January 12th, 2010 | LG, Mobile Phone Reviews, Touchscreen
Aimed squarely at a specific niche in the market, the LG Cookie Pink is a decidedly affordable touchscreen phone (around £100, or free as a contract mobile phone) designed for the young female market. It looks good, and it does all the basics, but certainly doesn’t offer the real smartphone experience.
That said, it’s a very good handset, with an excellent music player that can cope with most file formats, and a three megapixel camera that’s decidedly better than adequate – both important features given the crowd LG is going for with the Cookie Pink.
The touchscreen isn’t the best on the market – at this price you wouldn’t expect it to be – but still perfectly adequate and customisable. However, it does require quite a bit of finger pressure, although there’s a very serviceable onscreen keyboard for texting. A number of mobile phone reviews have criticised the handwriting recognition, however, so users might want to leave that alone, good as it sounds in theory.
Since this isn’t a smartphone, don’t expect the LG Cookie Pink to come with all the features you’d find in a more expensive unit. There’s no GPS, no Wi-Fi, and no 3G. However, the slim, chic styling (the phone weighs in at a mere 89 grams), and obviously the colour, is intended to appeal to young females. There’s excellent battery life and a three inch screen (not the largest on the market, but still very attractive and readable).
Among new mobile phones, the LG Cookie Pink has made a great impact. Just remember, though, that it’s a phone, not a smartphone.
January 11th, 2010 | Google Android, HTC, Mobile Phone Reviews, Touchscreen
Built around Google’s Android operating system, the HTC Hero has been billed as the iPhone killer, but can anything really live up to that hype? HTC has experience in the smartphone field, though, and with the Hero it’s done an excellent job, perhaps because it doesn’t rely solely on Android, but puts another interface on top of it.
Plenty of thought has gone into every aspect of the HTC Hero, including its physical design, which has been widely praised in mobile phone reviews, especially for the 3.5mm jack, which means a user can plug in headphones or ear buds to listen to music the way it should be heard. Unlike many of its competitors it’s set up for social networking, with a built-in Twitter application, and both Gmail and Facebook contacts as part of the address book – a very forward-thinking move for HTC.
All these are very positive things, but the Hero does fall down in several ways. With little memory built in, the user is reliant on microSD cards. That’s not the end of the world, but could have been improved. So, too, could the on screen keyboard, which has the typical sluggishness of Android’s slow processor. At five megapixels, the camera sounds impressive, but several mobile phone reviews commented that it simply wasn’t especially effective.
Those negatives aside, the HTC Hero certainly represents strong competition to the iPhone, even if it’s not likely to topple it from its perch just yet. However, the next generation might just manage that.
January 9th, 2010 | Mobile Phone Reviews, Samsung Mobile Phones, Touchscreen
Samsung mobiles phones have long offered good value at low prices, and with the Samsung Tocco Lite they’ve gone after the young consumer who wants a touchscreen – in fact, it’s a direct competitor of the very popular LG Cookie.
It combines the best of touchscreen and mobile phone technology, offering not only a full QWERTY keyboard on the screen but also a regular phone pad for calling and for those used to regular texting. There’s a 3.2 megapixel camera on board that also handles video, and users can edit photos on the phone itself.
Attention has been paid to what the consumer will want, including a music player with surround sound and an equaliser, FM radio, and memory expandable up to 16GB. There’s Bluetooth, of course, and ready access to social networking sites like YouTube and Facebook, which is pretty much a necessity for the young market. However, it lacks both GPS and Wi-Fi.
Samsung has brought its TouchWiz interface to the handset, and it works as well here as it does elsewhere. Switching between portrait and landscape modes is smooth, and the home screen can be customised readily. The large screen is ideal for web browsing, which is fast, although download speeds do tend to be slower since there’s no 3G, but that’s a reminder that the Tocco Lite is a budget phone, although it all too often doesn’t look or feel it.
Mobile phone reviews have placed the Samsung Tocco Lite ahead of the LG Cookie, simply because of the better user experience. As bargain phones go, it’s a real deal.
January 6th, 2010 | Broadband, Wireless Technology
Home broadband and business broadband are separated into two groups to make it easier when choosing the kind of solution that is right for you. Most providers offer business broadband as a separate package, because a business account has an entirely different set of priorities and requirements than those designed for home use. But why choose a broadband business account for your company rather than a home account?
