Archive for 2009

HTC Touch 3G Revisited

Daniel reviewed the HTC Touch 3G back in February and had a lot of positive things to say about the phone. In fact, HTC phones seem to have a pretty good reputation and are becoming more and more popular these days.

The HTC Touch 3G – Exclusive to Orange

This review is being approached from a different angle as I’ve actually never used an HTC phone before or a Windows mobile OS. So, I’m going to give you my impressions and opinions of the Touch 3G from a first time user perspective.

Orange have kindly provided us with the handset that I am reviewing. The Touch 3G is exclusive to Orange and they offer this on both their Personal and Business plans.

For detailed specifications of the phone you can check out Matt’s unboxing video or Daniel’s review.

Highlights:

• Compact and minimalist design
• Easy to use
• WIFI
• TouchFLO interface

Lowlights:

• Portrait screen – no Landscape setting except for when viewing pictures
• Fixed focus camera
• No camera light/flash

Review

I was really taken with the look of the Touch 3G. It has a minimalist design with only the call/hang up buttons and a D pad. The generously sized 2.8″ LCD screen doesn’t take away from the compact feel to the phone. The screen is completely flush with the rest of the phone which adds to the high quality look of the phone. It’s quite light for being such a high spec gadget yet still feels robust enough that it would stand up to constant use.

You can see from the photos on Daniel’s review the locations of the buttons and USB socket on the sides of the phone. Again, the minimalist design is followed here.

The Touch 3G is available in four different colours which you can see here.

OK – I think you get the point that I really like the look of the phone! Moving on, I was nicely surprised at the quality of the display with its QVGA resolution (320×240 pixels). Very clear and sharp.

As it was my first time really using a Windows Mobile device I was confused at what to do next! But it took all of about 5 seconds to figure out the ‘Start’ button (.obviously! Because it’s a Windows OS). All of the features of the phone can be accessed through this but there is also a quick menu bar along the bottom (or on the left side of the screen depending on which ‘homescreen’ you choose) of the screen which is very useful for all the applications or features used frequently. You can see this on the picture below. You can also add/remove the applications of the quick menu bar to suit your needs.

HTC Touch 3G screen view

Looking into the basics of the Touch 3G – making a call is simple and the sound quality is good. But the reason I really wanted to mention making calls on the phone are the on screen options provided. Once you have chosen the number to call and start calling you are then presented with the options to mute, place on hold, speaker phone, take a note, enter your contacts list and also add a call (for conference calls). I’m not saying that this is only available on the Touch 3G but remember – this is the first HTC phone I have tried!

Not all of the call features I have mentioned will be useful for people using the phone for personal use (e.g. add a call or hold) but will be great for business users. As I mentioned before, Orange are offering the phone on both personal and business plans. You will find the same call options on many phones but they aren’t always as easy to access without fiddling through menus.

HTC’s TouchFLO technology is great to use. Scrolling though menus has been made easy because of this and there’s no real need to use the stylus.

WIFI is available on the Touch 3G which is one of the upgrades from previous versions of the Touch. From going through the Start menu, settings and then the connections it is very easy to set up any WIFI connections. There is also 3G support of course (did the name give that away?!). For web browsing the default browser provided is Opera version 9.5 and there is also Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7.

Unfortunately there’s nothing to really write home about on the web browsing side of things. It’s not bad though. It’s fast enough, but some improvements could be made to make the experience better. Such as, the option to view in landscape mode. As far as I’m aware, only pictures and video can be viewed in landscape mode.

I find messaging on the phone great to use. The whole Windows Mobile layout of previous messages shown as ‘Conversations’ was a bit strange to me at first but I easily got used to it. I’m not keen on touch screen QWERTY keyboards but there is the option to use one. I would recommend using the stylus for this though as it’s pretty small. Especially as you can only use it in portrait mode. But don’t let this put you off! There are also other input methods to choose from such as a compact QWERTY, letter recogniser and a few others. But of course, for those like me who are used to the Symbian OS, the phone style input is also available. It’s also large enough on the screen to be able to text away without the use of the stylus.

Email support for POP3/IMAP and Microsoft’s Direct Push for Exchange server email is provided on the phone and is easy to set-up and use. There is also GPS built in on the phone which can be used in conjunction with the preinstalled Orange Maps. Mind you, after seeing that the GPS has correctly located where you are on map and you’ve had a look at a few places you know, the novelty wears off quite quickly! But, you can make the GPS more useful to you by purchasing satellite navigation software which Orange offers.

I was somewhat disappointed with the camera on the Touch 3G. It has an 3.2mp camera which is average and on many phones you can take a decent picture with this.

HTC Touch 3G – camera view

For some reason HTC have decided to place a fixed focus camera on the handset. There is also no light or flash. And to make matters worse there doesn’t seem to be a night mode! So to sum the camera up – yes, you can take decent photo with it but just as long as you are in good lighting.

