The ZTE Warp might sound like a cutting edge handset from the future, but is really an entry level Android smartphone with basic camera, slow 3G data and modest speeds. On no-contract service of Boost Mobile, it fits in well. The company’s $199 Warp is a sign of that shift, providing full power of Android with plenty of speed for handling it. Get flawless and quick access to IM and email via Google Talk and Gmail, along with plethora of best-in class messaging experience. The Warp has a nondescript black slab shape, measuring 5 inches high, 0.5 inch thick and 2.7 inches wide, and weighing 5.3 ounces.

The ZTE Warp comes with 4.3 inch LCD display with 800 x 480 pixel resolution and pumps out acceptable amount of light. Colors look vivid, even if they lack saturation and impact found on other high end smartphones. Its thick bezel surrounding Warp’s screen makes it appear small. Additionally, the touchscreen is less responsive as compared to other devices in the market, perhaps due to its special Gorilla Glass that enhances durability. Its input is XT9 virtual keyboard with wide, gray keys and enough space, providing light haptic feedback. You can also choose from standard Android keyboard that is practically similar, however with square keys and black background.

Above the ZTE Warp’s screen, you will find a silver earpiece speaker, but doesn’t come with front facing camera, which means video chat is out of the question. Nevertheless, you will find a notification lamp, something which is found very less on today’s handsets. Underneath the screen, there are capacitive buttons for standard Android functions, including Home, Search, Menu and Back. The dedicated camera button and microUSB charging port are located on the right hand side of the device, while the 3.5mm headphone jack and small black power key on the top. The volume rocker button is situated on the left hand side of smartphone, while the rear facing 5.0-megapixel camera with LED flash and main speaker at the back. Once you remove the battery cover that is unnervingly flexible and thin, unveils the large 1600mAh battery of the device and gets microSD memory card slot that holds up to 32GB maximum.

The ZTE Warp provides very bare-bones Android experience with greatest Ice Cream Sandwich version of OS. The Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread operating system brings all of flexibility and powerful customization features, which will surely appeal to Android users. You will find five different home screens, which you can populate favorite application shortcuts and widgets, linking you to Android Market for library of Google of over 250,000 applications, music, movies and books. The company has preloaded Warp with staple selection of Google software like applications for GPS navigation, Gmail, messaging and email. There is also standard multimedia player for video and music with My Files application to sift via data directory of Warp and quite a few essential utilities such as alarm clock, voice recorder and stopwatch.

The only attempt for tweaking the ZTE Warp’s interface is the Mobile IS feature ported from parent company of Boost Mobile called Sprint. With this feature, you can download plenty of themes like MTV, Professional and Socially Connected built around applications and wallpapers customized to match them. The software of camera is usual for Gingerbread and the device doesn’t provide more sophisticated settings like 60Hz and 50Hz Anti Banding, sharpness, manual ISO and saturation.

Standard features on ZTE Warp include 2G Network: CDMA 800 / 1900; 3G Network: CDMA2000 1xEV-DO; Touch-sensitive controls; 4.3 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen with 480 x 800 pixels; Vibration; MP3 ringtones; microSD, up to 32GB; 4 GB storage, 512 MB RAM; Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Wi-Fi hotspot; 5.0-megapixel camera with 2560?1920 pixels, autofocus, LED flash and Geo-tagging; Android OS, v2.3 (Gingerbread); Qualcomm MSM8655 Snapdragon; GPU: Adreno 205; SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM; GPS with A-GPS support; SNS integration; MP4/H.264/H.263 player; MP3/WAV/eAAC+ player; Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Google Talk and Picasa integration; Organizer; Voice memo; Predictive text input; Phonebook: Caller groups, Unlimited entries, Search by both first and last name, Multiple numbers per contact, Picture ID and Ring ID.

The ZTE Warp also adds Organizer: Alarm, Calendar, Calculator, Document viewer, Stopwatch, World clock and Notepad; E-mail: POP3, IMAP, Microsoft Exchange and SMTP; Bluetooth Profiles: Handsfree (HFP), Headset (HSP) and Advanced Audio Distribution (A2DP); Notifications: Music ringtones (MP3), Service lights, Vibration, Polyphonic ringtones, Silent mode and Flight mode. The rated battery life of Warp is nine days and nine hours in standby mode and five days of usage time.

Overall, it offers all the Android Gingerbread essentials with plenty of horsepower to get the job done.

