Sony Ericsson Live Walkman
Since it is branded as a Walkman, this phone is specifically designed for music lovers and has features that are not common on most other phones.
The Walkman phone is back in a new avatar. This time it is cool white, has a 3.2 inch WVGA screen, its Home button is in the centre, and it runs onAndroid 2.3. Though it is powered by a single core 1 GHz processor, it is still very responsive. The rear camera can do 5 megapixels—and 3D panorama and HD video (720p only) at 30 frames per second. There is also a 0.3 megapixel front-facing camera for video calls.
In this new avatar, the dedicated Walkman key is located on top, where you typically find the lock key on Android phones. As a result, I was hitting this instead of the lock key a lot. The headphones that Sony bundled with the phone earlier were not very good. The phone is now bundled with a Benetton set of headphones. It is slightly better, but to really enjoy this phone you will still need to upgrade the headset.
Since it is branded as a Walkman, this phone is specifically designed for music lovers and has features that are not common on most other phones. There is a 10 setting graphic equaliser to customise your music. Its built-in xLoud loudness enhancement engine improves the sound quality. There is also direct integration to help you look for song videos on YouTube, search for artiste information on Wikipedia, look for lyrics on Google, and also pick out karaoke videos of that song on YouTube.
On the hardware front, its GPS is pretty accurate and locks on to the appropiate satellites without much delay. A few of the GPS applications did tend to hang up when there was an incoming call. But this could be an application-specific bug.
The user interface is also clever and lets you access messages, media, your phone and phonebook quickly.
While Sony says the battery runs for 14 hours, I got a little over 10 hours. I was using 3G services and also did a couple of hours of GPS. But 10 hours on this phone is good enough. On the downside, there is no HDMI to connect the phone to your TV. You have 3D panorama, but it’s a painful experience. The 2D panorama works perfectly fine, though.
iPhone 4S
Called Siri, its smart voice assistant can help you make calls, run internet searches, move your calendar and check if you have clashing appointments, read you your text messages and even reply to them.
How do you better the best? Apple solved this problem with the iPhone 4S by giving it a faster processor and smart voice assistant. It is also a world phone that works on all GSM as well as CDMA networks.
The 4S is powered by the same processor that powers the iPad. That means better handling of graphics and more responsive apps.
The camera has been bumped up to 8 megapixel. What makes this 8 meg camera better than many of the others in the market, is that it has a five-element lens that lets you capture sharper images, a larger f/2.4 aperture that lets in more light, and an advanced hybrid infrared filter to keep out infrared light so that you get accurate colours. There’s also an illumination sensor that increases the camera’s sensitivity and ensures a shorter exposure time for night-time pictures. And, 4S is the first iPhone to sport an LED flash. A good camera is not all. With the 4S, you can also crop, rotate, remove red eye and enhance the image right off the phone. It can also shoot videos in 1080 p HD, at 30 frames per second.
Now, on to the smart part. Called Siri, its smart voice assistant can help you make calls, run internet searches, move your calendar and check if you have clashing appointments, read you your text messages and even reply to them. It can serve reminders not just for a particular time, but also for a location. You can set a reminder for when you reach ‘home’. The phone will dutifully remind you to, say, kiss your wife/husband when you do. While Siri requires you to speak with an accent, it ain’t no stumbling block, like the voice recognition apps on many other phones.
Smartphones are notorious for short battery times. But the 4S on a full charge can do 8 hours on a 3G network and 14 hours on 2G. At 200 hours of standby time, you can keep it locked for a whole week, and it is still ready to go. If you use the iPhone for data, it allows 6 hours of non-stop 3G data usage, and 9 hours on a Wi-Fi network. If all you want to do is watch movies and listen to music, the battery will allow you 10 and 40 hours of each respectively.
HTC EVO 3D
Yet another 3D phone. But you can turn off the 3D feature if it gets to you
The HTC appears larger than the LG, but it too has a 4.3 inch screen.
Okay. I know, last week too I had written about a 3D phone. But I had to review the EVO 3D because of what HTC has done with it.
The first thing that you notice is the phone is super fast, starting with the boot up, and the HTC Sense User interface just makes things seem like a breeze. What I really love about this phone is that you can toggle between 2D and 3D modes with an always-accessible physical switch.
Just like the LG Optimus P920, the EVO 3D too has a 5 megapixel camera and can shoot videos at 720p. While the LG’s 5 megapixel clicks 3D images in 3 megapixel, HTC peaks at 2 megapixel. However, the HTC scores higher on the front camera, which is 1.3 megapixel, compared to 0.3 megapixel on the LG.
