Engadget Mobile

Gomadic QuadCharge reviewed, better than sliced bread

Sean Cooper — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 09:01:00 EST

Filed under: Features, Peripherals, Reviews, Others

Every so often you get to play with a device you haven't used before and suddenly wonder how you ever got by before you had one. The QuadCharge from Gomadic is such a creature and after our extended play date with it -- by play, of course we mean left in place charging stuff -- we can't live without. Click on through the continue link for our thoughts and more pics.

Gallery: Gomadic QuadCharge reviewed, better than sliced bread

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Palm Centro review

Joshua Topolsky — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 23:49:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Features, Reviews, Palm, Sprint, Palm OS, EV-DO

Okay, now we know what you're thinking. Sure, we (lovingly) raked Palm over the coals in our open letter to the company, and yeah, we haven't been the sweetest of hearts to the crew from Sunnyvale (with good reason, of course). However, If you've paid attention to our past good-intentioned prodding, then you'll know that getting our hands on a new Palm device still gives some of us geeky chills.

After seeing scores of "leaked" photos of the Centro, and hearing enough internet chatter about the device to make your brain vibrate like a tightly-wound piano string, actually getting our hands on the phone was honestly a bit of a surprise, both bad and good. We're going to break it down piece by piece and hopefully give you a rounded impression of the smartphone crown-chaser (or at least princess-in-waiting).

Continue reading Palm Centro review

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LG's KU990 "Viewty" reviewed, loved

Sean Cooper — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 11:34:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Reviews, LG, GSM, HSDPA

CNET UK's Andrew Lim had a bit of one on one time with LG's sexiest -- yeah, you know we're talking about the KU990 -- and rolled those thoughts into a fairly positive 4-page writeup. The 5 megapixel camera gets top marks -- compares well with Nokia N95, for example -- with a bevy of adjustable settings such as ISO, white balance, image quality, and so on. The high speed video recording can capture at 120 framer per second allows for fun slow motion effects and upload and download of said vids directly from Youtube. The Viewty (we're really having a tough time warming up to that name) also packs other goodies such as a slideshow viewer that shows the "flickable" images scattered on your screen and a web browser that supports full web page viewing a-la Microsoft DeepFish. Seems LG deserves a big sparkly unicorn sticker for this one, as long as the touch screen's quality overhauls its older sibling, the Prada, we're about sold.

[Thanks, Leonardo G]

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LG's VX8550 gets inspected, reviewed

Darren Murph — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 09:39:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Reviews, LG, Verizon Wireless, 1xRTT, EV-DO, CDMA

You know the newest member of the Chocolate lineup that just launched moments ago? Well, the sly folks over at PhoneArena were somehow able to scrounge up a VX8550 for themselves and give it a good once over for the rest of us doing without. The crew was able to inspect the minutiae that we're all intrigued by, including the chrome scroll wheel, rearranged keypad, microSD slot that handles cards up to 4GB in size, and all the application critiquing you could ever want. Review wise, they seemed quite pleased with the overall call quality, noting that it was "better than the previous model" and featured "noticeably less noise and distortion when the volume was raised to the highest setting." It was realized, however, that the quoted battery life was about an hour overstated, and although the new navigational pad presented a few quirks, the overall vibe was definitely positive.

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iPhone review

Chris Ziegler — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 01:17:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Features, Reviews, Apple

We're only half kidding when we say we haven't slept since June 29! Come reap the mighty review we've sown over on Engadget, broken down into three easy-to-swallow sections -- we promise it's worth the time.

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Hands-on with the Nokia N76

Chris Ziegler — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Features, Reviews, Nokia, Symbian, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS

Until just very recently, the terms "smartphone" and "fashion" seemed doomed to travel very different paths, never to intersect -- not in a product consumers could actually get their hands on, at least. As carriers and customers demand that their mobile companions become ever more featureful, though, the line separating high-end dumbphones and full-out smartphones bends, then bends some more, then finally breaks, leaving a clear-cut market for ultra-stylish open platform devices in its wake. There will always be buyers ready and waiting for handsets like the RAZR 2 and the Shine, but when Joe and Jane Businessperson are looking to open Word documents by day and get noticed in the bar by night, something's gotta give.

