Holiday Smartphone Buyer's Guide
by Vivek Gowri on December 4, 2010 5:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Guides
- Holiday 2010
- Mobile
Unlocked/International
We realize that a significant portion of AnandTech readers aren’t located in the USA, and to that extent want to also cover some of the international and unlocked phones that are potentially on smartphone shopping lists this holiday season. It’d be completely disingenuous if we had a myopic, USA-centric world view, and we’re actively working on getting a more international spread of devices whenever possible that’s of interest to everyone.
With companies like HTC, most of that is pretty easy. The Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer generally spins a particular piece of hardware in multiple varieties for specific markets, keeping the general reference design unchanged. For example, we have the HTC Desire, which is almost the same as the Nexus One, and the HTC Desire HD, which is a mildly updated version of the HD2/HD7/EVO 4G.
The most prominent international smartphone carrier of course is Nokia. Our top picks there are the N900 which can be had unlocked for around $330 unlocked, which runs Maemo 5 and MeeGo. We reviewed the N900 and loved the freedom of having real Linux running on a smartphone. The other awesome choice from the Finnish smartphone powerhouse is the Nokia N8, which we’re currently in possession of and in the process of reviewing. Although we’re not finished, the hardware itself is awesome - anodized aluminum all over, 12 megapixel camera with real Carl Zeiss glass optics, and a pentaband UMTS baseband. Though Symbian is showing its age, the N8 is an otherwise awesome device, and can be had for $530 unlocked. We’ve also looked at the Nokia E5 previously, but it looks like a sidestep from its excellent predecessor, the E72. You can find the E72 for less than the E5, so if you're looking for a Symbian-based BlackBerry alternative, the E72 is probably the way to go.
If you’re on a budget and want an Android 2.2 phone, the other option which has seen a lot of success recently is the LG Optimus One, which we also have and are in the process of reviewing. The Optimus One is a solid little device, packing a 3 megapixel camera sans flash, Android 2.2, HVGA capacitive display, and one of Qualcomm’s newer SoCs with an Adreno 205. Though it isn’t the speediest hardware on the block or the most flashy, the Optimus One is an admirable mass market device with a lot of potential, and we can certainly understand why they sold more than a million in the first 40 days.
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jalsa777 - Saturday, December 4, 2010 - link
i do not know your visitor's demographics...But i am preety sure a lot of visitors are from outside the USA.
The article would be much better off if the phones were divided by segment or price band.
StormyParis - Saturday, December 4, 2010 - link
Agreed. I dropped the article when I realized the structure made no sense to me.Brian Klug - Saturday, December 4, 2010 - link
Hey Jalsa777,Definitely see page 5 - we do realize that a huge percentage of readers aren't from American markets and are really trying to get a more global spread of devices in coverage as well.
The LG Optimus One is probably our first real international device, and we've got an N8 review coming too. I know we have assets moving into place in the UK to start covering devices in Europe as well, so it's definitely happening. ;)
-Brian
Pataling - Saturday, December 4, 2010 - link
The Palm Pre 2 should have got a mention in the unlocked/international section. Won't Anandtech be reviewing it anytime soon? It is a "developer's phone" after all.jordanclock - Saturday, December 4, 2010 - link
I found it strange that it was only mentioned in the ATT section. Since it isn't available through ATT, it really should have been put in the Unlocked/International section, unless for some reason it can't do any frequencies except for ATTs.Rick83 - Saturday, December 4, 2010 - link
Yes, there are no cell network versions, but at their price points they offer quite a lot, and beg the question how apple and samsung end up charging the ridiculous amounts the do, for their hardware (which should be cheaper than netbooks, not more expensive...yay status-symbol-markup)It is them that also, more than a year ago, put one of the first Android Tablets on the market (my Archos 5 IT is a year old now....) and now they even made the move to capacitive touch screens (though I still prefer resistive....).
Anyway, their 70 and 101 models should be at least worth a mention, as they are actual products, and probably enjoy a bigger market share than the ViewSonic.
And not even listing Archos with the "also ran"? That's really questionable...
So anyway, if you're looking for a tablet for serious work, and not as a status symbol, give the Archos 70 a good look....USB host available via cheap adapter, priced low, connects via standard USB cable, HDMI out, micro SD.... Though apparently you give up 3g (...well, mifi is an option, or BT tethering to your cellphone) and GPS (that might hurt if you plan to use it for navigation...though 7 inch is a bit large for that kind of thing anyway.
Oh and there's a 10 incher as well, for a similar price.
Skott - Saturday, December 4, 2010 - link
Yes, I don't understand why they didn't look at Archos as well. Perhaps because they are not as big of a company as the others? That new Archos 101 (10.1) just released recently and if anything has a chance of matching or surpassing the iPad it would be it. It uses the newer version of FROYO 2.2. At $299 its very competitively priced.VivekGowri - Saturday, December 4, 2010 - link
You actually can't get the 101 or the 70 in the US yet, but yeah I did forget to mention them. I was really determined not to mention the Archos 9 PCtablet, since I've played with that a few times and found it a major disappointment (performance and resistive touchscreen, amongst other things). I'll probably add in a mention of the 101, cause that does have a really good price on the low end (the 16GB ends up pretty close to the Viewsonic, which is a lot more powerful.)Roland00Address - Saturday, December 4, 2010 - link
Make sure you do a mini review before and after you root the device. I am just wondering how useful the device will be with no app support.DigitalFreak - Saturday, December 4, 2010 - link
I bought a Viewsonic G tablet this past week. The stock software is ok, but not great. The latest update includes the Handigo app store, which is better than nothing but not anywhere near the Android Market.Where this device really shines is with the alternate roms. TNT Lite seems to be the best at the moment. It replaces the interface with the stock Android UI. There's hack that gets you the full Android Market and Flash support as well. Unfortunately, Android 2.2 doesn't support multi-core, so you're stuck using 1/2 the processing power of Tegra 2. Hopefully 2.3 will add that. Even with 2.2, it's still a fast device.
If you plan on keeping the G tab stock, then it's merely ok. If you like tweaking though, it's definitely worth the money. XDA has an forum dedicated to it.