Asus M930 Review

Style & Handling
The M930 is chunky and large, but it is well built and solid. It might not be pocket-friendly but it should survive the rough and tumble of everyday life.

User Friendliness
The QWERTY keyboard is large and comfortable, but we really think this smartphone would benefit from a touch-screen.

Feature Set
There are a mixture of features, for example, there is no GPS, but there is Wi-Fi; no touch-screen but there are two screens, and no document editing, but there is document viewing.

Performance
You have to get used to when to open the device and when to keep it closed, but that’s a matter of personal taste rather than a real performance issue.

Battery Power
The battery life is fairly good. You get a couple of days of usage between charges, which is standard for Windows Mobile.

Source: 3g.co.uk

Read More......

Samsung i640v Review

Style & Handling

It’s a fairly chunky slider handset but there are two very good reasons for its size. Beneath the slider is a full QWERTY keypad, and there are two batteries, so it offers plenty of battery life.

User Friendliness
We aren’t huge fans of the touch buttons on the front fascia, although the QWERTY keyboard is pretty good considering its small size.

Feature Set
There are a lot of features on-board, although it’s tri-band rather than quad-band, there’s no Wi-Fi and just a two-megapixel camera.

Performance
As a non-touch-screen smartphone, we had to rely on the touch buttons on the front fascia and found them pesky at times. The non-standard Windows Mobile interface worked okay for us and can be replaced with something more familiar if you prefer.


Battery Power
With two batteries supplied you can expect prolonged battery life – as long as both are fully charged, of course.

for more detail review visit 3g.co.uk

Read More......

Samsung i640v Review

This review originally posted at www.3g.co.uk
Style & Handling
It’s a fairly chunky slider handset but there are two very good reasons for its size. Beneath the slider is a full QWERTY keypad, and there are two batteries, so it offers plenty of battery life.

User Friendliness
We aren’t huge fans of the touch buttons on the front fascia, although the QWERTY keyboard is pretty good considering its small size.


Feature Set
There are a lot of features on-board, although it’s tri-band rather than quad-band, there’s no Wi-Fi and just a two-megapixel camera.

Performance
As a non-touch-screen smartphone, we had to rely on the touch buttons on the front fascia and found them pesky at times. The non-standard Windows Mobile interface worked okay for us and can be replaced with something more familiar if you prefer.
Battery Power
With two batteries supplied you can expect prolonged battery life – as long as both are fully charged, of course.

Read More......

Nokia N95 3G SmartPhone Review

The Nokia N95 is a 3G smartphone which comes is a clever two way slider opening mechanism. The phone can be opened either way which provides the user with a keypad when the screen is moved in the up position, a set of multimedia controls when the screen is moved in the down position & when in the closed position the user can use the navigation & shortcut keys. The user can use their Nokia N95 in landscape mode which is when the screen is moved to the down position which is ideal for all multimedia purposes & accessing the Internet. The screen is 2.6 Inches in size & provides a 240 x 320 pixel screen resolution on a 16 million colour TFT display. The mobile handset weighs only 120 gram which is unbelievable considering all the built in technology & capabilities. The Nokia N95 measures 99 x 53 x 21 mm which provides the user with a useable handset which has a solid feel to it. The phone comes with 160 bytes of internal memory & the user can expand the phones memory capabilities by adding a MicroSD™ memory card up to 2 Gbytes. The N95 comes with a 128 Mbytes MicroSD™ memory card included wit the start up kit.

The phone comes with an integrated GPS navigation feature which supports maps for more than one hundred countries. The GPS navigation system displays the maps in clear detail on the 2.6 inch colour screen & will assist the user to find their desired location. The N95 works on a Symbian operating system with S60 which provides the user with high quality smartphone applications which include photo & video editing programs, music player programs & management applications. The user can enjoy their phone world wide as the N95 works over a quad band network which includes GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900 & the Nokia N95 supports HSDPA which provides high speed data. The user can enjoy an advanced Internet experience on their mobile phone as the phone supports XHTML & HTML Internet browsing. The Nokia N95 is a highly capable mobile handset that offers the user high quality connectivity to compatible devices & fast speed data transfer rate thanks to EDGE technology, WLAN Wi-Fi, USB cable connection, infra red Pop Port™ connection & Bluetooth® wireless technology. The Nokia N95 comes with a fitted battery which will provide the user with up to 220 hours of standby battery time & approximately six & a half hours talk time.