The HP Veer is 3.25 in long and is really small, surreptitious and modest. The Veer is so small, that you can carry the phone even in your coin pocket. The rear end of the phone comes with a rubberized texture, which reminds you that it’s not just another pebble.

The HP Veer comes with a 2.6 in touchscreen, which is really small in comparison to the huge touchscreen phones like the 4.3 in HTC ThunderBolt. But unless you don’t want to enjoy a lot of movies along with TV on your mobile, we think that it’s just perfect.

The screen sliding mechanism of HP Veer felt strong, but the good thing is that it feels really easy to open and operate the phone with one thumb. And though the comparatively congested keyboard of the Veer might take some time to get use to it, we think it won’t cause any serious troubles. But the screen will almost get covered by half of your thumb, and that is what makes us think, whether or not it will be perfect to use the laptop.

The HP Veer comes with Palm’s webOS, which does really well in such a small device, and instead of the conventional menu screen that we’ve seen on other smartphones, the webOS made use of a set of cards which can be accessed with just a single tap on the gesture pad, which is positioned under the display.

After seeing each and every aspect of the HP Veer, we came to conclusion that the HP Veer is a rather impressive phone, and despite its very small appearance, the phone is worth consideration. The Veer will probably appeal teenagers more than any other aged people. So, for anyone who wants to stay connected, but doesn’t want a huge super-crispy display, for video playback, the HP Veer is just the perfect phone.

The Casio G’zOne Commando is the first craggy Android cellphone from Verizon Wireless and Casio, which is equipped with Casio’s suite of outdoor friendly applications. It also features Android 2.2 with custom user interface along with 5 megapixel back illuminated camera plus LED, high security encryption for business email and mobile hot shot capability. The Commando has a diamond like shape, which doesn’t look severe as compared to previous G’zOne cellphones, and is softened by rounded corners. It looks quite masculine with dimensions of 0.6 inch deep, 5.08 inches long, 2.58 inches wide and weighs 5.45 ounces, which is heavier as compared to other Android smartphones in the market.

The Casio G’zOne Commando is a military certified smartphone, which is designed to be resistant against vibration, water, dust, rain and more. It features a 3.6 inch capacitive touchscreen that boasts 480 x 800 pixel resolution and is made of Corning Gorilla Glass, so that it doesn’t crack easily. Underneath the display, you will find four different Android sensitive keys – Search, Home, Back and Menu. Beneath these four keys there is a microphone and a speaker grille. Above the display, you will find sensors for proximity, temperature and light. You will find the volume rocker button and tactile key on the left hand side of the device, while the camera key, 3.5mm headphone jack, LED notification indicator and microUSB charging port is located on the right.

Casio G’zOne Commando ships Android 2.2 that offers five different customizable home screens. Along the bottom row of home screen, there are icons for phone, square main menu and round Snap. Like all Verizon smartphones, the Commando also comes with whole suite of applications including Mobile IM, G’zGear of Casio, City ID, InnoPath ActiveCare, VZ Navigator, Social Beat, Skype Mobile, Slacker Radio and NFL Mobile. The Social Beat will give you access to all your social network sites like MySpace, Twitter and Facebook including RSS feeds.

The Casio G’zOne Commando’s G’zGear suite of application is aimed squarely at outdoors enthusiast with such applications as Star Gazer, Earth Compass, Moon/Sun, Walking Counter, Tides, Adventure Training, Thermometer and Trip Memory. It is also equipped with standard Android 2.2 features such as calendar and contact management, full Web Browser, social network integration and Google services and apps like YouTube and Google Talk. One of the notable features found in this model is the noise canceling microphone at the rear. The estimated battery life is 11.25 days in standby mode and 7.5 hours in talktime mode. Overall it is an excellent choice for industrial workers or those who love great outdoors.

Just like HTC Touch, the screen of the Asus P552w is flush with the chassis. Due to this, it is much easier to execute the commands on display using finger taps and swipes. There is a big black border around the screen and I was wondering if the manufacturer could have made this gadget look more compact. Underneath the screen, there are is a directional pad along with few buttons. They include regular Call and Hang up buttons, shortcut to the AnyTime launcher and OK button. Front façade, is a bit small and there isn’t a lot of space for buttons. I am glad that the manufacturer has kept it to minimum. Keypad is big enough for being useful and the keys too are easily accessible.

