Nokia Asha 200 Looks and Design

As a budgetary phone, it is not justified to expect that the phone matches up to the build quality of smartphones available in the market. Asha 200 is made entirely out of plastic and at dimensions standing at 115.4 x 61.1 x 14 mm, it is quite pocket friendly. It weighs the same as that of Asha 201 (105 grams), but is a bit lighter than Nokia C3 which weighs 114 grams. The curved backs of the phone made it quite comfortable to grip. The plastic is quite glossy which easily picks up fingerprints. The matte frame which runs around the body of the phone gives you an elegant look. There is nothing extraordinary about the design of the phone except for the fact that it comes with a rich variety of colors. The feel is generally good and overall the design of the phone is quite simple and clean.

Nokia Asha 200 Mobile Screen

Nokia Asha 200 is equipped with a 2.4 inches QVGA display which is surly one of the best we can expect out of a basic feature phone. The sunlight legibility is quite good and so are the contrast and viewing angles. However we believed that colors could have been better and graphics could have been smoother, but nevertheless the screen quality is quite passable. There is no way as to how one can control the brightness of the screen and hence most of our tests were carried out in 100% brightness.

Below the display you will find the navigation deck along with a D-pad and other usual soft keys, call buttons, SIM management and messaging. The size of the D-Pad is quite reasonable and it is very responsive too. On the right side of the display you get a microSD slot and a secondary SIM compartment and both of them are hot-swappable. We were a bit disappointed to find that there is no dedicated volume control button and hence you have to use D-pad during calls.

Nokia Asha 200 Features

Apps and Games

Asha 200 features certain pre-installed games and applications. One of the most noteworthy games which you will find in Asha 200 is Asphalt 3 Elite Raching. Some of the in-built apps are:-

• Calculator
• Voice Recorder
• Alarm Clock
• Notes App
• Calendar
• Stopwatch

Users can download some of the applications from the Nokia Store.

Nokia Asha 200 Features

Software, UI and Phonebook

The phone runs on S40 platform and has the basic hardware inputs. Some of the UI elements have been reduced and the icons have been reworked in a manner which gives them the appearance of Symbian Anna. This is quite refreshing when compared to devices like Nokia C3.

One can also rearrange the icons in the manner which they like. However we were quite disappointed to find that the phone does not support multi-tasking. The phonebook of Asha 200 can store up to 2000 contacts which is fairly decent. One can set the phonebook to display contact either from the phone memory, SIM or both. It is quite easy to add a contact and each contact is assigned several fields.

Keyboard

The phone features a four row QWERTY keyboard which is alienated by a navigation deck. The keys were quite large and the comfortable convex button offered great response and reasonable typing speeds. The keyboard is backlit in nature which is quite sharp.

Dual-SIM Support

Dual-SIM support is another key feature of Asha 200. The phone also features SIM hot-swapping for the second SIM card which is located on the side of the phone. This allows users to change SIM cards and when you make a call you need to select as to which SIM you should use.

Specs

Here are some of the technical specs of Asha 200

• Dimensions: 115.4 x 61.1 x 14 mm
• Weight: 105 grams
• Internal Memory: 10 MB, 64 MB ROM, 32 MB RAM
• Card Slot: MicroSD up to 32GB
• Messaging: SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, IM
• Java: Yes, MIDP 2.1

Nokia Asha 200 Camera Quality

Asha 200 is equipped with a 2MP camera which clicks photos of resolution 1600×1200 pixels (maximum). The camera interface is updated. The image quality of Asha is 200 is not that great.  The colors looked dull and they failed to produce enough details. The camera also lacks advanced features and LED flash which made it very difficult to click photos in dim light.

Nokia Asha 200 Video Quality

The phone captures QCIF videos at 10 fps which is awful. The videos lacked the amount of details and the colors are also not that great. The videos are good for MMS only.

Nokia Asha 200 Connectivity

Nokia Asha 200 offers basic connectivity features. It supports 2G network but there is no support for 3G or Wi-Fi. Of course there is Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP. The phone uses a microUSB port for data connections as well as charging. There is also a standard 3.5mm audio jack which allows you to enjoy music using headphones. The phone also supports GPRS and EDGE. The browser performs well and it loaded pages quite fast.

Nokia Asha 200 Multimedia

The music player of Asha 200 is quite simple and the playing screen is quite simple. It simply displays the name of the artist, songs, rewind, forward etc. The phone is also equipped with an FM radio with RDS which scans the area and looks for the available stations. The video player is quite basic and the video playback was not that great.

Nokia Asha 200 Retail Box and Accessories

Asha 200 is equipped with pretty basic stuff. While unboxing the phone, we found it to be equipped with the following stuffs:-

• Nokia Charger
• Single piece headset
• User Manual

We were disappointed to find that there is no USB cable or microSD card inside the box. Some of the compatible accessories with the phone are Nokia Soft cover and Battery BL-5J.

