Having introduced the new Black Label Series style by previewing the LG New Chocolate BL40, we now have the chance to take a closer look at the heir apparent to the all famous Chocolate. Meet the LG New Chocolate BL20, aimed at eager followers of fashion trends, who spend a lot of time in front of the mirror and would never, and we mean never, confuse a Ferre´s dress with something by Gucci (thanks, Google). Aside from its stylish overall design, you shouldn’t expect surprises from the LG New Chocolate BL20. Still, you´ll be getting a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus and Schneider-Kreuznach optics, microSDHC card slot and HSDPA.

Design:

The LG New Chocolate BL20 stays true to the new, trendy style of the Black Label Series and in case you´ve read  our preview of the BL40, you already have a pretty good idea about the style of this slider. It is almost immaculately rectangular and we must say its black color goes perfectly with the red numeric keypad, upper and lower body. Alongside of the original Chocolate, the New Chocolate BL20 is taller and wider, but slimmer. It feels solid and comfy to use, even with the slider open and we have to say the phone gets respectably big in this case. The metal framing on either side contributes to a more sophisticated overall look. Our unit runs final software version, but bear in mind the retail device will come with slightly rounded edges.

The TFT screen measures 2.4 inches, has a native resolution of 240×320 pixels and delivers top notch image quality. Our only gripe relates to its love for fingerprints and you will have the phone all covered in them in seconds, which basically means you will have to clean it quite often.

The touch-sensitive buttons typical of Chocolate handsets are below the screen. They feature great touch sensitivity and light up in red, much in harmony with the overall color solution. Generally, the bad thing about this type of keys is you can easily press an adjacent button and activate something you don’t mean, which tends to be annoying. Fortunately, this is not the case with the BL20, since there is enough room in between the buttons. The key that calls up the multitasking menu is in the lower left corner, while the widget button is in the lower right one.

The mechanism of the slider feels really tight and we like that, but it tends to give off an unpleasant sound when being opened. Not that this is much of a problem really, because the more important thing is the numeric keypad is really handy. Dialing numbers on it is a pure joy. Our only gripe regards the uppermost button row, the one where the send, end and delete keys are. They are located close to the edge, so people with thicker fingers may find pressing them a bit uncomfortable. However, keeping in mind these buttons are used less frequently, we can definitely rate the keyboard excellent. But this is not all. When open, its color makes the LG New Chocolate BL20 look really exquisite.

The interesting thing about the new chocolate is that the volume rocker is also touch sensitive. LG, however, has showed ingenuity in making it slightly raised and not completely flat, so you can easily feel where it is. Getting your press registered takes certain effort, but this is good, because otherwise the volume rocker would have been really easy to accidentally touch and therefore – annoying.

The standard microUSB port is on the left hand side, the screen lock on the top and you can relish the beauty of the 5-megapixel Schneider-Kreuznach camera with LED flash if you take look at the back of the handset.

The LG New Chocolate BL20 looks just as stylish as the BL40. With its slider closed, however, it´s far more compact. It stays true to its name and wouldn’t look out of place in the company of handsets with even the fussiest design. We think LG has done a great job in coming up with a proper addition to the series, because the BL20 is a handset with uncomplicated, yet expressive design.

Sony Ericsson are on the move recently and the Aino is very much part of the agenda. But living in the shadow of the Satio and X10 is not much fun we guess. So, the Sony Ericsson Aino is keen to live a double life. At first glance, it’s a touchscreen PMP, but on a second look it’s a regular slider phone with an extra big screen. It’s not the ultimate PlayStation phone but it does have Remote Play, to wirelessly pair with Sony’s PlayStation 3.

As far as feature phones go, the Aino has pretty much everything – excellent connectivity, full-featured navigation, a great camera, plenty of internal storage and a simple-but-snappy touch media menu.

By the way, don’t let anyone tell you touchscreen functionality is limited to the proprietary Sony Ericsson multimedia menu. We were pleasantly surprised with Opera Mini, which seemed to quite agree with the Aino touch system. Touchscreen navigation is all there and it performed very smoothly. This means touch controlled Java games might work as well.

All right, this was just a single little secret revealed. Let’s take a closer look at what else the Aino may be hiding there.

