1.Nokia C3-01 Touch and Type review

Introduction

Nokia seem to have the missing link in the evolution of mobile phones. The Nokia C3-01 Touch and Type is an attempt to bring the best of both worlds. A touch phone in a form factor that’s as classic as it gets.

Like it or not, touchscreen phones are the future and it would be a smart move to get ready for the switch. It’s up to you really. You can choose while there still is choice. Or you can simply wait for the inevitable.

But you know what, you can be as uncertain and old-fashioned and backward about touchscreen as you like. And still be prepared. The transition doesn’t have to be painful says Nokia with their C3-01 Touch and Type.

Nokia C3-01 Touch and Type official photos

And as we found out reviewing the Nokia X3-02, the touchscreen/numpad combo worked impressively well on a slim metallic body. Little wonder then, Nokia are going for the same thing with the C3-01 Touch and Type.

Key features

Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
Quad-band 3G with 10Mbps HSDPA and 2Mbps HSUPA
Neat and well built, slim, light and metal clad
2.4" 256K-color resistive TFT QVGA touchscreen
S40 6th edition UI
5 megapixel fixed-focus camera
VGA video recording at 15fps
Wi-Fi b/g/n
Stereo FM radio with RDS, Visual radio
Bluetooth v2.1 (with A2DP)
Standard microUSB port (charging enabled)
USB On-The-Go functionality
microSD card slot (32 GB supported)
3.5mm audio jack
Extra soft and precise haptic feedback

Main disadvantages

Small screen (for a touch phone)
No multitasking
No GPS
Fixed-focus camera
No smart dialing
No video-call camera
No adequate storage out of the box
No accelerometer sensor
No document viewer

The Nokia C3-01 starts from roughly the same spot as its X3-02 sibling. And obviously, it isn’t going anywhere more exciting or advanced. This kind of phones have their limitations and they’re more than obvious. S40 handsets have been getting a lot of stick (at least from us) for the lack of even basic multitasking, smart dialing and a document viewer.

Nokia C3-01 pays us a visit

But still, we did like the touch and type concept – more for the look and feel and less for the features. The C3-01 will have to live up to a very high standard of build quality and design to boost its chances of survival. It certainly helps though to have a true classic and a massive bestseller as an inspiration. The Nokia 6300 belongs to different times but its timeless charm is all over the C3-01.

2. Samsung I9003 Galaxy SL review: Through different eyes

Introduction

Success breeds imitation and we have the next Galaxy S remake to bear witness. But make no mistake about it – the Samsung I9003 Galaxy SL is not just another clone. This time changes aren’t just skin deep.

Samsung I9003 Galaxy SL official photos

We are talking a new screen, a new CPU and a different battery here. Although it’s actually hard to notice a difference on the outside, save for a slightly thicker body. Basically most of the internals have been replaced, which may have or may have not resulted in a significant change in the user experience.

Key features

Quad-band GSM and tri-band 3G support
7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA support
4" 16M-color Super Clear LCD capacitive touchscreen of WVGA (480 x 800 pixel) resolution
Slim 10.9mm profile
1GHz Cortex A8 CPU, PowerVR SGX530 GPU, TI OMAP 3630 chipset; 478MB of RAM available to the user
5 MP autofocus camera with face, smile and blink detection
720p HD video recording at 30fps
Wi-Fi 802.11 b, g and n support
GPS with A-GPS connectivity; Digital compass
16GB internal storage, microSD slot
Accelerometer and proximity sensor
Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
Secondary video-call camera
microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v3.0
Android OS v2.2 (Froyo) with TouchWiz UI customization
FM radio with RDS
Adobe Flash 10.1 support for the web browser
Document editor
File manager comes preinstalled
Samsung Apps brings a few nice apps for free
Battery has increased capacity (1650 mAh) over the original Galaxy S (1500 mAh)

Main disadvantages

Super Clear LCD is somewhat inferior to SuperAMOLED
Camera lacks flash
No dedicated camera key
The all-plastic body is a real fingerprint magnet
Feeble loudspeaker
Increased thickness (10.6mm), height (123.7mm) and weight (131 g) compared to the original Galaxy S (9.9mm, 122.4mm and 119 g)

The Samsung I9003 Galaxy SL is a victim of timing. It couldn’t have been less fortunate to follow in the footsteps of the original Galaxy S – knowing it will never be able to catch up. At least Samsung should know perfectly well what to expect.