It seems the Touch 3G wasn’t designed with picture taking a main highlight but the sheer amount of applications and features makes up for this I guess.

If I went though all of the applications on the phone I would be here forever, so I leave you with one more. The music player.

The phone comes with Windows Media Player which most people will be familiar with. Easy to use and looks pretty good. There is also a standard ‘Audio Manager’ to listen to music an sort your music out with. The earphones provided with the phone are pretty standard but do the trick and also have the added benefit of volume control on them.

Daniel mentioned that the backlight stays on when playing music. This is very true, for the playing back music from the Audio Manager. Some may not like this as it will drain the battery a bit faster, but another way to look at it is that you don’t have to find the unlock button on the top every time you want to change a track. However, to save a bit of battery power you can use Windows Media Player where the backlight will dim.

Conclusion:

The HTC Touch 3G is a great looking phone which is absolutely packed with features. As I mentioned, I haven’t really used any HTC or Windows Mobile OS phones before and I found it to be pretty easy to get used to after only a short time using the phone. 

Yes, I was a bit disappointed with the camera, but to be honest I found that all of the features and applications provided would still make the phone a worthy purchase. Just a point to remember if a camera phone is what you are looking for.

One main improvement that the Touch 3G could do with is being able to use applications in landscape mode but I would still consider this phone the next time I upgrade my own.

Reviewed by: Emma

Sony Ericsson C510 Review

It seems that not a day goes by when Sony Ericsson are not announcing a new device to add to there already amazingly large, ever expanding Walkman or Cybershot range. But then you have to say with these iconic brands like this from Sony at their disposal, why not. The C510, one of the latest additions to the Sony Ericsson Cybershot range I feel looks the part, but with just a 3.2 megapixel camera can the device really compete with other mobiles and of course the much loved compact digital?

The Sony Ericsson C510

What’s in the box?

• Sony Ericsson C510 handset
• Battery
• Mains charger
• Stereo headset/handsfree
• USB cable
• Manual

Sony Ericsson C510 specification:

• Dimensions: 107 x 47 x 12.5 mm
• Weight: 92g
• Display: 240 x 320 pixel, 256K colour TFT,  2.2 inches
• Camera: 3.2 mega-pixels, Autofocus
• Smile ShutterT
• Face detection
• Network: – GSM: 900/1800/1900 (Tri-band)
• UMTS (3G), EDGE
• Music: Media player
• Album art
• BluetoothT stereo (A2DP)
• Music tones (MP3/AAC)
• Messaging: SMS, MMS, E-mail & Instant Messaging
• Memory: Phone Book: 1000 entries, up to 2500 numbers
• 100MB (internal)
• Memory Stick Micro M2 (external)
• USB support
• Geo tagging of photos (cell-id)
• Google MapsT
• FM radio with RDS
• YouTube client

General:

The C510 is a classic candy bar style device, and compared to other Cybershot camera phones, it looks and feels very small, and it can often be the case in technological products that this can be best.

Sony Ericsson C510 – front view

A clear a large display is the centre of attention on the front of the device below this are four way navigational buttons with a select key in the centre, the soft keys for shortcuts, cancel and of course the call control keys surround this and a full numerical pad with individual keys below this.

Sony Ericsson C510 – keypad view

The left of the device sees that familiar Sony Ericsson style connector which I have always felt is a little to large for devices in the walkman range however its presence is some what reassuring in the Cybershot range. Along from this is the all important M2 Card Slot with cover for storing all your photos and multimedia.

Sony Ericsson C510 – left view

The right of the C510 is home to the two way zoom control which also takes care of volume and checking your devices status (battery life etc.) The shutter button is located at the opposite end to this and as you can see that clean, attractive blue stripe continues around the entire phone.

Sony Ericsson C510 – right view

The back of a Cybershot is more often than not would be described as the business end of the phone, a separate sliding camera cover can reveal the 3.2 megapixel camera and a dual LED flash for lower light situations, that is about it for the back of the C510 other than the usual Sony Ericsson branding.

Sony Ericsson C510 – back view

Highlights:

• Small compact design
• Dual LED flash

Lowlights:

• 3.2 Megapixel Camera
• 100MB Internal Memory

Review:
The biggest compliment I can give when giving a review is to state that I would quite happily spend my own money on the product in question. Acknowledging a phone as a great piece of kit is one, thing but whether or not you would buy it is a different ball game all together. As with most consumer products you have certain models or brands that you just love and others which you well…. just don’t. Well with me mobile phones are no different. Some phones can have a fantastic spec, great quality, price, etc. but if you don’t get on with them you just don’t. I am happy to say that the C510 is not one of these and is one of the few phones I have really enjoyed using.

