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Nokia N8 disappoints the fan boys
It’s heading into summer, which must mean that Nokia are about to launch their new flagship phone of the year. And they are, as it happens, with the Nokia N8, the latest Nokia N-Series phone, designed to show the world how smart and impressive Nokia phones are. Except, like the past couple of years, it doesn’t. [...] Related posts:Leaked pictures of the Nokia N8 Leaked pics of the Nokia X9 Nokia N8-00 12 megapixel HD phone set to debut next week Nokia X6 review – the perfect mix of smartphone and music phone? Hands-on Nokia N900 review – the best Nokia smartphone yet

Review: Acer Liquid S100
By bringing the fastest Android phone on the planet to market, Acer has good reason to be proud of the Liquid S100. Packing a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and super hi-res screen, there’s a lot to get excited about on this phone.Acer might be a relative unknown in the mobile world, but that hasn’t stopped it making an impression with first the Windows Mobile NeoTouch S200, and by bringing top-end specs and the Android OS, the Liquid S100 will be seen by some as even better.But one constant problem with Acer phones from the past is that despite bringing some nice parts, they often fail to be anything more than average in general use. So can the Liquid change that?The phone looks pretty basic out of the box, with a white plastic shell encasing a 3.5-inch screen, but with the large amount of plastic border around the display, it doesn’t look anywhere near as big as the iPhone or Samsung H1.The four touch-sensitive buttons at the bottom offer basic Android navigation, and the hieroglyph look is pretty neat.The left of the phone houses the power/lock button, and the right has the volume and shutter buttons. Pressing the former is pretty easy one handed, but the chassis creaks a little from time to time.Weirdly, Acer has decided to go for a miniUSB slot on the Liquid, which seems a little old fashioned. The slot is located on the bottom of the phone, and when charging, a little white battery indicator appears on the top of the chassis, next to the 3.5mm headphone jack, which was a neat touch.The phone has a single speaker on the back, next to the camera, which is adequate but pumps out basic ‘chav on a train’ sound quality.Pulling the battery cover off is a worrying experience it seems digging your fingernails in at the top and pulling rather hard is the way to do it, and it feels very much like you’re going to snap something off.Overall, the feel of the phone is a little cheap the plastic of the white chassis and silver buttons makes it feel a little toy-like.In the boxAcer offers a simple range of accessories in the box a miniUSB connection lead and separate charger are a nice touch, and the bundled ear phones are decent enough, doubling as a hands-free kit too (although without media control). We’re still yet to learn how to use screen protectors on a mobile yet without adding a million bubbles to the screen, but you get a few of these in the box too.There’s also a 2GB microSD card, as well as an adaptor to turn it into a full SD card too. This is pivotal, as the phone won’t save any media or photos to the 512MB inbuilt memory for some reason.Acer hasn’t played around too much with the interface on the Liquid S100, and that’s something we like. HTC’s Sense UI overlay is good because it adds so much to Android, but with the Liquid, simplicity works.This means you get the basic three home screens, one either side of the main display, and the simple bottom drag tab for menu options.Pulling down from the top will give you access to email, SMS and other notifications, and thanks to running Android 1.6, you can also hit the search key from anywhere and use local or wider search to find content on your phone or the net.The main difference from Acer is the scrollable wheels at the sides of the home screen, with the left offering music, photos and video, and the right a collection of your internet bookmarks as scrolling thumbnails this is a great feature in terms of both aesthetics and function, and exactly the sort of thing open-source Android is great for.The capacitive screen is slick and responsive you won’t feel a lot of difference between this and the HTC Hero. And the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor doesn’t disappoint on the home screen you can swipe away to your heart’s content without a hint of judder.But, we’ve got a conundrum here why does the Liquid have a Snapdragon processor, but then limit it to 768MHz? Presumably it’s capable of 1GHz as it is on the Toshiba TG01. It surely can’t be a battery issue and seems like a waste.Unlocking the phone is a simple power-menu key combo, although it would be nice to be able to light up the display by pressing any button to check for messages or the time.The rest of the Liquid pretty much follows the vanilla Android road map, with the simple system of the application running as you’d ask it to and the physical menu key offering additional functionality, such as settings or navigation options.However, more often than we could cope with the Liquid gave up on trying to process an application, with the ‘problem with X, Force Close or Wait?’ option a regular visitor to our screens not what we’d expect from a phone with such a powerful processor pushing things along.Android 1.6 brings some neat upgrades, such as a more comprehensive battery power meter, but we hope that the Liquid will get the forthcoming Android 2.1 upgrade, otherwise it’s going to feel dated pretty quickly.Google has brought an irritating problem with Android when you start the phone up and synchronise your Gmail account, all your contacts are automatically thrown at the phone. This would be great, but unless you’ve spent a good three hours sorting through them, it’s a veritable mish-mash of nonsense.Of course you can choose not to see these, but there are always some you need to keep, and that makes life a little harder when trying to organise your contacts book.Android’s contact list is pretty basic slide up and down to find the person you’re looking for, grab the tab on the side to move through quickly and alphabetically, or just type a name in through the search box to open things up and find it easily.Contacts are listed with photo and personalised ringtone and so on and we were pretty excited to see the ability to link social networks with contacts as well. However, sadly the problems within the Acer Liquid system were too great to ever see how this worked as trying to synchronise Facebook or Flickr within the phone led to the application throwing up an error message and asking us to close it down. So it means we’re back to only seeing the Android contacts menu, which isn’t all that bad in fairness. We’re not fans of the tabbed system which is used for everything calling-based, but it is nice to be able to choose your favourites and have them in a separate list to offer quick access to those you call and text the most.The dialler is nicely laid out, although it would have been nice to have some smart dialling on offer, as it’s not always easy to navigate through to your favourite friends using the contacts tab, which can be a little hard to grab and slide. And when you’ve added in Google contacts, it’s nigh on impossible for the Acer Liquid to manage to sort them all alphabetically for some reason, with it spiriting away a portion of your friends to a hidden, impossible to find location.Calling on the Acer Liquid is OK – the call quality isn’t brilliant but it’s stable enough, although we had trouble finding the speaker hole with our ear in that expanse of plastic at times. Coverage was good enough to function in most places, although it dropped out fairly regularly when in a moving vehicle – in fact, it wasn’t even worth bothering with at times. We’ve tested other devices in the same situation, such as the HTC HD2, so we know it can be done well.Messaging on the Acer Liquid S100 is a, well, difficult experience if we’re trying to put it in a balanced way. The thing about using the messaging functions on the phone is that while the Android system is good and can handle elements like threaded conversations and improved contact integration, there are some companies that can’t seem to get the basics right when it comes to text entry, and Acer is one of them.The Acer NeoTouch S200 was one such device, with it’s impossible-to-use Windows Mobile keyboard, and while the Liquid’s is miles ahead of that, it’s still sorely lacking. For one, when you’re trying to reply in a threaded conversation, trying to press the ‘Tap to compose’ screen just doesn’t work – if we hadn’t known the trick of holding down the menu icon on the touch sensitive row to force the keyboard open, messaging would have been impossible.And while the Acer Liquid does support predictive text (like on the HTC range, where it works out which word your fumbling thumbs were trying to type) it’s nowhere near as good, with it basically capitalising the letter ‘I’ and putting the odd apostrophe in here and there. But most infuriatingly, if you try and write ‘and’ or ‘an’ the Liquid will decide you actually want to write ‘Android’ instead and insert it in.On the plus side, the Liquid does have RoadSync as standard, which means that you’ve got access to Exchange email instantly. We’re big fans of this being offered, as it makes any Android phone instantly more useful as a device. The interface and synchronisation are good, as is the calendar support, so a big well done to the company for including that.The web browser on any Android phone is always good, and the Liquid is no exception. The excellent capacitive screen, while not multi-touch to offer pinch and zoom, is tip top for navigation around the mobile and full web, which is once again delivered speedily on the Acer Liquid.We’re still massively confused as to why the Liquid hasn’t beefed up its processor to the full 1GHz capability, but at least when browsing the internet it doesn’t show.Instead, pages are generally loaded very quickly with minimal lag and few incomplete sections, and the mobile web pages, such as those from the BBC, are an absolute breeze.As with all Android phones, we like the way Google has put this browsing experience together – being able to share the page you’re looking at directly to Twitter (through the excellent Twidroid) is a great example of how to interweave APIs, and the ability to see your history and bookmarks visually is a nice touch. We also like the fact the web browser on the Acer Liquid remembers your most visited pages, meaning you don’t have to go trawling back through the history to find that page you forgot to bookmark. And while there’s no Flash player on this phone (boo) it means you’re less likely to visit those sites that you might not want your partner to find you’ve been trawling through when she has a play with your shiny new phone – every cloud…As you can imagine on a phone that comes from a company with no photography heritage and at this price range, the photography options on the Acer Liquid aren’t that great. Sure, the headline specs are good enough – 5MP, autofocus and so on – but the absence of flash, LED or otherwise is a bit of a downer.The photo processing also falls a little short in our eyes as well – not only does it take an age to shoot a photo, but it also doesn’t manage to capture it quickly enough. This often leads to a bad case of blurry pictures when you move the camera away from the subject when you think the photo has finished being taken.The options for snapping away are good enough, with the ability to mess