Smartphone Review

BY: AWright, Brighthand.com Contributor
The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic has quickly become a very popular Symbian S60-based mobile device for the Finnish company. In its first few months on the market, there have been over 2 million of these devices sold.

And while one can point to the similarity of the 5800XM to other famous touchscreen models such as the iPhone, Instinct, and Prada; none of these devices have demonstrated the sheer capability, or market friendliness that Nokia’s offering has. Maybe that is why, despite some glaring weaknesses, that its found a solid place in this reviewer’s pocket.
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BY: Jen Edwards, Brighthand.com Contributor
The Samsung Impression, one of the latest from AT&T, has a large touch-screen display and a spacious keyboard, along with an excellent camera. It’s a quad-band GSM world phone with Bluetooth and GPS functionality, plus fun polyphonic ringtones and highly customizable vibrating alerts.

It’s an exceptional device that might make you decide you need a new phone — even if you like your current one.
Design & Build
My first impression of this device was a good one; it’s a substantial phone that nevertheless doesn’t feel heavy. It’s nicely designed in almost every respect — rounded in all the right places, with a slide-out keyboard that functions well.

At 4.48 inches it’s just a bit taller than other phones, but it’s also a little narrower at just a hair under 2.25 inches, and it feels great in my relatively small hand. It’s a bit large in the pocket, but it works.

Most of the buttons are located on the sides of the device, and they’re large enough to manipulate easily while still being small and unobtrusive as far as aesthetics are concerned. The call, back, and disconnect buttons underneath the screen are flush with the front of the device, but well designed and still easy to use — my fingers don’t have any trouble finding them.

I have only one small complaint about the overall physical design of the Impression, and that’s the location and use of the Lock key. It’s located on the right side of the device, on the lower portion (the keyboard slider, not the display). You have to press and hold it for a couple of seconds to unlock the device, and both my test subjects and I had the same problem with it.

When you try to press the button with your thumb, you tend to also press on the left side of the device as well, which can start opening the slider and causing the display to slide over to the right, making it harder to keep pressure on that lock button. I could be making way too much of this point, but I still find it annoying after using the device for a week now, and it’s the only real problem with the physical design of the Impression. I’m learning to adjust for it and hold the phone slightly differently, but I felt this should still be mentioned. Read More »

BY: Ed Hardy, Brighthand.com Editor

The LG Arena KM900 is a high-end smartphone that recently debuted in Europe. This device’s WVGA display and high-resolution video camera give it an emphasis on multimedia playback and recording. Read More »

BY: Jen Edwards, Brighthand.com Contributor
The Pharos Traveler 127 may look like a BlackBerry at first glance, but it’s a Windows Mobile Professional smartphone with a full QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi wireless connectivity (in addition to GPRS), and a built-in GPS that can ensure that you never get lost, even if you don’t have phone coverage.

It’s a little larger than some of the mobile phones available today, but it packs in a lot of features that may make the trade-off worthwhile. Unfortunately it isn’t available directly from any carrier, and is currently being sold as an unlocked GSM smartphone for $530 — though you can get it from eXpansys for $480.
Build and Design
No matter what other issues the Traveler 127 may have, the device is very well made and exceptionally solid, though surprisingly lightweight for it size.

The design is somewhat boxy, with the corners being only slightly rounded at the top and bottom. The phone isn’t ugly, but it isn’t sexy–it’s obviously meant to be a productivity tool for a mobile professional, with no added frills.

The exterior case has been finished with a “soft touch” feel that is comfortable to hold and doesn’t catch fingerprints and smudges. That also means that the phone isn’t slippery at all, and feels good in the hand. It’s about as wide a device as is comfortable to use with one hand, unless you’re manipulating the power switch. This is a slider at the top left edge of the phone, and it’s a real pain to use.

Waking and sleeping the device are a quick slide of the button, which I can do with one hand, reaching up with my index finger. Turning the device on or off is a two-handed operation though, because you have to hold the switch for several seconds and the ridges on the switch tend to dig in a big painfully. I’d rather hold the phone with one hand and then use the edge of my fingernail to slide and hold the switch.

You must remove the back plate of the phone in order to access the microSD slot. It isn’t that hard to do, but this design choice does make trying to use multiple cards something of a hassle, It would likely be best to invest in the highest capacity card you can afford. Read More »