On the left side of the Asus P552w, you will find volume controls and a port which lets you connect external GPS antenna. On the right, there is shutter for activating camera and taking shots. The same side also has Hold button and it is quite similar to the one that you get in MP3 players. Activate it and all the buttons will be disabled. The screen too is switched off. For turning it on again, switch it the other way. This is a good solution for turning off the device and locking the gadget in a single step. I have seen this in Asus P320 too and I would like to see this in more such devices.

Just like in a lot of HTC devices, the Asus P552w has a single port for charging, connecting wired headsets and syncing. It is a miniUSB port and the compartment for stylus is located on the top right corner. The stylus is a light plastic pointer but it is thick and long enough to be held in the hand comfortably.

Asus P552w has good connectivity options. There is HSDPA for faster data transfer on cellular networks. There is also Wi-Fi for using at hotspots and through Bluetooth, you can make a personal network of your own. Such complete suite of wireless connections is really common these days and I am glad that Asus delivered well on this front.

Satellite navigation on the Asus P552w is covered with inclusion of SiRFstar III chip under the hood. Through the built-in hardware, the manufacturer has included MapKing 2007 maps and software with the device. You get both positioning information and also turn by turn instructions of driving and this includes extra value to the package.

One feature that the manufacturer has been touting about is the inclusion of Glide software on the Asus P552w. It is Asus’s answer to HTC’s TouchFLO and it has customized Home screen along with some more goodies for making Windows Mobile 6.1 experience better. Home screen has little dock along with default view for showing large clock. Scrolling on this dock will toggle between the views like music playback, RSS, and weather info. There is also Google search bar on the top which gives you quick access to search engine and it is a worthwhile inclusion.

It isn’t as slick as the HTC TouchFLO 3D, the home screen is modified and functional and users will certainly find it very useful. It is offered in three different variations and you user can toggle through them using 3D rotating switcher. Apart from being distinct aesthetically, there isn’t much difference between the three views so most of the users will pick up one and then stick with that.

Another nice touch from Asus here is the inclusion of AnyTime Launcher. You can bring it up by shortcut button that is located on the front face and it gives it access to applications, settings contacts, very easily. There is a carousel containing 7 main menu items and this seems a bit too clunky for my liking. In a few cases, using Windows Mobile Programs and the Settings menu is a bit faster than scrolling through AnyTime Launcher. It can still be useful when application fills up the screen but you cannot tap Start button on the display quickly.

When it comes to PDA phones, text input is a very important consideration especially when there are no keypads and the Asus P552w fails in this regard. Options for entering text are just limited to default Windows Mobile ones and this means you will need stylus. This problem can be solved using third party finger friendly option but I thought that the manufacturer should have provided basic numeric keypad for operating with one hand.

There is no lack of any other additional applications and Asus has put in applications like YouTube/Flickr uploader and backup app. There is also convenience of Gester application which lets you use the finger for pushing pages and the lists like page. This function is seen in HTC TouchFLO devices and Apple iPhone but it is a good feature to copy and it has been implemented very well.

• Don’t switch on the mobile phone – If you have wet a switched off mobile phone, don’t switch it on. Water and electricity don’t match, they are bitter foes. It is like dropping hair dryer in a tub full of water. The fluid will short circuit the phone and this might cause permanent damage.
• Don’t blow dry – Using a blow dryer might be the first thing that jumps in to your mind if you have got a case of wet mobile phone. The dryer will get rid of the water, no doubt about it, but this might also burn the phone.
• Remove all the parts – Take off all the removable parts on the phone like memory card, battery and SIM card. Dry these parts by a cleaning cloth. Now, the only thing you need to do is extract the water inside.

How to extract the inside water

• Rice – The easiest way to remove the water inside is through rice. The grains absorb plenty of water while cooking and hence it will absorb the water inside the phone too. Just put the device in a bag containing uncooked rice and leave it for 24 to 72 hours.
• Silica packets – Silica packets are the tiny bags that you find in ladies purses. They have the tendency to absorb water too. Get a lot of silica packets, and place them in zip lock bag with the cellphone. You will have to wait up to 2-3 days before you take the handset out again.If you are thinking that silica packets are hard to find, you are wrong. You can get plenty of them online and they are quite inexpensive. I would also recommend you to keep some packets stocked for the future.

• Bheestie bag – These bags cost about $20 which is a bit costly but it is still less expensive than getting another cell phone. Try this if above two methods don’t work. It is expensive but there more possibilities that your phone will get relieved from water through this. Bheestie bags have small packets with beads that tend to absorb water. They work just like silica or rice. Just pop the phone in a bheestie bag and wait for about 72 hours. I tried this bag with a cheap MP3 player and it worked!