around with the ISO settings, the white balance and the effects (we’re big fans of ‘Posterise’ which adds a certain Andy Warhol effect to your photos). However, it’s not going to trouble the likes of Sony Ericsson and Samsung who are at the head of the mobile photography game.To be fair to the Acer Liquid, there still aren’t any decent cameraphones on Android, so it’s a bit harsh to say that it’s a negative point as yet. But we do miss the little review pane in the top corner of the photo-taking screen where we could check out our latest snap.Video is similarly only OK – taking something in QVGA resolution isn’t going to cut it here, which is why the option to take video in VGA mode is a welcome sight. We can’t find any published specs on the frame rate it records in, but the video we shot in good light was a little choppy, so again this isn’t going to be a great substitute for a dedicated device.The coolest thing about using media on the Acer Liquid is the ability to scroll through your files and whatnot from the home screen, as we mentioned above. Less good news – the Acer Liquid eschews the standard Android player as the default media application. If you’ve read any of our other reviews of Android phones, you’ll note that there’s a distinct lack of love for them, but what’s been bundled on the Liquid is an even worse option, which surprised us. The substitute is Nemo player, an application that bizarrely wants to crash the phone every time we used it to open a video. Want to watch more than one in succession? You can’t. Want to watch a three minute music video smoothly? You can’t… you just get a choppy, out of sync effort that frankly we found awful.Of course, you can always look at the videos through the Android video player, and this is a nice option to have, with the playback smooth enough and, while not as clear as other programs on other phones, perfectly passable.However the problem is the Acer Liquid’s little scrollwheel on the side of the home screen is set to use Nemo Player, and there doesn’t seem to be any way to change that. This means that if you want to use the one feature of the phone that uses the cool Android home screen overlay you’ll have to put up with poor playback.Music is a little better, as despite the Liquid using the Nemo player again, it has at least managed to eke some better performance out of the device with a large and easy-to-use interface – although we’re not sure it adds much on top of the default player.Music playback on the Android OS is satisfactory – upgrades over time from Google and the rest of the Open Handset Alliance (the group behind Android’s development) have made it into a useable program thankfully.A set of four large buttons take you into a finger-friendly media player, with album art a prominent part of the display. Sadly there’s no way to update this cover art from the program itself, but it’s not a deal breaker.There’s the usual other range of Google goodies on board for media too, with the top being Google-owned YouTube, which is well-implemented. You can watch videos in high quality with ease, and the interface loads quickly with minimal search lag.If you’re going to download something to make the media better on the Acer Liquid, the first place you should go is beeb Player. Essentially an unofficial port of iPlayer, it allows streaming of current programs over the internet, although there’s no download option, but we expect to see it in the official application whenever it appears.The Acer Liquid is surprisingly devoid of native applications when you turn the phone on for the first time (compared to its peers), with only RoadSync catching the eye thanks to the way it extends the Liquid’s functionality so much through corporate connectivity.Google Talk is also included as part of the Android firmware, and offers a simple way to communicate with your buddies over the chat service. You can switch between windows of friends relatively easily, but there’s no ability to add the video chat functionality from this service over the internet.Acer has added Spinlets to the Liquid as well, which initially seemed pretty cool – music from albums that you could stream for free from your device. However, the range is limited to around 10 albums, and we only recognised music from The Killers – hardly the Spotify slayer we were hoping for.File viewer Documents To Go also gives the Liquid another business edge, with the ability to view Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint presentations. Datawiz has been sneaky in putting this onto the Liquid S100, as you can’t edit docs on the go until you buy the full version. And, of course, there’s Google Maps, which is complete with StreetView as well. This works very well on the Acer Liquid, with pictures loading up fast when you move into the map to scope out an area before you get there, and navigating across vast terrain in the 2D mode also rendering quickly.When thinking about applications on the Acer Liquid, we do think it’s important you download a third-party application manager from the Market, as this will help conserve the battery life (which is crucial, as you will see later on in this review). There are a few good free ones, so just try them out and see which takes your fancy.Given the expanding nature of the Android Market app store, we’re not sure this and future Android phones will need a vast amount of inbuilt applications to be rendered a decent device – the core things from Google are there and for us that’s all we really want out the box.If we were ranking the problems of the Acer Liquid S100 in order, the battery life would likely be right at the top. Simply awful, the battery on the Liquid gives up easily within the day and will begin dropping sometimes within minutes of being disconnected from the charger. We’re not sure what’s taking up so much power, as when we consult a third-party application manager there’s always very limited memory available for new programs.We suppose in a good way, turning off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth doesn’t actually help the cause at all, but it does add to the mystery of the poor battery life. At least this means that it’s possibly just a rogue piece of code within the system that’s pulling the battery meter down too fast, and this could be updated in the future.We never thought a phone would be able to have a worse battery life than the Samsung Galaxy, but barely three months later, the Liquid has arrived to take that crown.RoadSync is also the best bet with this phone when it comes to organisation – the calendar function synchronises with your Exchange server to communicate all your important meetings and suchlike, and Google calendar does the same for your (probably) less important ones.What is odd is that you can’t synchronise the two – a dual calendar surely is easy to implement, but Acer hasn’t managed to do that here, adding to the irritation.Android phones are well specified when it comes to connectivity, and the Liquid is no different. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0 and GPS are included by default, and while there’s no inbuilt tuner, an FM radio can be downloaded from the Market.GPS is a little disappointing on the Liquid, as it takes a while to connect to the satellites, and pretty much gives up when in a crowded city at times.We’ve had a few handsets that can lock on to your GPS signal from indoors – so we’d have hoped this would have been included in the Liquid as well.Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are good enough at finding other devices when you need them to – there’s no way to send your pictures over the latter, which we still find a strange thing to leave out (although Apple does it with the iPhone too).PC software with the Acer Liquid is non-existent – it’s pretty much just a case of you plugging the phone into your PC, waiting for it to have a think about being connected and then being allowed to transfer files across in mass storage mode.There doesn’t seem to be any dedicated software to allow you to use the Acer Liquid as a mobile modem, and the CD in the box is nothing more than a dedicated user manual.Acer Sync seemed to be the place to go to connect to your PC – but the interface only offered us the chance to synchronise with Google in the way Android already does, so this seemed a redundant icon.However, being able to interact with the file system on both the phone and the memory card is vital, and pretty much all we need the connection for (although the internal storage level is rubbish) so we can’t criticise this feature too much – although it was irritating not to be able to use the phone as a mobile modem at times.We all raised our eyebrows at the Acer Liquid when it arrived, and we were especially excited by the premise of the first Android phone to rock a 1GHz processor.Early tests we ran on it seemed to confirm our suspicions – it was nigh on impossible to make the phone crash or judder, such was the awesome processing power.We likedThe Acer Liquid is a decent device to hold in the hand – while the plastic chassis is a little flimsy feeling, and the buttons a little low quality for our tastes, the overall shape and build is good.When the phone is in comfortable territory, it pretty much flies along in terms of application management – we were able to run multiple programs at once with little hint of a problem.We liked the spinny things at the sides too – being able to see your bookmarks and media files visually was a lot of fun and the kind of thing we were expecting from the Android platform.And seeing RoadSync included was pretty cool as well – the ability to receive your work emails and calendar information expands the Acer Liquid’s range from a simple mobile device into something that can actually be useful in your day-to-day working life.We dislikedThe problem with the Acer Liquid is that while the above elements are great, only RoadSync didn’t cause us any grief when using the phone.The messaging function was beyond irritating – the lack of auto-corrected text is irritating (despite a promise of such a feature in the settings), the bug that means you have to force the keyboard to open in threaded conversations is a real rookie mistake and we found ourselves not wanting to text on the Liquid.And while most of the time the phone would function really easily and cope with most tasks, there were far too many instances of Android crashing and asking us to wait while it sorted out the issue – not cool on a phone with such a powerful processor.Verdict While most of the early promise of the Acer Liquid is realised, a lot of it isn’t and that’s a real kick in the teeth for a phone we had real hopes would be the dark horse of the Android world.Perhaps a number of the issues can be sorted out with firmware updates – the HTC Hero managed to polish it’s reputation with this, but the Nokia N97 didn’t – and given the limited profile Acer has in the mobile world it can’t afford such a slip if it’s to get a good word of mouth review.While the overall package is actually fairly slick and functional, this certainly isn’t the phone to upset the natural order in the mobile arena, and we can only hope future Android handsets from Acer (many are promised in 2010) will manage to take things to the next level.Related LinksMore mobile phone reviewsTechRadar’s Reviews GuaranteeSearch for the best Acer Liquid S100 deals at OmioRelated StoriesReview: HTC LegendReview: LG Chocolate BL20Review: Nokia E72Review: HTC HD MiniReview: Nokia 5230

LG Optimus ( GT 540 ) Smartphone Close Up
The demo below provides a good introduction into the capabilities and the features of the LG Optimus.