The HTC appears larger than the LG, but it too has a 4.3 inch screen. The display is not as vivid as the LG’s, but looks cool because of the edge-to-edge glass. Its battery lasts longer than the LG’s, but the HTC too won’t last the full day without a recharge. The buttons for volume control and screen lock/power are easier to handle than on LG’s 3D phone. What makes the EVO faster is a Dual Core 1.2 GHz processor, while the LG has a 1.0 GHz Dual Core. It has an on-board memory of 1 GB, compared to 512 MB on the LG. Unlike the LG again, HTC’s 3D phone ships with Android 2.3, to the LG’s 2.2. The without-glasses 3D performance is on a par with the LG phone’s, and both are way below what the Nintendo 3DS delivers.
Another downer with the HTC is that its USB port doubles as an HDMI port. And, to charge the phone during an HDMI session, you’ll need to buy another cable.
The 3D world is suddenly becoming hot. Though 3D programming is still scarce, these phones still make sense. They can be used with the increasing number of 3D games; and their cameras let you shoot 3D pictures.
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The above review appeared in the Open Magazine, Issue Dated: 22-28th September 2011, Volume 03, Issue 25
LG Optimus P920
- An interesting feature is its Remote Call
It is being called the world’s first 3D phone. And no, you don’t have to wear 3D glasses to use it, a la the Nintendo 3DS handheld gaming console. Unlike the 3DS, this is primarily a phone and lacks certain 3D features: such as the Slider. Nintendo’s Slider customises its 3D effects to your eyes’ dioptre power and also adjusts the 3D depth. It would have been very handy on this phone too.
The 4.3 inch touchscreen can deliver 3D and 2D content in 720p. It is great to play games and use Twitter, Facebook, Wi-Fi and 3G apps. While its battery can turn against you if you use too many apps, it may be a little too heavy to handle for very long.
There is a 3D camera on the rear (with two lenses), which delivers nice and clean 3D images and videos. It can also shoot videos and pictures in 2D. Content in 3D is still a scarce commodity, even on YouTube’s dedicated 3D channel, so the camera is vital for your 3D experience. You also have the option of playing five 3D games. The gaming experience is good, but what I hate it that these 3D games can’t be played in 2D.
While the phone performs well, its finish leaves a lot to be desired. The covers for battery charging and HDMI sockets seem very flimsy to me. I would have preferred the volume controls, power button and screen lock to stand out a little. These buttons are a little difficult to use here, as they have almost merged into the phone.
An interesting feature is its Remote Call. It lets an LG call centre executive connect to your phone remotely and diagnose or upgrade the phone without the need of driving to a service centre. The facility ensures that your personal data such as email and SMSes cannot be read during a Remote Call session.
The ‘fourth dimension’ of this 3D phone is its user interface. It is faster and more responsive than most Android phones I have tested.
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The Above review appeared in the Open Magazine, Issue Dated: 15-21st September 2011, Volume 03, Issue 24
Tag Heuer Link
- It has all the smartphone trinkets, such as a light sensor to control screen brightness.
The specs first: quad band, 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Standby time of 14 days and talk time of 5 hours. It weighs a heavy 200 gm, because the Gorilla Glass screen and 316L Stainless steel body add more than a touch of class to it.
Now on to the phone. It has a crown like that of a Tag watch. Rotate it, and a compartment opens up to give you access to the Sim card, memory card and charging pin. This is the only part of the phone that can be opened. Else, you cannot even access the battery of the phone. But if you can spend this amount (Rs 306,000 to Rs 1,165,000, depending on the model) on a phone, you sure won’t be looking to replace a battery.
It has all the smartphone trinkets, such as a light sensor to control screen brightness. It has a camera too. There’s no flash, but there is a TH logo to remind you why you have paid so much for this phone. The phone boots up as fast or slow as any other Android phone, but it does flash the Tag Heuer Avant-Garde Communication screen popup—as style reinforcement.
It does not support Dolby, but can play DivX, after you download an application. But LVMH assures me that it will be pre-loaded once the phone is launched. The phone can play every possible movie format, and features a 3.5 inch WVGA 480 x 800 pixel screen that is sharp, though not high definition. Admitted that the phone’s buyer can afford to buy a cinema hall, but there’s more to a phone’s screen than just watching movies. What about the experience of using all the cool apps out there?
On to the service network. There is a comprehensive warranty, to be availed at service centres that are open 9 am to 6 pm, Mondays to Fridays. I would have loved a concierge service similar to the one that comes with a Vertu phone. But this phone is not for the Vertu buyer. Its buyer probably has an army of butlers.
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The above review appeared in the Open Magazine, Issue Dated: 24-30th August 2011, Volume 03, Issue