Key features

* 3″ 16M-color capacitive touchscreen, 240 x 432 pixels
* Quad-band GSM support
* Tri-band 3G with 7.2Mbps HSDPA, 2Mbps HSUPA
* 8 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash; geotagging, touch-focus, face detection, image stabilization; VGA video recording @ 30fps
* Some degree of touchscreen functionality – touch-enabled media and camera interface
* Touch works in Java apps as well, e.g. Opera Mini
* Built-in GPS receiver with A-GPS; Trial version of Wisepilot navigation software
* Wi-Fi with DLNA
* FM radio with RDS
* Stereo Bluetooth 2.1
* microSD card slot
* Wireless Bluetooth headset with 3.5 mm audio jack and nice headphones, desktop docking station and 8GB microSD card in box
* Remote play for Playstation 3

Main disadvantages

* No standard USB port
* No 3.5mm audio jack (but there’s one on the Bluetooth headset)
* Touch control is limited to camera, gallery, multimedia players and some Java apps
* Media library updates very slowly in the touch media menu
* No DivX/XviD support
* No xenon flash
* No camera lens cover

The box contents are a sweat deal too – the matching desk stand and wireless headset would fetch a pretty high price as a separate purchase, but with Aino they are part of the experience. And the 8GB microSD card in the box should be enough for most people.

Uncomfortable questions start to emerge though – the Remote Play feature doesn’t really do much more than DLNA and is useless with anythingbut PlayStation3. The touch functionality sounds great but not having it in the built-in browser sucks.
But asking these questions is missing the point. If you owned the original PlayStation, then upgraded to PlayStation 2 and have the 3rd version sitting next to your BRAVIA set, well this love letter in the shape of Sony Ericsson Aino is addressed to you.

The company has expanded its range of phones with the modest model named Samsung Corby, which ratio of price and abilities may surprise you.

Design
In order to make it clear that such a colorful unit with touch screen is shown in pictures we need only to recall the main target audience of this kind of phone models. Of course, this is for young people, sometimes the most isolated and untamed. Now let’s see what phone Koreans prepared for the public. Thus we have: a small shell with dimensions 103×56, 5 x12, 5 mm which will not fit into pockets of business suits and shirts. It weighs only 920 grams.

Screen

Here we have a telephone with touch screen, so from the first seconds of getting acquainted, we see the screen. Only after this we notice branded grille on top, as well as easy to use phone keys at the bottom.
But let’s go back to the screen, which is protected with capacitive touch glass. Here is a 2.8-inch TFT-matrix with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels (260 thousand colors). Taking into account the quality of displayed images they are rather good comparing with phones which are more expensive. Besides under the sun the screen acts quite well, providing the ability to easily read text or dial a phone number.

Battery

Removing the back cover you can see 960 mAh battery, which is enough for three days – 20 minutes of conversation, hours of listening to your favorite music with headphones, and hours of using various recreational facilities, among which it is worth pointing out watching video.
But let’s go back to the exterior, because here it is important not to forget about a comfortable place of SIM-card and slot of microSD-card, which can reach at least 32 GB.

Communications abilities

Here we should mention the possibility of communication with PC, where are several variations of connect with the presence of the actual profile data on the memory card. It’s nice that in this case writing speed reaches up to 1,5 MB per second, so that the memory card can be retrieved only in emergency situations (for example, full memory).
Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR and A2DP support together with other profiles is also present. With headsets and wireless headphones Corby works just as well, but not better than other phones. Speed of receiving/transferring data to another device is about 130 Kbps. You can find a compatible device using the convenient search tool that displays the process much clearly.

Programs and games

Describing the standard content of phones, we can say without looking at it about the presence of a standard set of multiple applications and demos of games, after a short game that will either send for 300 rubles, or restart the game. By the way about restarting – here it isn’t not useless to note multitasking for multiple applications (up to three maximum).
This part of application also contains different utilities – cards, a collection of links to social services, as well as a standard set of organizer.

Music
Player catches the eye by a simple and convenient separation of all the tracks on various criteria, among which are viewing album covers. After selecting interesting songs comes a window during playback with large comfortable buttons on the screen and active line of progress.
Fans of all sorts of settings and customizations will clearly appreciate the ability to install the rating change repeat modes and random play, and at the same time adjusting the equalizer. But this is not Samsung M7600 Beat DJ; so that you can not manually control equalizer. Although, without setting sound is rather good, with a small reserve volume and coherent study of middle frequencies. Of course, it sounds much worse than any player, but the most undemanding audience may seem quite a good help. If you get tired of its own music, then there is a FM-receiver with a good quality signal reception in the frequency range from 87.5 to 108 MHz.