Review: Nokia E72
The Nokia E71 certainly hit the mark for its target business audience, so it’s little surprise that its E72 successor reprises much of what was good about that QWERTY keyboard-packing Symbian S60 smartphone, while updating it with extra power and performance. The E72 features a sleek business-like design, sporting a BlackBerry-style full QWERTY keyboard across its wide body. Some eye-catching chrome trim complements the classically understated bodywork that’s aimed squarely at serious business users.Smartphone technology may have moved on rapidly since the E71 first wowed us as a business tool, but it seems there’s still strong demand for devices like the E72.This E-series model operates on the non-touchscreen Symbian S60 3rd Edition (v3.2.3) platform, so there’s no screen-tapping action here its 2.36-inch QVGA (320 x 240 pixels) landscape-oriented TFT display is, in fact, similar to the E71’s. However Nokia has upgraded the processor under the bonnet to a 600MHz ARM processor, making its work-rate that much quicker. The E72 has also introduced an optical trackpad within the navigation D-pad, so light finger action can initiate movement on the screen. The camera has been enhanced from the E71’s 3.2-megapixel shooter, with a 5-megapixel camera taking care of imaging. HSDPA connectivity has been boosted to download speeds of up to 10.2Mbps (suitable network capability allowing) and HSUPA upload at up to 2Mbps. Wi-Fi is safely onboard, as is A-GPS satellite navigation which supports Nokia’s latest Ovi Maps free turn-by-turn sat-nav software upgrade.Nokia has beefed up the messaging experience on the E72, providing support for Nokia Messaging, where up to 10 regular email accounts can be handled in a user-friendly desktop-style push email environment. Nokia’s Chat software also provides instant messaging connectivity for multiple services simultaneously. Other software enhancements are dotted throughout, bringing the enterprise user experience up to date.So does the Nokia E72 still have what it takes do the business? The refined bodywork of the E72 feels solid and looks a treat. Its dimensions are similar to the Nokia E71 at 114(h) x 58.3(w) x 10.1(d)mm it’s slimline despite its broad keypad-packing requirements. At 128g it’s no pocket-sagger either.The 2.36-inch display isn’t particularly spacious by smartphone standards, though it’s adequately bright and clear. The landscape format is tuned to the needs of messaging and email displays well on screen (even if a little extra room wouldn’t have gone amiss).The QWERTY keypad has been slightly reconfigured from the earlier E71. The keys still have a pleasingly tactile, rounded feel and are well defined for speedy, accurate typing. There are a couple more keys available, however, as the space bar has been reduced from four- to two-key width, giving a 39-button keypad. Above the keyboard, Nokia has consolidated the control panel into a sleek brushed metal-look panel. The keys including a regular Call/End and softkey configuration are again responsive and the design well judged for handling. As has become standard practice on E-series models, the E72 also has four one-touch physical buttons set up for certain applications and tasks.The icon-labelled keys can be user-defined if you prefer, but out of the box they’re set up for Home, Contacts, Calendar and Email. A short press will take you to the assigned feature, although a longer press can activate additional common functions a long press of the Home key, for example, displays open applications, while a press of the Contacts key creates a new contact. Similarly, a long press of the Calendar button initiates a new calendar entry and the Email key fires up a new email.What’s new on the panel is the optical pad that’s built into the navigation D-pad. You can use the D-pad in the normal way, but the navigation key is designed to make it quicker and easier to navigate web pages in the browser or scroll through lists. It acts as a trackpad, small touches and the speed at which you move your finger are reflected in the speed of on-screen action.In practice, the finger room isn’t ideal for subtle tracking, particularly if you have larger fingers. It takes a little getting used to if you want to maximise its potential. It’s generally okay, but for small movements it’s often easier just to press the ridged D-pad surround, as we found that sometimes we could overshoot with the trackpad something that can prove tiresome in some instances where you slip and select the wrong option.Elsewhere around the bodywork, the E72 has a 3.5mm earphone socket on top that allows standard headphones to be plugged in a boon if you want to get the best audio quality possible when listening to the music player. A thin-pin Nokia charger is included in-box, although there’s a microUSB port that can also take care of powering up, if necessary. Next to this is a hot-swappable MicroSD card slot; Nokia includes a 4GB MicroSD card in-box, with cards up to 32GB supported. This supplements its rather paltry 250MB of onboard storage. Round the back the chrome battery cover is smart and shiny. The camera is perched above it, protruding slightly with an LED flash partnering the lens.The Nokia S60 3rd Edition Service Pack 2 user interface is familiar stuff for Nokia smartphones, in this instance configured for the landscape format of the display. The icon-based menu system is, of course, not as slick as the leading touchscreen user interfaces that have overtaken S60 but will be recognisable for most Nokia users.It can be long-winded to locate and use some options, taking numerous clicks to find stuff like the navigation key or notification light options or certain settings.However, it’s generally straightforward enough to manage in most places, and you can click from page to page rapidly.The home screen setup follows the E-Series convention by offering two alternative home screen views you can switch easily between one marked as ‘Business’, the other as ‘Personal’ (though these labels can be changed).Effectively, this allows users to set up their phone to have either work or downtime home screen shortcuts, features and information displayed, depending on when the user is operating the device. For example, in Business mode, you may want calendar, notes and work email shown, whereas in personal home mode you may prefer music or other media apps to be displayed.Either home screen is customisable; six shortcut icons ranged towards the top of the display can be changed in the menus to pretty much any function or app the phone is capable of using, or set up to access any one of the browser’s bookmarks. Additional status information and access panels down the screen such as Wi-Fi, email, instant messaging, calendar and so on can be customised too.Transitions between menus are fairly prompt, and the E72 can support multiple open applications without appearing ponderous. It’s worth checking occasionally via the Home button though and closing down unused apps to optimise the performance.Any business-orientated phone has got to get the basics of voice calling right, and the Nokia E72 achieves a first rate performance on this score. We found it reassuringly reliable in our tests, with excellent call clarity and audio delivery. Volume in the earpiece was sufficiently loud too, as was the ringer.Tapping in new numbers was quick and easy; the number buttons are highlighted on the central part of the keyboard, so are swift to locate, even in low-light situations. In standby mode, pressing the keys automatically brings up a number rather than the letter, so there’s no fiddly button holding required if you’re entering a new phone number.The phonebook offers a number of options to set up details for contacts stored on the phone. As well as the usual personal and professional details, you can assign a location for the contact using the Maps function.VoIP is supported on the E72 too, with a Vyke Mobile download offered in the service menu set-up menu. Another useful calling feature is the facility to mute incoming call alerts simply by turning over the phone, a feature also found on Samsung phones like the Genio Slide. This option also works for sending alarms to snooze.Nokia E72: MessagingWith its QWERTY keyboard, messaging is naturally high on the E72’s priorities. As mentioned earlier, the QWERTY keypad is well crafted for fast messaging. Email is well catered for, with an inclusive subscription to the Nokia Messaging service enabling users to manage up to 10 email accounts with an easy-to-operate and intuitive desktop-style email interface. This provides familiar drop-down menu options for managing email in folders and searching for messages.The set-up procedure is a breeze. The Nokia Messaging application has presets for several popular web-based email services, including Yahoo Mail, Google Mail, Hotmail, BT Internet and Nokia’s own Ovi Mail service. Simply tapping in your account address and password is sufficient to set up the service for push email. And if you have other accounts with your internet service provider or other web-based mail service, the E72 can automatically set that up in a similarly easy way. In addition, users can set up the phone to be used with corporate email, with Mail for Exchange and Lotus Notes Traveler support within the email configuration options.The Nokia Messaging email set-up naturally handles attachments, with Quickoffice software onboard providing document viewing and editing.The email look and feel is a cut above most non-touchscreen devices and delivers a decent user experience.The E72 supports Nokia’s Chat instant messaging application enabling users to simultaneously run IM sessions across different services in one application. The Chat app allows you to sign on to Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk and Ovi, with updates on the home screen, tabs to switch between services within the Chat application, and detailed options to manage accounts. All neatly done and very user-friendly to negotiate.Regular text messaging works comfortably and conventionally for an S60 device. It’s a breeze to use, and adding extra files to convert texts to MMS messages is suitably hassle-free.The keyboard is cleanly laid out, with the numeric keys arranged in the central part of the pad, and it doesn’t feel cluttered. As well as the usual shift, symbol and control buttons, there are useful one-touch keys that, for example, switch Bluetooth on or off and which also engage the LED flash on the back panel as a flashlight.It really is a pleasure to use, with a fast action on the rounded keys making for swift and true text inputting.Wi-Fi and HSPA connectivity provide high-speed data connectivity options when browsing at the home, office or when you’re out and about.The E72’s browser is a fairly standard issue Nokia S60 affair, so you get none of the whizzy user interface tricks enjoyed on touchscreen smartphones such as the iPhone. Flash Lite is supported, and pages render relatively promptly in mobile coverage and impressively quickly when connected to Wi-Fi. The phone can utilise some keyboard-activated shortcut options, so you can zoom, bookmark, reload and so on with quick key presses. However, the S60 browser user interface, with press-to-browse lists of options and histories, feels dated compared to top touchscreen smartphones and even some touch-operated feature phone browsers. The optical navigation trackpad works effectively enough on webpages, although again, sometimes it’s just as easy clicking the D-pad rim for precision aiming and firing at links.Nokia has geared up the E72 for a spot of social networking too, with apps for Facebook, MySpace and YouTube pre-loaded which direct users to the respective online mobile sites. With support too for Nokia’s Ovi Files online service, the E72 can be used to view, download and send files that are stored on your home computer.The Nokia E72 has a more powerful camera setup than its Nokia E71 predecessor, with a 5MP shooter on the back, equipped with an LED flash. There’s no sliding cover gadgetry on this model, however it rather juts out of the back. A secondary video-calling camera sits inconspicuously on the front above the display, for anyone who wants a bit of face-to-face mobile chat.Unusually for this grade of cameraphone there’s no dedicated camera button on the side. The landscape oriented-screen is a probable reason, as most people will want to shoot in the same orientation as they hold the phone. The optical navigation key takes