Nokia Asha 200 Battery Life

The phone is equipped with a standard BL-5J battery which gives a talk time of approximately 7 hours.

Nokia Asha 200 Launch and Colors

The phone launched in December 2011 is available in variety of colors such as Graphite, Green, Blue, Light Pink, Orange, Pink, Pearl White etc.

Nokia Asha 200 Price

Asha 200 price in India is approximately Rs 4000.

Asha 200 is an entry level phone which offers decent features. If you are a Nokia lover looking for a budgetary phone then you can surly try out Asha 200.

Nokia Lumia 710 Looks and Feel

For its price, Lumia 710 is a well-built and attractive handset. The tapered corners at steep angles lends a good look to the phone and a soft touch polycarbonate back helped provided a good grip on the phone. The phone is made entirely out of plastic, but it has been put together extremely well. Lumia 710 bears some resemblance to Nokia C7 and at dimensions standing at 119 x 62.4 x 12.5 mm, it is very much pocket friendly.

Lumia 710 (125 grams) is heavier than Samsung Galaxy SII (116 grams), but is lighter than HTC Radar (137 grams). Smartphones from Nokia have always been good to handle and Lumia 710 is no omission. The matte plastic cover on the back of the phone prevents it from accidental drops and one can easily operate the phone with one hand. The design of the phone is quite simple, but will appeal to customers. On the right, you will find the narrow volume rocker and dedicated camera button while on the top lies the microUSB port and the headphone jack along with the power button.

Nokia Lumia 710 Screen

Lumia 710 sports a clearblack LCD screen of WVGA resolution. In order to keep the price down, Nokia has packed Lumia 710 with an LCD screen instead of an AMOLED one as found in Samsung Galaxy SII. The display of the phone is as good as found on a Windows phone. The contrast and the viewing angles are better than typical LCDs, but it falls short of the standard set by AMOLED screens.

There was a bit of yellowing tint when the screen was viewed at an angle. The screen showed impressive contrast ratios and we enjoyed watching Youtube videos and movie trailers on the screen. Beneath the screen lies the three typical Windows Phone buttons while above the screen you get the ambient light and proximity sensors. You will not find any front facing camera in Lumia 710.

Nokia Lumia 710 Keyboard

Lumia 710 smartphone is equipped with a standard Windows Phone keyboard which was quite comfortable to use in portrait mode. Just like in other windows phones, we were able to type quickly and accurately. But it was a bit disappointing to note that the keyboard did not take full advantage of the width of the display in portrait mode. The keypad also lacked haptic feedback which might be missed by some users.

Nokia Lumia 710 Features

Because of stringent hardware requirements for Windows Phone, the smartphone is equipped with a 1.4GHz Scorpion processor and 512 MB of RAM. It offers a massive 8GB of internal memory. But there is no option to expand the memory. The interface of Lumia 710 is similar to that of Lumia 800 and just like most Windows Phone, Lumia 710 runs on Windows 7.5 (Mango). The intuitive Live Tile Interface continued to impress us and thanks to the OS, multi-tasking is made quite easy. The 1.4 GHz Scorpion processor performs quite well and it is quite capable of handling tasks thrown at it.

Apps

There are some pre-installed Microsoft apps in Lumia 710 such as Mobile Office, Explorer Mobile, Zune Music. Some of the other applications found in Lumia 710 are

• ESPNScoreCenter app
• Nokia Drive
• Nokia App Highlights
• Weather Channel App
• Netflix
• TeleNav GPS
• Slacker Radio
• T-Mobile My Account

Nokia Lumia 710 Camera Quality

Lumia 710 is equipped with a 5MP camera which clicks photos of maximum resolution measuring 2592×1944 pixels. The camera is equipped with an LED flash and its interface is very simple. The camera does pretty well for a 5MP snapper and noises are quite low. The colors are quite accurate and the camera app offers a wide range of settings ranging from white balance, contrast, sharpness etc.

Nokia Lumia 710 Video

Lumia 710 is capable of recording 720p HD video but the quality is not that great. The video playback was however quite smooth but it lacked the details required. Lumia 710 does not feature a front facing camera and hence there is no question of carrying out video chats.

Nokia Lumia 710 Connectivity

Connectivity is a breeze with Lumia 710. Users get quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support along with 3G with HSPA. For local connectivity you have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 and computer sync is possible with desktop Zune application. Connectivity is also enhanced by the presence of a 3.5mm audio jack and a microUSB 2.0 cable.

Wi-Fi Hotspot and NFC

Lumia 710 acts as a Wi-Fi hotspot and you can share data connection with other devices. There is no NFC support for Lumia 710.