After you are done with any of the above three methods, put the parts back together and switch it on. You can do this for any electronic gadget like mobile phones, cameras, music players, etc. Remember, phone manufacturer these days put some kind of chips inside that can tell if the device has been drenched. You will be void the warranty because of this but at least the phone will start working again.

Dell has put its own user interface on the Aero and I feel the company tried a bit too much in making it customizable. It looks very simple initially. The main home screen gives you basic information like weather, time and date. There is also a big notification box at the bottom. There are additional panels and for accessing them, you just have to swipe your finger through it. There is a stagnant toolbar on every screen’s top which gives you shortcuts for the phone app, e-mail, messaging and browser. There are ten panels in all but you are limited in what you can add on these panels.

Pressing the menu button on the phone’s right will give you the option to add shortcuts, applications, remote widgets and native tools. However, the only widgets that you get are the ones in the third party apps and for the native tool; you just have the search bar. You won’t find any standard Android widgets here like calendar or clock.

The Dell Aero’s onscreen keyboard is very awful. In the portrait mode, the buttons are very small and I wasn’t comfortable typing at all. Things get a bit better in the landscape mode but the typing experience is still not that good. Only people with tiny child like fingers will be able to type on this keyboard well. I got lots of errors even with predictive text. One more complaint that I had here is that the keyboard automatically reverts to the alphanumeric mode when you enter a password. This is good if the password just has numbers but you will be frustrated it contains both characters and numbers.

When it comes to custom UIs, there is a lot of debate going on. Some are fine with it where as some hate it. Dell has put its own UI here and I didn’t like it much. Feature set of the phone too is disappointing and it is mainly because the Aero ships with a seriously outdated Android 1.5. The latest version out right now in the market is 2.2 aka Froyo. Dell hasn’t announced about any future updates for the OS right now. The company has put in some extras like one click photo uploads, Flash-Lite capable browser, handwriting recognition program and video editor but you will certainly miss a lot of functionality and also some basic features like the dedicated Gmail app. You will have to use the general app for e-mail here. Dell Aero is a quad band world phone having features like conference calling, voice commands, smart dialing, speakerphone, speed dial and it has standard multimedia and text messaging.

Thumbs Up:

Improved performance, great display, sexy looks, tons of new features added

Thumbs Down:

Multitasking has some tradeoffs, AT&T reception needs to be improved, home screen folders are limited to just 12 apps

Inside the Trunk:

Technology: GSM/UMTS

Band: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband) / UMTS 850/900/1900/2100 (Quadband)

Phone design: Candy bar

Caller ID: Yes

Other features: , EDGE, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer sensor, AGPS, Touch screen

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

Apple iPhone 4 is 2.31 inches wide, 0.37 inch deep, 4.5 inches high and weighs 4.8 oz. The phone is based on GSM / UMTS technology with GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband) / UMTS 850/900/1900/2100 (Quadband) support. The device has candy bar design. Wireless Interface options include IEEE 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1. Additional Features include EDGE, AGPS, Accelerometer sensor, Touch screen, Proximity sensor. Included Accessories are Apple earphones with mic and remote, USB power adapter and Dock connector. The battery has a rated talk time of 840 minutes for 2G and 420 minutes for 3G.

Razzle Dazzle:

If you have used iPhone, iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS, you might have noticed that the latter two phones have just been tweaked versions of the original iPhone. This is not the case with iPhone 4 though. The phone has undergone a lot of changes. For instance, it is completely flat on both ends and hence there is no wobbling when you put in on your table. The earlier iPhones wobbled a lot.

Inside Dope:

Apple iPhone 4, as you all might be knowing, is the newest product by Apple and it is the device that everyone’s been waiting for. It has plenty of features and the design too has undergone a lot of changes. To start off, the box is changed and the new packaging looks quite attractive. Inside the box, you have the instruction manual, power plug, USB cord and the headphones with microphone built in.

As compared to the iPhone 3G, the new iPhone is quite thin, actually, it is 25 percent thinner. Apple says that this is the thinnest smartphone out right now. This is true for now but you never know because there are lots of smartphones coming in the market all the time and hence you might get a thinner handset tomorrow. The competition in smartphone market is very stiff.