Camera

The camera has a rather utilitarian role, although the 2-megapixel resolution of matrix caused a genuine interest a couple of years ago.
However, there is no flash and autofocus so you can not count on S3650. At least the interface to work with the camera is not subjected to rigorous simplifications, leaving at our attention full-screen viewfinder, labels of all modes as well as quite rich content of settings.
We have nothing to say specifically about the images, because on the phone screen, they look better, than on the monitor of PC.

Conclusion

Compact bright and cheap touch phone from Samsung Corby is not so simple as it may seem when you look at the price. Of course, we do not take into account beginning with the start of sales from 7 thousand rubles, but by December the model will show off at the shop windows at 6000 rubles. This will be very interesting offer, but having the desire and the additional funds you would better buy another touch phone. Well, it’s a matter of taste.

Release of a mobile phone, like any other mass product, is a very fascinating process. At the beginning of induction the manufacturer defines the framework of engineers and designers who will work on the novelty. A number of factors play a significant role in its final appearance like a platform, price category, design and much more.
At each stage of development we must try to cope with the flight of fantasies and eventually land on the desired results.
In the industrial design people are servants of the convention. There are rare cases of cooperation of companies with well-known designers, as a rule, they create interesting, but uncomfortable phones.
Nevertheless, there is an interesting question – what would happen if you take the gurus of design and place it in a golden cage, entitled “Express Yourself”. The answer to this question in the literal sense of the word “lies” on the surface. Moreover, it has a name – Samsung E590.

In creation Samsung E590 was actively involved by an English designer Jasper Morrison. Morrison design is called an “honest simplicity,” and his work in the media is defined as “no-design”.
That’s why he is so loved in Asia: for those people he is a kind of an English Zen. He has a philosophy of silence, modesty and diligence. The “Jasper Morrison Ltd.” company is engaged in the development of furniture, appliances and everything that surrounds a human in everyday and working life.
Now you know who has worked on innovation from Samsung under the number E590, and nothing prevents us to start our review with the traditional section, which, due to circumstances, acquires a deeper meaning.

Design
If nobody knew who has participated in the development of Samsung E590, the novelty would be considered as a regular, albeit high-quality creation of designers from Seoul. It should be noted that when testing we had black version of E590, but in its white incarnation phone looks rather interesting. Moreover, there is information that Morrison has created just the white version, and the black analog is already a conditional mass product.
Nevertheless, Samsung E590 is a monoblock with medium by today’s standards size (94×42x14 mm) and fairly solid weight – 95 grams.
There are no interesting discoveries and solutions in the form E590 seemingly unable to grasp – minimalism is everywhere. Another amusing fact is that the designer worked on the characteristics, positioning, as well as telephone. We are used to design devices of thousands of dollars and above. Now we obviously have to get used to the idea that there are phones from the world of avant-garde design and they cost four times less than usual.

Display
The screen is the face of each phone. In the case of Samsung E590 there is no need to worry – excellent TFT-LCD with decent for modern phone features – 260 thousand colors with 220×220 pixels resolution.
Static and dynamic image is flooded with paint.
It has many drawbacks. First, it has almost catastrophic vertical viewing angles. The slightest deviation from the straight line fades the whole picture.
Secondly, under the sun it’s impossible to identify the image. It is not comfortable to work with the phone on the street.

Keyboard
All the buttons on the phone are made in one style – in oval shape. System and digital buttons have the same size, thus they are perceived as a single array.
There are two soft control buttons, “the tube” and “C” key. All symbols of white (pale gray) color, however, we have already met in the phones of Samsung. Bright lights and milky-white fine finishes E590.
With regard to navigation and work, the first is implemented by using a small joystick, and the second is quite nice and comfortable.
Additional buttons are extensively represented at the right end of the phone and all are designed to work with the camera. “Mode” button will quickly adjust the camera, two-position button starts the camera in a small size, but the usability is not affected. For the “Zoom” function there is also a separate button.
On the left side there is a rocker-volume control as well as headphone input, battery and memory card slot. It’s simple, familiar and comfortable.

Menu and Functions
Samsung E590 is built on the platform of Suwon and it can be considered the ancestor of D900. The main menu consists of nine icons and moving between them is pleasantly animated.
The user is allowed to choose from two color schemes – white and black.