Web Browsing

Our web browsing experience with Lumia 710 was quite good and when connected to T-Mobile HSPA+ network we received nice browsing speeds. But it was a bit slow as compared to Verizon and AT&T’s 4G LTE network. The phone downloaded website in a little over 4 seconds and most of the users will find web browsing quite enriching.

Nokia Lumia 710 Call Quality

We obtained mixed results regarding call quality of Lumia 710. While we called on a landline number than users said that they could not hear us properly but calling on cell phones gave us better results with clear and loud audio delivered on both sides.

Nokia Lumia 710 Box Contents

During unboxing Lumia 710, we found the phone to be stuffed with the following stuffs:

• Nokia Lumia 710
• Charger
• MicroUSB cable
• Ear phone
• User Manual

Download Lumia 710 user manual

Nokia Lumia 710 Battery Life

Lumia 710 is equipped with a 1300mAH battery which lasted for about 8 hours. This was achieved after we carried out social networking and emails. But if you carry more demanding apps such as Slacker Radio or Xbox Live game then the battery will last for approximately 6 hours.

Nokia Lumia 710 Price

On contract price of Lumia 710 in the USA is approximately $ 49.99 while price of the phone in India is approximately Rs 18000.

Lumia 710 is one of the best priced smartphones you will find in the market. The UI is quite good and the overall functioning of the phone is snappy. However, the biggest challenge of Lumia 710 is that there are better Windows Phone available in the market such as HTC Radar 4G which offers better sound and camera. If you are looking forward to change from a smartphone to feature phone, then Lumia 710 is a great option for you.

HTC Vivid Looks And Design

Expect for the 4.5 inch display, the front of the phone shows a squarish design with four-capacitive buttons at bottom. The build quality of the phone is quite solid and the phone is dressed in glossy plastic. Because of the glossy plastic, the phone is easily subjected to dusts and fingerprints. HTC has used high quality materials in designing the phone and at dimensions measuring at 128.8×67.1×11.2 mm the phone cannot be called to be compact device. It is quite heavy too weighing a massive 177 grams. It is way too heavy as compared to Samsung Galaxy S2 which weighs a mere 116 grams. The finish is quite shiny and glossy and is quite comfortable to grip thanks to the matte black metal cover with tiny dots to give a nice texture. The non-slippery feel is a huge plus for us.

HTC Vivid Display

Vivid’s 4.5 inch qHD super LCD screen lives up to its name. Colors and text were quite sharp and vibrant and we were easily able to read the texts. However, the screen does have some issues with viewing angles and sunlight legibility. We were more impressed with Galaxy S II’s super AMOLED Plus screen and the 3.5 inch Retina display of iPhone 4S. Below the screen you get the four touch sensitive buttons while above the display you get the earpiece, ambient light and proximity sensors along with LED notification light.

HTC Vivid Keyboard

HTC Vivid is equipped with a virtual QWERTY keyboard. Because of the massive display, the keys of Vivid are quite spacious, both in landscape and portrait mode and we liked the gentle haptic feedback of the keys. However, if you are not satisfied with the keyboard, then you can always looks for more options in the Android market.

HTC Vivid Specs

Here are some of the technical aspects of HTC Vivid AT&T:

• Dimensions: 128.8 x 67.1 x 11.2 mm
• Weight: 176.9 grams
• Chipset: Qualcomm APQ8060 Snapdragon
• CPU: Dual-Core 1.2 GHz Scorpion
• Browser: WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, Adobe Flash
• Java: Yes, via Java MIDP Emulator

Click here for complete HTC Vivid Specifications

HTC Vivid Features

Vivid runs on Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread and uses HTC Sense 3.0 interface. The HTC Sense 3.0 adds a number of nice features, the best being the lock screen. From the lock screen we could directly jump to the phone, camera and the messages. There are a total of seven home screens and a clock along with weather widget sits on the first screens. The 1.2GHz dual core processor along with 1GB of RAM gives Vivid enough power to handle everything thrown at it and we did not face any problems in switching from home-screen to playing games. With a staggering 16GB of internal memory, you can store a large amount of data, videos and contacts.

HTC Vivid Apps

Vivid is equipped with several applications and utilities. Among the HTC apps you get HTC Movies, HTC Watch, HTC Likes and HTC Hub. Among third party apps, you get Adobe Reader, Facebook, Twitter, Polaris Office, YPmobile, QikLite etc. AT&T too has equipped the phone with various applications such as Code Scanner, Navigator, U-Verse Live TV etc.

HTC Vivid Email

The phone is equipped with a couple of email applications namely Gmail app and HTC email application. Batch operations are sustained by the Gmail app which allows several mails to be archived or deleted. HTC email app is capable of handling several accounts and is very easy to set up.