Apple iPhone 4 is clad with glass on the front and back and we noticed that the phone attracts a lot of fingerprints particularly on the back. You might want to carry a cleaning cloth along if you like to keep your gadgets clean. The previous device’s body didnt have such finger print prone body.

You might have noticed a thin metal band surrounding the phone. It is contains the antenna for the Apple iPhone 4. Apple doesn’t say that this improves the signal quality and we think this is an effort to improve the call quality. Another new feature here is the noise cancellation mic on the top located next to the 3.5 mm headphones jack. The SIM card tray is also now moved to the sides. Remember, it is a micro SIM slot. Iphone 3GS had a single volume rocker button but this phone has two separate volume control buttons. Ergonomically speaking, we prefer the singler rocker button since it is easier to find by feel and the nature of the button gives you good tactile feed back as well. On the bottom, the phone has the 30 pin cable connect along with speaker and microphone. Again on the surface, there is the same home button.

Looking at it from the front, it is hard to tell any difference between this and the previous version. Both the phones weigh the same even though the Apple iPhone 4 is thinner. The new iPhone now has a VGA camera above the screen for making video calls. You can also use it for taking pictures of yourself but remember that the photos will not look that good. On the back, there is a five megapixel camera which records HD video and this phone is the first smartphone every to have a HD capable video camera. Video quality was superb and certainly better than previous iPhone cameras. There are no advanced settings though. The camera now comes with flash and so you get a corresponding button for it on the touch screen. There is also a dedicated onscreen button for switching between the two cameras. We made a few video calls to our friends and liked the quality. You need to be on 3G to make video calls.

The best feature of the phone is the Retina display. Apple calls it that because according to them, the pixels on the screen are not visible to the naked eye and it is true. This is by far the best display we have ever seen on phones. Watching movies, or surfing the Web was a superb experience. Colors look fantastic and text too looks great. Pixels weren’t seen even when I zoomed in.

Apple iPhone 4 comes with a new processor now, it is a proprietary one. Previous iPhones were based on Samsung chips. The new processor makes the phone faster than its predecessor. We did notice the increase in speeds for applications.

Nitty Gritty:

We have no major complaints about the new Apple iPhone 4 it has been improved upon over the earlier device and this has to be best smartphone out there right now.

Thumbs Up:

Good compact design, simplified process of video editing and recording, lots of benefits through WebOS, other features include Wi-Fi, GPS, 3G and Bluetooth

Thumbs Down:

Slow processor, tiny keyboard and display, AT&T’s Hotspot Mobile utility doesn’t work here

Inside the Trunk:

Technology: WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM

Band: WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900

Phone design: Candy bar

Caller ID: Yes

Other features: Camera, 3.5 mm headphones jack, GPRS, AGPS

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

Palm Pixi Plus weighs 3.8 oz and is 2.16 inches wide, 4.37 inches high and 0.43 inch deep. Features on the phone include speaker phone, voice recorder, call timer, vibrating alert, caller ID, call conference capability, and polyphonic ringer. Options for wireless interface include IEEE 802.11b/g and Bluetooth. The phone also has support for USB, GPRS, EDGE and AGPS. The mobile runs on Palm webOS. Internal memory is 8 GB of which 7 GB is available to the user.

There are a couple of IMs preloaded on the device like Yahoo! And AIM. Supported protocols for email are POP3 and IMAP4. Messaging/data features include Multimedia messages, E-mail, Text messages and Instant messages. Supported formats for video are H.264, H.263 video, AMR audio and MPEG-4. The screen is 2.63 inches big and has a resolution of 400×320 pixels. The display has 262k color support. Supported formats for audio include AAC, MP3, AAC+, eAAC+, WAV, and AMR. Connectors include a 3.5 mm jack for headphones and the USB connector. The phone has rated talk time of 330 minutes and the standby time is about 350 minutes.

Razzle Dazzle:

Palm Pixi Plus is 0.43 inch thick, 2.17 inches wide, 4.37 inches tall and weighs about 3.26 ounces. The device cuddles nicely in the hand because of the small size. The phone is available in blue and black versions. The blue model can be purchased online only.

Inside Dope:

Palm Pre Plus finally has a companion for AT&T with the Palm Pixi Plus. This small device does not have lots of power just like Verizon’s version. The feature set is quite nice and the price of this product is $49.99. You have to sign a two years service agreement and this phone is geared more towards people who are using smartphone for the first time. The device is small so it fits in your pocket and hand quite easily. There are a few trade offs though. For instance, the touch screen is trimmed down to 2.63 inches which is really small as compared to what we have these days. You will struggle a bit to view Web pages and the text content on this display. On the bright side, the phone supports pinch to zoom feature so this will help a bit. The keyboard of the Palm Pixi Plus is a bit cramped and you will need some time to get used to it.