Gallery: Hands-on with the Nokia N76

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Hands-on with Belkin's iPhone Headphone Adapter

Chris Ziegler — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 09:29:00 EST

Filed under: Features, Peripherals, Reviews, Others, Apple

First, a disclaimer: this is a peripheral no one wants, but many will need. The Belkin Headphone Adapter for the iPhone simply allows you to do what you should be able to do without any adapter whatsoever -- plug in a plain ol' set of headphones. This was a pretty clear-cut play on Apple's part to give itself and official accessory manufacturers some license to further scar our already irreparably damaged wallets, and frankly, we're bitter that we had to buy it for a stiff $9.95. But yeah, whatever, let's get on to the good stuff.

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Hands-on with Crystal Film for the iPhone

Chris Ziegler — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 17:16:00 EST

Filed under: Reviews, Apple

One of the inevitable first questions that gets asked when laying out hundreds of dollars for a device with a giant, glossy, gorgeous touchscreen is, "just how the heck am I going to protect this thing?" It turns out that the iPhone may not need any particular babying, but for the paranoid among us, Power Support is offering its "Crystal Film" through Apple stores. Ironically, Apple itself says that protective films aren't recommended since they can interfere with the iPhone's ability to register gestures, but sho' nuff, walk into any brick-and-mortar Apple Store and you're going to see these packs on the shelf. No matter how scratch-resistant it may seem, we figure there'll be plenty of people willing to lay out the $14.95 sticker price for the marginal additional peace of mind Crystal Film offers, so we wanted to take a look at just how user-friendly the stuff is.

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Apple iPhone review roundup

Paul Miller — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 19:48:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Reviews, ATT, Apple

With just a few days to go before launch, Apple has apparently lifted its embargo on the lucky few journos to get their hands on an iPhone a couple weeks early, and David Pogue, Walt Mossberg and USA Today's Edward C. Baig are doing the first honors. And honors abound: three out of three reviewers agree that the iPhone is pretty much the sexiest phone to ever hit the market, and there was no small amount of praise for the high resolution screen, svelte form factor and sturdy construction -- nano scratchers rejoice, nobody managed to make a mark on this thing. The iPhone turns out to be a bit of conundrum, excelling and even revolutionizing certain phone functions, while utterly failing at others. First the bad: call quality is only average, and AT&T's weak sauce signal wasn't doing the iPhone any favors. It also can be a rather multi-step affair to even make a call, since there's no home screen speed dial or voice recognition, and the phonebook can't be searched, only scrolled through. Other failings like the lack of MMS, IM chat and video recording are even more mysterious. And that EDGE data? Pogue found himself longing for the days of dial-up, while waiting 1-2 minutes for popular sites to load, and while WiFi was quick to save the day in many instances, that's hardly an excuse in the year 2007. Luckily, there's plenty to love about this new approach to phoning, like an excellent web browser, mail client, visual voicemail and Cover Flow-enhanced iPod functions -- they're what Apple has been tooting its horn about, and they all seem to work as advertised. The keyboard more or less requires "faith" in the word auto-correction, an Apple rep likened it to using The Force, and while all three reviewers were able to get up to speed sooner or later, it's most certainly agreed that this is no BlackBerry-killer. Battery life was a non-issue, outstripping most smartphones, and nearly meeting Apple's claims.

Read - David Pogue "The iPhone matches most of its hype"
Read - Walter S. Mossberg and Katherine Boehret "Despite its network limitations, the iPhone is a whole new experience and a pleasure to use" (Check out Walt's video review after the break)
Read - Edward C. Baig "Apple's iPhone isn't perfect, but it's worthy of the hype"
Read - Steven Levy "one of the most hyped consumer products ever comes pretty close to justifying the bombast."
Read - Phil Baker "The iPhone's ability to perform so many capabilities in a single device and still be intuitive to use is a remarkable achievement."

Continue reading Apple iPhone review roundup

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Hands-on with the Sprint Mogul by HTC

Chris Ziegler — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 02:49:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Features, Reviews, HTC, Sprint, Windows Mobile, 1xRTT, EV-DO, CDMA

Known as the Titan, the PPC-6800, and the XV6800 in its various forms, Sprint's Mogul from HTC represents arguably the most anticipated piece of CDMA hardware so far this year. Why? Well, for starters, its direct predecessor -- the PPC-6700 "Apache" -- isn't getting any younger. Don't get us wrong, the PPC-6700 was a well-loved device that held its own for a good long while, but let's be honest: aerial antennas and Windows Mobile 5 are getting a little passé (to put it lightly). We've had the good fortune to be able to spend a few quality minutes with a production Mogul this weekend, so let's have a closer look, shall we?