 
The C510 does not posses stunning or ground breaking looks, a standard candy bar device but managing to stay clean and ‘swish’ looking with the single strip of colour encasing the C510. The phone is what I would describe as practical in its appearance and it would have been easy enough for Sony Ericsson to go over the top and turn this phone into something more at home in the Tate Modern (Art Gallery) as appose to your jeans pocket. But, they managed to restrain themselves and the result is a great looking device which is surprisingly pleasant to use.

Sony Ericsson C510

The device feels light in the hand however has a clear somewhat sturdy feeling centre. If that sounds strange – basically it means you can feel the weight of the screen on this comparatively lightweight device, which may sound a very strange thing to say but it is just something on this device that did stand out. Not only is the screen heavy but it is rather large for a candy bar style device. This does leave less room for the keypad, and although they are all individual keys and are reasonably sized they do still feel a little close together, and for anyone with thumbs of a regular size may find themselves having to retype words due to what I like to call clumsy thumb syndrome which is something phones obviously want to avoid.

As you would expect it would make most sense to dedicate the most attention to the phone’s advertised purpose which, in this case is as a Cybershot digital camera, so how does the C510 compare to other Sony Ericsson Cybershot devices? Well, I am afraid on paper not well at all. In the past few months we have seen phones of 5, 8 and even 10 megapixel make their way through the doors of mobile phone manufacturers across the world, so when you see the C510 with just a 3.2 megapixel it seems that Sony Ericsson have been a little harsh in limiting the C510’s potential. It is a little like casting Tom Cruise as a sheep in the school nativity.
That said, the C510 does actually pack a fair punch when it comes to photography – that is if you don’t mind sacrificing picture quality. The reason I say this is a 3 megapixel picture is certainly substantial and clearly superior to other cameras of a similar spec mobiles but if you wish to use the somewhat limited zoom it will cost you a fair amount of picture quality as zoom is only available when the phones camera resolution is set to VGA. This is a big disappointment and one which if you are buying the C510 purely for its photography capabilities you will find it hard to overlook. The phone does however come with a Dual LED flash but with this sort of quality on the table it loses an extreme amount of purpose this again goes back to what I said a moment about it being a little cruel of Sony Ericsson to dangle carrots in front of the users face while still holding it back by with straining its features in what you could call quite key areas.

The camera comes with the usual amount of features such as burst and a number of adjustable elements such as exposure. Other features which are not so standard but certainly a welcome addition include facial recognition, and something which I have always found useful and that is Geo-Tagging. Storing your photos and videos is done via M2 card of which the phone supports up to 16GB.
Camera aside, although not a dedicated walkman device the C510 is still more than capable of catering for your music and multimedia needs and it features playback of the expected formats. The phone also features album art which provides your musical collection with that creative touch. Transferring music music from Pc to phone is simple as always with the included cables and software and playback sounds great through headphones however is a little questionable through the phones speakers.

The C510 is a little short of solid dedicated features, but then again it is a phone aimed more at the amateur photography, music loving youngster rather the jet setting suited businessmen. Navigating through the extremely familiar bordering on boring Sony Ericsson menu is made a little better on the C510 as the screen is absolutely one of the best I have seen. Spec wise it looks nothing special but when you see the display for yourself it looks bright and crystal clear. This combined with the inbuilt accelerometer make things such as viewing photos or using YouTube through the YouTube client that much better when compared to previous Sony Ericssons and other mobile phones of a similar spec. The usual fun applications such as photo and music DJ and track ID are present and the usual selection of games to while away the hours on those bus and train journeys. The device also features an FM radio.

Connectivity-wise the ‘standard’ features such as Bluetooth and USB connectivity are included on the C510 and something which came as a little bit of a surprise to me is the addition of Google maps support and, as I mentioned earlier, the YouTube client which is handy for quick and easy access to your favourite videos. I had a few little problems with lag while quickly navigating through the menus but nothing that didn’t sort itself out within a few seconds and therefore was nothing that really affected day to day use.

The phone’s sound quality is great when in a call or using speakerphone and I am pleased to conclude that I found no problems with muffling or change in volume etc. during a call. Battery life is quoted at 400 hours stand-by and a massive 10 hours talk time which is fantastic but I am sure you are aware this is likely to be reduced significantly if using the phone for heavy photography. I was personally extremely impressed with the battery life of the C510 and only had to charge the phone once in the entire time I used it.

Conclusion:
The Sony Ericsson is a combination of both massive potential and mild disappointment. The lack of real power in the camera department is – if I’m honest – a let down considering this is advertised as a Cybershot device. However, it does make up for it in the multimedia department with crystal clear video playback and shortcuts to all your favourite social network sites. The Sony Ericsson C510 is the perfect phone for the budding amateur photographer with a real passion for music, which in today’s world is an awful lot of people. So, with my honest regards Sony Ericsson the best of luck with this one.

Reviewed by: Nick