The phone comes with reference manual, USB cord, and AC charger. There is no Touchstone dock offered with the phone so you will have to buy it separately. For Palm Pre Plus, this was a free offering. This phone is made especially for people who are using a smartphone for the first time but this doesn’t mean that vital smartphone features are sacrificed in order to keep the price low. The phone runs on WebOS 1.4 so you get all the latest goodies of the OS including editing and recording of video. Other offerings of this OS like Deck of Cards multitasking are also there.

Palm Pixi Plus has lots of productivity and PIM apps. This includes MS Office document viewer, PDF reader, memo pad, task list, alarm clock, standard clock and calculator. If you want more apps, check out the Palm App Catalog but don’t expect it to be as good as Android Market or iTunes App Store in terms of interface. But still, looking for the things that you want is quite easy. For storing your photos, videos and other such files, there is eight GB of internal memory out of which seven GB is available for you.

AT&T’s version of Palm Pixi Plus comes with UMTS radio and the handset also supports the variety of AT&T services like Yellow Pages Mobile and also the AT&T Navigator. AT&T’s hot spots can also be accessed. Other features on this phone include a two megapixel camera, Amazon MP3 store access, YouTube player, music player and Bluetooth 2.1. Picture quality of the camera is pretty mediocre. The objects in the stills are clear but the quality suffers due to a grayish tone. Video quality is good and editing videos is easy. We saw a popping noise when we started any videos. This is kinda strange.

Palm Pixi Plus was tested for call quality and it had its own share of ups and downs. Calls were fine and there wasn’t much background noise. The volume too was loud enough but on the other sides, our friends had a miserable time. They saw echoes and volume was too low. They also said that we sounded muffled. We tried calling from different places. This improved the quality a bit but our friends constantly complained of hissing in the background. For Bluetooth calls, we paired this phone with a couple of headsets and here, the quality was excellent. But this depends on what Bluetooth you are using.

The phone runs on 600 MHz Qualcomm MSM7627 processor and this is not the fastest chip in the mobile market at the moment. Multitasking speed is OK but you might get a bit frustrated occasionally because the applications take a while to load. We didn’t have any issues with performance while testing.

Palm Pixi Plus is powered by 1,150 mAh lithium ion battery and it has a rated talk time of 5.5 hours. Standby time is 14.5 days. We got this phone in our labs just two days ago and have not conducted battery drain tests yet. But we will do it soon and update this section as soon as possible.

Nitty Gritty:

This is made for first time smartphone buyers. It has some cool features so don’t think twice if you are looking for an entry level smartphone.

Thumbs Up:

Gives correct driving directions, has lots of advanced navigation features, based on Android OS, an improvement over its predecessor in terms of apps.

Thumbs Down:

Multimedia capabilities could have been better, camera is subpar, low battery life

Inside the Trunk:

Technology: GSM / UMTS

Band: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband) / UMTS 1700/2100 (Dual Band)

Phone design: PDA

Caller ID: Yes

Other features: Bluetooth, PGRS, microSD card slot.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

Garminfone is 2.46 inches wide, 0.49 inches deep, 4.57 inches high and weighs 4.9 oz. Wireless interface options include IEEE 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 2.1. Additional features include microSD card slot, USB, EDGE Class 12, GPRS support, and AGPS. The phone runs on Android OS.

Razzle Dazzle:

Garminfone is a welcome change from its predecessor which had drab and blocky design. This new handset has a sexier and sleeker frame. The cell phone is 0.49 inch thick, 2.46 inches wide, 4.57 inches tall and weighs 4.9 ounces. This is more of a cellphone but if you want to use it as a navigator too, you wont have much to complain. The build quality is solid and on the back, there is a soft touch finish which gives it a nonslippery texture when you hold it in the hand.

Inside Dope:

Before this, we saw the Garmin-Asus’s first phone and we thought it was a total disaster. A GPS maker had made a cell phone and if you are going to use it just as a GPS device, it is ok but as a cellphone, it is horrible. This is a second attempt by the company; it is available through T-Mobile. The phone will be available in stores from June 9th and it costs $199.99 with a two year agreement and after $50 mail in rebate.