HTC Vivid Camera Quality

The phone is equipped with a 8MP camera which clicks pictures measuring 3264×2448 pixels. The camera is equipped with dual LED flash and thanks to the wide aperture lens, performance in the low light is improved to a great extent. The interface of the camera is very efficient. The camera clicks high quality photos and the photos captured presented a good amount of details. The noise levels were quite low and the photos are very much at par with LG Nitro HD. HTC Vivid is also equipped with a 1.3MP front facing camera. This camera is great during video conferencing.

HTC Vivid Video

The camera is capable of recording full HD videos. The videos are shot in 3gp and we were quite happy with the quality of videos. The frame rates were less than 30fps, hovering around 27fps. Though the colors are a bit on the dull side, yet the videos were quite crisp.

HTC Vivid Connectivity

Connectivity is great with HTC Vivid. You get quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and tri-band 3G. Connectivity is further enhanced by the LTE network capability. For local wireless connectivity you have Wi-Fi b/g/n along with full support for DLNA. You can connect the phone through various ways to a PC. HTC Portable Hotspot supports 8 devices and through the microUSB port you can output HD video over a standard HDMI connection. Web browsing is a great experience on Vivid and the browser supports double tap zooming and text reflow which makes it easier for us to read large texts. Thanks to the full flash support Youtube videos up to 720p played smoothly on Vivid.

HTC Vivid Multimedia And Music

The music and the video player is capable of playing videos and audio of various formats. The video player is compatible with DivX videos and the video files can be shared over MMS, email, Youtube or Facebook. The standard music library is also good and the SRS sound enhancement boosts your listening experience. The phone also has a FM radio which has a simple interface. But we were a bit annoyed to note that the radio takes some time to start and stop.

HTC Vivid Accessories

When we unlocked HTC Vivid we found the phone to have the following accessories

• HTC Vivid LTE
• MicroUSB Cable
• Charger
• User Manual

Download HTC User Manual

We were highly disappointed to find that the package did not contain a pair of headsets.

HTC Vivid Price And Launch

The phone was launched sometimes in November 2011. On contract price of HTC Vivid in the USA is approximately $ 200. Vivid price in India is approximately Rs 10,000.

HTC Vivid gives a lot for your money. It is fast thanks to AT&T’s 4G LTE network with a fairly robust processor. If you are looking to join the 4G bandwagon then you can look forward to HTC Vivid.

HTC Explorer Looks And Design

The outer shell of Explorer is made up of pattered plastic which gives it a rubbery feel. There is a plate of brushed metal at the center of the rear back and it gives the phone a durable feel. The phone is quite compact measuring just 102.8 x 57.2 x 12.9 mm. It is quite light too weighing just 108 grams. It is made entirely out of plastic and its rounded edges provide a good grip. The rubberized back of the phone makes it pleasant to hold. Most of HTC’s phones are nice to grip and have a good feel and Explorer is no different.

HTC Explorer Screen

The phone is equipped with a 3.2 inches LCD display with HVGA resolution. The screen is capable of displaying colors of resolution measuring 320×480 pixels. The display is not the sharpest one you will find in the market. The display is fairly bright though colors appeared to be a little dull. The capacitive touchscreen is quite responsive and it responded to our gentlest of touches. Contrast is quite good and the viewing angles are also quite impressive. On the left side of the display you get three microUSB ports, while on the right side you get a volume rocker button. On the top of the display you get the standard 3.5mm audio jack.

HTC Explorer Features

The phone runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread and an upped version of HTC Sense 3.5. The new sense UI has the option to quickly access four functions which you want from the lock screen. The phonebook of the device is rich in features which is quite good for social networking features. It has a couple of email clients – a traditional Gmail application and a generic HTC mail app. Both these apps merge all the email accounts into a single inbox. The phone offers an internal memory storage space of 90MB which can be increased to 32GB.

HTC Explorer Apps

There are few inbuilt-apps in the phone such as

• Angry Birds
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Youtube
• Google Search
• Maps
• Gmail
• Picasa Integration

Users can download their favorite applications from the Android market.

HTC Explorer Keyboard

The phone is equipped with a virtual QWERTY keypad. We found the keys to be bit small and pretty much cramped. In both landscape and portrait mode, we found the keys to be small. The small keys meant that typing messages and emails was a bit difficult. After you get used to the keyboard, we feel that you will not have much trouble in typing messages and mails.

HTC Explorer Camera Quality

The phone is equipped with a 3.15MP fixed focus camera which clicks pictures of resolution measuring 2048×1536 pixels. Here is where HTC Wildfire S scores over Explorer which has a 5MP camera. We were quite disappointed to find that the camera lacks flash. This means that clicking pictures in the dark is a huge problem. The camera interface is very efficient. The camera is equipped with geo-tagging and face detection. The images captured with Explorer are quite decent and offered nice details. The contrast is fine and the colors are good for a 3 MP snapper. We were also disappointed to note that the camera makes a lot of noise. There is no front facing camera in HTC Explorer mobile phone.