Gallery: Hands-on with the Sprint Mogul by HTC

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Early review round-up of the Motorola Q9

Conrad Quilty-Harper — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 12:02:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Reviews, Motorola

We know you like to hear the good stuff first when it comes to reviews -- in this case of the Motorola Q9 -- so we'll start there: the Q9's keyboard is probably the best advocate for "good," with reviewers from CNET, Phonescoop, and Trusted Reviews all digging its tactility (even if we didn't). The only site to test battery life was CNET, which discovered an acceptable and now pretty much standard "lasts all day without recharge" ability. The main negative aspect of the phone is its chunkiness, which we noticed in our hands-on. Unfortunately that's something you'll have to deal with, along with the lack of WiFi, a slightly small screen, and yet another style of proprietary mini-USB port. Other quirks include a default install of the Opera web browser over Pocket Internet Explorer (to each their own we suppose), an eschewing of MobileOffice in favour of DocumentsToGo, and a strange flash that blinks at random in viewfinder mode. It seems as if Moto made an attempt at the basics and got somewhere, but let themselves down in the details. As always, it's up to you whether you can put yourself above them.

[Thanks, Thomas]

Read - CNET
Read - Phone Scoop
Read - Trusted Reviews

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A few days with the Nokia N75

Chris Ziegler — Mon, 21 May 2007 10:44:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Features, Reviews, Nokia, ATT, Symbian, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS

Unlike some of the phones we test, the Nokia N75 elicits... well, very little response whatsoever from passers-by. After all, it's certainly not going to win any awards for its stunning beauty or its size -- save those for the not-for-US-consumption N76 -- but be that as it may, the N75 is a very significant product launch. Why? Well, if you're bothering to read this little rundown, you probably already know -- but for starters, it's Nokia's first WCDMA 850 / 1900 device to actually make it to market. Second, it's an S60 device launching on a US carrier, which in itself is a landmark event. Third, it gives us some hope that Nokia intends to support and develop for our very special flavor of RF spectrum that we're blessed with in these parts. A lot of pressure for one otherwise-unremarkable smartphone to take on, is it not? Read on for our take on whether the N75 lives up to the hype.

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Hands-on with the Samsung SGH-P310

Chris Ziegler — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 14:10:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Reviews, Samsung, GSM, GPRS, EDGE

Without having used them, we've always assumed that Samsung's so-called "credit card phones" -- the SGH-P310 and the P300 before it -- were novelties more than they were usable phones. After all, the shape is a bit strange to be holding to your head, and the sheer level of miniaturization going on here leads one to figure that they're skimping on features. We recently had a crack at a P310, and while we're still not sure we'd carry it around as our primary mobile, we found ourselves pleasantly surprised with its performance. The keypad is totally usable (though the nondescript, circular d-pad takes a little getting used to), voice quality and reception both seemed good, and the display is fantastic. The UI is typical Samsung fare -- nothing special there -- but what really struck us was how solidly the phone seemed to be built. Though you obviously wouldn't actually put the phone in your wallet as you would a credit card, it almost seems sturdy enough to do just that if you really wanted to. Considering its fashion centric, high end target demographic, we suppose we'd expect nothing less.

Hands-on with the Samsung SGH-P310

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Hands-on with the Nokia N95

Chris Ziegler — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 12:46:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Features, Reviews, Nokia, Symbian, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS

There's something about a $750 mobile that incites conflicted feelings of shock, awe, lust, and disgust in its beholder. It's unavoidable. Every time you lay eyes on the N95, you can almost hear Nokia saying, "we're through playin' -- this is our ~~phone~~ multimedia computer to end all phones. We know it's not for everyone, but whatever, here it is." As a reviewer with a unit on loan, your paranoia runs deep; you start to have irrational thoughts about your precious cargo being run over by garbage trucks, lost down sewer drains, and stolen by shadowy figures in darkened alleys, so we can't even imagine what kinds of nightmares keep actual owners of this superphone awake at night. Alas, we hear sales have been strong, with units hard to come by just days after its US debut. Is the love justified? Read on for our quick take.

Gallery: Hands-on with the Nokia N95

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Hands-on with Aliph's Jawbone Bluetooth headset

Chris Ziegler — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Features, Peripherals, Reviews

What makes a Bluetooth headset great? Does it need to be so small as to be virtually invisible? Does it need to be a brilliantly-designed fashion accessory? Perhaps easy to use, easy to hear, and easy to be understood? Ultimately, of course, no model is perfect; every headset on the market is a compromise, a reflection of the manufacturer's (and the buyer's) priorities. So we basically went into the review of the Bluetooth variant of Aliph's lauded Jawbone with that same mentality, hoping that it'd prevent us from getting distracted by any miscellaneous shortfalls in the product -- the Jawbone's draw, after all, is its noise reduction circuitry, and that's what we really wanted to report on here. Instead, we came away with a shockingly positive impression of the Jawbone not just as a technological overachiever, but as a legit headset that we could see ourselves using day in and day out. Read on to find out why.