shots once the camera has been booted up. It takes around four seconds from a softkey press to be ready for snapping action, which is a touch leisurely for our liking, but no deal-breaker in itself.The E72 uses a familiar interface to other recent non-touch S60 phones, with a column of scrollable settings icons on the right of the viewfinder screen, and large autofocus frame in the middle. Getting the autofocus system to lock onto exactly what you want is tricky using the navigation key trackpad. It requires much more subtle handling than regular two-step autofocus (frame then snap) button pressing cameras. We found it hit and miss sometimes, particularly with our less than sensitive fingertip prodding, and you can end up taking simple point and shoot shots rather than nicely framed images. The results from the camera can be pleasing, though the trickiness in controlling the autofocus can be frustrating for those used to more dependable Nokia cameraphones. Nevertheless, colour rendition is rich and vivid, and detail is quite well handled for this class of device. Auto exposure control is dealt with competently too. However, the flash is very limited, and you need to be close to get illumination it’s not particularly powerful and isn’t a patch on the better xenon flashes some high-end cameraphones pack. Overall, the E72 is capable of producing decent results, though it has its foibles that don’t aid consistently satisfactory autofocus results.A familiar set of camera settings options is available. These include a variety of scene modes for varying lighting and shooting conditions, with a close-up mode for macro shooting, plus landscape, portrait, night mode and suchlike.White balance adjustments are available too, plus timer and multi-shot settings, and flash on/off/auto and red-eye reduction mode. There’s a reasonable panorama setting too that uses a sensor to help you stitch shots together for one continuous image.Post shooting, images can be uploaded to a selection of image sharing online services, including Ovi, Vox and Flickr, and there are some editing tools for tweaking shots before posting, with effects and text options too.SUNLIGHT: The five-megapixel camera on the Nokia E72 is capable of producing rich, vibrantly coloured images with a decent amount of detailMIXED OUTDOORS: The camera is able to produce a good balance in tones and handle variations in light in an image pretty wellDETAIL: The autofocus system enables users to pick out details in subjects for crisper shots. Colours here are well defined with a nice balance and good contrastAUTOFOCUS: Although the camera is capable of capturing reasonably good images, its autofocus system suffers from the limited control of focusing offered by the Navi keyLIGHT AND DARK: The camera can handle exposure well for light and dark portions of an image, with no impact on colour fidelitySHADOW: A shot taken in shadow retains decent amounts of detail in the foreground while the strongly lit background isn’t burntMOVING SUBJECT: The camera’s auto-metering system does a decent job at capturing moving subjects when lighting conditions are favourable, though in poorer light sports mode can help with exposureLANDSCAPE: The E72 can take reasonable long-range landscape shots tooFOCUS: The autofocus system does enable you to take interesting images by adjusting the element in focus, though it can be fiddly to get it right first timeFLASH: The E72’s flash offers some illumination in dark conditions, but has limited effect and only at short rangeVideo capture performance is middle of the road on the E72; it can shoot at up to VGA resolution (640 x 480 pixels) at 15 frames a second. Although footage can look adequately bright and may be sufficient for casual online action, quality is limited and there is some slight hesitancy to playback.Video playback is okay on the QVGA screen, and is smooth and bright, but the size and resolution of the screen limit the impact of video watching on this device. As well as the media player, the E72 has the usual Nokia smartphone RealPlayer application onboard. Video file formats supported include MP4, AVC/H.264,WMV, RV, Flash Video and H.263/3GP.Video clips can be shared online too, and the phone has Nokia’s Video Centre application onboard for streaming and downloading content from the Ovi Store (some free, others paid for).Although the E72 is geared up for serious business users, it’s still capable of delivering a surprisingly powerful audio performance. The music player software is, again, standard issue S60 kit, so the user interface is functional rather than anything more elaborate. Tracks are categorised in basic music player fashion, and playback is controlled in the usual way via the D-pad, with cover art presented on the screen if available. No surprises there, then.As we mentioned, a 4GB MicroSD card is included in-box, providing a decent amount of storage to be getting on with. Nokia supplies the E72 with a headset that present quite a lively soundscape with decent mid- and high-range presentation and solid bass. It’s loud too the buds come with optional silica surrounds for a snug noise-diminishing fit. Usefully, the E72 has a 3.5mm standard headphone jack on the top, so any decent set of headphones can be whacked in for a further uplift in sound quality. The loudspeaker is reasonable too for playback. All in all, not bad tune-playing for a business phone.Should you wish to buy tunes online over the air, the Nokia E72 supports Nokia’s Music Store service. A separate Music Search function offers the option of hunting through music files using voice recognition to find a track, artist, album or playlist. It worked surprisingly well for this sort of software, even if it wasn’t always 100 per cent accurate. An FM radio function is also built into the E72, playable with headphones attached as an antenna. Usefully it can download frequencies and details of local radio stations over the air as part of the regular set-up procedure. Alternatively, you can use auto or manual tuning if you prefer. It’s simple to set up and operate, and the sound quality is perfectly acceptable through the ear-gear supplied. Another crucial factor for any business phone is battery staying power, and we were very impressed by the E72 on this score. Despite its slimline profile, the Nokia E72 packs a hefty 1500mAh battery that Nokia estimates can deliver almost 6 hours of talktime or 576 hours of standby on 3G networks (in GSM-only coverage areas, the figures are 12.5 hours’ talktime or 492 hours’ standby).We frequently managed a comfortable three days of normal usage before reaching for the charger, though, as usual how much you use such features as Wi-Fi and GPS will be reflected in individual battery life experiences.OrganiserA comprehensive set of organiser tools and functionality is set up for the E72, emphasising its enterprise market appeal. Its E-series calendar app offers plenty of functionality including the facility to create and receive meeting requests. Up to 1,000 contacts can be stored on the phone, dependent on memory availability, with multiple fields for storing detailed contact information.Office tools include notes and active notes, clock, alarms, calculator and convertor functions, voice recorder and text to voice reader, plus a dictionary app that can read words to you and offer translations. It also has an Adobe PDF document reader and a ZIP file manager. In addition, a Quickoffice application provides a full suite of document reader functions for Word, Excel and PowerPoint file formats, plus the facility to edit and create documents.The E72 also has a bunch of apps targeted at business users, including a business card/text scanner function and Psiloc’s Wireless Presenter for wireless presentations to other suitably enabled Wi-Fi equipped devices.Nokia has also loaded up Psiloc’s World Traveller application for real-time updates to weather, travel information, currency rates and so on in whichever cities you choose worldwide.ConnectivityConnectivity on the E72 is first rate, with Wi-Fi (WLAN 802.11b/g) and HSPA (up to 10.2Mbps downloading and up to 2Mbps uploading rates, subject to network support). A Wi-Fi wizard helps you set up connections from the home screen, prompting you to select from visible networks within range and passcodes. It’s reasonably straightforward to operate and use, and you can get automatic reconnection established when you go out of and then back in range again of the network.The E72 is a tri-band WCDMA handset (900/1900/2100 MHz) or out of 3G coverage it can operate on quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), with EDGE and GPRS data connectivity.Bluetooth 2.0 is onboard too, with A2DP stereo streaming support for headphones, speakers and so on. USB 2.0 connectivity is also included, with a microUSB port on the side of the phone and a cable supplied in-box. Over the air syncing via ActiveSync is supported, while the E72 is also kitted out for local synchronisation using Nokia PC Suite or Ovi Suite.MicroSD cards are supported, with a 4GB card supplied as standard. Cards up to 32GB can be used with the phone.A Home Media application also enables users to stream and share content via home Wi-Fi networks with other suitably equipped media devices. OtherOur review sample of the Nokia E72 came with Nokia Maps pre-installed, although an upgrade to the latest version of Ovi Maps which includes free voice-guided sat nav as part of an improved package and user interface is available to download free of charge.The in-built A-GPS location finding technology worked extremely smoothly in our tests. From start-up, it locked on to satellites and pin-pointed our position rapidly, keeping accurate track of our movements. A compass also provides positioning orientation to help you find your way around.Maps for the UK and Ireland are pre-loaded on the supplied memory card, so map refreshes are seamless. We’d recommend users whose phones aren’t already set up for Ovi Maps with satellite navigation to upgrade as soon as possible. The user interface of the upgraded software is much more like an in-car sat nav setup, and more intuitive than Nokia’s previous version of its mapping app. Free sat nav is another useful bonus, plus you can get Lonely Planet and Michelin guides free over the air. The enhanced GPS experience certainly adds more to Nokia’s smartphone appeal.Standard Nokia voice control software is complemented by a pre-loaded Vlingo voice-control application for messaging, emailing, texting and web browsing. Additional apps include a search facility for scouring the phone’s content or searching online, while two gaming applications are included too.There have been huge changes in the smartphone world since the Nokia E71 first landed. But with the E72, Nokia has evolved and refreshed its messaging-heavy enterprise phone offering rather than coming up with something revolutionary.The E72 is a sleek and attractively designed QWERTY keyboard-packing smartphone, with a tremendously solid feel to it. It offers some neat upgrades to the spec of the E71, with a faster processor under the bonnet, and presents a powerful email and all-round messaging solution for corporate users. Its QWERTY keyboard is a pleasure to use for this kind of device, accurate and responsive, while the messaging software onboard is easy to set up with an appealingly user-friendly interface.Additional features, such as the camera and A-GPS functionality, have been toned up too, providing a decent amount of downtime consumer appeal. The S60 3rd Edition platform’s menu structure can, of course, be long-winded and the non-touchscreen user interface far from slick, but the familiarity of the typical Nokia smartphone system will no doubt appeal to some loyal Nokia buyers.We likedThe QWERTY keyboard is tidily designed and nicely implemented for a great thumb-typing experience. It’s well laid out, with a very responsive action that makes message writing a breeze. A strong suite of messaging applications underpins the appeal of the E72 for the business user, as does a generous helping of enterprise-orientated applications and features. It also has fine connectivity options, including Wi-Fi and HSPA.Excellent build quality and a stylish yet understated chrome-edged design give the E72 some added substance and visual appeal.We welcomed the responsive A-GPS technology and upgraded Ovi Maps sat-nav software, which worked a treat on the E72.In addition, the music player, while not overly sophisticated, puts in an admirable audio performance. A 4GB MicroSD card and decent earphones in-box, plus the phone’s 3.5mm headphone socket, are also welcome.We dislikedThe E72’s 2.36-inch display isn’t the largest on a smartphone, and we’d have liked a touch more room.We liked some elements of the optical navigation key trackpad control, although we felt it wasn’t quite hitting the mark for ease of use and precision in some applications. We didn’t like its use in camera mode, in particular.As usual, getting to some settings in the S60 third Edition menu system can be convoluted, and it can take plenty of clicks to negotiate the numerous menu structures. Still, long-standing Nokia smartphone fans will find the phone’s user interface very familiar.The camera’s image quality wasn’t bad, but the camera results could have been improved with more robust autofocus control.VerdictThe Nokia E72 delivers a measured upgrade to the E71, enhancing its capabilities and boosting performance all-round without radically altering the essential QWERTY-keyboard template. It provides a powerful messaging package with a very usable keyboard, complemented with an assortment of solid smartphone functionality and business apps. 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Review: LG Chocolate BL20