This is not the first flagship they’re forced by circumstances to replace. Much like the S8530 Wave II, the I9003 is more of a substitute, rather than an upgrade. You can think of the I9003 SL as a way to make sure there will be enough AMOLED panels for the Galaxy S2 without the need to discontinue the original Galaxy S altogether.

Samsung I9003 Galaxy SL at ours

The AMOLED shortage is to be felt for at least another while and Samsung are trying hard to work their way around it. We’ll have to see how this next attempt plays out. The I9003 has many people to convince that it’s a good enough replacement. Users have every right to be skeptical. It will take a good deal of persuasion to keep them from spending their cash elsewhere.

So let’s see if there’s life after SuperAMOLED for the Galaxy SL.

3.Motorola MILESTONE 2 review: Landmark droid

Introduction

The MILESTONE 2 has a single mission – to reclaim the top spot in Android messengers for Motorola. It has the pedigree and the personality, and with the right upgrades, it seems a lock to become the next all-in-one messenger of choice.

Who can blame Motorola? They liked it at the top of the Android food chain and want to relive the good times. Less in a mood to experiment, they know exactly where they’re going and the MILESTONE 2 might well be the phone to get them there.


Motorola MILESTONE 2 official photos

The MILESTONE 2 has the right measure of metal on the outside and beefed up internals – both hardware and software. There are a few omissions too but not too close to being deal breakers. Here they all are, in a summarized form.

Key features

Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G with HSDPA and HSUPA support

3.7" 16M-color capacitive touchscreen with WVGA (480x 854 pixels) resolution

Scratch-resistant Gorilla glass

One of the slimmest QWERTY side sliders

TI OMAP3630 1GHz CPU, PowerVR SGX530 graphics accelerator; 512MB of RAM

Android OS v2.2; MOTOBLUR UI 1.5 with SNS integration

Web browser with Adobe Flash 10.1 support

5 MP autofocus camera with dual-LED flash; face detection, geo-tagging

720p HD video recording @ 30fps

Wi-Fi b/g/n; Wi-Fi hotspot functionality; DLNA

GPS with A-GPS; Digital compass

8GB storage; microSD slot with 8GB card preinstalled

Accelerometer and proximity sensor, in-pocket detection with auto lock

Standard 3.5 mm audio jack

microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1

Smart and voice dialing

Office document editor

Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic

DivX/XviD video support

Main disadvantages

The internal 8GB of storage is for apps only

Side sliding mechanism is not spring-assisted

DivX and XviD playback has its issues

Non hot-swappable microSD card slot

No FM radio

There’s little missing on the Motorola MILESTONE 2 spec sheet. In actual fact, many of the phone features seem to have a special added quality – Gorilla Glass for the display, 720p video for the 5MP camera, Wi-Fi hotspot for the fast 3G, DLNA for the Wi-Fi connectivity, Flash for the web browser and so on.

Still, the main focus of the MILESTONE 2 is text-based communication – from the humble SMS, through email, to Facebook, Twitter and MySpace messaging there’s little that this messenger droid won’t do.

The Universal inbox is the tool to handle all this. It doesn’t really matter where each message is coming from – they all end up in the same place with a handy reply button to send back a reply on the corresponding network.


Motorola MILESTONE 2 live shots

We’ll rummage through the box for starters and look at the Motorola MILESTONE 2 from all sides with a due inspection of the screen and keyboard. We’ll look at the rest of the hardware and the software too, but first things first.

4.BlackBerry Bold 9780 review: Business as usual

It’s no surprise that the BlackBerry Bold 9780 is the next logical evolutionary step, rather than a complete makeover that will propel it into the same league as the iPhone and Android. RIM has a loyal core of customers whose bond with the brand goes beyond the obvious business benefits. And devices like the Bold 9780 are certainly part of that bond.

From a geek’s perspective, a new generation of gadgets should emerge to a new generation of users. Radical, rebellious, with no sense of history and no respect for authorities. In the world of business, every new generation of gadgets has to make generations of users feel at home.