Using the menu is intuitive, logically laid out all the possibile sections. The effect of “memory” (if the “Organizer” you came to the position of “Calculator”, you will go ibid.) should come to taste of many users. It has a navigation with the support of a digital keyboard, pop-ups and cross-cutting scrolling easier access to desired functions.

Functions and features are not presented absolutely without surprises. Everything is done in the style of Samsung. If you have ever worked with the devices of this brand, you will find familiar and very comfortable for daily use the organizer, alarm clock function (3 pieces), a decent MP3-player, voice recorder, photo editor, FM-radio, Bluetooth 2.0 and Java-based applications.
Samsung continues the practice of trial applications, so all the most interesting games are available in trial mode, but for a fee. As for the execution of all the above and many unmentioned ones, believe me on the floor during the test there was only one trouble. We had to quickly write down the address and the arm came across the field “e-mail” editor contacts. It’s bad when the mobile phone considers itself smarter than the owner. Fortunately, such things are extremely rare.

Camera
In many respects the uniqueness of E590 is not only a secondary phone price level, in the work on which are engaged world famous designers, but also in the fact that it is an affordable camera phone.
The matrix has 3-megapixel resolution and autofocus. Again, we can not say one hundred percent (adjusted for a test instance), but the iron is clearly not coping with the appetite of three megapixels. The quality of the pictures is sometimes higher than the Chinese machines’.
Camera settings are enough to really affect the results. ISO settings are from 100 to 400 (auto is available), white balance, effects, frames, macro, timer, multi-shooting and panoramic shots.
With regard to the quality of the images, they are of about the same level with D900, which means that the quality is at a decent level, but not excellent. Was Samsung, positioning the model as a camera phone? Perhaps they know this better.
Photos and video files can be saved in 85 MB of phone memory and on a standard microSD card.

Outcome

Model E590 turned out to be well enough, though there are also controversies. The main advantages, which Samsung emphasizes, are decent design and camera.
I was pleasantly surprised by the battery life. On Li-Ion Battery with capacity of 800 mAh, telephone worked 5 days (up to 20 minutes of conversation and an hour of other functions). Rather high results for such a phone.
We started with an honest expression, it would be logical to finish in the same way. Model E590 is a great phone with a couple of reservations.

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.

A year ago Samsung released an 8-MP serious mobile phone called Pixon. Now let’s welcome a young successor – Samsung Pixon 12, which is equipped with 12-MP camera and a smart display. Of course, the novelty is interesting and worth studying, and even, worth its price.

Design
As with its predecessor Samsung M8800 Pixon, Pixon 12 does not have a pocket size to comfortably fit in any pocket. However, if you have large pockets, then problems will not arise. The phone is also thick, which is caused by the camera module and decorative projection at the lower end.
These features make the phone a compact digital camera. The back cover is made from metal, but … it is “afraid” of keys, and other warlike items. When negligent handling scratches appear fairly quickly, and appearance is lost with the same speed. Under the cover you can find battery and a slot for SIM card.
Of course we do not forget to mention voluminous pedestal of the camera, with xenon (pulse) LED lights flash and autofocus. Everything like a digital camera.

At the upper end of the connector there is a microUSB, for accurate plug. Unlike Samsung Jet, which is placed on the same platform, there is no 3.5-mm audio input, and therefore you need to connect them through the headphone adapter. To be honest, this is inconvenient, and the “experience” of Sony Ericsson music phones without audio jack proves this.
The right end is given to the phone’s control. On / off switch, the focus / shutter, zoom button are located on the right end. On the left there is a microSD memory card slot and key lock. Everything is quite convenient.
Under the display there are three mechanical buttons – two “receiver” buttons and menu / return to a back operation.

Display
The screen is exactly the same as in Samsung Jet. This means that the AMOLED-display is one of the best – high contrast, bright colors, large viewing angles, high definition of images, and resistance to direct sunlight. The brightness adjusts automatically, or manually. The display is designed both for finger and stylus control.

The set has no stylus, but nothing forbids us to take a pen or a pencil from the table and control through it. I must say that both ways of working with 12 Pixon are convenient. With regard to the control by fingers, the latest Samsung such problems do not occur.

Menu and control

Here are the same preset widgets like at Samsung Jet ( by the way quite a lot), plus you can download and install.
You can also change the icons on the main menu – almost unnecessary, but a funny feature. Scrolling lists, menu, etc. works fine and without glitches.