HTC Explorer Video Quality

Explorer records VGA video which are pretty disappointing. The interface of the camcoder is very much the same as that of the camera. The videos are shot in .MP4 format at 19 frames per second and hence they appear quite choppy. Even for a VGA shooter, the quality of videos is very much disappointing. We feel that the videos are good for posting on Facebook.

HTC Explorer Connectivity

Explorer has great connectivity options in a tiny package. You get quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE along with fast 3G. Local connectivity is enhanced by the presence of Wi-Fi b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0. There are various options of connecting the phone to your PC. The HTC Portable Hotspot can support up to 8 devices. Connectivity is also consolidated by a 3.5 mm audio jack and microUSB 2.0. Explorer is equipped with the latest Android 2.3 Gingerbread browser. Web pages loaded were fairly quick. However, one problem which you might face while browsing is that because of the small size of the screen, you may face reading the texts.

HTC Explorer Multimedia

The phone is equipped with an FM radio with RDS. The audio and video players of the phone support a large array of audio and video formats. The phone is also capable of playing majority of movie file formats such as XviD, MP4, H.264, WMV and H.263.

HTC Explorer Call Quality

Call quality is very good with Explorer. In our test, our listeners said that they were able to hear us very clearly and we too did not face much problem while listening. However, there were few occasions when we experienced a drop in call, but those were areas where network signals were pretty weak.

HTC Explorer Accessories

During HTC Explorer unboxing, we found the phone to be equipped with the following accessories

• HTC Explorer
• MicroUSB Cable
• Charger
• User Manual

We were quite disappointed to find that the phone lacks a dedicated pair of headsets. Today, even the most basic of phones do have headsets.

Download HTC Explorer user manual.

HTC Explorer Colors

The phone is available in various colors such as

• Active Black
• Mettalic Black
• Mettalic Navy
• Active Navy

HTC Explorer Battery Life

Explorer is equipped with a standard Li-Ion battery which offers a talk time of approximately 7 hours.

HTC Explorer Launch Date

The phone has been released sometimes in September 2011.

HTC Explorer Price

HTC Explorer price in USA is approximately $ 230 while price of the phone in India is approximately Rs 12,000.

HTC Explorer is a pretty nice choice for first time Android users. The phone is quite good for watching SD videos and playing some Android 3D games. The phone faces some tough competition from Wildfire S and LG Optimus One P 500. However, if you are looking for a smartphone with decent features, then you can bet upon HTC Explorer.

HTC Titan Looks And Design

The first thing which you will notice about the phone is its gigantic size. Titan measures 131.5 x 70.7 x 9.9 mm and weighs a hefty 160 grams. So actually, when you put the phone in your pocket you are sure to feel its presence felt. The study metal casing and the clean appearance of the phone makes it look elegant and HTC has packed quite a great deal in the chassis of the phone to keep it fairly flat. The phone looks very much the same as that Of Samsung Galaxy S2 and the premium build quality of the phone gives it a wonderful feel when touched. HTC has cleverly used the space around the display which makes the phone reasonably comfortable to handle. Overall we were quite impressed by the looks and design of Titan.

HTC Titan Display

One of the great features of Titan is its massive screen size. The 4.7 inches S-LCD capacitive touchscreen display 16M colors of resolution measuring 480×800 pixels. The images appeared were quite crisp and thanks to the massive screen size, we were able to easily able to browse and read text. Contrast and brightness were also quite good and the wide viewing angles ensured that a couple of persons could very easily read and watch videos. At the same time the screen was able to maintain its visibility outdoors and we were easily able to read the screen contents in direct sunlight. On the right side of the screen, you will find the volume rocker button and below the screen you will find the camera shutter button. We were pretty much impressed by the screen performance of Titan.

HTC Titan Features

HTC Titan runs on Microsoft Windows Phone 7.5 Mango and the UI is quite eye catching thanks to the integration of social networking sites and multi-tasking elements and dynamic live tiles. Because of the large display, messaging experience is quite good on the phone. The phone offers robust internal storage of 16GB which allows you to store a large amount of contacts, photos and videos. There are also several in-built applications such as

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Youtube
• Document Viewer/editor

The 1.5GHz scorpion processor performs pretty well and helps in carrying out most of the tasks pretty smoothly.

HTC Titan Keyboard

One can input text with the help of default QWERTY keyboard, the layout of which is very much similar to that of other Windows powered phone. The keyboard is very comfortable to use and offers good sound feedback though it lacks haptic vibration feedback. Thanks to the massive size of the screen, the keyboard is quite comfortable to use as the keys are well laid out and have enough space in between them.

