Month: February 2012

  • Telstra Active Touch T28 Review

    hyp4mhz
    Welcome to the 2012 Telstra Active Touch T28 mobile phone review. This Active Touch otherwise known as the T28 is the latest release from Telstra to satisfy the bottom end of the mobile phone market.  At release the Telstra network only Active Touch T28 is available on the cheapest plan of $20 a month which honestly is probably over priced! Read to to find out why we think you should think carefully! The Active Touch T28 is the replacement for the T3020 which we thought was the ultimate cheap smart phone. However it hasn't even been a year and over that time we found the T3020 to be a  slow phone even if it was cheap.  We hoped that the new T28 could do better - however the market is now flooded with similarly features cheap phones that are easily better than the Active Touch! Try any number of Samsung or LG models priced under $150 outright! In terms of construction the Active Touch T28  is solid but very basic.  It looks and feels like a cheaply made model kit - we didn't like it at all. The only thing going for it was the industrial grade Gorilla glass screen surface which should keep it looking new for a long time and the high resolution for this class. Regardless you won't be showing this phone off to anyone in a rush. In terms of operation the T28 works well when not connected to a network but once it does be prepared for a noticeable reduction in performance. Even with the capacitive touch the phone borders on being too sluggish to use much like the bargain basement Android phones.  The network reception 'blue tick' is classified as top of the range which means you should be able to get a signal most places, and an external antenna socket at the back should also help if you've also got the kit. Previously a cheap price will forgive most performance and feature issues but when there are other models with the same specification that work better, then this 'overriding' factor is negated.  There are honestly plenty of phones available on the 'free phone on $20 plan' offer! We suggest to try the others eg. the Telstra Urbane T22 first and only if you are truly desperate to get the Active Touch T28. Specifications
    • Telstra Active Touch - T28
    • Network Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 Dual-band 3G 850/2100 HSDPA 7.2 Mbits data speed (download) Not mentioned data speed (upload)
    • Design Resistive Touch screen
    • L114.5 x W57.6 x D12 mm  114.5 x 57.6 x 12mm Weight 118 grams
    • Display/s External 3.5 Inch TFT 480 x 800 pixels
    • Camera 5MP
    • Video Camera Yes - no specifications
    • Connectivity Wi-Fi Bluetooth V2.1
    • CPU 600Mhz
    • Memory Up to 150MB available to user 2GB MicroSD card included MicroSD up to 32Gig
    • Ring tones MIDI, MP3, vibration and others
    • Features FM Radio Music and Media player Organiser/Calender SMS, MMS, IM, Email Speaker Phone/Hands free Li-Po 1200mAh battery Up to 200 hours Standby Up to 180 minutes Talk Time
    • Price history Under $xxx AUD 2012 (Plan only)