Continue reading Hands-on with Aliph's Jawbone Bluetooth headset

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Hands-on with Motorola's MOTOACTV S9!

Chris Ziegler — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 16:38:00 EST

Filed under: Features, Multimedia, Peripherals, Reviews

Why hasn't stereo Bluetooth become ubiquitous? The promise of cutting the wire from the player to the ears sounds seductive enough, but for a variety of reasons -- poor support and lack of quality product chief among them -- the technology has failed to catch on en masse with the listening public. When we first saw the S9 debut at CES last month, we've gotta confess, we were less than enthused; we figured we were in for more of the same awkwardness that has plagued A2DP peripherals to date. To be blunt, it looked big, heavy, awkward, and altogether a little uncomfortable. A month later, we're delighted to report that we're eating those words right up.

Continue reading Hands-on with Motorola's MOTOACTV S9!

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Philips' strolls out Xenium 9@9 phones with 40 day battery life

Brian White — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 13:10:00 EST

Filed under: Reviews, Others

Philips' line of odd-named Xenium 9@9 GSM handsets will go pouncing around for more than a month according to the company. Yep, you guessed it -- an almost-untouchable 40 days of standby time (if you never use the thing, we guess) is what Philips is marketing these babies with -- along with 10 hours of talk time. Can you blame them? Who carries a home charger with them so that they can charge that ever-so-slim Li-Ion battery every 5 hours? We're more keen on a decent and realistic combination of talk and standby times from the marketing departments of cell handset makers, but we'll settle for the dream of 40-day standby for now. There are three separate handsets, from entry-level to what Philips calls a "smartphone" with a 128x160 pixel LCD. Although that low of a screen rez isn't that smart to us -- in fact, its rather prehistoric by now -- all three 9@9 handsets are now for sale at the Hong Kong website of Philips.

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Cingular's Treo 750 announced, reviewed

Chris Ziegler — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 20:14:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Reviews, Palm, ATT, Windows Mobile, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS

Though the cover was blown, Palm fanatics everywhere still have reason to breathe a deep sigh of relief today as the Treo 750 has gone official for Cingular. The Windows Mobile Pocket PC handset is the first Palm device launched to leverage Cingular's 3G network -- and what's better, an upgrade to HSDPA is on the way. Specs include 128MB ROM / 64 MB RAM with miniSD expansion, Bluetooth (albeit 1.2), and that much-maligned square 240 x 240 display, all atop a 300MHz Samsung core. LAPTOP Magazine and Pocketnow both came away with similar impressions in their quick takes; Palm's latest entry isn't earth-shattering by any stretch of the imagination, but key enhancements to Windows Mobile 5's shortcomings (threaded messaging!) and 3G data should keep existing Treo users coming back for the upgrade. Look for the 750 in stores this week for $399 on a two-year contract, with online availability rolling in later this month.

Read - Palm product page
Read - LAPTOP Magazine review
Read - Pocketnow review

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Motorola Q officially launches on Sprint, gets reviewed

Darren Murph — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 11:31:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Reviews, Software, Motorola, Sprint, Windows Mobile, EV-DO, CDMA

Those of you patiently waiting for Sprint to officially launch (and make available) its rendition of the Motorola Q can finally breathe a sigh of relief, but you'll still have to wait just a bit longer to actually grab one. Slated to hit webstores "around mid-January" and retail outlets the month after, Sprint's Q isn't quite available to the masses just yet, but LAPTOP Mag got their palms around a pre-production release and promptly threw it on the testing block. Mimicking remarks we made earlier, reviewers noticed the lack of upgrades aside from the Sprint splash screen, logos, and unique "dark grey" hue, and they also found the "less rubberized" feel compared to Verizon's black version less enjoyable to handle. Noting the possibility of including a dedicated volume switch (as on the BlackJack), the crew was also let down by the omitted backlight underneath the keyboard, which Verizon's unit is blessed with. Additionally, surfing the web proved quite a bit slower when compared to Verizon's flavor, but Sprint suggested that "finalized units" wouldn't suffer the same fate. Nevertheless, not all was doom and gloom, as they did take note of the exclusive NFL Mobile functionality as well as the bundled Handmark application -- dubbed On Demand -- that loaded up "news, weather, directions, and other information optimized for the Moto Q's screen within seconds." Overall, this Q proved to be a bit of letdown considering what it could have been, and if only Sprint would've taken the time to add support for its Sprint TV and Music services, at least something would've stood out from the competition. As it stands, however, the Q still isn't a bad choice, and it was noted that Sprint's cheap unlimited data could swing contract-less buyers in its direction, but if you were hoping for a revamped, refreshed offering from big yellow, you'll be sorely disappointed.