HTC Titan Specs

Let us take a look at some of the technical specifications of HTC Titan

• Dimensions: 131.5 x 70.7 x 9.9 mm
• Size: 160 grams
• Screen Size: 4.7 inches
• Internal Memory: 16GB
• OS: Microsoft Windows Phone 7.5 Mango
• Processor: 1.5GHz Scorpion

HTC Titan Camera

Titan is equipped with a 8MP autofocus camera which clicks picture of 3264×2448 pixel resolution. Titan also has a 1.3 MP front facing camera which is great for video calling. The UI of the camera is quite simple and its performance is enhanced by a 28mm wide angle F2.2 lens accompanied by a BSI sensor. The camera also features a dual LED flash which facilitates photography in the dark. The colors produced are quite decent and it captures good amount of details.

HTC Titan Video

The phone is capable of recording 720p HD videos which is pretty good and the video camera interface is very much identical to the still camera and it too has plenty of features. However, we felt that the videos failed to capture enough details.

HTC Titan Connectivity

The phone offers a great set of connectivity options with support both 2G as well as 3G. There is also support for GPRS and EDGE and local connectivity is enhanced with the presence of Bluetooth 2.1 and Wi-Fi 802.11/b/g/n. One also gets a 3.5mm audio jack and microUSB 2.0. The web browsing experience is also quite smooth thanks to the fast HSPA+ speed. Connectivity is also consolidated by the presence of mobile hotspot.

HTC Titan Multimedia

We were quite impressed by the Zune experience while playing music and the dolby and SRS sound enhancement further. Watching Youtube and movies on the phone is a delight and in our video test we were able to play DiVX videos of resolution 1920×1080 pixels. The playback was quite smooth and it was accompanied by very rich visuals.

HTC Titan Battery Life

Titan is shipped with a 1600mAh battery which performs quite well and gives a talk time of around 410 minutes. However, since battery life depends upon so many factors yet battery life of the phone will depend upon where you are and what you are using.

HTC Titan Accessories

During HTC Titan unboxing, we found it to be equipped with the following accessories

• Earphones
• USB Cable
• Charger
• User Manual

Download HTC Titan Manual

HTC Titan Launch Date

The phone has been released sometimes in October 2011.

HTC Titan Cons

Despite several advantages, HTC Titan also suffers from certain disadvantages. Some of the major disadvantages of the phone are as follows:

• No expansion slot for memory
• Lack of native video calls
• No mass storage

HTC Titan Price

HTC Titan price in the USA is approximately $ 500 while HTC Titan price in India is not yet known.

With the limited number of second generation Windows phones available in the market, HTC Titan has a great chance to be of the top selling Windows phone. It is undoubtedly a captivating handset with great features and if you are willing to try out Windows phone, then you can surly bet upon HTC Titan.

]]> http://www.mobilenext.net/htc-titan-review/feed/ 0 http://www.mobilenext.net/samsung-focus-flash-review/ http://www.mobilenext.net/samsung-focus-flash-review/#comments Sat, 19 Nov 2011 06:19:11 +0000 Arup Choudhury http://www.mobilenext.net/?p=14 Continue reading]]> When the Windows mobile phone platform was launched, phones running on this platform were considered to be pretty high class smartphone’s because of the serious hardware requirements by Microsoft. With a solid year under its belt and Microsoft coming out with Windows Phone 7.5 Mango in the market, several smartphones have adopted this platform and Samsung Focus Flash for AT&T belongs to this group. Last year, Samsung Focus was the best selling Window Phone 7 and in order to increase adoption of Windows Phone OS among user, Samsung Focus Flash has integrated several features in it. Apart from being cost effective, this affordable handset comes with a super AMOLED screen backed by a 1.4GHz Scorpion processor. Check out our exclusive Samsung Focus Flash review to know more about this device.

Samsung Focus Flash Case

The first thing which you will notice about this phone is its compact size. Measuring at 116x59x11 mm and weighing just 116 grams, the device is quite pocket friendly. Thanks to the rectangular curved shape of the phone, one can easily grip it. A shade of black and metal rear plate gives it an elegant look, but at the same time it picks up finger prints very quickly. The back cover of the phone is made up of metal and the rest of the materials used in construction of the device is high quality plastic. Going by the looks and design of the phone it is very difficult to say that this is a budgetary smartphone. Samsung has used premium materials in construction of the device and overall we were quite impressed by the looks and design of the phone.

Samsung Focus Flash Screen

The phone sports a 3.7 inches super AMOLED capacitive touch-screen which displays 16M colors of resolution measuring 480×800 pixels. The screen is easily one of the best in its class since it boasts of deep blacks, high contrast and great viewing angles. The colors displayed are quite saturated and watching HD Youtube videos on the phone is a real treat. Contrast was also pretty good and the screen responded to the slightest of the touches. On the right side of the screen you get the power/lock button along with the dedicated camera button while on the top of the screen you get the standard 3.5mm audio jack and a secondary microphone. The robust screen performance is one of the great features of Samsung Focus Flash.

