hyp4mhz.com

Month: February 2011

  • Nokia C3-01 Review

    hyp4mhz
    Welcome to the Nokia C3-01 Touch and Type review. The Nokia C3 released in early 2011 is one of latest feature phones from the ever changing mobile phone company. The C3-01 is 3G capable phone and the more feature packed version of the related and cheaper C3-00 which is a GSM only version. The Nokia C3 is a a relatively cheap mobile phone in 2011 priced under $250 on release and can only get better. In terms of the use interface the C3-01 is the first touch screen and fitted with a standard keypad. However the most impressive part of the package is that the phone runs the old S40 OS and even more impressive is that Wi-Fi is included and best of all the C3 works amazingly well. The touch screen is responsive and the menu system works in a logical and speedy fashion. We have no complaints about the touch screen interface - in fact it was very intuitive. In terms of design, the C3-01 is better in the hand than the pictures.  The screen seems larger than it is but the keys also larger than you'd expect. The mostly metal case gives it a nice feel too - again no complaints. Although we couldn't install additional software it's standard games will still work using the numeric keypad. The only legitimate issue we have is the stand-by screen design. Clearly the screen is packed with icons and functionality but the need for bigger on screen buttons and that the resolution is relatively small making the graphics looks low end. It also doesn't have GPS but from experience it is not an essential feature just yet. If this phone was released a few years ago the C3 would probably be on best seller lists.  Hopefully Nokia has learnt from past mistakes and release state of the art phones at reasonable prices and time frames from no on. In terms of hardware the phone does have one or two new features but that said - it is only a GSM phone! Among the best features: it uses the latest Transmissive LCD display screen which basically means it can be read more easily outdoors and it has Wi-Fi. Although it is not a 3G capable phone it can still used GPRS for data. Basically all this means is that you can chat and IM and Facebook all your want but can't or shouldn't browse the web until you get access to a Wi-Fi access point because the GPRS/EDGE is really slow. Combined with a massive battery the C3 left on standby can last up to 33 days! All up the Nokia C3-01 is a extremely decent phone and based on the out right pricing of under $250 (Feb 2011)  it does almost anything you'd want in a traditional phone format.  Sure it's not business friendly like the older but comparable E51 but if your needs are text and talk with a bit of internet thrown in like the masses, than you can't really go wrong. Specifications
    • Nokia C3-02
    • Network Quad-band 3G 850/900/1900/2100 Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900
    • Design Candybar and touch screen
    • 111 x W48 x D11 mm Weight 100 grams
    • Display/s External TFT 240 x 320
    • Camera 5MP LED Flash
    • Video Camera 640 x 480 pixel main video camera 15FPS
    • Connectivity Wi-Fi Bluetooth V2 Micro-USB
    • CPU ???Mhz
    • Memory Up to 35MB available to user MicroSD up to 32Gig
    • Ring tones MIDI, MP3, Video, vibration and others
    • FeaturesFM Radio with RDS JAVA Apps Music and Media player Organiser/Calender SMS, MMS, IM, Email JAVA MIDP 2.0 Speaker Phone/Hands free 3.5mm AV/headset BL5-CT 3.7V 1050mAh Up to 18 days Standby Up to 6 hours Talk Time
    • Price history Under$250 AUS 2010 (Outright)