All of the big name brands support businesses with their broadband packages, from BT to O2. BT have various broadband deals on offer to suit the needs of different businesses, the smallest of which costs just £12.50 per month. This is known as Business Option 1 and is ideal for the small business. It offers excellent connection speed, at 20Mb and includes a 10Gb per month usage allowance. The built in firewall will help to ensure that your business is protected from potential hackers and viruses, keeping all your files from harm. It even includes 50Mb of web space so that you can host your own website. If ordered online you automatically qualify for a VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) line, free of charge.
BT Business Option 2 goes a step further, by offering unlimited usage and a router is included with the package at no extra cost. This package is designed for the small to medium sized business. The BT option help desk is included for support and troubleshooting.
January 4th, 2010 | Mobile Phone Reviews, Nokia
As well as trying to be everything to everyone, the newest mobile phones are also fashion accessories these days. The Nokia 7610 Supernova doesn’t try to be a smartphone, but with its interchangeable covers (called Xpress On by Nokia), it makes a bid to be a fashion icon, with more covers available for a price.
In reality, it’s a low-end contract mobile phone that likes to play dress up, and can even be customised further. Users can identify a colour using the built-in camera and have it made into the colour for both wallpaper and navigation keys by the ‘theme colouriser.’
It’s a slider phone that does the basics well, although as the market for this handset is likely to be female and young, one that might well want more than a decent camera, music player and FM radio.
That said, the camera is adequate for quick snaps, although there’s nothing exceptional about the quality, and the inclusion of a microSD slot allows for more memory, which can be useful for storing more music.
For anyone not expecting or demanding too much, but wanting a mobile phone that can be made to look a little different, the Nokia 7610 Supernova certainly fits the bill, although obviously there are limits. It’s most definitely a phone, not designed for much web browsing (there’s no 3G or Wi-Fi, for instance), or extensive picture taking.
However, as a mobile phone, it performs very well indeed; the keypad is good for texting, the slider is smooth, and, typically for Nokia, the menu is simple to navigate.
December 31st, 2009 | Mobile Phone Reviews, Touchscreen, iPhone
With the iPhone 3GS, Apple has taken a great leap forward, making it strides ahead of the original iPhone, which used EDGE – 3G is so much faster and smoother for connection that there’s not even a real comparison and, of course, Wi-Fi is still included. It’s the difference between night and day.
But that’s just one of several improvements in the handset. Apple has obviously been listening to gripes by consumers. They’ve added GPS with Google Maps, support for Microsoft Exchange, a 3.5mm headphone jack that’s readily accessible without a converter, improved the quality of phone calls (in case anyone had forgotten, at heart it is a phone), as well as done a small redesign of the case so it feels easier in the hand and also looks a little better. In other words it’s the perfect answer for both business types and regular consumers.
One thing unchanged is the camera, which is still a major failing at just two megapixels – far too low for a phone of this standard (and price). But that’s perhaps a minor quibble, given that Apple has introduced its glorious App Store, giving users the chance to buy and download all manner of applications for the phone, and the list keeps growing every day. However, given everything that this phone can do, better battery life (and access to the battery) would have been good.
Available with either 16GB or 32GB memory, the Apple iPhone 3GS really does stand out as the leader of the smartphone pack. Nothing else even comes close.
December 28th, 2009 | Broadband, Mobile Broadband, Wireless Technology
There are several companies across the UK that offer mobile broadband services, including mobile phone provider, Orange.
Like many other providers of mobile broadband, Orange also offer contracts that include a free laptop, although as is usually the case, these deals are quite expensive. In the case of Orange, mobile broadband and laptop deals start at £24.47 and include one, three or 5Gb. The contracts can cost up to as much as £39.14 a month.
However, pay monthly dongle plans can cost between £14.68 and £27.40 per month, depending on the allowance. Contracts with Orange can be for one, 12, 18 or 24months.
The one-month deal means that you are not tied down to a contract and allow the user to test the water, so-to-speak, to see if they like what Orange has to offer.
The 12month “Early Bird” contract is ideal for the regular commuter, as it includes free usage during off-peak hours, which Orange has set as being between midnight and 9am.
Orange’s “Standard” contract lasts for 18months and includes a deal that is exclusively targeted at the company’s currently active customers. This deal offers a monthly allowance of 500Mb, for just £4.89 per month.