Read - Motorola Q officially launches on Sprint
Read - LAPTOP Mag reviews Sprint's Motorola Q

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Hands-on with the Nokia N80 Internet Edition

Chris Ziegler — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 12:46:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Features, Reviews, Nokia, Symbian, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS

Even as it celebrates its one-year anniversary in public circulation, Nokia's N80 keeps on scrapping with the best smartphones the world has to offer. After all, S60 3rd Edition is still fresher than anything Microsoft or ACCESS has to offer, the 3 megapixel camera is well above and beyond the standard fare, and the 416 x 352 display simply blows lesser QVGA screens out of the water. It makes sense, then, that while we all wait for the next-gen Nseries devices, Nokia would be looking to extend the useful shelf lives of the elder statesmen in their lineup by tweaking, bundling, and renaming. Among the devices to get a makeover is the N80, becoming the recently-released N80 Internet Edition with a slightly revised software bundle and two fantabulous color choices: black and bronze. Since the hardware is identical to the original N80, we'll concentrate on a couple of the Internet Edition's software goodies -- and don't worry, original N80 owners, most or all of it comes with yours, too, or can be downloaded free of charge.

Continue reading Hands-on with the Nokia N80 Internet Edition

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Hands-on with the Samsung BlackJack

Chris Ziegler — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 01:43:00 EST

Filed under: Features, Reviews, Samsung, ATT, Windows Mobile, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS

The date: November 16, 2006. The network: Cingular. Smartphone meets HSDPA for the first time on a North American market, with the Samsung i607 BlackJack launching alongside the HTC-sourced 8525. We headed down to our local Cingular corporate store on that fateful day, trying to get a feel for what (if anything) the landmark launches were doing for foot traffic and sales. Much to our surprise -- our very pleasant surprise -- the store is busier than we'd ever seen it, with virtually everyone in the joint inquiring about that sleek new Samsung with a keyboard they've seen on the telly. As it turns out, the store didn't even have any of the bigger, more expensive, less hyped 8525s; the curious customers and would-be customers had all wandered in on the strength of the BlackJack alone. By the end of the day, they'd sold out. What is it about the device that has everyone fired up? More importantly, is it justified?

Continue reading Hands-on with the Samsung BlackJack

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Samsung F300 Ultra Music reviewed

Chris Ziegler — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 06:51:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Multimedia, Reviews, Samsung, GSM, GPRS, EDGE

Thanks to a bizarre dual-sided form factor, Samsung's F300 candybar is a phone we've been anxious to see a lot more of. Mobile-review, purveyors of some of the most... uh, extreme reviews in the business, gave the F300 a thorough rundown -- and as we sorta expected, it turns out to be a handset of many compromises. Samsung's done everything they can with the microscopic display on the "phone" side of the device, blessing it with color and high resolution; sadly, it still makes simple tasks like texting a challenge and makes others, like WAP browsing, impossible. Flipping it over to reveal the "music" side, Mobile-review found that the multimedia functionality wasn't really enhanced over any other recent Samsungs with music players, despite the "Ultra Music" label and dedicated music player appearance. Bottom line? The two-sided concept might yet hold water, but the F300 is stuck firmly in early adopter territory.

[Thanks, Jason K.]

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HTC Cavalier does battle with Samsung's i600

Chris Ziegler — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 01:30:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Reviews, HTC, Samsung, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS

The 3G-enabled QWERTY smartphone market is finally starting to get a little crowded -- and that's a very good problem to have. Of course, that makes picking one out a bit more challenging (trust us, we're still not complaining) and it always helps to rock out with a nice, old-fashioned comparo now and then to separate the wheat from the chaff. This time around we have the Samsung SGH-i600 (alias i607 BlackJack in these parts) going up against the as-yet-unannounced HTC Cavalier, successor to the Excalibur / T-Mobile Dash. On paper, the two are nearly dead ringers for one another, with the major differences being a 2 megapixel cam on the Cavalier (versus a mere 1.3 megapixel piece on the i600) and a slight thickness advantage on the Samsung. Ultimately, the reviewer had the Cavalier coming out on top -- despite the fact it's not even available yet, suggesting the test was conducted with a preproduction unit -- though the i600 was nipping at its heels throughout. Bottom line: it seems like QWERTY lovers are going to be happy with either one, and with the HTC still at least a month or two from release, our impatient selves will take what we can get.