LG has introduced a more sweetly priced slider phone the Chocolate BL20 to try and tempt style-savvy phone buyers not interested in the more feature packed (but higher-priced) Chocolate BL40.Sporting a similarly sleek design, the LG Chocolate BL20 is the latest update of the original LG Chocolate phone (KG800) that first appeared in mid-2006. Central to the chic look is a smooth, glossy piano-black casing that features hidden touch-sensitive controls on the front panel that glow red through the casing only when the phone is activated.It’s a more refined look than earlier Chocolates, echoing the BL40’s design although the Chocolate BL20 has fewer high-end features than its touchscreen range-mate.The new Chocolate BL20 instead offers a more typically mid-priced mobile package including HSDPA high-speed 3G data connectivity, a 5MP camera, media player functionality and an FM radio. But the real headline on this new phone from LG is certainly style.DesignThe minimalist bodywork of the closed Chocolate BL20 is certainly attractive. Its black bodywork is offset with metallic red trim on top and bottom and on the slide-down number pad, plus some subtle chrome edging. Measuring 105.9(h) x 50.8(w) x 12.3(d) mm, it’s a slimline slider that weighs a reasonable 115g and is nicely balanced in the hand. However, all that glossy bodywork does mean it can be slippery in cold or damp conditions. Covered in a single plastic sheet, the front panel is also a finger-smudge magnet.The display is a 2.4-inch QVGA (240 x 320 pixels), 262K-colour LCD, which is bright and zingy enough for most applications. It’s not as big as a smartphone-style screen, but is acceptable for this type of mid-range device, especially with no touch control.The original Chocolate phone was one of the first to introduce a touch sensitive navigation pad, and the BL20’s similar digit-stroke control panel takes up most of the space under the screen. A central select button surrounded by four direction arrows glows out from behind the black casing when the slider is opened or the phone activated, delightfully fading again when the phone goes into standby mode. These buttons work conventionally to navigate around menus, albeit requiring light touching rather than pressing. They each also do typical phone shortcuts for calling up features, including text messaging, contacts, ringer profiles and a quick menu grid (you can select up to nine apps or functions for fast-touch access).Other buttons include two regular softkeys, a button that shows active features as icons on a toolbar, and a widgets key. This key pulls up five mini apps you can scroll between on screen, wherever you are in the menus. Functions include an alarm clock, memo writer, calendar, favourite contacts list and an online-based weather forecast app you can define for your preferred location. A light finger glide is all you need to use the controls, like stroking a mobile phone version of a duckling. Dabbing around the menus is similarly effortless, although the sensitivity of the controls to even the merest of touches can cause accuracy issues if you’re not handling it carefully. A stray thumb or finger brushing the pad (generally your own) can accidentally activate a shortcut or the select button. It’s not particularly troublesome in most features but has potential for irritation in some, such as if you accidentally select send while composing a text.LG has included touch activated volume/zoom controls around the BL20’s side, plus a camera key and a screen lock button.A single microUSB socket on the side takes care of charging, PC data connections and earphones; there’s no standard 3.5mm headphone socket on the phone (boo), though an adaptor is provided in-box (slightly quieter boos).The sprung slider mechanism revealing the number pad feels sufficiently robust. The pad itself provides large keys with plenty of finger room, and despite being flush against the surface are very responsive for fast, accurate texting. The metallic red finish is arresting too.Despite the snazzy touch sensitive navigation controls, the LG Chocolate BL20’s user interface and menu structure is conventional stuff. New users should find few problems working around the features and functions.Pressing the central select key brings up the main menu in a colourful 12-icon grid, which can be changed to a list if you’re that way inclined. As you move through the menu grid, the icon you’re on enlarges to help the less mobile-phonic understand what’s going on. This partially obscures the label of the icon directly above, although it doesn’t cause any real navigation issues. Select an icon and, unless you’re opening the camera or browser options, you’re taken into further sub-menu lists, which are numbered in regular LG fashion for quick keypad selection. It’s all very familiar phone navigation, especially if you’ve grown up with any kind of Nokia phone. The graphics are functional and sensibly arranged, and you can tab sideways between most sub-menus.CallsThe LG Chocolate BL20 hits the mark for high-quality voice calling, delivering a first rate performance throughout our tests. There’s no forward-facing video camera on this model for video calling, though that’s unlikely to be an issue for most potential buyers seeing as the last person to (probably) perform such an action did so accidentally back in 2007.As mentioned, the keypad has a simple and effective layout, while the phonebook is easily accessible from a D-pad shortcut. Up to five favourite contacts can be assigned to one of the widgets for quick carousel-style access. The phonebook contact details are adequate and provide more than the basics, though they don’t offer as extensive a rundown of contact info input options as some higher grade phones although if that’s your bag, perhaps you should consider the higher end LG Chocolate BL40.MessagingThe LG Chocolate BL20 offers standard text and multimedia messaging options, plus email. An email wizard enables you to set up your regular web-based POP3 and IMAP4 email accounts on the phone simply by tapping in email address and password details, the phone automatically installing appropriate settings where available. If unavailable, account details can be chucked in manually. Viewing new emails is reasonably easy, though there’s no document viewer software to view downloaded attachments. Managing emails is average for this sort of phone, with only three email message headers viewable on the screen at one time but we’d be surprised if the hardcore email user opted for a mostly shiny phone like this.With the slider keyboard, typing out messages is a breeze it’s responsive and has a good springy action. It’s straightforward to operate too if you want to send an MMS you can simply insert an image or other item into the message from the menus found at the bottom of the screen.There’s no Wi-Fi capability on the LG Chocolate BL20, so high speed data comes courtesy of its HSDPA 3G network connectivity. The browser is swift at negotiating mobile-optimised sites, and can open full web pages, with flash support too. They look good on screen and are well rendered for the screen size, automatically re-sizing to give you an overall page view of the site. The text is small, but can be speedily zoomed in and out using numberpad shortcuts.However, some web pages can take time to fully load so you’ll probably end up hanging around the mobile web unless forced out into the big wide World Wide Web.Although navigation involves the usual type of mobile menu option lists, the keypad is configured for several useful browser shortcuts including zooming, switching to a full screen landscape view, viewing recently visited pages as selectable thumbnails, and so on. Two browser windows can be opened at one time and toggled between, and you can also do text searches in web pages, and even save a page to look at later, should you need to have dinner or wash your cat or something.It makes for more efficient operation than most mid-tier conventional phones, although inevitably it’s not as slick and intuitive as some touchscreen browser efforts we could mention (including LG’s own, such as on the LG Viewty Smart GC900).The Chocolate BL20 has a reasonable camera for this class of ultra-slim, mid-priced style-heavy device. A press of the side button has the 5MP shooter ready for action in just a couple of seconds.It has a two-step autofocus system and an LED flash. The autofocus system provides a bit of versatility in getting crisply focused shots on particular subjects in a composition, enabling you to get an item in focus and hold focus before taking the shot. However, the camera shooting button on the side isn’t the best for doing this, as it has an almost touch-like action, barely depressing when focusing and shooting. The lack of ‘feel’ when pressing means heavy-fingered users could snap before they’re ready, and it requires a delicate touch to get it right. It’s a bit too fiddly for our liking, with the shutter lagging when pressed, so you can easily miss that shot of your friend ‘hilariously’ falling out of a window.The user interface is mid-level LG, not offering the raft of neat features used on its higher grade camera phones. There’s the usual supply of effects, white balance tweaking, brightness and basic ISO settings plus night mode, timer and multi-shot options. In addition, a Text Scan option enables you to take snaps of handwritten memos or drawings by converting shots into bright, high contrast black-and-white images from close-up shots. Bright background: The 5-megapixel camera on the LG Chocolate BL20 is capable of achieving decent results. Here, shooting into a rising sun, colours are bright and subtle in placesThe LG Chocolate BL20 delivers decent image quality. Colours are bright and well balanced, and there’s sufficient detail in images for acceptable prints. Contrast and exposure are also handled capably by the auto-metering system. It’s not comparable to the best 5MP camera phones however, and would likely be slapped down in a techno-cage fight with standalone 5MP cameras. Decent detail: The camera does provide a decent amount of detail for this grade and longer range images are reasonably sharpLow light performance is not particularly impressive, and the flash offers only limited illumination over short distances although that’s perfect for capturing far off, blurry photos of possible UFOs late at night. Darker side: In lower lighting conditions, the camera doesn’t perform as well. The flash can deliver short range illumination brightly, but images aren’t as crispThe BL20’s video facility is limited to capturing MPEG4 video at QVGA resolution at maximum 15 frames per second, so self-recorded footage is mediocre on playback. You can watch sideloaded or downloaded video clips too, although the phone is limited here, too, supporting 30fps playback of just MPEG4 and H.263 files DivX fans, you’re sadly out of luck.The MP3 player fielded on the LG Chocolate BL20 is standard issue mid-tier fare. It doesn’t do anything particular whizzy, presenting music playing categories in a regular list format, while the player controls are operated by the touch navigation pad. There are a familiar set of options for equaliser sound tweaking, plus shuffle and repeat, and