This phone is now better than its predecessor because Nuvifone’s issues have been taken care of here. The handset now run on Android platform and sports a sexy design. This device is now equally good as both navigator and smarphone. It may not be as good as T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide but if you travel a lot, then it will be hard for you to ignore this handset.

Garminfone has a 3.5 inch HVGA capacitive touch screen which gives a resolution of 320×480 pixels. We would have liked a bigger display considering the feature set of this phone but maps could still be seen clearly while we were driving. The screen is clear, vibrant and you can easily read it in daylight. Pinch to zoom function, seen on the iPhone, is supported here and apart from that, there is accelerometer and proximity sensor which makes this screen better than the previous model’s display. The orientation of the screen changes quickly and there are no freezing issues.

The touch screen of the Garminfone worked quite well in our lab tests. It was very much responsive and we could easily scroll through the lists. But, there is a big of lag for the onscreen keyboard. There is plenty of space between the buttons and we didn’t have many mishits but we had to wait for a while for the letter to show up on the screen. This made us go back time and again if there were any mistakes.

Below the Garminfone’s screen, there are four touch sensitive buttons – phone, menu, back and home. There is also a four way D-pad and all of these work really well. On the phone’s right, there is a camera capture/activation button and volume rocker. On the phone’s top, there is a power button. On the bottom there is microUSB port for syncing and charging the phone. Finally, on the back, you have the camera.

Garminfone comes with refrence material, wired headset, USB cord, 2 GB microSD card, car mount (windshield and dash), car charger, and AC adapter. Garminfone is based on Android 1.6 now but it still uses the proprietary user interface. We won’t complain about that here since it is quite user friendly. The home screen is divided in to two, on the left, there are navigation and phone apps where as on the right, you have customizable bar for scrolling through the apps. You also have a small tab which shows the main app menu when you tap it.

Garminfone was finally tested for call quality and it is good. There was almost no background noise which let us carry on conversations easily on the phone. On their side, our friends too told us the same thing. There was no background noise and the voice didn’t distort. Speakerphone call quality is a bit hollow, but still there is plenty of volume. For Bluetooth calls, we paired the phone up with Motorola S9 Bluetooth Active headphones and Logitech Mobile Traveller Bluetooth headset. Call quality here too was pretty good.

Garminfone runs on 600 MHz Qualcomm MSM7227 processor which keeps the phone pretty fast. We didn’t have any issues for lag nor did the phone malfunction during our lab tests. We are yet to conduct battery tests for this device but we will update this section once we are done with it.

Nitty Gritty:

Garminfone is a huge improvement over it predecessor and we will recommend this handset if you are looking for a good smartphone with navigation features.

The first among Samsung mobile phone accessories that is worth mentioning is the battery. Batteries die after a certain period of time no matter how careful you are with them. A battery has limited charging cycles and is made to stay alive for a certain period of time, like two or three years. The best thing about Samsung phones is that their batteries are user replaceable so you can change them manually once they give up. Apple’s iPhone, as opposed to this, doesn’t let users replace the batteries manually and you have to ship the product to the manufacturer for replacement.

Bluetooth headsets too are commonly searched on the internet for Samsung mobile phone accessories. They give you handsfree calling experience and is a great way to talk to your friends while you are driving. Mostly, use of cell phones is banned if you are driving your car but you can use headsets. There are lots of Bluetooth headsets available from entry level to high end ones. You can also groove to music through a Bluetooth headset. Get a good quality headset if you want to listen to music.

We love cellphones and if you are a tech enthusiast too, you will probably do all you can to keep your beloved cell phone from scratches. There are lots of smart phone covers available in the market so get a good cover to protect your handset. If you love your Samsung phone, this has to be the first in your shopping list of Samsung mobile phone accessories.

If you have a high end smartphone, chances are that the battery life will drain out quickly because there are plenty of features in a smartphone. Samsung makes desktop chargers for your cellphones. All you have to do is connect the charger to the USB port of your computer and then put the phone in the chargers cradle. This is also a great option if your power plugs are occupied. Some phones give you the option of charging the handset directly through the bundled USB cable. (this is the same cable which is used for data transfers)

People who love typing text messages probably punch the buttons all day and hence the keypad is bound to get worn out over a period of time. Samsung mobile phone accessories include a keypad that you should buy if your handset keypad is given up. Finally, get a memory card if you love storing data on your cellphone.