[Thanks, @t0mic]

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i-mate's JAQ3 previewed

Paul Miller — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 12:41:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Reviews, Others, Windows Mobile, GSM, GPRS, EDGE

If you hadn't noticed, we had a bit of a time opening our hearts to i-mate's JAQ monstrosity, which is why we're glad i-mate didn't take too terribly long to procure a followup. The phoneArena kids have gotten ahold of the slick new JAQ3, which keeps all that is right with Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC edition in this for factor, but shaves off a few pounds from its frumpy progenitor. Turns out the keyboard ain't too shabby either, and with welcome design perks like a jog dial and hugemongous d-pad, there's a lot more going for this phone than just size. Oddly enough, size might still be the major beef with this thing, since the 2.55-inch display and a well-spaced QWERTY keyboard don't help for skimping on volume too terribly much -- even if the phone looks svelte in comparison to the JAQ. Still, this new-and-improved phone should do plenty for the Pocket PC candybar faithful for now, and if not there's always that JAQ4 right around the corner.

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Verizon's LG VX8600 reviewed

Chris Ziegler — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 19:22:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Reviews, LG, Verizon Wireless, 1xRTT, EV-DO, CDMA

For folks looking for a sweet new clamshell on Verizon, the choice between the Motorola K1m and the so-called Chocolate flip -- the LG VX8600 -- is a tough one. After all, they're both glossy, music-oriented pieces with touch sensitive external controls; heck, even LG agrees the similarity is a rather striking one. So how's a consumer to decide? LAPTOP Magazine recently decided to take a crack at the VX8600, coming away with a rather glowing review of the phone. Of course, Verizon's consistent (and sometimes maligned) UI experience levels the playing field significantly, but LAPTOP was pleased with the acceptable call quality, 1.3 megapixel cam's performance, the external controls, the loud (only slightly distorted) external speaker and A2DP support. In fact, they go on to sum it up by saying that "this is now our favorite V Cast phone." Of course, we're guessing there's a Moto fan or two just itching to respond in kind, but it sounds like anyone looking to pick up the Chocolatiest of clamshells won't come away disappointed.

[Via I4U News]

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Sprint's Sanyo M1 gets reviewed

Chris Ziegler — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 22:55:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Reviews, Sanyo, Sprint, 1xRTT, EV-DO, CDMA

The Sanyo M1's unusually husky appearance might lead one to believe that it's the be-all, end-all solution to meet the world's high-function musicphone needs, but LAPTOP Magazine recently had an opportunity to put the clamshell through its paces -- and unfortunately, it turns out that carrying 1GB of internal storage in your phone isn't all fun and games. Though a solid gigabyte of space for music is all well and good, many folks consider that just a good start on their way to, say, 3 or 4GB in total. Problem is, the M1 lacks any sort of expansion slot, and we've got to agree with LAPTOP's conclusion that it's a nearly unforgivable oversight. Though the large external display, music controls, and A2DP are nice, they found that the phone's 2 megapixel shooter fell short with mediocre picture quality and an autofocus mechanism that took far too long to operate (and also far too long to disable). Add to that a cramped keyboard and internal display, a beefy 0.9 inches of girth, and the fact that the also-new Samsung m610 looks a good deal hotter for less dough, and... well, the M1's prognosis ain't great. So, owners (and secret admirers): what are your thoughts on Sanyo's latest effort?

[Thanks, Jennifer]

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Hands-on with the Nokia N93

Chris Ziegler — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 18:06:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Features, Reviews, Nokia, Symbian, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS

In the mobile world, there are phones... and then there are phones. Those who have seen the N93 from Nokia in person know that it falls squarely in the latter category. In fact, we'd go so far as to say that the term "phone" really doesn't do it justice; its generous dimensions come close to that of a small camcorder. It's no surprise, then, that that's pretty much how Nokia's selling it: as a video camcorder that (oh, by the way) just happens to have a phone built in. That's all well and good -- after all, video recording is the next logical step now that cameras have infiltrated virtually every cellphone, right? -- but can it pull off the dual personality without serving either role poorly? Now that the US has been getting a pretty good stream of these bad boys filtering in, we thought it was a question we had to ask.