Samsung Focus Flash Apps

One of the biggest weaknesses of Windows Phone 7 has been the limited selection of apps. Still the phone boasts of a couple of integrated apps such as

• Facebook
• Netflix
• Twitter
• Spotify
• AT&T Radio ($4.99 per month)

Samsung Focus Flash Features

One of the major USPs of Samsung Focus Flash AT&T is its software. The phone runs on new Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) OS which is packed with plenty of features.  The OS uses a dynamic Live Tiles interface on the home screen which is arranged vertically in portrait orientation.  The color theme is also very much customizable and thanks to the OS you can easily carry out multi-tasking. Another great feature of the OS is that you can control it through voice. The phone offers an internal storage of 8GB only and we were disappointed to find that there is no card slot for increasing the memory. The single core 1.4 GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 does a decent job and provides a smooth experience.

Samsung Focus Flash Keyboard

Just like other Windows Phone 7, Samsung Focus flash is equipped with a basic touch keyboard which has a clean and clear layout. We were quite impressed to find that the keyboard has @ and .com keys but because of the relatively small size of the screen, we made errors while using it. The keyboard lacks keys with secondary tasks and the other normally used symbols.

Samsung Focus Flash Camera Performance

The phone is equipped with a 5MP autofocus camera with a LED flash which clicks pictures of resolution 2592×1944 pixels. The interface of the camera is very simple and we were quite surprised to note that despite being powered by a single-core CPU, the camera is one of the fastest. We did not experience any lag while shooting and it was quite speedy to focus. However, the image quality of the camera is not that spectacular. Though colors and contrast was nice yet the images lacked fine details. The flash was quite speedy and powerful.

Samsung Focus Flash Video

The interface of the video camera is very much the same as that of still camera and the camcoder allows you to shoot videos in two resolutions – VGA and 720p. By default the videos are shot in VGA which is quite frustrating. HD videos captured in VGA resolution are not at all impressive and you need to set videos to 720p in order to enjoy detailed videos when viewed on larger screen. Unfortunately you cannot enjoy these videos through HDMI or wirelessly over DLNA.

Samsung Focus Connectivity

The phone covers all the connectivity bases. You get quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and a fast tri-band 3G with 14.4Mbps of HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps of HSUPA. Local connectivity of the device is taken care by Wi-Fi b/g/n along with DLNA support and Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP profile. Bluetooth is however pretty limited. You can sync your phone to your PC with the help of Zune app. There is also a microUSB 2.0 cable and a 3.5mm audio jack. Web surfing on the phone gave us mixed bag experience. Pinch-to-zoom was very smooth and the phone quickly rendered text and images. You get a tabbed menu which shows six different web pages which makes it easy for us to switch between them.

Samsung Focus Flash Multimedia

Samsung Focus Flash gives you access to Zune music and video service. The interfaces of the video and music players are quite simple and straight forward and you will not face any difficulty while using them. There is also an FM radio equipped with RDS. You can mark some of the stations as your favorite and the audio output was also quite clear and clean.

Samsung Focus Flash Call Quality

Call quality was quite decent and we were able to hear sounds crisp and clear. The speaker phone was quite good while making calls from large conference rooms and meeting halls.

Samsung Focus Flash Battery Life

The phone is powered by a standard Li-Ion 1500 mAh battery which gives a talk time of around 6 hours which is quite impressive.

Samsung Focus Flash Price

Samsung Focus Flash price in the USA is approximately $ 50. Price of Samsung Focus flash in India is not yet known.

Samsung Focus Flash Launch Date

The phone has been launched sometimes in November 2011.

If you are looking for experiencing smartphone for the first time, then you can surly go for Samsung Focus Flash. The interface is quite interactive and the super AMOLED display coupled with solid build makes this smartphone a good purchase.

HTC Sensation XE Looks And Feel

The dimensions of Sensation XE are exactly the same as that of original Sensation. Sensation XE dimensions measures 126.1×65.4×11.3mm and it weighs 151 grams. The cell phone is brushed with red accents to emphasize that it is a different handset than Sensation. The back of the phone is made of soft touch plastic which is separated slantways by a brushed aluminum strip. The unibody aluminum chassis gives it an elegant look. You cannot term the phone compact, but it provide a good grip thanks to the rubbery finish and the curved shape of the battery cover. Overall it is a well built phone and the styling is duly refreshed.