Users wanting a fast mobile broadband connection can take up Orange’s new “Option 515m” deal. This package includes a dongle for £20 that features an antenna that will “optimise your connection signal.” The dongle also comes with an 8Gb MicroSD card absolutely free, which allows users to store and transfer their data.
December 23rd, 2009 | Camera Phones, Mobile Phone Reviews, Samsung Mobile Phones
Does the Samsung Soul really have a lot of soul? Of course not, it’s a mobile phone. But as the latest mobile phones go, it’s a pretty good offering from Samsung, and one of the better slider phones available at the moment.
It’s solid, moves in and out smoothly, and feels good in the hand – this isn’t a phone that’s going to fall apart quickly. What sets it apart from most other mobile phones is the navigation pad, an unusual device where the keys change depending on the function a user accesses (going to music, for example, will bring up music keys on the navigation pad – odd, yes, but very useful).
Speaking of music, the player is excellent, packing a Bang & Olufsen digital amplifier that really delivers; it won’t demolish any walls, but it does have a crisp, sharp sound, and there’s also an FM radio. That said, a 3.5mm headphone jack would have made this an even better handset – as it is, users are limited to the headphones that come with the Samsung Soul, or must buy an adapter.
The camera is also outstanding – a five megapixel effort with several tweaks, including an image stabiliser.
Although the phone is equipped with 3.5G for snappy, smooth uploads, what’s missing is Wi-Fi, which really ought to be standard these days, and having GPS on the phone would have turned it into something special.
Those two things aside, the Samsung Soul might not be especially soulful, but it is stylish, well-built, and functions very well.
December 21st, 2009 | HTC, Mobile Phone Reviews, Touchscreen, Windows Mobile
The HTC Touch 2 is HTC’s trial with the new Windows 6.5 Mobile operating system, although the company has put its own TouchFLO interface on top of that to try and offer more of an HTC experience. But somehow, somewhere, someone has dropped the ball on this handset as several mobile phone reviews have already noted.
So what are the problems? The most obvious one visually is that the handset doesn’t switch from portrait to landscape mode. Given that this change is standard in smartphones these days, it seems a counterproductive move not to include it, and it’s bound to turn off a lot of potential customers.
The other big downfall is the screen itself, which is resistive, requiring fairly heavy finger pressure or the use of a stylus, and which can easily result in choosing the wrong app – and frustration like that is never a good thing.
On the good side, the inclusion of Windows 6.5 Mobile means Internet Explorer is there as a browser although, oddly, it’s not the default one, but can be easily accessed. The OS also offers access to MyPhone via Windows Live, meaning all contacts – in fact everything on the phone – can be backed up, which can offer some peace of mind.
The HTC Touch 2‘s user interface works well and does help with navigation, but given the screen it is a vital addition.
Given HTC’s record, it’s surprising that they’ve allowed this phone to come out. Compared to the competition, it really doesn’t do the job at all.
December 18th, 2009 | Blackberry, Mobile Phone Reviews, Wireless Technology
Blackberry has long been the smartphone of choice for the business crowd, but given the popularity of smartphones with consumers, the company wants a slice of that pie, too, and the Blackberry Curve 8520 is their way of trying to open up that market.
Alongside email, it’s crammed with ways to stay connected, having instant messaging, Facebook and Twitter, guaranteed to appeal to the younger set that needs to be constantly in touch. Bearing that demographic in mind, the Blackberry Curve 8520 is also good with music, offering not only clear speakers, but also a 3.5mm jack for the listener’s own headphones, and keys solely to control music play – a very definite plus.
The styling is much what you’d expect – the handset is quite distinctively a Blackberry, with a QWERTY keyboard that’s easy to use. However, although it comes with Wi-Fi for downloads, it is not fitted with the quicker 3G, nor is there GPS, meaning that this is a relatively stripped-down unit as smartphones go.
The old trackball has been dumped in favour of the newer style trackpad; in mobile phone reviews some people love the change, whilst others hate it. However, it’s the modern way to go on a Blackberry.
What is a real disappointment is the camera, which is just two megapixels. It functions and takes pictures, but that’s about the best to be said for it. By usual Blackberry pricing standards this is a low-end handset, which explains why it doesn’t offer so many features. But it’s excellent for communication and music.