  • Nokia N8 Review

    hyp4mhz
    Welcome to the Nokia N8 review. The N8 is Nokia's first real competitor to the all too common iPhone.  The N8 release in late 2010 is everything the iPhone is not and that's why we love Nokia's. Out of the box the N8 has all the software you need to have a full functional mobile office and consequently all too smart phone. Built as a competitor for the all conquering iPhone the N8 surpasses it in most instances - except for one key issue. Since most people skip the middle middle bit we now have actually bought a N8 outright for ourselves and so far very happy. The Nokia N8 has the best camera on a mobile phone - no question. The picture quality is amazing for camera phone just as good if not better than most point and shoot digital camera and the screen colors are amazingly accurate to real life. The most impressive thing about the N8 camera is its ability to take impressive night time images. All you have to remember is to select night portrait scene and snap away - no need to hold the camera still forever to get a decent image. The N8 review is going to be difficult because it is a brilliant phone but with conditions attached.  In isolation the N8 has everything you need in a modern mobile phone in 2011. The redesigned operating system works fast and efficiently - so much so that it is the equal to other phones featuring faster CPUs. Android, Windows Mobile.  Although not many people note this in reviews but you can customize everything important on the phone which makes it desirable amongst the anti-establishment these days. Subjectively it is as easy to use as any Android based phone. Sure there are niggles and annoyances but every phone and OS has them. The loud speaker is very loud but hampered by the speaker opening on the bottom of the camera if placed on a flat surface. The sound from the loud speaker is not hi-fi being just loud. Thankfully the in-call sound quality on both ends is excellent very clear. It is easily better than the iPhone models or any other mobile we've tested to date. The N8 screen is also something to boast. The N8's screen reproduces color that almost true to life.  Compare the actual scene with the same picture and it is a very close match. Sure there is some color saturation but its nowhere near as bad a normal digital camera. Most people are fooled by over saturated images with warmth due to saturated greens, red and blue. (eg greener gas or blue sky etc..) The N8 does not its closer to true life than anything bar a DSLR camera. We kid you not. One of the key decisions when buying the N8 is that it is one of the few mobile phones with penta-band 3G - which means it will work on any 3G frequency in the world include Telstra  NextG and the usual quad-band GSM - so will work on any network world wide. The ability of the N8 to hold a signal is also very good. We have no problems in marginal areas like we did on other phones - including the old E71. The Nokia N8 also has in-built fully functional Global Mapping GPS navigation system with free world wide map updates and widgetised home screens. Of course there is also the physical design which is a refreshing change from the other high end slabs on the market. The N8 is most aluminum except for the two ends. The Gorilla glass also means that you really don't need an extra screen protector. We didn't and there are no scratches on the screen despite a couple accidental drops. The other less publicized feature is the fact the N8 can play all the common video files including FLASH and AVI, FLV formats outside the web browser.  The more telling point is that the N8 does not need a 1GHz CPU to play them in complete smoothness! The clearly more efficient OS also means that the standby times and talk times exceed the iPhone and Windows Mobile based phones! The OLED screen looks great too in day light or at night. The OVI Maps navigation starts up quicker than another other GPS software on the market. The A-GPS works almost immediately likewise all the various features of the software. Just as good as other stand alone systems although missing some functionality when not actually navigating. In regards to the N8 camera, all we can say is amazing for 2010 mobile phone.  The N8 image quality is just as good as a point and shoot camera in day light and excellent (ie even better) at night.  Time between images and flash recharge times are quick too with no noticeable delay. There are no complaints about the camera interface either.  Just press the camera button on the side to activate and snap away. Additional settings are a screen icon away and simple to activate. We think every other website who claims it is a problem completely out of touch. Since buying the N8 one of us no longer carries a regular camera when going out that's how good it is. However the N8 is not perfect. The OS still has some rough edges so it is not as smooth as other models.  The battery life is not impressive.  In real life it will only last one day under heavy use. Even on standby 3 or days. However the most annoying thing - although has nothing to do with the N8 its self is the disappointing Ovi Suite. Ovi Suite simply does not work well.  It fails to sync with Outlook 99% of the time.  The prior Nokia Suite worked - so why did they replace it? Furthermore the Ovi Store App on the phone it self does not work most of the time. The Web browser while advanced does need an interface overhaul. That said if you have an Apple Mac the N8 will sync with it without any problems. To conclude the Nokia N8 may represent the last? of the Symbian based high end phones due to their new partnership with Microsoft. Sure there are a few things that make the phone harder to use than others but it feels great to have something that isn't an iPhone. The OS can only get better. Personally I think there is too much focus on the OS and shop app stores (which we love browsing BTW).  So if you can live without too many Apps, want the best mobile phone camera to date then the N8 is the best smart phone you can buy. The N8 is a keeper. It's a pity no one else can recognize that. Note that we are waiting for the Symbian Anna update which promises to fix the smoothness issues with the interface. We'll update the review then. If you want a camera phone equal to any point and shoot camera (eg. Canon ixus series) give the N8 a go its even more convenient that a separate pocket camera and pictures probably a little better too! Specifications
    • Nokia N8
    • Network Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 Penta-band 3G 850/900/1900/2100 (Dependent on country) HSDPA 7.2 Mbps data speed (download) HSUPA 5.7 Mbps (upload)
    • Design Touch screen
    • L113.5 x W59 x D12.9 mm
    • Weight 135 grams
    • Display/s 3.5inch External AMOLED 360 x 640
    • Camera 12MP XENON Flash Forward facing camera for video calls.
    • Video Camera 720 HD pixel main video camera
    • Connectivity Wi-Fi Bluetooth V3 HDMI MicroUSB
    • CPU 680 Mhz Separate Graphic CPU
    • Memory Up to 16 Gig on board Up to 32GB microSD
    • Ring tones MIDI, MP3, Video, vibration and others
    • Features MS-Word, Excel and Powerpoint, PDF, ZIP compatible A-GPS Compass Accelerometer Dolby Digital OVI Store for Apps Proximity Ambient Light Music and Media player Organiser/Calender SMS, MMS, IM, Email FM radio with RDS Speaker Phone/Hands free Li-Po BL-4D 12000mAh battery Up to 17 days Standby Up to 12 hours Talk Time
    • Price history Approx $850 AUS 2011 (Outright)