The user can take a still photo or record video clips using the built in 5 megapixel camera feature which comes with a Carl Zeiss optics tessar™ lens. The camera facility is both user friendly & a high quality feature for the user to enjoy. The camera comes with a digital zoom, flash option & an auto focus feature. The user can select a style of scene they wish to capture & change the colour tones to they desire for their photo or video clip. The N95 makes it all so easy for the user to capture the perfect finish to their photos & video clips. The video recorder feature provides the user with the high quality viewing experience that is gained from a DVD type recording. The user can use the second camera to take part in a video call which brings a real feel to a face to face call experience.

The Nokia N95 comes with music features which include a stereo FM radio, visual radio & a music player which supports MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+ & WMA music formats. The user can use their music playing features when the phones screen is in it's slide down position which allows the user to view their music information in the landscape mode. The Nokia N95 has been designed with high quality & easy to operate multimedia features. The phone comes complete with a set of headphones which allows the user to have a private listening experience. The visual radio feature allows the user to gain access to information which has been provided by the radio station which is being listened too. The music management application will assist the user when transferring music files & managing their music. The user can stay in contact with compatible contacts by using the messaging service on their N95 which include text messaging, multimedia messaging, email service & instant messaging. The multimedia messaging service allows the user to create, send & receive messages with text input, with either a photo or a video clip which can be enhanced with music. The email service allows the user to stay in contact with any compatible email contacts & the email service supports file attachments in popular file formats. The user can have an online conversation which other instant messaging contacts which works like an online chat with text & symbols. The Nokia N95 comes with voice features which include voice dialling, a voice record which is ideal for recording a reminder or memorandum & voice commands. The user can user the handsfree speakerphone which allows the user to have a call over the phones speakers without having to hold the handset.
Nokia N95 Specifications & Features
Screen
16 Million Colour TFT Screen (240 x 320 Pixels)

Imaging
5 Megapixel Camera
20 x Digital Zoom
Autofocus
Flash
Camera Key
Carl Zeiss Optics Tessar™ Lens
Scenes Settings (Automatic, User Defined, Close Up, Portrait, Landscape & Night)
White Balance (Automatic, Sunny, Cloudy, Incandescent & Fluorescent)
Colour Tone (Normal, Black & White, Sepia & Negative)
Video Player
Video Recorder
Video Streaming
Video Modes
Video Calling
Second CIF Camera
GPS Navigation (100 Countries Maps)

Messaging
SMS (Text Messaging)
MMS (Multimedia Messaging)
Email (SMTP, IMAP4 & POP3)
Email with Attachments
Picture Messaging
Instant Messaging
SMS Distribution List
Predictive Text

Sound
Music Player (MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+ & WMA)
Stereo FM Radio
Visual Radio
MP3 & Polyphonic Ringtones
Stereo Headset
Nokia Music Manager
Voice Commands
Voice Recorder
Voice Dialling
Handsfree Speaker
Vibration Alert

Entertainment
Java™ Games
Java™ Applications
Embedded Games
Downloadable Games

::source: http://www.yourmobilephonereviews.co.uk/nokia_n95_reviews.htm

Read More......

Sony Ericsson K550i Review: Mid Range Cybershot

Sony Ericsson has been selective with its Cyber-shot range and the mid-range K550i is only the third instalment. While Sony Ericsson seemingly can’t stop spawning an army of Walkman phones, until recently, its Cyber-shot range consisted of one phone – the K800i.

Of course, this has now been upgraded to the K810i, but it has taken the manufacturer a while to roll out its second proper instalment in the guise of the K550i.

This handset offers the Cyber-shot experience at a supposedly reasonable prepay price, as well as on contract. Prepay prices start at around £120, but when you consider you can get the K800i for about £160 if you shop around, it doesn’t seem like such a great deal. For the extra £40, you get a 3.2-megapixel camera and 3G capabilities compared to the K550i’s two-megapixel lens and EDGE.

Still, if you can’t afford the extra outlay, the K550i is a great mid-range camera phone with an emphasis on mobile imaging.

It closely follows the design and build of the W610i Walkman phone (see our review on page 18) and flaunts the new tiny lozenge keypad design that Sony Ericsson has fitted into the W610i and W880i. We are critical of this new layout, feeling especially sorry for the more fat-fingered fraternity. While the new design proved thorny to use on the slimline W880i, it’s not such a problem on the slightly chunkier K550i. We suspect having more weight and girth behind it is the key to this increased usability.

