 6210 has a modern display that can handle most multimedia and functional tasks. Naturally, we would like to see something more, but in the present form it is already not bad.

Keyboard
There is no innovation in the navigation block of the 6210, which is perhaps for the better. Keys are few, so they all are of a size more than comfortable to work with. You can forget about such troubles as false clicking. The progress of the keys is smooth and soft enough, and it is a genuine pleasure to work with them.
Additional controls are focused on the right end of the phone and are presented by a coupled volume key and the key of the camera activation.
The dial unit also deserves praise. All keys are large-sized, of a standard form and configuration. Working with such buttons is a pleasure.
It is heartening that the novelty has been able to avoid artful design decisions and acquired a standard (comfortable) keyboard, and this statement is relevant to whole management of the phone. The milk-white backlight of the keys is in perfect harmony with the varnished plastic of the phone.

Functions
Technically, the model 6210 Navigator is a S60 device of the latest generation. Analogues are found in N-, and E-series of the company. The operating System Symbian OS v9.3 (S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2) and the ARM 11 processor with a clock speed of 369 MHz are more than adequate for the challenges facing a smart-phone.

But the 20 MB of RAM is extremely small. For example, the N70, the 2005 model, had a maximum memory of 22 MB and in the new N78 this figure is 48 MB, the popular N82 model has a 90 MB of operation memory. What does this figure influence? It affects the quantity and quality of work with multiple applications. For example, the 6210 is beginning to experience problems with the downloaded applications Nokia Maps, the Internet browser, and MP3-player. To continue the comfortable work with the device it is better to close one of the applications. If additional programs running in the background are installed in the phone, then the free memory will be even less.
The phone has a motion sensor. It is used in several modes, for example, in the Internet browser; depending on the status of the phone, the screen orientation changes from vertical to horizontal. False abrasions occur, but they are rare and do not cause inconvenience.
Despite the availability of the latest version of the operating system with Feature Pack 2 (the analogue has recently been considered in the review of Nokia N78), in the 6210 the menu and other options are closer to the possibilities of Feature Pack 1. For example, the 6210 has no multimedia menu and the gallery, the media player and the camera are as in older versions. And this is even more surprising because we tested the pre-sales sample. In fact, along with the N78, the new 6210 Navigator, possessing all the features FP2, would stand out against the background of other solutions from Nokia.
Thus, in functionality Nokia 6210 Navigator is a typical representative of the glorious family of S60 devices, the capabilities of which have been considered in our reviews.
One fact will upset fans of free Internet – there is no Wi-Fi in the 6210, and it is a serious minus on the background of competing devices from the same Nokia.

Multimedia
Like any product on the S60, the model 6210 Navigator is not only a tool for navigation and other complex tasks, in many ways it is a multimedia entertainment center. At the service of users are all modern services and facilities starting from the radio and the Internet (through the air, of course) to watching movies and listening to music.
The music player has a large capacity, lets you sort songs in the phone memory in many ways, there is an equalizer with the ability to create your profile, a number of standard capacities – balance setting, extended stereo.
The sound quality of the 6210 is comparable with similar models of the manufacturer, which means that you can listen to music in comfort. However, the headset coming in the kit is more suitable for the radio perhaps; more demanding listeners will connect more serious headphones. It is good the 2.5-mm jack allows it.