cover art is supported if available.The BL20’s software automatically identifies new music and files it accordingly, with the likes of MP3, AAC, AAC+ and WMA files supported. Music can be loaded onto the phone using the USB sync cable and supplied LG PC Suite software, via Bluetooth, or slipped quietly in through the optional MicroSD card (optional because you have to buy the thing damn you LG).The phone has a modest 60MB of internal storage, although it supports MicroSDs up to 16GB, slipped in under the back cover. Mass storage drag-and-dropping is another file transfer option.There’s no 3.5mm headphone socket on the BL20’s bodywork, although the supplied 2-piece headset does have an adaptor that allows you to plug in your own ear-gear via the awkward side-mounted multi-purpose microUSB socket. We say awkward, but what we mean is hair-tuggingly frustrating when you try to pull the phone out of your pocket when listening to tunes, only to find it caught on that pointless little coin pocket forcing you to wiggle and dance and realise you should probably lose some weight.Sound quality through the supplied earphones is decently acceptable, with a reasonably well balanced sound across the frequency range; it can be a touch toppy however, but has punchy bass underpinning it. Try better quality headphones, like our reference affordable Sennheiser CX300’s, and you’ll get a much richer audio experience something we’d definitely recommend trying. In addition to the music player, the Chocolate BL20 includes a serviceable FM radio with RDS that’s simple to tune either automatically or manually. This can be played through the loudspeaker, though earphones need to be plugged in. The loudspeaker isn’t particularly pleasing on the ears, in typically tinny mobile fashion so it’s a no-no on the bus or Tube.Battery life is acceptable on the LG Chocolate BL20 – with LG calculating that its 900mAh battery pack can keep the phone running for up to 450 hours on standby or provide up to 5 hours talktime. With fewer power-sapping features than big-hitting high-end touchscreen phones, we found it delivered a steady two to three days of power with our typical use, though heavier usage of features like the music player will take a greater toll on power consumption.OrganiserLG doesn’t spring too many surprises on the organiser and tools front. The memo and calendar widgets may be useful extras, but most of the organiser apps are standard functional stuff calendar, tasks, memo, plus there are alarm clock, voice recorder, stopwatch, calculator, unit convertor and world clock tools onboard.There’s also a photo memo option that works with the Text Scan camera tool, and a date finder, which enables you to look up a date a certain number of days ahead – which could be handy for some cool and happening hip-cats, we guess. ConnectivityThe LG Chocolate BL20 is equipped for dual-band UMTS 900/2100 3G and tri-GSM 900/1800/1900 network usage (meaning it will work in the US).It supports HSDPA high-speed 3G mobile data connectivity (up to 3.6Mbps) and GPRS/EDGE on GSM networks. As a mid-tier phone, it doesn’t have Wi-Fi onboard. Bluetooth 2.1, with A2DP, is supported, and synchronisation can be carried out over the air with a PC using Bluetooth and the supplied LG PC Suite software, or via the supplied USB data cable.OtherLG has kept the Chocolate BL20 minimalist in the extra apps department. There’s a Yahoo search facility pre-loaded, which when selected takes you online, but there were no other apps to speak of in our review sample. On the games front, there were just a couple of Java options Sudoku Caf and Mini Game Planet, which offers a selection of simple games but don’t go expecting the dizzy-making blowing games from the Chocolate BL40.While the LG Chocolate BL40 was a stunning-looking touchscreen headline-grabber, the Chocolate BL20 is more a mid-tier style phone. That’s not to say the BL20 hasn’t got plenty of design pizzazz to make people sit up and take notice, but its features rundown marks it as a steady mid-range 3G handset than anything more wow-worthy. Visually, it certainly has a glossy chic appeal about it, though the glow-through touch navigation pad maybe doesn’t have quite the shock of the new that the original Chocolate had. Style-conscious users who aren’t drawn to the obvious fashionable touchscreen contenders may find this sleek slider attractive, particularly at its mid-range price point. We likedThe bodywork design of the LG Chocolate BL20 is impressive minimalist chic that’s given a distinctive look by the glowing touch-sensitive controls.Its responsive slider number pad makes texting a breeze, and the menu system and interface will be intuitive for most mobile users.The 5MP camera, while not top of the camera-phone class, produced decent enough results too for a style-majoring handset. The music player performance through the supplied earphones was okay too, and the 3.5mm headphone adaptor enabled us to improve that significantly by adding our own headphones. HSDPA connectivity was welcome, and it presented pages reasonably well for a feature phone like this. We dislikedSome people love touch sensitive controls, others feel the opposite way. We found that they were generally fine for navigation, though they could get accidentally brushed in passing during everyday use, inadvertently selecting options or opening functions. Not a deal-breaker by any stretch, but a trait that’s not so common in more conventional slider phones.As an upgrade to LG’s Chocolate range, we’d have liked to have seen a few more high-end features such as Wi-Fi and GPS to make it stand out from other 3G mid-rangers for more than just its looks. We’d have preferred, too, a dedicated 3.5mm headphone socket on the bodywork rather than an awkward side-mounted multi-connector for earphones, but at least LG supplies an adaptor in-box.VerdictAs sweet-looking as the LG Chocolate BL20 is, it’s not as tempting as it might have been had LG stacked it up with more functionality to go with its fine design. Its feature rundown is decent enough for a mid-level 3G phone, but it’s not innovative or particularly exciting, and touch sensitive controls, while eye-catching, aren’t as in vogue as touchscreen operation. Nonetheless, the design is still distinctive and stylishly elegant, and this will no doubt draw many admirers looking for a minimalist chic alternative at a mid-range price.Related LinksMore mobile phone reviewsTechRadar’s Reviews GuaranteeSearch for the best LG Chocolate BL20 deals at OmioRelated StoriesReview: Samsung Galaxy Portal i5700Review: Sony Ericsson VivazReview: HTC LegendReview: Acer Liquid S100Review: Nokia E72

In Depth: Pimp your iPad: Top 10 essential accessories
A slew of new iPad cases and numerous other third-party accessories arrive this week, as has become traditional with any new computer or device from Apple.New iPad owners will no doubt be all too eager to spend a few more of their hard-earned dollars pimping their new tablet PC to make sure it stands out from the crowd, looks cool, and is well protected and fully compatible with their digital cameras and various other peripherals.Apple has also released a number of its own official iPad accessories, for those that like to stick with the official gear and merchandising.Here is TechRadar’s top ten list of the essential iPad accessories available to buy right now.The official iPad Keyboard Dock ($69/ 45) is what you need to invest in should you wish to use Apple’s new tablet computer as a regular desktop-style screen. It combines a dock for charging your iPad with a full-size keyboard, featuring a number of special keys that activate iPad features. It looks superb, featuring an anodized aluminum enclosure with low-profile keys. Special iPad keys provide one-touch access to the Home screen, Spotlight search, display brightness, picture frame mode, the onscreen keyboard, and screen lock.APPLE IN THE DOCK: The official Apple keyboard dock for iPadThe dock lets you connect to a nearby electrical outlet using the USB Power Adapter that comes with the iPad, sync with your computer, or use some of the other official accessories such as the iPad Camera Connection Kit. You can also connect your iPad to external speakers or headphones via the in-built audio jack or to a TV or video projector using a compatible cable such as the iPad Dock Connector to VGA Adapter or the Apple Component or Composite AV Cable.Order from the iPad Order page [Apple]If you’re not a fan of logo-embossed cases, then a company called Wrappers makes a decent range of affordable no-logo cases for your new Apple toy (from 18.00 plus 3.50 p&p).The company offers “no logo, 100% soft, contract quality textile sleeves” in which you can sheath your iPad to keep it safe from screen scratches or breakages. The cases are wrapped with a 3mm closed cell foam padding and lined with a waterproof microfiber, so you can safely carry around your tablet computer in the rain! NO LOGO: Wrappers offers a decent range of iPad casesFor the fashion-conscious, the company has also signed up a number of exclusive textile deals with the likes of Alcantara, LVMH, Andrew Martin & Paul Smith. Wrappers’ also offer its original pillow case cover for the Apple iPad which is available here. Order from Apple iPad no logo sleevesIf, for some bizarre reason, you really have to take your new iPad with you when you next head to the beach or go sailing, then the rather-alarmingly named TrendyDigital Waterproof iPad Cover ($20/13) might be worth investing in. TRENDY DIGITAL: An expensive ziplock bag for your iPadYou might even want to use your iPad in the bath. Although we seriously wouldn’t recommend you did!The TrendyDigital WaterGuard waterproof case for the Apple iPad is the only iPad case that you can be sure to keep your new computer warm and dry when in or near the water (though hopefully not too warm). Of course, you could always just buy yourself a massive one-gallon zip-lock back instead which is what Jeff Bezos claims he does when he reads his Kindle in the bath!Order from AmazonA decent stylus is going to be an essential for iPad users. The Pogo Stylus ($15/10), originally designed for the Apple iPhone, is now a far more useful bit of kit to have alongside your new iPad should you wish to do any digital drawing or art.POGO STYLUS: Ideal for drawing and fiddly applicationsThis cool little stylus has been designed with light-weight aluminum alloy, with what the company says is a “soft tip [that] glides easily over the surface of your trackpad or display, making it fun and easy to sketch, draw characters, or just slide to unlock.” Sometimes finger-touch control is just not quite accurate enough for what you want to do on the iPad screen, which is also when having a decent stylus nearby is a god-send. Also handy if you just happen to have really long nails that get in the way of the iPad’s touchscreen.Order from Pogo Stylus Apple’s own iPad Camera Connection Kit ($29/19) is going to be an essential buy if you have any plans to use your iPad with your digital camera, allowing you to upload your pics from an SD card or directly from your camera, without having to bother doing so on your laptop first of all. CAMERA KIT: Apple provides you with connectors for your digital cameraIt means that you can immediately use your iPad to check out and edit all of your pictures on the go which is a far more appealing prospect than having to cart around a laptop with you to do the same job (or than having to edit your pics on your tiny camera screen).The iPad’s 10-inch screen and pinch-to-zoom feature, combined with the option of running slideshows and the like means that this is a must-buy peripheral. iPad also supports all standard photo formats, including JPEG and RAWYou can order the iPad Camera Connection Kit now from Apple’s website.While there are plenty of third-party iPad cases arriving on the market, Apple’s own book-like case ($40/26) is a decent enough option for those that aren’t too bothered about making a fashion statement with their tablet PC bag.APPLE’S IPAD CASE: The official case for your tablet PCApple’s own iPad Case features a soft microfiber interior with reinforced panels for structure (and all-important screen protection) and it pretty lightweight. Perhaps the coolest feature is the capability of folding it horizontally or vertically to hold the iPad at an angle for viewing video or typing on the onscreen keyboard.It also has all the necessary holes you would expect it to have for your headphone jack, dock