As in previous models, there are 4 icons displayed on the screen: quick access to menu, directory, SMS-service, virtual keyboard. The menu is the same as in Samsung Jet. But we have a convenient main menu presented by 3 x 4 grids. If you go deeper, then there are lists of features with small icons.
Pixon supports multitasking, and a list of (more icons or grid), running applications can be put on display, in 1.5 seconds, holding the central button. Optionally, you can close any applications.
As symbols rather large, you can use your phone even in a tottery bus.

Camera

In Pixon 12 there is a camera ever observed in the phones. The matter is not the megapixels (12), and the great functionality, but … technological advances.

The interface of the camera is oriented horizontally. It is very comfortable, due to large symbols on the screen – everything is perfectly calculated for fingers.
Now let’s talk about the possibilities. It has thirteen scenes of shooting, six shooting modes. One of the modes is a “beautiful face”, which name speaks for itself. There is a micro-Photoshop in the phone. This function slightly clears the pores on your face, highlight of the outbreak, etc. Frankly, it is a useful joke, especially if you often do portraits.
Another innovation – a function smart auto, or “autophoto”. About this you can read in the review of Samsung WB550, and here we simply note that the phone successfully and quickly switches between shooting scenes depending on what you shoot. In addition, it is supported by auto focus on a moving object.
There is also a function of detection of blinking, which may be helpful, as well as the image stabilizer.
But zoom in Pixon is not optical and 4 times digital, as that is not firmly in the context of the 12-MP camera.
So, the camera has many settings for the most creative fans of mobile graphics.

Music

The interface of the player is very similar to Samsung Jet, but with a little repaint. There is a choice of three types of visualization, 10 preset equalizers. You can access the list of songs; click the desired one, thus launching the play.
Sound of the player (i.e., music) is not bad. With good headphones the sound is loud, bass and tops are visible. Overall, it’s not bad, but we can compare it with Nokia N96.
Conclusion
This phone can be perfect for techno funs or mobile photo enthusiasts, or fans of big screens, or … touch phones as a whole. Although it’s not a smartphone, but a good camera has no competitors.

Buy Samsung M8800 Pixon Unlocked Phone–International Version with No U.S. Warranty (Black) from Amazon

Motorola, once a pioneer in the market of mobile telephony, is now in the shadow of other, less famous, but more on the ball manufacturers of portable electronics. But watching from afar the growth of the segment of the so-called camera phones (phones with powerful photo capacities) is clearly not to the liking of the company. A little late, Motorola announced a really interesting solution – Motozine ZN5. How the company managed to accumulate the previous experience and what was the outcome?

Design
A key element in the perception of a mobile phone is certainly its appearance. Whatever its technical characteristics are, if the design causes dislike, it would be extremely difficult to make friends with such a device. The segment camera-phones do not boast of particularly elegant exterior, but still have something to please the eye.
Motorola makes no secret that Motozine ZN5 is the response of the company to the already produced solutions from Sony Ericsson and Nokia. On their background the ZN5 looks quite organic, and to some extent, even fresh. The point is that when you first look at the novelty, it seems that this is normal, so to speak, business unit.
The appearance of Motozine ZN5 is standard for mobile handset from Motorola. The only currently available graphite color organically fits to the spirit of the ZN5 – strict, but with taste.
By the way, the weight of the phone is 114 grams, the size equals to 18h50, 5h16 mm, while the latter figure – includes the thickness of the module chamber, for the rest of the perimeter of this figure is 12 mm. In fact, for a serious camera-phone, these characteristics are at a very high level. The closest competitors cannot boast of such forms.

With regard to the subjective experience of work with the ZN5, phone could be called attractive. It has no outstanding or memorable elements (well, except the purple buttons activating the camera on the right end). Due to this fact, the audience, capable of being interested in such a product from Motorola, is very wide.
The competitors added zest to their camera-phones in the form of loud names of the photo-industry. We know that such a simple marketing move perfectly valid for the ordinary consumer. In the case of Sony Ericsson it is the prefix CyberShot from the world of digital cameras of Sony, and Nokia has added the logo Carl Zeiss, as one of the leaders in producing high quality optics. Motorola has entered into an alliance with the company Kodak. And even if today the world-renowned manufacturer of photo technology is, in a sense, on the sidelines (as Motorola is, when it comes to mobile phones), it is clear that a company, which has a history of 120 years, will not produce anything bad.

