Samsung Mobile Phone: Samsung Galaxy Gio S5660 Review http://go.to/drmobiles

It’s devices like the Samsung Galaxy Gio that helped Android gain so much ground in so little time. They are a better bargain than the uber-smartphone and find their way into people’s pockets a lot easier. With that goal in mind, the Galaxy Gio must be an all-round pleaser of a phone.

    
Samsung Galaxy Gio S5660

They may soon be running out of names for the Galaxy lot. But it will be when number plates start to fall short that they’ll know they’re in trouble. Back to the point though. Boy number S5660 is called Gio. He’s a teenager – mischievous and fun, too young for a suit and tie.

It’s a decent offer for the midrange: with a good enough version of Android (2.2.1 Froyo), good enough screen, a powerful 800MHz processor and a great connectivity set, ranging from 3G to GPS. There’s little to complain about, save for the imaging skills perhaps.

Here’s the rest of what the Galaxy Gio has to offer.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G support
• 7.2 Mbps HSDPA support
• 3.2" 16M-color TFT capacitive touchscreen of HVGA (320 x 480 pixels) resolution, multi-touch
• 800MHz ARM 11 processor, Adreno 200 GPU, Qualcomm MSM7227 chipset; 278MB of RAM available to the user
• Android 2.2.1 (Froyo) with TouchWiz 3.0 UI
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b, g, n with Mobile Hotspot functionality
• GPS with A-GPS connectivity; Digital compass
• 3.2 MP autofocus camera with geo-tagging and face-detection
• QVGA@15fps video
• microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1
• microSD slot (up to 32GB, 2GB in box)
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Accelerometer and proximity sensor
• DNSe sound enhancement
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Document viewer
• Smart dialing
• Swype text input
• Samsung Apps brings a few nice apps for free

Main disadvantages

• Poor video recording
• No shutter key for the camera
• No Adobe Flash support in the web browser
• No ambient light sensor for auto brightness
• No DivX/Xvid video support out of the box

The Samsung S5660 Galaxy Gio obviously isn’t a camera-centric device. QVGA video and 3.2 MP stills don’t go a long way. But as a smartphone it has what it takes to be taken seriously.

    
Samsung Galaxy Gio S5660 live shots

The Samsung Galaxy Gio is a phone of compromise. If you’re looking to give smartphones a try, you may be willing to live without a killer screen and a brilliant camera. The Gio will be a good choice for newbies or budget upgraders, if the price is right.

This post is sponsored byDr Mobiles Limited
1 Huron Street, Takapuna, North Shore 0622
Tel: (09) 551-5344 and Mob: (021) 264-0000
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Google Android Phone Review 2011: HTC Desire S (www.drmobiles.co.nz) +64212640000

Powerful hardware, large high-res screen and the latest Android version in a solid metal body– the recipe did wonders for the original Desire so no wonder HTC are in no mood to experiment with the sequel. Take the best and make it better pretty much sums up the game plan. Oh well, we’ll take quietly brilliant even if emphasis is sometimes on quiet. In other words, the Desire S is a phone we’re ready to like. But make no mistake – it’s not meant to be the flagship its predecessor was.

  
HTC Desire S official photos

HTC has the Sensation to send against the heavyweight competition. The new Desire is given a different, though no less important role. Ideally, it should be the smartphone that has broader appeal, the one to offer as reward to loyal upgraders. The phone to give you – wait for it – more bang for your buck than we’ve come expect from HTC.

Here’s what it puts on the table summarized.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G support
• 14.4 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
• 3.7" 16M-color capacitive LCD touchscreen of WVGA resolution (480 x 800 pixels)
• Uses the best screen from HTC so far (along with the Incredible S)
• Android OS v2.3 Gingerbread with HTC Sense
• 1 GHz Scorpion CPU, Adreno 205 GPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 chipset
• 768 MB RAM and 1.1 GB ROM
• 5 MP autofocus camera with LED flash and geotagging
• 720p video recording @ 30fps
• Wi-Fi b/g/n and DLNA
• GPS with A-GPS
• microSD slot up to 32GB (8GB card included)
• Accelerometer and proximity sensor
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1
• Smart dialing, voice dialing
• Front facing camera, video calls
• DivX/XviD video support
• Compact aluminum unibody
• Gorilla glass display
• HTC Locations app
• HTCSense.com integration
• HTC Portable Hotspot
• Ultra-fast boot times (if you don’t remove battery)

Main disadvantages

• No dedicated camera key and no lens cover
• Poor camcorder performance, jerky 720p videos
• Below-par sunlight legibility
• Wi-Fi signal degrades when you cover the top part of the back panel
• microSD is below the battery cover

Those coming from the original Desire will certainly notice the absence of the optical trackpad and that now capacitive keys replace the hardware buttons. It’s a different way of interacting with the phone but by no means less comfortable. Other than that, the new smartphone certainly does well to upgrade the original. You get more RAM, a slightly more compact and lighter body, which is still solid enough thanks to all the metal, along with the latest Android and a more powerful GPU.

Video-chat enthusiasts will cheer the front-facing camera, while those who want lots of apps installed on their smartphones will appreciate the extended built-in memory.

    
The HTC Desire S at ours

The bad news is the Desire S is – in more than one way – running against the clock. A year is a really long time in cell phone terms and there’s no guarantee the updates are enough to make it competitive in a market that’s embracing dual-core and pushing beyond the 1GHz mark.

This post is sponsored by:Dr Mobiles Limited
1 Huron Street, Takapuna, North Shore 0622
Tel: (09) 551-5344 and Mob: (021) 264-0000
Web - Map - Email - Posterous - Twitter - Blogger - Flickr