Navigator
It is too early to make any conclusions, but there is a feeling that in Nokia they have come to the rake. It is seen in the totally lost uniqueness of the 6210 Navigator both as navigation and a competitive device.
If in the 6110 the default main program was the application Route66, and if you wanted any other navigation program (Nokia Maps, etc.) could be set in the phone, in the case of the 6210 the basis of the new program is Nokia Maps 2.0. Symbolically, it appeared long before Nokia 6210 Navigator, so that even in this aspect the model is not unique.
With all devices equipped with A-GPS module, Nokia offers a trial period for the navigation software. In the case of the 6210 the license Drive & Walk (pedestrian and car navigation) is pre-paid for 6 months. Further extension of the license will be expensive. There is a division into zones (Local, Mega Region, All regions) and time (1, 3 or 12 months). The price depending on the package can vary from 9 to 130 euros.
In the future, Nokia Maps can be used without paying for licenses, but the route organizing and navigation will be unavailable.
The second feature of the Navigator is the presence of an electronic compass. It is useful in pedestrian navigation (for example, in the forest, to determine the side of the light), in which case the map and the route will always be in front of you. The ability is convenient but it is not an ace yet. On this the peculiarities of the 6210 Navigator are exhausted.
And, of course, let us not forget the separate key of GPS (Nokia Maps) launch, with an indicator displaying the compass.
Thus, the main bonus of the Navigator is the quite lengthy license for Nokia Maps 2.0. Finally, we will return to the miserable 20 MB of active memory. Additionally, it affects the loading of the application Nokia Maps, and while working with background programs the loading time of navigation can take more than a minute. Trifle, but again, very unpleasant.

Camera
Unfortunately, the camera of the 6210 is clearly not the strong point of the device. Following the trend, the manufacturer has established a 3.2-MP CMOS-matrix with autofocus. The lens, unfortunately, is not from Carl Zeiss, but has a good performance – 4.6 mm/f2.8, minimum focusing distance is 10 cm. This is a modern solution with no additional features. In general, for the status of the 6210 Navigator, nothing less could be expected.
Structurally, the camera is not protected, the glass lens is slightly recessed into the body, but getting scratched, and even more so getting dirty is just a matter of time. In the horizontal position (and you can only shoot so) over the lens there is the built-in flash. At a distance of about 1,5-2 m, it is quite useful, which again is a norm for this type of devices.
Unfortunately, the interface of the camera is different from what we saw in the N78 (by the way, this model is not “photo-oriented”). Maximum resolution of images is 2048 x 1536 (also resolution modes of 1600 x 1200, 1024 x 768, 640 x 480 pixels are available), while the average size of the image at maximum quality and resolution is about 1 MB (supports JPEG / Exif).

The twenty-fold digital zoom, to a large extent, is useless, because when using it the picture quality becomes insufficient even for viewing on the phone. However, judicious use (up to x5) is perhaps possible, but still undesirable.
The governance is realized conveniently, all features are available on a horizontal strip. Among the options, to the obligatory (the white balance, brightness setting, etc.) were added and the elements from the major league (ISO setting, shutter speed). The capabilities of the 6210 are comparable with the camera solution used in N78, only the graphical shell of the interface is different.
The camera located on the front is especially designed for video communication, but in the absence of such, it can be used for taking self-portraits.
Video capturing with a VGA-resolution of 640 x 480 pixels and recording speed of 15 frames per second (formats H.263, MPEG-4) is a good complement to the photo-abilities of the 6210. In general, the camera left a positive impression. It is comfortable to work with and in the case of the Navigator you can’t expect miracles from a built-in camera, while the images sometimes please the eye.
The examples of images can be seen below, and the archive can be downloaded here.

Outcome
The model is complete with a BL-5F 3.7V battery, with a capacity of 950 mAh. By today’s standards, this is not much, but in practice this allows the phone battery about 2 days of intensive use (up to 30 minutes of conversation, about 1 hour of navigation and 30 minutes of other functions) which, in our opinion, is a fairly good indicator.
It remains to add that the phone has 120 MB of internal memory and a microSD card of 1 GB in the set. The supplement Nokia Maps is stored in phone memory, so that the user has enough space for additional programs and content.
In conclusion, we should note that the phone, and the entire line, and did not find a way to a bright future. In Russia, the popularity of this unit is below of the popularity of the pioneer model 6110. If this continues further, the very line of devices with the prefix Navigator will soon come to naught. Actually, the 6210 Navigator is a good phone, a decent member of the S60family. And it should be chosen by general criteria, forgetting about the prefix Navigator.

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.