HTC Sensation XE Display

The phone comes with a 4.3 inches Gorilla glass protected S-LCD screen which displays 16M colors of resolution measuring 540×960 pixels. Because of the gorilla glass, the screen is protected from scratches. The screen is quite bright and provides great viewing angles with a 256ppi pixel density. The texts appear crisp and vivid. However, we felt that the viewing angles could have been improved. The Blacks are not as deep as the AMOLED ones. Below the screen you get the four capacitive keys, while the left side features microUSB port and volume rocker. Though the volume rocker is thin, it is quite comfortable to use. The top features a 3.5mm audio jack. One issue which users can face is that the back of the phone features antennas and if the covers are removed then all wireless signals are lost. The cellular antenna also suffers from death grip issues.

HTC Sensation XE Features

HTC has equipped Sensation XE with HTC Sense 3.0 UI and it integrates beautiful graphics. The new lock screen is also quite impressive and by default it has four shortcuts and ring at the bottom. The phone also has six different lock screens preinstalled. The phone is equipped with several preinstalled such as

• Google Search
• Maps
• Gmail
• Youtube
• Google Talk
• Document Viewer
• Locations
• SoundHound

Let us talk about the OS of the phone. Sensation XE is equipped with Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread) and is powered by 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S3, which is the most powerful processor, Qualcomm can supply at this moment. Users also get 768MB of RAM and 1GB of ROM for installing applications along with a 16GB card in the package. The memory can be increased to a whopping 32GB. Sensation XE has HTC’s all-knowing phonebook which has a profound social networking integration. The phone boasts of a virtual QWERTY keyboard which is great for inputting text. Text selection is quite user friendly. One can easily convert an SMS into MMS and you can easily add multimedia content to a message.

HTC Sensation XE Emails

HTC Sensation XE Gorilla glass is equipped with two email applications. One is the traditional Gmail application and the other is the generic HTC mail application which merges all the accounts into a single inbox. The HTC email app can handle multiple accounts and each account is color coded.

HTC Sensation XE Image Gallery

The HTC gallery stacks photos very much like the vanilla Android gallery. It automatically locates images and videos and they are stored in diverse folders. Sharing the photos are straight forward and you can share the photos via Bluetooth or email or post them on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. You can also upload videos on Youtube.

HTC Sensation XE Camera Quality

Sensation XE comes with a 8MP camera whose interface is very straight forward, simple and clean. The camera clicks pictures of resolution measuring 3264×2448 pixels. One can gets a dual-LED flash. You will find most of the controls on the right side along with a virtual shutter in the center. The camera is also equipped with a touch focus and face detection. There is also geo-tagging. Because of the faster processor, navigating is a fluid with Sensation XE. However, we were very disappointed by the quality of the images. Images were dull and we felt that it could have been better. The camera captures fine details though colors appears to be bit washed out. In dim light the camera performed really well and the dual-LED flash is one of the strongest one which have seen.

HTC Sensation XE Video Quality

The phone captures 1080p HD videos at the rate of 30fps. But the videos are recorded in .3GP which is not the ideal one for HD video. The phone also captures 720p videos which are quite good. We felt that the video capturing could have been made better.

HTC Sensation XE Connectivity

The phone has a complete set of connectivity options. You get quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and a fast 3G. The device offers 14.4Mbps downlink and 5.76Mbps uplinks because of HSPA. For local connectivity you get Wi-Fi b/g/n and full DLNA support. As said earlier that the phone suffers from death grip issues. When one touches the back part of the device, then the signal can be reduced to zero. The phone can be easily connected to a PC with a wide range of options such as Charge Only, Disk drive, HTC Sync and USB tethering. There is also a HTC Portable Hotspot which supports 1 to 8 devices. One also gets a MHL port through which you can output HD video over a standard HDMI connection.

HTC Sensation XE Multimedia

The music player of the phone is largely the stock of HTC Sense 3.0 and the sound quality of the phone is great thanks to the Beats Audio Mode. This has been tailor made to suit Beats audio mode which has been designed to enhance the audio quality. It boosts the low bass to the highest treble. The phone is also equipped with a good FM radio whose interface is very simple and it automatically scans the available networks. The FM radio also supports RDS.

HTC Sensation XE Accessories

During unboxing of HTC Sensation XE, we found the phone to be equipped with the following accessories:

• HTC Sensation XE Handset
• Beats Audio-in-ear headphone
• Beats Audio headphone pouch
• Wall charger
• MicroUSB cable
• User manual

Download HTC Sensation XE user manual

HTC Sensation XE Colors

The phone is available only in one color and that is black.

HTC Sensation XE Battery Life

The phone is equipped with a 1730mAh battery which gives a talk time of around 7 hours which is pretty good.

HTC Sensation XE Price

HTC Sensation XE price in the USA is approximately $ 550 while price of the phone in India is approximately Rs 30,000.

Sensation XE is a solid smartphone which gives you breathtaking audio experience. If you are an Android lover looking for a different Android experience, then you can go for HTC Sensation XE smartphone.