In Motozine ZN5 everything is subject to the photo abilities of the phone. Motorola is trying by all means to show what an excellent option Motozine is for capturing and working with photograph. In a sense, it will have to be tolerated, for example, on the tactile level – after all the block of the camera is fairly massive and causes inconvenience.
The main body is made of high quality plastic, and the rear lid is made of metal. By the way, it has a rather unsteady attachment to the body and there may be unpleasant consequences, even if dropped from a small height, i.e. it will simply bounce off. However, the lower end is covered with rubber; so that if the attack befalls on that part … do not worry, nothing may happen. The apparatus is assembled (even our engineering sample) fine, no backlashes, scripts, and other problems with the case.
The MicroUSB connector is located on the left end and at the same time it is a connector for the charger. At the other end of the same left end is located a universal 3.5 mm jack for connecting the headset.
The right end is equipped in a standard way – the start key and key of the work with the camera (horizontal direction) and two volume keys.

Display
When it comes to the camera, the question of the quality of the display is at the forefront. Many phones from Motorola wgich we have tested had good screens, but on the background of the competitors they looked rather pale. In the case of the ZN5 things are much better, the model is equipped with a display that was performed on TFT-technology, has a diagonal of 2.4 inches (resolution of 240 x 320) and displays up to 260 thousand colors.
The screen showed a good result in operation – good color rendition, brightness and viewing angles allow to work comfortably in almost any conditions. All, without exception, users will appreciate the availability of a very large font in the menu (by the way, the display shows up to eight lines of text plus the three office ones).
Unfortunately, the ZN5 is not a smart-phone and we cannot fully enjoy the capabilities of the screen (e.g., movies), but it is not useless to say again that for the set functions of the phone the display is sufficient.

Keyboard
The main part is made of a polymer film. In other words, the mechanical keys are closed with the film, with the result that an effect of single array is achieved. This looks really interesting, and the work, despite the innovation, is rather middling.
Only the circular navigation button is allocated on the general background. It has a 4-position activation of features with the function of the confirmation in the center. Soft keys are located between the navigation key and the traditional “tubes”. Critically small space is left for them. No, it is not that false abrasions occur all the time, but such a positive trick causes a series of inconveniences. Under the soft keys are two additional buttons. The first is to access the gallery, the second – to delete characters.
The digital keyboard is of a standard size. Keys are at a decent distance from each other – to dial a telephone number or type an SMS is easy.
However, it is desirable to press the keys at the right angles, but it does not cause additional inconvenience, you have only to get used to it.
In the camera mode the digital keys have additional abilities (they are marked on the shell). For example, you can quickly send a photo to an online gallery, remove or, on the contrary, save the resulting image.

Menu and Functions
First it is desirable to note that in our test the engineering model was activated, in which many of the functions worked as they should.
The model is built on a platform of LJ (the closest relative of Motorola ROKR E8). On the fine-tuning of this interface the company has spent a long time, but, honestly speaking, the result is not cheering. The menu is quite difficult to master even for the over-experienced journalists (a fact generally accepted by the press), not to speak of ordinary consumers.
And many of the complexities and conditionalities could have been completely avoided, but Motorola always had a distinguished vision of the ergonomics of the phones (remember the red “tube” on the left side, only recently moved to its rightful place).
The phone has basic functions, without which a mobile phone is not taken seriously. This includes: Bluetooth (A2DP profile), a powerful web browser, FM-radio and a media player. The interesting additions include the availability of Wi-Fi, TV-output (the cable is included).

As you can see, the phone is sufficiently stuffed with all necessary facilities. Unfortunately, the ZN5 is not a smart-phone, and its functions of expansion are severely limited.
The presence of the graffiti Kodak in the ZN5 – is not just a decoy for a trustful buyer. The developments of that company are used in their entirety. By the way, the Kodak gallery allows you to quickly send photos via e-mail or post them in the Internet. The feature Kodak Perfect Touch is also available from the gallery; it allows to significantly improving the display of the captured material. Well, and the function Kodak Easy share Software will allow you to print photos directly from your phone, bypassing the computer. And this is without speaking about the camera and its capabilities.
Summarizing the functional outcome it may be noted that the ZN5 has all necessary facilities. The overall result was somewhat spoilt by the difficulty in dealing with individual elements of the menu. But as is it usually the case – the process of familiarization takes time.