BlackBerry Bold 9780 press photos

There’s no moral dilemma for BlackBerry in this. They know trying to introduce new features and UI tweaks with each new generation involves substantial risk for some of the changes to backfire. But they haven’t given up on the Torch and the Storm, have they? Though it’s obviously much easier to stick to a tested recipe and only add stuff that’s been proved to work.

Key features:

Enhanced email and data security via BlackBerry services

2.44" 65K-color TFT landscape display with a resolution of 480 x 360 pixels

Hardware four-row full QWERTY keyboard

Quad-band GSM support and tri-band 3G with HSDPA

Wi-Fi connectivity

GPS receiver and BlackBerry maps preloaded

5 megapixel autofocus camera, LED flash

624 MHz CPU, 512 MB RAM

BlackBerry OS v6

Touch-sensitive trackpad navigation

Hot-swappable microSD card slot (up to 16GB)

DivX and XviD video support

Decent web browser

Office document editor

3.5 mm audio jack

Smart dialing

Compact body and solid build quality

Main disadvantages:

BlackBerry Internet Service account is a must to enjoy all phone features

Outdated and unintuitive camera interface

No FM radio

No video-call camera

No built-in accelerometer

The BlackBerry Bold 9780 upgrades the Bold 9700 by a 5 megapixel shooter and the new 6th version of the BlackBerry OS. It doesn’t sound much and when you consider that the 9700 was already updated to BlackBerrry OS 6 there is even less to choose between the two phones.


BlackBerry Bold 9780 all over

So, will the new Bold 9780 reveal some nice surprises that are invisible to a casual scan of the spec sheet or will it be a mere footnote to the original Bold 9700? We hope to find out when we are done with the review. We start with the unboxing right after the break.

5. HTC Gratia review: Body double

Introduction

Compact but capable, subdued but edgy, old but new. That’s the HTC Gratia. With Froyo greasing the cogs, the European version of the HTC Aria is more than a name change – this petite droid is getting ready to storm the Old Continent.


HTC Gratia official photos

The Android world is in a stage where big screens make the grade, which makes it frustratingly hard for people who like their droid in a small package. The compact Gratia comes with a 3.2” screen and is noticeably smaller than competing phones with the same display diagonal.

Before we go on though, here’s the gist of what’s in store.

Key features

3.2" 256K-color HVGA capacitive touchscreen with multi-touch input

Compact body and bold industrial design

Android 2.2 Froyo with Sense UI

Qualcomm MSM7227 600 MHz CPU and 384MB RAM

Quad-band GSM support with dual-band HSDPA 7.2Mbps and HSUPA 2 Mbps

Wi-Fi b/g connectivity

Built-in GPS receiver with A-GPS support

5 MP autofocus camera; touch focus, geotagging and face detection

VGA video recording at 20fps

microSD card slot (32GB supported, 2GB included)

Office document and PDF viewer

Optical trackpad

Standard microUSB port and Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP

Standard 3.5mm audio jack

Stereo FM radio with RDS

Flash enabled in the web browser

YouTube client, Facebook and Twitter integration

Very good audio quality

Excellent loudspeaker performance

USB tethering; Wi-Fi hotspot

Main disadvantages

Screen has poor sunlight legibility

Patchy Flash support in the browser

Card slot under the battery cover

No DivX/XviD video support out-of-the-box

No secondary video-call camera

No dedicated camera key, no lens cover and no camera flash

Despite the clean, simple lines, the Gratia is recognizable enough thanks to the signature screws on the back. Some might confuse it with the HD mini, which originated the look, but Android’s explosive popularity means that the Aria/Gratia phones have far surpassed their PocketPC cousin.


HTC Gratia live shots

HTC have put their magic touch on the HTC Gratia interface – the Sense UI is elegant and highly usable, with special focus on social networking. The speed boost from running Froyo rather than Eclair is a major advantage and Flash support in the browser is relatively rare in the midrange.

The Gratia software is certainly one of the highlights but the hardware deserves praise as well. The phone is solidly built and feels sturdy in the hand, without being bulky or heavy.

Okay, enough warm up – time to jump into the review. On the next page we start with opening the box and examining the contents. After that, our tour of the exterior begins.