  • LG Optimus 7 Review

    hyp4mhz
    Welcome to the 2011 LG Optimus 7 review. The Optimus 7 or LG E900 was released late 2010 as a part of Microsoft's Windows Mobile 7 initial partners launch. The version of the Optimus 7 we tested was locked to the Optus network vs the Telstra's HTC 7 Mozart and we came up with an interesting result.  The Optimus 7 is priced around $850 at release. As usual the first release WM7 on any phone is going to be easy to use but lacking the simple things we have become used to.  Sure the majority of would be owners simply want a platform to run Apps on but without the basics of a smart phone like cut and paste, file managers, microSD card expansion  and GPS without the need for a data plan and so forth all count against it. However it is all flashy to use and we like it.  Nonetheless it has to be said that the iPhone did so well because it was an Apple and a much better brand to start with. LG simply isn't in the same league. Build quality of the Optimus 7 is no different to other high end phones so it is put together nicely and made of plastic and metal. However the overall design is truly boring and not iPhone like. It will always be compared to the iPhone since that what this model is all about. The HTC Mozart is better though thanks to a nicer case design and the Samsung Omina 7 although equally unadventurous in design due to the profile and  patchy rear design. Like the rest of the WM7 based phones Optimus 7 has all that you need in one device for email, calls, SMS, IM, Facebook, Twitter, Skype, a decent web browser and more. The only thing missing is the ability run FLASH in the browser which means no youtube videos or ability to run any FLASH based Facebook games. As we write this we read that LG was disappointed with it sales of Mobile 7 based phones and the rest of the mainstream media have implied that is was because it is so easy to use that it is 'boring'. As usual unlike the other sites we disagree. Have they used the iPhone lately?  It is even more boring than than WM 7. Aside from that and simply put LG does not make the actual hardware interesting enough.  LG are you listening - design a phone case that is actually desirable to own is the first thing we'd be doing before complaining.  Stop listening to overpaid and out of touch consultants.  Stop blaming the OS. Simply stop making cheap ugly and boring looking slabs. Anyway to conclude this review, we also like the Optimus 7 and it is a pretty good phone although lacking the functionality that any smart phone should have out of the box. This issue is caused by the use of Windows Mobil e7  - admittedly should be fixed within 12 months. The Optimus 7 is worth considering but MS needs to get its App store and LG needs to work on case design to make it truly  competitive. Choose it only if you can get a decent phone plan with it because the other initial WM7 phones are just as good and differ only in inconsequential details. Specifications
    • LG Optimus 7 (E900)
    • Network Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 Tri-band 3G 900/1900/2100 (Dependent on country) HSDPA 7.2 Mbps data speed (download) HSUPA 5.7 Mbps (upload)
    • Design Touch screen
    • L125 x W60.2 x D11.5 mm Weight 157 grams
    • Display/s 3.8 inch External TFT 480 x 800
    • Camera 5MP
    • Video Camera 720 HD pixel main video camera
    • Connectivity Wi-Fi Bluetooth V2.1
    • CPU 1Ghz
    • Memory Up to 16 Gig on board
    • Ring tones MIDI, MP3, Video, vibration and others
    • Features MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint A-GPS Compass Accelerometer MS Store for Apps Proximity Ambient Light Music and Media player Organiser/Calender SMS, MMS, IM, Email FM radio with RDS Speaker Phone/Hands free Li-Po 1500mAh battery Up to 400 hours Standby Up to 6 hours Talk Time
    • Price history Approx $850 AUS 2010 (Outright)