Camera
Open the cover, in a second the camera is activated, and already in three or four seconds, it takes the white balance. By the way, the machine is rarely wrong, that allows for good shots without preparation.
The interface is like that of the model ROKR E8 – a line of information above, translucent windows of menu, produced by pressing the left key content.
It is easy to deal with the settings, but they are not many either. An interesting fact – the camera can save images in the uncompressed RAW format, which is obviously cool, but in a phone it is meaningless. Typically, this format is used by professional photographers, working with serious cameras.
Now let’s talk about recording abilities. The unit is equipped with a Xenon (pulse) flash and an autofocus lamp light, which is quite powerful. Autofocus is slow in the dark (the lamp helps to focus), but at the same time does not make mistakes.

The focus could not be called quick with good lighting either, but it might be the problem of our test sample. The camera has a “red” eye reduction, when half a second before the main flash blinks the lighting of the autofocus.
How such a system works, is known from compact cameras, so it only should be noted that in the ZN5 it more or less copes with its task.
A macro-mode is supported; in our sample, however, it did not work well, so close-up photographs of flowers and other such pretty things failed. The camera can record videos in the ridiculous resolution of 144h176, so the opportunity is not worth to be considered even as fun. The panoramic shooting mode (gluing of three frames) is implemented in a normal way – with the help of the framework, the camera tells when to make the next frame for gluing.

Outcome
Against the background of the other camera-phones, Motozine ZN5 is not only lost, but is highlighted with a number of fundamentally interesting features. It is just enough to remember the 350 MB internal memory (even up to 4 GB on the cards microSD, and a 512 MB card in the kit), the excellent camera from Kodak, and it is clear that Motorola has come to the market fairly prepared.
The pre-installed Li-Ion battery of the capacity of 950 mAh, according to the manufacturer, provides up to 350 minutes of talking time and up to 350 hours in standby mode. In the reality of Moscow networks, the ZN5 worked 3 days (until 30 minutes of conversation and an hour of use of other functions), which is an outstanding result.
For people who need a relatively small, modern telephone and who are not afraid of the “menu from Motorola”, the model ZN5 will be a great solution.

Appearance
The smooth plastic shell of Philips X800 is pleasant to the touch, the good shape and compact size (102 x 51 x 11 mm/110 g) are satisfactory. The front panel of the new model, like in most modern communicators and smarts, is a mirror coating.
But the side faces look a little unusual. They consist of two closed contours on the perimeter – silver at the bottom and black at the top. These contours form a broken facet with each other – bright, but elegant.
The rear surface of Philips X800 is fully removable. Under it there is a battery compartment. Interestingly, except a black lacquered panel, there are two more in the set – grey and brown with a golden hue, the latter is made of nice soft-touch plastic.
The main control unit, located below the display, is presented with two buttons that are responsible for the reception, the cancellation of the conversation, and power on / off.

The absence of traditional (even for normal phones) joystick or a cursor block affects the administration not in the best way, because there are situations when controlling the device using the touch screen is simply inconvenient.
Additional buttons are located on the sides. On the right are the double volume keys, as well as a round button activating the camera. And on the left is a sliding button which locks the phone that is simply necessary for a sensor model.
The new model is connected to computers via the miniUSB, located at the lower end. And stereo equipment is also connected through it, alas, there is no other exit. In one of the bottom corners is the habitat of the telescopic stylus. Surprisingly, the stylus of the X800 was much better than in most communicators.
The large diameter of the metal body is sufficiently long, edge lines are from high-quality plastic – all this allows working with comfort, the importance of which many manufacturers do not often consider.
If, however, to describe the appearance of Philips X800 in two words, we can say this: it looks simple, but elegant and with style. Perhaps, this is just how a classic and not the cheapest communicator is supposed to look like.

It must be noted that in the box with the X800 you will find many interesting things. First, we have listed the additional removable panels. Secondly, in the set there is a special napkin for wiping the display. And to avoid scratches on the display, the manufacturer suggests gluing on it the protective brand film, which also does not have to be bought extra. A MicroSD memory card of 1 GB is also available in the set. Well, in addition, the unit is supplied with a standard set consisting of a power adapter, interface cable miniUSB-USB, plain stereo, CD with programs and utilities, and operating instructions. The only thing one can wish is an extra stylus in case of the loss of the first.