connector port, and on/off and volume buttons Order from the iPad Order page [Apple]If the official iPad case is not to your taste, then Quirky’s new ‘Cloak’ iPad Case ($42/28) with its two-way kick-stand adds a few useful extras to the standard book-cover style cover.QUIRKY CASE: Featuring a U-shaped plastic kick standThe Cloak is perfect for propping up your iPad to watch movies or to type on the onscreen keyboard in landscape mode, featuring a U-shaped plastic kick stand that flips out. It also has a handy click-stop hinge controlled by a button on the spine, so you can set the viewing angle you want from the iPad.That’s quite a lot to pack into one case, and the price isn’t bad, either, at $36. As always, you commit to order, the productions lines spin-up when the minimum order is reached and you are charged when the product ships. Hopefully you’ll have yours in time for the April 3rd iPad release.Order now from CloakThe Vers handcrafted wood iPad Case is clearly one for the designers amongst us and those who really care about making their new iPad look stunning when used as a part-time picture frame.WOOD FRAME: One for the design-conscious amongst usThe only downside? It costs $80 (53). But that’s the price you are going to have to pay if you really want your mates to swoon over your new Apple computer.The Vers case is crafted by hand from hardwood and bamboo and reinforced with steel to keep your iPad safe and sound.Preorder now from Vers AudioM-Edge’s leather Moleskine-style iPad cases really do complement Apple’s new machine better than most other cases out there right now. Pricing is still to be confirmed, but we imagine that it will be slightly higher than your average iPad cover, due to the quality of the textiles used.MOLESKINE-STYLE: M-Edge’s iPad cases look the partIn particular, the Flip Jacket and the Trip Jacket canvas and leather sleeves, that hold your iPad is held inside by straps across the corners, and feature a cover that closes to protect the screen, are on our iPad most-wanted list.You can choose from a wide range of colours opting for a conservative dark-coloured case or a brightly-coloured ‘fun’ case.You can pre-order M-Edge’s Pad Cases from the M-Edge website.RadTech’s iPad accessories range is perfect for the self-style urban warrior look. The company has a decent selection of cases, screen-protectors and a stylus for those who want something slightly different to the more-conservative cases on offer from Apple and others.URBAN WARRIORS: Order your cases from RadTechRadTech’s shoulder bag will no doubt appeal to those that like the ‘man-bag’ look. We particularly like the look and styling of the company’s $50 (33) ’scout bag’.And the company’s $30 (20) protective sleeve is a guaranteed way of protecting your new iPad screen from scratches.Order RadTech’s iPad Accessories from the RadTech website.——————————————————————————————————Related StoriesIn Depth: Top 20 best iPad appsNvidia CEO is delighted with iPad successGuardian editor: iPad is an ‘interim device’In Depth: 10 things the iPad totally sucks atIn Depth: 50 really useful iPad tips and tricks

Review: Nokia X3
The Nokia X3 is a slim, budget offering from the Finns. With no touchscreen and modest memory, it still has pretensions of being an attractive music device with a low cost to boot.While the recent Nokia X6 touchscreen topped the rebranded X-series music phone bill with smartphone functionality and a heavyweight 32GB of onboard memory, the Nokia X3 is a much more modest affair.It works the signature Nokia XpressMusic design look again, sporting bright red or blue music player controls down the side of the display, and comes with a 2GB MicroSD memory card in-box, a standard 3.5mm headphone socket, in-ear earphones and an FM radio. However, there’s no high-speed 3G connectivity, let alone Wi-Fi or GPS functionality, and its onboard camera is an average 3.2MP shooter.Initially available for around 90 with various pay as you go deals (or 129 SIM-free), the Nokia X3 is clearly aiming for the cash-conscious music phone buyer after a smart-looking device, pitching it squarely against the likes of the Sony Ericsson W395.Design and handlingThe Nokia X3’s bodywork is tidily proportioned, measuring 96(h) x 49.3(w) x 14.1(d) mm closed and weighing 103g. It has an average-sized 2.2-inch 262K-colour QVGA display dominating the front that’s reasonable for this sort of handset. There are no touchscreen controls under the display is a regular navigation D-pad flanked by a standard issue quartet of soft key and call end buttons on a flat glossy black front control panel. These buttons are adequately spaced for hassle- and error-free navigation, although the glossy front is a touch plasticky.But the metallic red or blue music controls and trim bordering the display and the matt black bodywork used around the rest of the phone add a sharp look to the design not HTC Legend levels of design, but not bad for 90 of your English pounds.These three thin music control buttons (forward, rewind, play/pause) enable users to operate the music player when it’s playing in the background, although they’re aren’t essential for controlling the phone – the navigation D-pad can take care of that too. The slide-out keyboard is a bit of a throwback to Motorola RAZR styling, with a flat brushed metal pad separated by illuminated ridges. It’s sufficient for texting at decent speeds, though it doesn’t have the super-light touch of the best texting phones, and larger-fingered users should be wary of straying thumbs.Around the sides are routine camera key and volume buttons plus a MicroSD card slot, covered by a fairly tight plastic bung. The standard 3.5mm headphone socket sits correctly on top of the phone, next to a microUSB data connector and thin-pin charger socket. All-in-all, it feels slim in the hand and pocket, and is comfortable to handle what more do you really expect from a 90 handset? LG is doing the same thing with the LG Pop so we’re glad to see Nokia is playing in the right area as well.The Nokia X3 user interface is Nokia Series 40 rather than the S60 smartphone platform, so is standard issue, uncomplicated and straightforward to operate. It’s based around the usual type of grid main menu, which drills down into basic sub-menu option lists all of which should be very familiar to anyone who’s packed a Nokia mobile before.The home screen setup is standard stuff too; in fact, there are two home screen set up options you can choose between. The out-of-the-box default home screen has a row of five scrollable icon shortcuts towards the top of the display and additional lines on the screen for media player and radio status and info, calendar and message updates plus other information.These home screen shortcuts and info/content options can be user-defined as can further D-pad shortcuts with dozens available to select as shortcuts including functions, applications and even any bookmarked web pages intuitive for a cheaper handset like this.Alternatively, you can de-clutter the home screen by switching that mode off in the settings menu and sticking with a simpler setup that utilises the D-pad and softkeys only for shortcuts. It’s up to you, although the default home screen does provide more immediate information.Within the menus, the Nokia Series 40 6th Edition user interface is easy to navigate and operate. The functionality isn’t such that the menus are overloaded with confusingly laid out options, so it should be undemanding for any Nokia newcomers too.We found call quality on the Nokia X3 not quite up to the usual high standards we expect from Nokia handsets. Outgoing calls were often muffled and audio sometimes ropey even in areas where signal strength was good. It was surprising on our review sample, as we usually have no problems with Nokia’s high standard calling performance. For instance, the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic is not that much more expensive, but has a much higher level of call quality.We tried the phone in a number of places with varying signal levels, and its performance was average at best.Volume level was good enough, however it can be cranked up enough to cope with noisy urban conditions.The keyboard is perfectly manageable for tapping out numbers, and the typical Nokia Series 40 phonebook allows for numerous bits of contact information to be stored for each entry. The Nokia X3 puts in a decent messaging performance, supporting the usual text and multimedia messaging plus email and instant messaging. The flush, one-piece keyboard provides a reasonably responsive way of tapping in texts with some proficiency. Texts can easily be upgraded to MMS messages, with a toolbar of icons ranged along the bottom of the screen for adding photos, sound clips, video clips, and so on. It’s easy to operate and intuitive to use.Messages are presented in ‘conversations’, with a threaded string of incoming and outgoing messages for each contact you’ve recently been in touch with.The X3 uses the Nokia Messaging Mail email client, which enables you to set up email for a new Ovi Mail account or set up details from an existing POP3/IMAP4 email account. Settings are pre-loaded for several services, including Windows Live Hotmail, Google Mail and Yahoo! Mail you just need to tap in your email address and password – and you’re away. Other email provider accounts can be set up quickly and easily in a similar way settings details are taken care of automatically.The email user interface is reasonably attractive for a budget handset, and emails are sensibly ordered and headers viewable in lists on the screen. Some attachments, including JPG images, can be viewed, but not all file types are supported (we couldn’t view PDFs, Excel and Word documents, for instance). You can send documents from the phone though. With no 3G, large attachment files can take some time downloading or uploading, but then again that’s not really what the Nokia X3 is designed to do.The email client has a fair selection of options to manage accounts, including the facility to send instant messages directly from your email account, and you can use the number pad keys as shortcuts for certain options. You can also send quick replies to emails, with 9 preset messages available that can be selected and sent in a couple of key presses useful for fast acknowledgements of incoming mail. Multiple email accounts can be stored and accessed in the Nokia Messaging Mail application, and you can set the phone to regularly check email accounts automatically for new messages.Instant messaging is supported on the Nokia X3, with Nokia’s own IM application enabling you to use Ovi IM, and support for Windows Live Messenger in a separate IM app in the messaging folder. You can send and receive short messages to other IM users online easily and speedily, and leave it running in the background.Nokia once again doubles up on the browser front in the Nokia X3, including Opera Mini software as well as Nokia’s own-brand browser.Lacking 3G or Wi-Fi to fire up online speeds, the X3 relies on 2.5G EDGE/GPRS data connectivity.On mobile-optimised sites the onboard Nokia browser goes along at an acceptable pace, rendering sites efficiently enough, with a useful progress bar running along the bottom of the screen.As with other Series 40 phones, the Nokia browser operation is based on selecting from menu options rather than an on-screen toolbar or shortcuts, so it’s not the slickest browser around compared with some of the budget touchscreen phone browsers now in play. There’s only one windows and no tabs. It does support Flash Lite though, and can render pages reasonably well, if a little languidly.The Nokia X3 has pre-loaded bookmarks for a selection of online services, including Facebook, MySpace and YouTube, which take users to mobile-optimised versions of these sites. However, streaming video clips from YouTube is hit and miss and if you’re out of EDGE coverage, forget it. Opera Mini provides a more fluid and slicker non-touch browser experience that has a more desktop-style appeal. It includes address and search bars and history on the home screen, plus a full web page overview when you land on a site and controls for zooming as a softkey option. It’s a more intuitive and quicker browsing experience, and pages render very well on the Opera app.Other online applications on the Nokia X3 include Nokia’s Ovi Store application download shop (the first Series 40 phone to support it), and a Web Search function that enables you to tap in and search via Google