THE BEST NEW PHONES AT MWC 2011
From the Samsung Galaxy S2 to the HTC ChaCha, these are the best new phones on show at MWC 2011…
Samsung Galaxy S II
We were big fans of the original Galaxy S, despite the fact that it was missing an LED flash. It was easily one of the classiest Android phones around when it launched in 2010.
The new Samsung Galaxy S II is a worthy successor with a set of specs that set a high benchmark for any new smartphone to come.
Note the 4.27-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, toughened up with Gorilla Glass. Utter a silent ‘ooh’ at the speed of the dual-core Exynos processor. And go ‘ahh’ at the 8MP camera, HSPA+ connectivity, 16GB/32GB of storage and enhanced business support.
This isn’t just a smartphone. It’s a super-phone and one of the big stars of MWC.
LG Optimus 3D
For some, the LG Optimus 3D is the star of the show. Tapping into the trend for all things stereoscopic, it features two 5 Megapixel cameras on the back (see below) for taking 3D videos and photos.
You don’t have to wear 3D specs to view media, either. Like the Nintendo 3DS, the 4.3-inch LCD on this Optimus handset is autostereoscopic.
While the 3D functionality is the reason people will buy this phone, LG hasn’t skimped on the rest of the specification.
There’s 8GB of internal storage, DLNA content sharing, a front-facing camera and several 3D-dedicated menus. A dual-core, dual-channel OMAP4 processor from Texas Instruments ably shoulders the load.
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play
The shiny allure of the Xperia Play shows no sign of dimming. While the slide-out gaming controls catch the eye, this is still an Android smartphone with a 5MP camera, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and a 4-inch (480 x 864 pixel) LED-lit display. A 1GHz single-core MSM8255 Snapdragon chip ticks along inside.
But is it too late for this PlayStation phone to make a splash? Sure, we love talking about it and the idea of a mobile phone with a proper joypad is certainly tempting.
But with a vast library of touchscreen games on the App Store and Android Market, plus the prospect of Sony’s NGPto come, is the Xperia Play just another N-gage waiting to happen?
Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc
While the Xperia Play grabs most of the eyeballs, the Xperia Arc is another return to form for Sony Ericsson. The sculpted chassis thins to an amazing 8.7mm, which made it the world’s slimmest smartphone until the Samsung Galaxy S II came along.
Its 4.2-inch ‘Reality Display’ delivers vibrant colours in a resolution of 480 x 854 pixels. It does look a bit dated compared to the newest breed of dual-core handsets, however.
Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo
Where the Arc leads, the Xperia Neo follows, shaving off half-an-inch of screen size and unapologetic about its 13mm waistline.
Like the Arc it boasts an 8MP camera with HD video recording (720p) and supports up to 32GB of storage using microSD cards. Unlike the Arc, Sony Ericsson has included a front-facing VGA camera for video calling.
HTC’s S-class upgrades
HTC used MWC to drop refreshed versions of its most popular handsets. The HTC Incredible S features a faster Qualcomm MSM8255 CPU, HD video capture, Android 2.2 and a new front-facing camera.
The new HTC Desire S too gets a speed boost, HD video recording and a front-mounted camera. But it’s also had a make-over, inside and out. On the inside, expect to see the Gingerbread OS; on the outside, enjoy a new aluminium unibody design.
Last, but not least, HTC has also upgraded the old Wildfire with the Wildfire S.
The new model addresses the biggest problem with the original – the low resolution display. The 3.2-inch QVGA LCD has subsequently been replaced with a crisper HVGA panel that boasts a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels.
‘Facebook phones’
Sticking with HTC, the new ChaCha and Salsa handsets join the INQ Cloud Touch and Cloud Q as the world’s first Facebook phones.
And by ‘Facebook phone’, we mean that Facebook is just as deeply integrated into the core of these handsets as the Contacts and Camera apps. The idea is that Facebook connectivity will be a standard-issue feature (accessed by the Facebook button), not a downloadable add-on.
The Salsa (below, left) features a 3.4-inch LCD, 5 Megapixel camera and a low-end 600MHz CPU. The ChaCha (below, right), has the look of a Nokia E72 about it. This QWERTY model screams budget too and incorporates a 2.6-inch display.
“[For the ChaCha and Salsa] HTC took the initiative,” said Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. “A lot has been made about a single Facebook phone, but you can expect dozens of phones with deeper integration than ever before.”
iPhone nano?
As usual, some of the biggest mobile news to emerge this week isn’t from Mobile World Congress. Again, Apple iPhone rumours have bubbled through the Barcelona announcements, this time concerning a proposed ‘iPhone nano’that would provide a budget model in Apple’s smartphone line-up.
True? The Wall Street Journal certainly thinks so and they’re not usually suckered in by wild internet rumour-mongering. Read our iPhone nano rumours or iPhone 5 rumours to learn more.
The question is how soon are we going to enjoy this in Kenya, better yet at a very good price?
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