Continue reading Hands-on with the Nokia N93

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Treo 680 review roundup

Conrad Quilty-Harper — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 17:28:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Reviews, Palm, ATT

Featuring the same 312MHz Intel processor, 320 x 320 pixel display and EDGE modem as its 650 predecessor, the Treo 680 isn't by any means a revolutionary smartphone. Frustratingly for aficionados of Palm's software design, the 680 improvements are for the most part a consolidation of small tweaks that have been made to other models in the Treo line-up which have been coupled with a slight slimming down in dimensions and weight. Fortunately, the incremental improvements are numerous: usable memory has been increased to 66MB, version numbers of bundled-apps like DocumentsToGo and the Blazer web browser have been upped, and according to LaptopMag, the new dimensions and 0.7 ounce weight reduction results in a device that "feels a lot lighter than it looks." Unfortunately the lack of WiFi, the appalling VGA camera -- which Palm claims isn't much different than a 1 megapixel camera (right) -- and the staid design results in a device that PC Magazine says has "a strong whiff of 2004 about it." (Say, didn't we state just that a few days ago?) Ultimately it's up to you whether you think the relatively low price ($199 w/2 year Cingular contract), incremental updates, and the ever-brilliant Palm OS are good enough to distract you from the weak hardware and budget-price feature set.

Read - LaptopMag, 4/5 "Priced for the masses but also designed for the masses"
Read - PC Magazine, 3/5 "The masses will find it helps them get organized, but for early adopters, there's just not enough spice here"
Read - CNET, 7.0/10 "...the Palm Treo 680 is a good smart phone for the first-time buyer"
Read - MyTreo "It feels nicer in the hand than my Treo 700p with its external antenna"

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Nokia N95 reviewed

Chris Ziegler — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 18:16:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Reviews, Nokia, Symbian, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS

It might be a few months yet before we see Nokia N95s start to circulate amongst the general populace, but far be it from that to stop Nokialist from putting a preproduction unit through its paces. Other than a niggle about the d-pad -- the reviewer would've preferred a joystick, a la E70 -- the hands-on was overwhelming positive, despite the fact that the super-ultra-early test model in their hands lacked some hardware (GPS, WiFi) promised for the production version. As one might expect, the software (S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1, that is) is apparently the best thing since sliced bread, the dual slide is trick, the screen is gorgeous, and the 5 megapixel shooter is bananas. Sadly, about all the review has managed to do for us is make us want to lay our hands on this sucker a little more than we already did, but we're still in for a bit of a wait. Hang tight, folks.

[Thanks, Phill]

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Hands-on with the Samsung SYNC

Chris Ziegler — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 15:39:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Multimedia, Reviews, Samsung, ATT, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS

We're still at a stage where new 3G handsets on Cingular are a bit of a novelty, so we thought we'd take the opportunity to get a closer look today at the latest entry from Samsung. The SYNC (alias SGH-A707) replaces the rather homely ZX-20, and in doing so, ushers in a slew of new music-centric features on Cingular's network. At $50 after rebate, the phone seems like one heck of a value, too -- on paper, anyway. After all, you get a 2 megapixel camera (still strangely rare in the American market), A2DP, a QVGA display, touch-sensitive external controls, and microSD expansion. Does the real thing live up to the spec sheet? Read on for our quick take.

Continue reading Hands-on with the Samsung SYNC

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Hands-on with the Nokia E62 for Cingular

Chris Ziegler — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 14:06:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Reviews, Nokia, ATT, Symbian, GSM, GPRS, EDGE

Nokia isn't stupid. Holding nothing more than a sliver of the huge pie that is the US smartphone market, it only took a few BlackBerrys (with the occasional Treo or Q thrown in here and there) for the world's largest cellphone manufacturer to realize that a QWERTY-style device might just be S60's key to acceptance among fickle American consumers. Of course, it took a good long while for it to get here in an official capacity -- and along the way we've had to sit back and watch a slightly more capable sibling drop in S60-friendly Europe -- but the E62 is finally real for any average Joe willing to head down to their local Cingular shop and plunk down a reasonable amount of cash. WiFi or no, that's a refreshing change of pace for those of us used to getting our Symbian fix by paying through the nose for an import that may or may not work well on our carrier of choice. In practice, how does the business-oriented E62 fare in today's smartphone landscape? Are Americans ready for S60? For that matter, is S60 ready for Americans? Read on for our initial impressions.