  • Huawei Vision Review

    hyp4mhz
    Welcome to the 2012 Huawei Vision mobile review.  The new Huawei Vision is the brand's first reasonably high end mobile phone at an affordable price. Well that's what the marketing materials say anyway. The price of the Huawei Vision is under $280 - which is pretty much the cheapest Android based phone with a 1Ghz CPU on the inside. Read on if you want an honest opinion. Construction quality of the Vision is overall quite good. Its pebble shape does differentiates it from the latest batch rectangular smart phone slabs. The rear panel reminds us of what HTC does with its backing which is quite stylish. The Vision in the hand is pretty good too.  It's nicely weighted  and sized not too big or small. Unfortunately despite the real metal like the rest of the phone still doesn't look like a premium phone like the iPhone. That said and in terms of aesthetics even Samsung can't seem to produce a case that is a match for the iPhone.  If you want a decent case go for Nokia or Motorola. Regardless overall very good quality for a reasonably priced phone just needs some creative artists and designers to give their phones 'it' factor. That said there is very little wrong with the Vision and probably one of the best in the price range. In terms of hardware the Vision has mostly up to date technology, featuring a separate graphics processor, A-GPS, Wi-Fi and even a FM radio. The headphone and loud speaker sound good but flat. The only thing really missing is more mobile frequency bands which means it won't work on all phones networks, specifically Telstra. Admittedly while the resolution of the screen is great it is still a little small - we think 4 inches is just about perfect for a touch screen mobile phone. There's plenty of memory on board for extra apps and the expandable memory means you will have It terms of operation the Huawei Vision which runs the latest version of Android and works really well.  There does not seem to be any enhancement apart from the 3D menu system which is the same SPB skinning or 'desktop' software you can download from the Android store.  The software works really well and we did not encounter any errors or problems.  Everything about the way the Vision works was great for a reasonably priced phone.  As usual we won't go into the details as there no additional features worth mentioning. The main question we asked ourselves when comparing the less known brands is: Is it as good as a mobile phone with similar hardware specifications but with a better known brand eg. HTC or Samsung?  The answer is yes! The only issues would be reliability (being relatively new to the market) and whether there are any hidden 'features' that enable hackers or the government of a foreign country to take over your phone...:-) Just joking! To conclude we like the Huawei Vision as a reasonably priced mobile phone. It's all about out-right price and in this respect we can highly recommend it. There's not much else in this price range that offers so much for so little. If you're on any network apart from Telstra the Vision would be the perfect for those who want it all as a fair price then go for it - definitely a best buy model. Even if you're looking for a cheaper mobile phone we think you should stretch to this one - worth every cent! Specifications
    • Huawei Vision
    • Network Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 Dual-band 3G 850/2100 HSDPA 7.2 Mbits data speed (download) Not mentioned data speed (upload)
    • Design Resistive Touch screen
    • L120 x W60 x D9.9 mm 120 x 60 x 9.9mm Weight 130 grams
    • Display/s External 3.7 Inch TFT 800 x 480 pixels
    • Camera 5MP
    • Video Camera Yes - no specifications
    • Connectivity Wi-Fi Bluetooth V2.1 Micro-USB
    • CPU 1 Ghz
    • Memory Up to 512MB available to user 2GB MicroSD card included Ring tones MIDI, MP3, vibration and others
    • Features A-GPS AndroidApp Store FM Radio Li-Po 1400mAh battery Up to xxx hours Standby Up to xxx minutes Talk Time
    • Price history Under $280 AUD 2012 (Out-right)

  • Nokia C2-03 Review

    hyp4mhz
    Welcome to the Nokia C2-03 review. The Nokia C2-03 released in late 2011 is one of the new generation of dual SIM mobile phones from the company and targeted at developing countries that have a multitude of networks but mostly GSM networks that offer different plans and have borders with multiple countries with equally numerous networks. In these counties the C2-03 in one of the leading models however over here is definitely very cheap. The C2-03 besides being a dual-SIM phone it is also a touch screen in a slider phone design. It comes in a variety of colours and strangely the combination does work for people that are still texting and talking. The dual SIM setup also allows for live swapping of SIM cards without turn off.  Unfortunately features that are missing include the lack of 3G or Wi-Fi but it does include the latest Nokia Browser and Apps for the usual social networks. In terms of construction the  C2-03 is very made.  Sure it's plastic and looks designed in the early 2000 it still feels good with a reasonable heft and quality parts. The keypad is typical Nokia and the touch screen despite old tech looks good and scratch resistant.  Overall it should last for a few years. In terms of operation the C2 uses the latest version of the S40 operating system customised for touch screen and physical keypad. They work well together with minimal lag and little to complain about especially at this price point. The only issue is the limited frequency choices that the phone access to.  The user interface is old school Nokia and easy to find every function. The is yet another perfect phone for those only into talk and text there is nothing significant to complain about. Overall its another very good phone for the price and better made than the lessor known brands available.  There is nothing exceptional of the phone apart from the ability to use 2 SIM cards at the one time and the low price. However the main thing differing this model to the others is design and style which very few in the price category can match - at this point in time anyway. Specifications
    • Nokia C2-03
    • Network Quad-band GSM 900/1900 Dual SIM
    • Design Slider
    • L103 x W51.4 x D17 mm Weight 118 grams
    • Display/s 2.4 inch TFT 240 x 320
    • Camera 2MP
    • Video Camera 320 x 240 pixel main video camera 8FPS
    • Connectivity Bluetooth V2.1 Micro-USB
    • CPU xxxMhz
    • Memory Up to 10MB available to user MicroSD up to 32Gig
    • Ring tones MIDI, MP3, Video, vibration and others
    • Features JAVA Apps Music and Media player Organiser/Calender SMS, MMS, IM, Email JAVA MIDP 2.0 FM radio with RDS Speaker Phone/Hands free 3.5mm AV/headset BP-5C 3.7V 1020mAh Up to 16 days Standby Up to 5 hours Talk Time
    • Price history Under $120 AUS mid-2010 (Pre-paid)