or Microsoft’s Bing search engine.A Flickr application is also included, which takes you to the Flickr mobile site, allowing users to view, upload and manage Flickr image accounts online although this is woefully slow over EDGE connection.You can upload images directly to Flickr accounts once you’ve taken shots too, or alternatively to Nokia’s Share on Ovi service; settings for both services come pre-loaded. The camera used on the Nokia X3 is a run-of-the-mill 3.2MP snapper, lacking a flash and autofocus system. It has the typical sort of functionality you’d expect from a mid-to-lower end Nokia Series 40 handset, with nothing remarkable about the fixtures and fittings – or performance.Pressing the side camera button, the screen flips sideways into viewfinder mode within a couple of seconds. Nokia has set it up so that a long press of the camera key takes you straight into video mode, while a short press fires up the camera – a neat touch we’re surprised more manufacturers haven’t cottoned onto.However, this does mean you have to be aware of how long you’re tapping the button something that’s tricky with its almost flush position on the side or you can find yourself starting to video record when you meant to snap a picture.Although this can initially be disconcerting, if you are in the wrong mode the D-pad can be used to toggle sideways between camera and video recorder functions (an icon in the corner display’s what mode it’s in). The on-screen user interface is somewhat basic, if adequate. Settings and effects can be chosen by opening up the Options menu and toggling through it. You can adjust white balance to cater for lighting environments, add a few colour effects, use a timer and tweak image quality, but it’s quite rudimentary by Nokia’s high cameraphone standards.The fixed focus camera produces reasonable snaps that can be colourful and bright, but they do lack the crisp sharpness you can get from some autofocus cameraphones in the same class. Also, in subdued overcast conditions, the camera can produce murky images with flat tones and so-so colour. Overall, its shooting performance is OK for quick snaps, but modest and limited in detail and quality.Under low light conditions indoors, the auto metering adjustments mean images can be soft, although they’re better if the camera is held steady. Reasonable snapper: The Nokia X3’s 3.2-megapixel camera is an average lower range shooter, offering limited detail and a fixed focus lens. It can take reasonable snaps in good lighting environments, however, although don’t expect stunning clarity when printing out Click and hope: The fixed focus camera means you can’t choose which particular part of the subject you want in focus you just press and see what comes out Brighter is better: The camera performs best in bright lighting conditions, rendering colours in vibrant tones. There is though a lack of subtle detail in the background sky in the way the blue colours and clouds are reproduced Patchy effort: The camera does reasonably well at close-in shots, producing some detail in the foreground, although the blue sky and clouds in the background are patchily renderedSoft and noisy: This shot at dusk is soft and detail is limited with plenty of picture noise apparent Its video recording performance isn’t great. The low-grade camcorder option can record footage at maximum QVGA (320 x 240 pixels) resolution at 8 frames per second, so playback is stilted, or at lower QCIF (176 x 144 pixels) resolution at up to 15 frames per second. That’s a low quality budget effort. Should you wish to, these clips can be uploaded too to online video hubs.Of course, the most upfront feature of the X3 is its music mobile credentials. The music player controls on the outside mark out this territory, while a 2GB memory card supplied with the phone provides a decent amount of in-box storage for a budget music phone.Nokia’s also boxed it with an above-average set of in-ear earphones and it has a standard 3.5mm headphone socket on top for music fans who want to upgrade their ear-ware.The media player software inside, though, is low-key and functional rather than novel. The X3 uses a standard Series 40 media player, so it has a familiar mid-tier phone look and feel: a list of regular media player categories (all songs, playlists, artists, albums, genres and videos) and a player interface that doesn’t break new ground. The D-pad can operate the controls in normal phone fashion, and there’s a draggable elapsed time section to help navigation, plus album cover art (if available).The music player controls on the side of the display aren’t needed unless the music player’s working in the background; if so, they’re handy, but don’t exactly redefine the mobile music experience.Some settings can be tweaked, with equaliser presets you can assign as you’re playing. In addition to shuffle mode and the like, you can also choose to have lighting effects on the D-pad to go with the music – snazzy if you’re putting on a disco for mice.The supplied in-ear earphones put on a fine show. They fit snugly, with extra plastic buds in-box to get a close fit, reducing outside noise interference. They can deliver a surprisingly heavy-duty music performance, with plenty of bass presence coming through loud and clear, and good definition on high and mid frequencies. It’s not subtle, but it’s impressive for a budget music mobile.The media player automatically slots any new tunes loaded up or slipped in via a memory card. MicroSD cards up to 16GB will work in the phone’s side-mounted memory card slot. Tunes can be downloaded over the air, or copied over from a PC using the supplied Nokia Music software and USB data cable. Nokia’s PC Suite’s Music Manager software can also be used to transfer tracks, and the phone can be synchronised with Windows Media Player on a PC. Tracks can also be dragged and dropped in mass storage mode, or sent via Bluetooth to the phone – so to sum up, there’s a variety of ways to bung your favourite tunes on to the Nokia X3.Some mobile network operators will also be offering the Nokia X3 as one of Nokia’s Comes with Music range, which enables unlimited downloads, although UK availability of this service on the X3 is still to be confirmed at the time of writing. In addition to the music player, more free music and entertainment is available via the phone’s FM radio. Unusually for a mobile phone, you don’t need to plug in headphones as an antenna to listen to tracks you can simply switch it on and listen to it through the phone’s loudspeaker. The loudspeaker, which can of course also be used with the music player, is loud and clear and not too tinny. It does lack on the bass front, as usual with mobile speakers, but is better than most with its punchy delivery.The radio interface is a doddle to set up and use, with automatic tuning taking care of station finding, and sound quality is pretty good if you plug in the earphones.With a relatively small 2.2-inch display, the Nokia X3 isn’t set up to be your ideal video-playing device. However, it’s OK to watch clips in full screen mode. The media player supports video playback and streaming in a number of file formats including H.263, H.264, MPEG-4 and WMV9. Without stacks of potentially battery-sapping high-end 3G functionality, we found that the Nokia X3 delivered a handsome battery performance under regular conditions. The X3 arrives with a standard 860mAh Li-ion battery pack that Nokia reckons can deliver (under optimum network conditions) up to 7.5 hours of talktime or up to 380 hours of standby time. We managed to go a steady 3-4 days between charges with normal phone usage, though naturally if we used the music player heavily, this figure dropped accordingly.Of course, the music player functionality is the key selling point of this phone, so users are likely to hit play often; Nokia estimates that using the music player alone (with the phone switched to flight mode), users can get up to 26 hours of music player power which seemed to hold up pretty well in our tests.A routine set of Nokia Series 40 organiser tools and applications are ready for action on the X3. These functional tools, which are standard fare, include alarm clocks, calendar, to-do lists, notes, calculator, stopwatch and timer apps. A couple of convertor apps and a world clock function are also slotted into the phone’s application folder. Nokia X3: ConnectivityThe Nokia X3 is a quad band handset, capable of running on GSM 850/900/1800/1900 networks. Without 3G or Wi-Fi the X3’s data connectivity relies on lower speed EDGE or GPRS, which limits its online prowess.USB 2.0 connectivity is supported, via a microUSB port on top of the phone and a supplied data cable.The X3 has Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity too, with stereo audio profiles (A2DP and AVRCP) enabling streaming to wireless headphones, speakers and other suitably enabled Bluetooth gadgets.Also included in-box is a Nokia Music software CD. This PC software (there’s no Mac support) enables users to manage and synchronise music between the phone PC and other devices. Nokia X3: OtherAlthough the X3 isn’t kitted out with internal GPS gadgetry, Nokia does include its Maps software onboard the phone. It can be used with a separate optional Bluetooth GPS receiver module, although we’d guess anyone that keen for satellite location finding is likely to choose a phone with GPS inside in the first place.Although it doesn’t use GPS or the cellsite-based location approximation system of Google Maps users can do searches for addresses, locations, businesses and services, get routing information and maps over the air.Without GPS, the setup can feel a bit clunky as some menu options aren’t available, as the Nokia X3 firmware appears to have been ported from a more generic version of the OS.Mapping downloads can take a while too if you’re in marginal coverage, and generally in its GPS-less truncated state, and without fast map updates, it’s a far from compelling proposition.Among its other features, the X3 also has support for over the air software updates, with 10 games included too. The Nokia X3 is decently equipped as a budget music mobile without having that ‘must-have’ X-factor. The music player software is standard issue Nokia, so functional rather than flashy, but it puts an impressive audio show for a low-cost phone, with enough in-box to make it an attractive slim-line slider package.Elsewhere, the X3 has a low-key set of features there’s no 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS or smartphone gadgetry, and it has a limited camera but if music is the focus, the X3 does the job fine. The mediocre call performance on our review sample was a concern, however.What we likedThe music player puts in a punchy audio performance, with decent sound quality through the better-than-average in-ear bud earphones supplied. The 3.5mm headphone socket offers easy upgrading too, while the 2GB MicroSD gives decent tune room out of the box at this price. Being able to use the FM radio without having headphones attached is also welcome.The X3’s design is slim and quite attractive, and the Series 40 interface is typically straightforward-to-use Nokia stuff. We liked the additional Opera browser to enhance its online performance. The email client is easy to set up too. We were also pleased with the phone’s sturdy battery performance.What we dislikedThe call performance was surprisingly lacklustre. The lack of 3G connectivity limits data speeds when using online applications, although the Opera Mini app pre-loaded does offer a speedier alternative to the Nokia software.The camera put in a mediocre performance image quality is limited and video recording is distinctly low-grade. Without GPS technology inside, the Maps software is limited too. Verdict The Nokia X3 is a tidy budget music mobile that concentrates on the audio performance and music player features. Slim on other higher-end features and lacking 3G, it doesn’t demand centre stage, though some will nab it based on its tune playing highlights alone.Related LinksTechRadar’s Reviews GuaranteeMore mobile phone reviewsRelated StoriesReview: Sony Ericsson VivazReview: HTC LegendReview: LG Chocolate BL20Review: Acer Liquid S100Review: Nokia E72

GSMArena.com introduces its very own Android phone – the gPhone
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a big one for you. After more than a year of hard work and tough negotiations we are pleased to introduce our first very own mobile phone. Enter the Android-running gPhone…