Continue reading Hands-on with the Nokia E62 for Cingular

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Hands-on with the Sony Ericsson Z710i

Chris Ziegler — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 11:38:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Reviews, Sony Ericsson, GSM, GPRS, EDGE

Sony Ericsson's Z710i is a bit of an ugly duckling. Maybe "ugly duckling" is the wrong phrase -- after all, we found the phone to be just swell-looking in the flesh -- perhaps "black sheep" is a better way of putting it. Stuffed squarely between the Walkman line and Symbian-based smartphones, a handful of perfectly respectable handsets like the Z710 virtually blend into the shadows of Sony Ericsson's product range -- but often offer all the functionality of their flashier brethren in a toned down (and sometimes cheaper) package.

Continue reading Hands-on with the Sony Ericsson Z710i

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Vodafone's Treo 750v reviewed

Ryan Block — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 22:21:00 EST

Filed under: Reviews, Palm, Vodafone, Windows Mobile, GSM, UMTS

If you put things into perspective, being the first Windows Mobile-enabled Treo to be available in Europe is hardly the greatest of accolades. But for those of us who haven't had access to such a device before the 750v's release, it's accompanied by a subtle sigh of relief. Unsurprisingly, The Unwired's review of the phone focuses primarily on the software aspects of the 750v, with the reviewer finding that Palm's customization of the WinMo 5 interface makes the device more intuitive compared to untweaked phones; a bundled threaded messaging application sweetens the deal further. The one particularly apparent area which the reviewer didn't specifically mention is the size of the device -- in comparison to the HTC Excalibur, the 750v appears positively obese. Even more telling is the comparison to the spec superior HTC Hermes (2 megapixel camera, HSDPA, 2.8 inch QVGA display, WiFi, faster processor, videoconferencing camera, etc.) which appears to share very similar dimensions. In the conclusion the reviewer stated that he would personally buy the 750v had the phone shipped with WiFi capability -- the lack of this key feature coupled with an overweight design and limited specs (including the usual crippled 240x240 resolution) severely dampens the initial positive points. As is far too typical for Palm, the 750v's excellent software implementation doesn't live up to the phone's chunky and dated hardware.

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Sony Ericsson P990i review roundup

Chris Ziegler — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 21:36:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Reviews, Sony Ericsson, Symbian, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS

Impressive -- just six short months have elapsed from our initial hands-on of Sony Ericsson's latest superphone to the first set of honest-to-goodness reviews rolling in. Obviously, we kid; most every UIQ fan east of the Atlantic has been clamoring for this thing for a while now, but only recently have production units begun finding their way into loving homes. Delays aside, All About Symbian and phoneArena were more than happy to take delivery of the shiny new handsets in the name of putting them through their proper paces. All About Symbian seems to have come away with the more positive impression of the two, suggesting that the device is among the best PDA / phone combos currently on the market; phoneArena liked the keyboard and camera less, but thanks to freezes and crashes aplenty, both sites agreed that the P990 could've used a couple extra firmware revisions before getting pushed out the door.

Read - All About Symbian
Read - phoneArena

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Motorola K1m MOTOKRZR reviewed on Verizon

Chris Ziegler — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 23:27:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Reviews, Motorola, Verizon Wireless, 1xRTT, EV-DO, CDMA

We figure peeps who've placed their orders through Verizon's site for Motorola's new gotta-have-it clamshell need a little reading material to pass the time while they wait for the good folks in the shipping industry to make their phones materialize -- so without further ado, we present PC Magazine's take on the Motorola K1m MOTOKRZR (pictured right). While the K1m is undoubtedly a fabulous-looking flip, PC Mag seems to share the same brooding, mildly pessimistic view we do: it's essentially a V3m in a narrower, shinier package. On the plus side, the new dimensions apparently make the phone both easier and more comfortable to hold against the ear, battery life is top-notch with just over five hours of tested talk time, and the microSD slot means many owners will be able to carry over their investments in memory expansion from prior phones. Sadly, signal strength doesn't quite match that of its older sibling, and the UI is typical Verizon fare -- no Flash here, a la the VX8500 Chocolate -- though it does share the Chocolate's tricky-to-use touch sensitive controls. In the end, it seems the K1m ends up setting the standard once again for mobile industrial design, while simultaneously managing to fall further behind in the spec sheet race.

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