The rear battery cover is fixed into place with two lock switches, which feels creaky, and this rear cover hides the side-located microSD slot. Everything from the intuitive phone and camera user interface to the great-sounding music player and web browser mirrors both Sony Ericsson’s K800i and K810i. Bonus inclusions include an FM radio and Sony Ericsson’s Shazam-esque music recognition software, TrackID.

You’re no doubt sniffing around the K550i for the camera and, while you don’t get the Photo Fix or BestPic photographic trickery of fellow Cyber-shooters, the phone still retains the brand’s quality camera control

The active sliding lens cover is a tad sticky, but is sturdy protection and fires up the camera. It shoots in a 1632x1224-pixel resolution and is comparable to the W810i and K750i for picture quality. The auto-focus works well, but sadly, the flash isn’t a proper automatic Xenon job like the K800i/K810i, but is an LED light that needs manual activating. It’s pretty crude, but you must expect some sacrifices lower down the rung.

However, the K550i still possesses all the other photo features for the amateur snappers among you, including macro focus for close-ups, white balance, multiple scene modes, effects, self timer and metering mode.

We can understand where Sony Ericsson has positioned the K550i, but right now, it’s too close to the K800i on prepay to represent a bargain Nevertheless, it’s still one of the most user-friendly and feature-packed mid-range camera phones out there.

::check this feature completely at www.3g.co.uk

Read More......

LG U830 3G Phone Review

Click for larger photo

Chocolate plus 3.5G wizz

LG has spawned another member of the Chocolate family but this time the familiar-looking U830 arrives fitted with a 3.5G wireless engine.

Just as the RAZR pepped Motorola’s fortunes, the Chocolate phone revitalised LG’s position in the UK market. Its touch-sensitive controls and black livery were a highly stylish combination that proved very popular. But as we’ve seen with Motorola and its RAZR dynasty, success can breed lazy design habits, with the manufacturer peddling umpteen subtle takes on the same style principle.

It’s early days for LG’s Chocolate and Black Label Series, but signs are worrying. Case in point is the new U830 Chocolate phone. Exclusive to 3, the U830 is identical to its 2.5G counterpart, the KG810. Sure enough, it’s now fitted with superior features and a 3G / HSDPA motor ( perhaps it’s a good time to tell you that 3 is currently trialling its HSDPA network and has yet to officially launch ), but a little more design imagination wouldn’t have gone amiss

Click photo for larger photo

If you’ve read 3G's review of the KG810, you will know that its clamshell form limits the impact of its red illuminating touch keys. Its front three marginal music keys are the only ones with this feature, unlike the more prominent phone controls of the original KG800 Chocolate slider phone. Despite this, it still remains rather elegant.

As we said, it’s good to see LG seriously upping the feature ante along with its 3.5G refit. The U830 is a tad larger and heavier, but it’s hardly noticeable. What’s more striking is the U830’s display quality. The resolution has moved on from 220x176 pixels to 320x240 (QVGA) pixels, while the front screen boasts an impressive 128x160 pixels and 262,000 colours. Both displays are very sharp and detailed.

The camera has also been hiked from 1.3 megapixels to a more respectable two and despite occasionally suffering from over exposure, the photo quality is decent enough.

Internal memory has been given a welcome boost, but LG has again neglected to include a memory card slot. The rise from 128MB to 180MB is encouraging, but this still limits the potential of the music player. 180MB won’t hold many tunes and don’t forget you will have to share this with other multimedia gubbins.

Click photo for larger photo

Still, the U830 comes packed with music functionality including A2DP support and a 3.5mm headphone jack adapter. However, it does feel like a wasted opportunity, especially as you have 3’s extensive music store on hand for full-track downloads.

The U830 plays out much like the KG810 with a keypad that’s festooned with shortcuts galore, including access to profile setting, mobile TV, contacts, messaging, video calling and the 3 music store. And it’s straightforward to use.

Once 3’s HSDPA network is up and running the U830 can change gear for faster download times. But until then you’ll just have to make do with a very stylish 3G phone, despite LG disappointingly not moving on one iota from the KG810 in terms of design.

Am I seeing double ? With almost identical designs you could mistake the LG U830 (3G) for the LG KG810 (2.5G) in a line-up.

Read More......