Display
The sensory TFT-screen of Philips X800 is much larger than in most phones – here we have a diagonal of 2.8 inches and a resolution of 240 x 400 pixels. As to the indicators of the brightness, clarity and proper angles, you can call them without reservations as one of the best.
There are screen settings, therefore everything is in order.
Yes and no color problems, either – the picture looks bright, juicy, almost alive. Viewing photos on the X800 is becoming a very pleasant pastime.
And to ensure an easy management with fingers rather than stylus, the display is placed on a level with the shell and covered with a protective cover. To the sensitivity of the sensor substrate it is also difficult to present any claim.

Communications
Judging by communication opportunities the X800 is a classic GSM-device that works in range of 900/1800/1900 MHz. Data transfer is carried out through GPRS, and through faster EDGE. Connecting to other devices is carried out via Bluetooth. The phone keeps connection beautifully – no reprimands. But it is connected to the computer via classic USB 1.1, so the data transfer rate is low – about 0,5-1,0 MB / sec.

Camera
Philips X800 is not an expensive device, so its built-in 2-MP camera shines with no decent functionality. The only advantage is its autofocus, but it does not work as one would wish either – too slow to bring on and often wrong. The supplement to the camera control is executed without sophistications. The most important thing is that all of it is adapted to the administration of a finger.
Settings are few, but in this case it is not so important, because images are obtained with noise, with problems in color transfer and are not sharp, although the maximum resolution is decent – 1600 x 1200.
Below you can see the test images by the camera of X800. You can see that the quality is far from ideal.

Time of autonomous work
Unlike the camera, the manufacturer has paid much more attention to the choice of the battery – Li-Ion battery of a capacity of 1250 mAh is rather infrequent in other phones.
Perhaps this choice is due to the decent diagonal display, which requires considerable energy expenditure. The time of autonomous work is 20 minutes of day talking, watching the address book and tapes of news websites via GPRS took a whole week! According to this index it is extremely difficult to find competitors to X800 in the Russian market of mobile communications.

The main menu is made in the form of a matrix of 3×4 icons.
The manufacturer did not make the design elements variegated and bright, but was confined to only two or three colors and their shades. Nevertheless, the icons and fonts look good and stylish, and they are worked out in detail. In addition, the main menu icons, and text sub-strings are made quite large, so that navigation with the finger is no trouble.

It is impossible not to mention the scrupulous execution of the menu, common to all interface colors and style, as well as very high functionality. The interface does not pull up – all the switching and transitions between menu items are implemented promptly. The reproduction of animation also presents no special difficulties for the new model.
The phonebook of X800 is not worse and not better than in other modern devices. Typing names in the book (as well as text messages) is easier after all with the stylus – the letters of the virtual keyboard are not large enough.
For each recipient, you can enter four numbers, assign a ringtone, and set an image. In addition, contacts can be divided into several groups with individual calls.
The work with office tools (notes, alarm clock, stopwatch, world time, currency converters and values) is satisfactory. It is here that the stylus is indispensable. But a «reader» of e-books is not found in every phone. It is especially pleasing that this utility even has a number of settings, such as a choice of font size and scroll speed.
It would be better, if it could read other formats of electronic books as well, besides the simple TXT, and worked more correctly with the Cyrillic.

Even more rarely phones are able to view office files in formats such as doc, xls, ppt, pdf, html. The X800 copes with this easily.
The built-in recorder amazed with its elective sensitivity – the recorded voice was clear, without noise and other artifacts.
Multimedia features in the new model are presented in the form of a conveniently manageable MP3-player, working in background mode, and an FM-radio.
Unfortunately, the playback volume is low, so in the streets, subways and in other transport, almost nothing is heard. To say anything specific as to the quality of the sound is difficult: too low volume, for example, and almost no noticeable bass. Apparently, music, alas, is not the strongest point of the X800.
Preinstalled games on the phone are just two.
But because the X800 is supported by Java MIDP 2.0, the installation of additional software will cause no trouble. The only thing that the attention of the user should be drawn to, is the absence of a navigation key in the device, without which it is simply impossible to play most games.

Conclusions
Philips X800 is not expensive. For that money the user gets a stylish phone in a form-factor of communicator with an excellent touch screen and with an interface designed specifically for finger control. In addition, the new model is specified with an unprecedented long time of autonomous work, and a good set. Of course, the “weak” camera and the absence of a button block of cursor regulation are the indisputable bad sides of the X800, but the rich functionality of the built-in software brings the phone close to the family of smart phone- communicators, which are at least twice as expensive.
Philips will be a good purchase, if you want to get a sensory control and a big screen, but do not want to spend considerable funds for the purchase of a communicator, or you do not need all its capabilities.